Sociology families and households

Sociology families and households Functionalism is a structuralist theory. This means it sees the individual as less important as the social structure of society. It is a top down theory. The family can be defined as an intimate domestic group composed of people related to each other by blood, sexual relations and legal ties. When assessing how useful functionalism is when looking at the family, other views/perspectives need to be taken into account before making an overall conclusion. Views from Talcott Parsons, George Murdock, Ann Oakley, Edmund Leach, R.D Laing, David Cooper and Friedrich Engels will be taken into account as well as perspectives from Marxism, feminism, family diversity and radical psychiatrists. This will help draw the final conclusion. Functionalist sociologists suggest that the nuclear family is the norm in modern day industrial societies. George Peter Murdock (1949) supports the idea of functionalism. After analysing 250 societies, Murdock argues that the family performs four basic functions; sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. These are the essentials for social life, since without sexual and reproductive functions there would be no members of society, without economic functions life would cease, and without education there would be no culture. Human society without culture could not function. Clearly, the family cannot perform these functions exclusively. However, it makes important contributions to them all and no other institution has yet been devised to match its efficiency in this respect. A weakness of Murdocks view is that some sociologists may find his description of the family almost too good to be true. Some of his views on harmony and integration are not shared be other researchers. He also does not examine alternatives to the family, not considering whether its functions could be carried out b y other social institutions. Murdock is criticised for being Euro-centric, as he is only concerned about the Western families. However, he is supported by anthropologists; Morris (1968) said the family was a result of biology and culture over generations (socio-biology). This could be a strength as it shows some researchers have the same view. Talcott Parsons bases his ideas on the family in modern American society. However, despite this his ideas have more general application since he claims the American family has two basic and irreducible functions which are common to the family in all societies, unlike Murdock who argued there were four. These were, the primary socialization of children, where culture is learned and accepted by children so they know the norms and values that allow society to exist. Secondly the stabilization of adult personalities, which is where a marriage relationship and emotional security a couple provide for each other keeps a personality stable, and acts as a counterweight to everyday stresses and strains that can make a personality unstable. This process is otherwise known as the warm bath theory, where the family provide a relaxing environment for the male worker to immerse himself in after a hard day at work. A criticism of Parsons view would be that he idealises the family, much like Murdock, with his view of well adjusted children and sympathetic spouses caring for each others every need, when in reality not all families are like this. Also Parsons fails to explore the differences between working/middle class families, as his ideas are generally based on the American middle class family. Parsons perspective supports that of functionalism, that the nuclear family is the norm in society. Ann Oakley has described the typical or conventional family. She says conventional families are nuclear families composed of legally married couples, voluntarily choosing the parenthood of one or more children. This shows support for functionalism. Leach (1967) has called this the cereal packet image of the family. This image of a happily married couple with two children is prominent in advertising and the family sized packets of cereal and other products are aimed at this group. The family is functional for both its members and society as a whole. Increasingly this picture of the family is coming under strong criticism. Some observers are suggesting that on balance, the family may well be dysfunctional both for society and its individual members. This criticism has mainly been directed at the family in Western industrial society. The Marxist view on the family opposes that of the functionalists. It is seen to challenge the idea that the family is universal or natural, but instead that it is human creation; a social invention that has served a specific economic purpose. The Marxist theory on the family emerged from the work of Friedrich Engels. It is argued by Marxists that the working-class extended family has been deliberately discouraged by the capitalist ruling class, because its emphasis on a mutual support system and collective action encourages its members to be aware of their social class position. It is believed that the nuclear family under capitalist law in an anti-social family. It labels all other forms of family life as inferior and abnormal. However, a weakness of the Marxist view is that there is a tendency to talk about the family in capitalist society without regard to possible variations in family life between social classes. Family diversity supports the fact that the conventional family no longer makes up the majority of households or families. For example, women no longer aspire exclusively to romantic love, marriage and children. There are now acceptable alternative life styles some people prefer, such as pre-marital sex, serial monogamy, cohabitation, single-sex relationships, childlessness etc. Mens roles too are no longer clear in a postmodern society, and the resulting crisis of masculinity has lead to man redefining