Marriage And Family Analysis

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UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY SOC233: FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS TEST 2 ESSAY WRITEUP

NAME: MARANG PHUTHEGELO
ID: 201500840

TOPIC: EXPLAIN WHY FAMILIES ARE REGARDED AS PLACES OF CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE

INTRODUCTION
A family can be referred to as a social institution, found in all societies that unite individuals into cooperative groups that oversee the bearing and raising of children and most families are built on kinship which is a social bond based on blood, marriage or adoption that joins these individuals into families (Macionis, 2005). Macionis goes on to outline the main functions of a family as first of all being responsible for socialization of children to be well integrated …show more content…

John Pahl says that within families there is conjugal conflict, he argues that wife battering should be seen as the extension of the domination and control of husbands over wives. Pahl rejects individualistic explanations of wife battering in favor of a structural analysis of patriarchy- one aspect of which can be violence by males against females, specifically in a couple relationship (O 'Donnell, 1997). As written on (Plummer, 2012), one of the causes of family conflict may be because of property and inheritance where they will be fighting over who gets what, in most cases it is the male child who will get the more important shares like farms and livestock whereas the female would inherit small things like kitchen utensils and clothes and this is usually what causes conflicts. Feminists see the family as the central location of women’s oppression and they argue that men generally benefit greatly from families whilst women often do not since they do not have much say in family governance. (Macionis, 2005)
Fredrick Engels who is a conflict theorist sees patriarchy (rule of men) as one major cause of family conflict because it makes men feel they have the power and control over women and children, so they have the last say in every decision-making process and should not be questioned. (Plummer, 2012). This creates conflict between family members and usually those women or even children who attempt to oppose the man of the house fall victim of the