The Conventional Nuclear Family in Britain Today Essay

The Conventional Nuclear Family in Britain Today Since the Industrial revelation the nuclear family has been recognised as the norm of British society and although there have been recent changes in family life, is the norm of Britain today still the conventional nuclear family? The nuclear family has always been considered the norm in society ever since the industrial revolution but in society today the single parent family has had a dramatic increase from around 4% to 10% and no longer is the conventional nuclear family the powerful norm that it used to be. The supposed value of the traditional family unit is that it provides social cohesion and stability because the family home is a†¦show more content†¦He believed that without these functions society would breakdown. He suggested that the nuclear family is such an important social institution, playing such vital functions in maintaining society that it is found in some form in every society. However although most societies in the world have some established arrangements for the production, rearing and socialisation of children this does not mean that these arrangements always involve the prime responsibility resting on the family. However there have been criticisms of Murdock suggesting that in his passion for his work he may have been caught up in the fact that there may have been other institutions within society, which can perform various functions of the family that he describes as being indispensable Parsons stated that the nuclear family performs two core functions; the primary socialization of children, and the stabilization of adult personalities. Parsons argues that the womens role in the family is expressive, providing warmth, security and emotional support to the husband and children, and the males role is instrumental, as the breadwinner. This view of the family and gender roles for men and women is quite old fashioned. 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