both their sexuality and family commitments. Others disagree with this view. They argue that family diversity is exaggerated, and that the basic features of family life have remained largely unchanged for the majority of the population. Nuclear families are still very common but alternate types of family are steadily increasing. When looking at a critical view of the family, radical psychiatry mat be taken into account. Edmund Leach supported the idea in the family there is too much emotional pressure on each individual to live up to expectations. R.D Laing associated schizophrenia with the emotional pressure and anxiety of the nuclear family. David Cooper suggested the personality of the individual is controlled by the family, forcing them to conform to the rules of both the family, forcing them to conform to the rules of both the family and wider society. These three radical researchers all agree that the family is a dangerous place and mental illness could be the result of pressures laid down to the individual. From this angle it can be seen that the family has a negative, this view does not agree with the view of functionalism. Friedrich Engels acknowledges that the position of women within the family is an important aspect of what the Marxists see as its harmful effects. However, he emphasizes the relationship between family and capitalism, and is less concerned with its effects on women. Feminism has broken itself down into different perspectives, Marxist feminists, liberal feminists and radical feminists. Friedrich Engels speaks for the Marxist feminist view. Liberal feminists believe that both sexes contribute to domestic chores in an atmosphere of mutual support and hegemony, and there is an equal division of labour. Radical feminist beliefs are that the nuclear family is based upon male power and serves to support that. Male power is often expressed in the home as domestic violence. It is seen that patriarchy is transhistorical; it is ever present in all societies and cultures. A weakness is that feminists often do not take into account the possible differences in family life, for example, social clas ses, ethnic groups, heterosexual and gay families etc. They just seem to assume every family is a nuclear family, so may exaggerate the effect of families to women. They therefore ignore the possibility of women fighting back against exploitation and do not see the positive side to the family. Now that perspectives and ideas criticising and supporting functionalism have been illustrated. A conclusion can be made. If looking at Murdock and Parsons it can be seen that they both tend to only take into account Western societies, and tend to generalise. Apart from that they both have strong, similar ideas on what the family is. Oakley and Leach support their ideas on the nuclear family being the majority of society. However, although the argument supporting functionalism is sound, other views need to be taken into perspective. For example Marxism, questioning the idea of a universal/natural family. Family diversity offering different options to how people choose to live, feminists saying the family exploits women and radical psychiatry claiming the family is a dangerous place and causes mental illness

Teaching in America Essay -- Education Educating Essays

Teaching in America ABSTRACT: The term "teaching" is usually used in the Academy without a clear sense of what is meant, resulting in imprecise and ineffective teaching. The standard lines-that teaching is a matter of applying approved methods, that teaching is mostly a matter of teaching skills-as-means to some career or whatever-are reflective of failure in the Academy, measured in its "defect rate" of around 30 percent. The definition of teaching I sketch-skills adopted from a theoretical foundation, in turn based on a critique-is well founded in the scholarly tradition. Such a definition is, however, challenging to an Academy at the end of an ancien rà ©gime. It has been apparent for a couple decades that something is wrong with the way we teach in this country. Most of the attention is focused on "the grades", but higher education is no longer exempt from criticism. The most alarming reports are quite consistent: Between 27 percent and 35 percent of students entering the college and university system do not complete the program they enter. (1) That so many students should be admitted, then lost along the way, is an unacceptable "defect rate". General Interest There is a vast literary corpus on the subject of what is wrong with the teaching system. It ranges from alarming reports in the popular press to practical and anecdotal accounts, to what passes for scholarly reportage of research backed by significant public and private grants. The popular press is, per def., popular; it favors the tangible ("readin', writin' 'n' 'rithmetic"). Scholarly reportage is contradictory, e. g.: One report, in a teachers'-union publication, tells us that two-year-college students entering upper-division study are more likel... ...er published a very insightful essay on the irrelevance of current economic theory and the economists who produce it. The picture is complex, but the gist of it is, modern school-economics is so caught up in fanciful application of ever-more-recondite skills, that all sense of the larger world supposedly being modeled is lost. It turns out that Keynes and his successors were the last of that ilk to have their feet firmly planted in reality - as well as being generally better applied-mathematicians. As I read this essay, it seemed to me much the same could be said for the exponents of quantitative political science, quantitative sociology and so on: These folks owned their fields in the 1970s and 1980s; today they are little heard from, and what they present as "science" - as, e. g., in The Bell Curve of a couple years back - is rightly laughed at as sheer silliness.

