Symbolic Interactionist

This approach would look at the idea of family in terms of how each 'social interaction' defined their role within the social setting called the family. Sociologists argue that reality is socially constructed and that we make our own reality within social groups. Peter Berger and Hansfried Kellner were among the first sociologists to apply an interpretive approach to the family. Berger and Kellner see marriage as a crucial relationship for the construction of reality.They have come from two different famillies with different definitions of the world.

Feminist

The feminist movement is dedicated to bringing out the greater equality for women primarily in the choices they made about their bodies and lives. This had massive implications on sociology and the way that society was looked at and investigated because for far too long sociology had only looked at men and male experiences.

The feminist approach will look at the family as a place of oppression and suppression and it is where women are put down andf it is that they learn to obey male authority and accept male power called 'patriarchy'. This will mean that the inequalities within the family first and all that society does is to strenghten these inequalities as the women goe through their life journey.

Marxist

The marxist approach is like the functionalist is a structuralist approach and therfore will start with the structure of society before looking at the individual. A marxist would suggest the idea that the family is the centre of class struggle and oppression and it is here that women and children are constantly put down and taught to be submissive.
The marxist writer Zaretsky argued that the family helped the capatalist economy by making workers feel less frustrated about their oppression and exploitation.

The Marxist writer Engels said that ' the family performs and economic function by making sure that when someone dies their inheritence is passed on and kept within the family. In other words when a rich person dies their children get the money. (Bourgeoisie; these are elites, the wealthy upper and middle classed, the proletariat are the working classes, the masses the majorityof people).

New right

New right views are linked to the conservatives based on hetrosexual marriage between two parents. Families are the 'building blocks' of society (see pic) , they are essential to the stability of society. Seperate roles are performed by men and women and are determined by biology. All other arrangements are deviant and a threat to society.

Economic and Reproduction in the family

In many societies the family is the unit of production and this contributes to the wider society. The family is also the main centre for child reproduction and without reproduction society would cease to exist.
The family is largely responsible for primary socialisation and this is how we learn about what society expects of us.

Functionalism and the family

Functionalists believe that the family is a positive situation. They hold the view that meet as well with the needs of an advanced industrial society. Functionalists highlight the ideal family type in a modern society as a nuclear family. (A nuclear family consists of parents and children living together in a home. The nuclear family is also known as the cereal package family and is seen as a socially accepted norm.) The view of the nuclear family comprises of a breadwinner husband and a dependant wife and husband. The nuclear family is seen as traditional and positive view.

George Murdock believed that the family was a universal feature of society and he believed that there were certain functions that the family always fulfilled. These are; sexual in most societies there is control of sexual behaviour within the family and this stabilises the social system.

Talcott parsons believed that this is where childrens personalities are moulded and shaped and families are little personality factories.