The Marxist Approach

The Marxist approach to the family is that the family is the place of conflict where its the most vulnerable and weakest members (i.e children) are indoctrinated in accepting their place in an unequal and unjust society. The culture that is learnt here is the culture of the elites and the dominant classes.

Marxist Views
Sex, marriage and reproduction - they believe that monogamy is a way of ensuring men transmit ownership of private property to their offspring.

Socialisation and social control - they believe that this suppresses individuality to produce a compliant workforce that is passive, subservient and uncritical of the inequalities which rise capitalism.

Stabilisation - they believe that private life of the family provides the opportunities for satisfactions unavailable in work, thus cushioning the effects of capitalism.

Economic and welfare - they believe that the unit of consumption is essential to capitalist production. They also believe that the family responsibilities constrain men not to withdraw their labour.

Evaluation
There are many negatives with the Marxist view because it only concentrates on the effects of capitalism to the exclusion of other factors and they do not explain the similarities in capitalist with non-capitalist societies.

Karl Marx is the creator of the Marxist approach