Music and Film: Jaws (1975)

An opaque dorsal fin slices through the water. Camera-point-of-view on a young man splashing in the distance. The fin submerges. The sound track cranks up a notch: Dum- Dum – Dum – Dum – Dum – Dum..! Bubbles, white foam, glimpses of something large and foreboding thrashing in the waves. The music increases in its intensity: Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum..!   A red mist of blood that fogs the water. The audience in the movie theatre screams hysterically. A severed limb floats lazily to the ocean floor below. The music trails off. Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun.There have only been a handful of movies produced which contain a soundtrack that is not only instantly recognizable, but where the music also plays such an integral part in the film itself. Jaws (1975) is such a film. The movie successfully tapped into several human fears of the unknown and translated these phobias into a highly entertaining film that doesn’t talk down to its audience, nor uses viole nce gratuitously to get its point across.Commented Director Steven Spielberg:â€Å"†¦I think one of the reasons I made â€Å"Jaws† was because I was afraid of the water before I read the Peter Benchley book, and therefore I was the perfect candidate to direct this picture, because I have a tremendous amount of anxiety about the sea. Not so much about swimming pools or small ponds, but certainly about the eternal sea.I have a lot of anxiety, and my main anxiety stems from not being able to see my feet when I’m treading water. And what’s down there with me, and who’s nibbling on my toes. And I know how to express my fear cinematically. I’ve always been good at that, and I thought when â€Å"Jaws† came along, well, I   already have a tremendous fear of the ocean, and certainly a fear of sharks, and so I went to [producers] Dick Zanuck and David Brown and volunteered myself to direct the adaptation from the Benchley book†¦Ã¢â‚¬    (Excerpts from Steven Spielberg Interview)Composer John Williams — while no stranger to sound tracks for television and film (he’d already won an Oscar as music producer in 1971 for Fiddler on the Roof) — was just beginning to hit his stride on a musical odyssey that would see his movie soundtracks crack the Billboard music charts and sells millions. Almost unheard of for instrumental compositions, let alone for movie soundtracks.Williams saw something unique in the Spielberg rough-cut. He viewed the film as more  of an adventure and less as a traditional horror film. Recalled Williams in a conversation  with film producer Laurent Bouzereau:  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦This is like a pirate movie! I think we need  pirate music for this, because there’s something primal about it — but it’s also fun and  entertaining†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ( Lindahl, pg1 )As the legend goes, Williams was previewing proposed music for the film on his piano, playing t he basic structure for Spielberg and Bousereau and hammering out the now famous bars of impending doom on his piano keys. Spielberg thought Williams was kidding. â€Å"dum, dum, dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum†   The rest as they say, is history:At first I began to laugh, and I thought, â€Å"John  has a great sense of humor!† But he was  Ã‚  serious — that was the theme for Jaws. So he  Ã‚  played it again and again, and suddenly it  seemed right. Sometimes the best ideas are  Ã‚  the most simple ones and John had found a  signature for the entire score†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  ( Lindahl, pg 1)Let it be said that the music in Jaws is effective because it’s not over used. By playing the Jaws theme only to foreshadow the presence of the shark, the music is much more effective. Several examples of this stand out. The music played in the scenes of families playing at the beach have an almost home town flavor to them. The music when the boats are setting out to capture the shark have a classical feel and one scene in particular – of a child playing in the water with a fake shark fin – has no music at all. Collectively, this contrast in musical styles plays to the audience’s advantage. They know in short order when they do hear the jaws theme that there’s no mistaking the fact that the shark is going to make an appearance.What is it about the movie Jaws and its music that sets it apart from so many other adventure and suspense films? Oddly enough, prior to the film’s premier there wasn’t a â€Å"genre’ for this type of film. Horror and suspense were considered â€Å"Category B or C†.In fact, after Jaws cracked 100 million dollars during its North American Box Office the genre of monster/animal/villain stalking its prey was