Families in Society
Introduction
Willmott and Young opted to take an alternate functionalist perspective on families. Their concept was known as progressive because it explored how communities grow and improve gradually. Willmott and Young confirmed that the family undergoes four phases of growth. The four phases are tied to industrialization mechanisms. Phase one entails pre-industrial families. In this phase, the family functions as a single component of economic construction. Work and home are inseparable. In the second phase, the ancient industrial family moves into urbanized zones hence home and work is isolated from each other. Stages three deals with symmetrical families and the last stage describe the underlying reasons for asymmetrical families. On the other hand, Berger and Berger stated that explore the underlying roots of nuclear families and other family structure changes.
Wilmott and Young
Wilmott and Young came up with their family concepts after reading and researching on functionalist ideals from sociologists such as Talcott. Their investigations were based on London families. The authors developed a family ideology after examining concepts that had been developed before their own. In 1973, they claimed that families were symmetrical- both wife and husband had similar obligations to the family unit. Instead of adapting customary nuclear family roles, where the husband had distinct roles from his wife, Wilmott and Young observed that contemporary family units did not have distinct gender roles. Hence, men and women worked together to meet a common goal (Young, & Willmott, 1974). Despite them playing the same role in the family, men and women had different occupations. Thus, the family became a shared obligation hence men and women were equal. The primary reason which made families more symmetrical was that husbands, wives, and children spent more time together unlike in the past where the men would spend more time at the nightclub and then later he would go to his wife.
Apart from symmetrical families, Wilmott and Young proposed stratified diffusion. This concept allowed them to contend that alterations in traditions and morals usually commence in wealthy communities and later trickle down to other parts of society (Young, & Willmott, 1974). Hence, a certain action diffuses from wealthy societies and into other parts of society. Even though the concept of stratified diffusion was highly contentious, especially among feminists, some claimed that the concept was somehow true as evidenced by the symmetrical families. Through this the concept of stratified diffusion, Wilmott and Young became influential gained traction in sociologist circles.
According to Wilmott and Young, the asymmetrical family developed under four stages. The first stage is known as the pre-industrial family where the family is a production component made up of members who are working together towards a common goal (Young, & Willmott, 1974). Wilmott and Young both concluded that the first phase exists due to the industrial revolution.
The second phase consists of the initial industrial family. The initial industrial family resulted from the industrial revolution and it gradually grew through the 19th and 20th centuries. As members of families sought out employment in factories, the notion that the family was a production unit vanished. Families faced numerous hardships because daily wages were minimal. Also, unemployment decreased (Powell et al., 2016). The chance of coming up with more than one way of earning an income was hinged on employment and another industrial opening. According to Wilmott and Young families were forced to form insurance. Thus, families joined hands with other relatives to form one network that went beyond nuclear families. During this time frame, gender roles were distinct due to the separation of men and women's household roles. Separating matrimonial roles implied that husbands could not perform domestic errands such as raising children. As time went by, this family network dwindled at the onset of the 20th century. However, most low-income homes built employed class zones.
The third phase is the symmetrical family. During this stage, each family member participates in the wellbeing of the family. Hence, the gender roles are not distinct from each other thus, husbands and wives jointly make decisions but some roles are set and cannot be reversed (Lindsey, 2020). Also, the fourth stage entailed the formation of the stratified diffusion concept. Wealthier people act as a mirror to society. Whatever wealthy societies do are replicated by other people in other societies.
Berger and Berger Concept
In the 13th century, was the most predominant family structure in England. However, in the middle of the 20th century, this phenomenon began disappearing. First extended family started fading. Demographic records reveal that the nuclear family began making its mark in the 13th century. Rather than marry and start a family in their parents' house, young couples were forced to move out and form their own homes. Hence, this implied that men would get married later in life (Goldscheider, Bernhardt, & Lappegård, 2015). Thus, a man would move away from his extended family and begin his own. Therefore, the number of nuclear families increased. Berger demonstrated that nuclear families were able to sustain themselves and adapt to the current economic and political systems that existed at the time. More so, family structure was the commonest among English people. There is a connection between nuclear families and the industrial revolution. This is because the nuclear family was flexible and portable as it was could look for opportunities in different locations. Also, the nuclear family was forced to work harder to meet their needs and create a habitable place where they could thrive. For instance, nuclear families saved for the future. Nuclear family habits enable to generate independence and sustain economies through hard times.
Criticism of Both of the Concepts
Wilmott and Young were heavily criticized due to their theory. Feminist sociologists argued that the symmetrical family ideology contains numerous errors. Also, the feminist claimed that the data also contained numerous mistakes (Blau, 2016). For instance, men still did not perform household chores. More so, women did most of the house chores despite being career women.
Marxist claimed that the nuclear family did not come out of Berger and Berger's concept. Instead, he claimed that the industrial revolution resulted from the technological advancement that was common at that particular point in time (Blau, 2016). Also, Marxists claimed that the nuclear family is designed to fit into capitalism concepts, for example, the family unit acts as a consuming unit and permits acceptance of hierarchy. Likewise, the nuclear family facilitates the passage of wealth from one generation to another.
In summary, a family is a unit that has changed throughout time. The changes have been facilitated by the resources available and the number of family members. The family has moved from a producing unit to a consuming unit. Over the years families have changed and grew from asymmetrical to symmetrical as the goals and needs of the family became more shared between the women and man. The man and woman work towards the same goal and even in decision making. Besides, the father spends time with his children and ensures that all their needs are met. A nuclear family is more flexible and can easily meets its need.
References
Blau, F. D. (2016). Gender, inequality, and wages. OUP Catalogue.
Goldscheider, F., Bernhardt, E., & Lappegård, T. (2015). The gender revolution: A framework for understanding changing family and demographic behavior. Population and Development Review, 41(2), 207-239.
Lindsey, L. L. (2020). Gender: Sociological Perspectives. Routledge.
Powell, B., Hamilton, L., Manago, B., & Cheng, S. (2016). Implications of changing family forms for children. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, 301-322.
Young, M. D., & Willmott, P. (1974). The symmetrical family. Pantheon.
