Examine the view that ‘successful families need two loving heterosexual parents’

his statement represents the view that the typical family is a nuclear family that is 2 generations of enhances & children livelihood together in 1 fellowship, & legally married, and that the nuclear family is the ideal.Murdock claimed that the nuclear family is normal and for any society to exist four basic functions functional requisites must be fulfilled. These are Reproduction to produce the next generation. Sexual to control inner behaviour, to prevent conflict between adult manfuls over women. Socialisation to civilise children for their wider social roles. Economic to survive economically the male acts as breadwinner & the feminine as carer.Functionalists would say these are essential for social life, since without the sexual and procreative functions, thither would be no members of society, without the economic function, life would cease, and without education socialisation there would be no floriculture. Human society without culture could not function. non all families fit Murdocks definition of family. There are examples of social arrangements or families that contradict Murdocks definition.One example being the new world color family. Generally these families are Matrifocal and mother-centred and consist of a woman and her dependant children and do not include an adult male. The mother is the main carer and breadwinner and relys on serve up from female kin relatives.Another example is The Nayer of south India. After married couple the husband did not live with his wife nor was he under any obligation to concur any further contact with her. The males in the household would be either uncles or brothers but not the biological father. These male kin would serve the economical & socialisation roles inwardly the family.Gay, lesbian & l integrityly(prenominal) parent families also contradict Murdocks definition. The l unity parent family has only one gender role to follow, the carer, breadwinner role, is undertaken by one adult, as wel l as the economic factor again undertaken by one adult. The lone parent provoke still maintain a sexual relationship outside(a) of the family unit therefore the sexual factor is still maintained. Reproduction can start without sexual contact, as the lone parent tends to rear the children in the early years, and then educational establishment assists.Even with only one gender role to be followed, socialisation prepares children for their wider social and gender roles.It would be fair to say that Murdock did not take into account the various diversities within the family, such as structural & cultural diversities. The family is socially constructed and varies from one culture to another.To say that successful families need two loving heterosexual parents is a very narrow functionalist view of the family. People are now choosing to have different types of family life, and it is more socially acceptable. Many families are no longitudinal conventional but society still exists.