firmly in place. Whose to say there’s not a little bit of Jaws in every film ranging from Rambo to Halloween? Certainly there are variations of John Willi ams film score in the above mentioned film and more.Stephen Spielberg has gone on record as saying that Jaws wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if it didn’t have the music it did. Plainly put, the music works. Would any other type of soundtrack so indelibly stamp an image on the subconscious of the  audience? Highly doubtful. The by-now famous â€Å"†¦dum, dum, dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum†¦Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"   creates an instant visual. But also serves as a metaphor for the shark’s excitement when it approaches its prey or when it approaches the boat of Robert Shaw.Critics can say what they will regarding John Williams score for Jaws. As a â€Å"piece of music† it is not the kind of score that allows for listening while lying down on the coach for example. It is music that conjures up images. There are several suites — if the term can be freely used – that showcase Williams versatility as a scorer of music and as a producer who kn ows how to grab his audience by the collar.When it comes to music that creates a sense of suspense and hysteria the loaded â€Å"Shark Cage Fugue† bears listening to more than once. Similar treatment is due â€Å"The Great Shark Chase† and the nearly five minutes long â€Å"Man Against Beast†, where renditions of the familiar theme appears and disappears, interwoven with the theme associated with the actual shark hunting.However, Williams’ use of Quint’s â€Å"sailor song† as a recurring theme is used to great effect as a vehicle to mark the captain's inner resolution and character. He sings it when he is in a good mood, or when he needs to conjure up his muse: â€Å"†¦Farewell and a-do to you fair Spanish ladies, farewell and a-do to you ladies in Spain†¦Ã¢â‚¬    Williams interweaves this ditty at crucial parts of the film. Most notably when his ship â€Å"The Orca† is floundering and ready to sink. The shark is waiting â€Å"out there† somewhere and Quint is running out of luck. The music again — in this case not even the theme — is used to great effect.On a more technical note, it would be impossible to discuss the impact of the Jaws soundtrack on the film, without exploring how the music itself was packaged and made available to the public as a marketing tool. Andrew Drannon provides a valuable perspective on the issued soundtrack for Jaws, as well as an astute track by track breakdown of the music on it’s latest re-issue. Drannon mentions that the original Jaws score exists in three recordings: The original LP and a 1992 CD re-issue feature about half an hour of music that Williams rearranged and re-recorded for the sole purposes of the album, and this was for a long time the only available music from the picture. Drannon delves further into the music, saying:â€Å"†¦Film score collectors have been historically  Ã‚   quite adamant in their demands for comple te releases of soundtracks, namely for the scores of John Williams, which so often leave out highlights of the music and place them into confusing suites.  To some, this may seem a bit unneeded, due to the fact that the original 35-minute LP album featured a great majority of the score, with a few of the shorter cues actually expanded into suites.Still, for the 25th anniversary of the film, Decca saw fit to rescue  the entire musical work, minus the album expansions for a 51-minute CD release. Fans will be elated due to the inclusion of almost 30 minutes of new material, including fantastic cues not used in the film, which make up for the loss of the infamous original album developments†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Andrew Drannon pg 1)The final re-issue presents the jaws soundtrack into a more cohesive listening experience.Years after the film made its debut in theatres, after countless showings on television, after a Jaws Fest even, the music ha become an institution. There have been only a handful of films where the music has much such an impact: the James Bond franchise, Enrico Morricone with â€Å"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and possibly the Indiana Jones series. But none make the blood curl, create a knot in one’s stomach and send a chill up the spine like John Williams soundtrack for the original summer blockbuster, Jaws.References:Spielberg, Steven. Interview excerpts, Jaws 30th Anniversary Special EditionDVD linear notes, 2005Lindahl, Andreas. Scoreviews.Com. Internet article. pg 1 1998Ibid. pg 1Drannon, Andrew. Decca Music Group Sound Tracks Review: Jaws 25th Anniversary Edition. Internet article. pg 1. 2000

Top 80s Songs of All-Female 80s Rock Band The Bangles