Examine Marxist views of the role of the family Free Essay.
Examine the Marxist view of the family Marxists believe that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist’s society. They see the family as performing essential functions, but negative functions. These functions benefit the minority in power (bourgeoisie) and the economy. The functions disadvantage the working class society (proletant).
Karl Marx's Views on Family Ethics Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Karl Marx devoted much of his time to the study of morality, much better known as ethics. Karl Marx was a firm believer in Communism and he also authored the Communist Party, together with Frederick Engels.
For example, the Functionalist view that the family performs vital functions for society, or the Feminist view that the family creates gender inequality and oppresses women. Whilst both the Marxist and Feminist view are critical of the family, they disagree on what kind of inequality that is brought about by the family and who is oppressed by it.
Whereas, Marxist views on family are that it is a part of the ideological state apparatus as an agent of social control and it rovides important functions for capitalism. Another view which differs from functionalism is the feminist view, they think family reinforce inequality and patriarchy.
Functionalism vs Marxism: A Family Case Study Essay Sample. The definition of a family is one still being argued over by sociologists. However, for the purposes of this essay, I have chosen the broad definition of family as “a group of people who live together” The family chosen for this examination it will be argued, fit the functionalist view of the family.
Marxist views about family suggest that the family socialise offspring to accept capitalism, Marxist also argues that the male in the family is more dominant and the provided while the women end up staying at home being a housewife and not getting paid for this.
Marxists support this view, and focus on the conflict between different sets of groups values. Marxists believe that all classes in society are deviant and criminal. They disagree that deviance is a working class phenomenon, though they are thought of as the main offenders of crime and deviance.