1. Family Marxism Functionalism Feminism New Right
Marxism
Functionalism
Feminism
New Right
Family
Critical of the family as believes the family supports Capitalism
Society is structured so that the poor stay poor (cycle of deprivation) and the rich stay rich (inheritance) so social inequalities continue
Engels: Family exists to protect private property
Supports the family as it is positive and teaches norms and values
Murdock: The family has 4 key functions (economic, emotional, sexual, educational)
Parsons: The family has 2 functions (primary socialisation and warm bath theory)
Critical of the family as the family is negative and reinforces patriarchy
Oakley: Women have a dual burden and are channelled into feminine activities
Duncombe & Marsden: Women have a triple shift (paid, house & emotional work)
Bernard: in the 1970s and 1980s there we two marriages – His & Hers 
Supports the family but believes only the nuclear family is acceptable so that children do better educationally, physically, psychologically and socially
Against same sex or single parent families
Believe family values are declining, which leads to crime and deviance due to instant gratification (Murray)

2. Critical of education as is a form of gender socialisation
Marxism
Functionalism
Feminism
New Right
Education
Critical of education system because it reinforces the class system through the hidden curriculum (do what the people in power say, learn skills to be future workforce)
Bowles and Gintis: Education mirrors the world of work to prepare us for capitalism (correspondence principle)
Social control in school mirrors social control in wider society (following laws, obeying the boss)
Supports education as it is a vital agency of socialization (common culture, beliefs and expectations) and social control (obedience)
Education sorts us into our future careers (Davis and Moore, role allocation)
The education system is meritocratic and provides the skills and knowledge necessary for work
Critical of education as is a form of gender socialisation
Canalisation – girls channelled into certain ‘female’ subjects
Sharpe/Wilkinson: Girls today have higher aspirations than in the past
Francis & Francis: Boys receive more negative attention from teachers
Supports education but believes it should be more of a marketplace to service the needs of its consumers (Chubb and Moe)

3. Marxism
Functionalism
Feminism
New Right
Crime
The law exists only in the interests of the ruling classes to protect their property (Chambliss)
Society does not have a common interest so conflict occurs (Conflict approach)
Crime committed by the bourgeoisie (white collar crime) goes largely undetected
A certain amount of crime is functional for a society as the law/punishment system reinforces norms and values (Durkheim)
Society is based on consensus so people agree on norms & values. Social order occurs as most people support these values (Consensus approach)
Women are less likely to have the opportunity to commit crime (Marsh)
They are punished more harshly for crimes involving children
Chivalry effect is diminishing so higher number of women in prison due to harder sentencing (Garrod)
People commit crime due to inadequate socialisation by the family and particularly amongst the working classes (Murray).

4. Press owners have intervened directly to influence content
Marxism
Functionalism
Feminism
New Right
Media
Critical of the media as it is owned and controlled by the ruling classes who use it to transmit ruling class capitalist ideologies (Conflict approach)
Press owners have intervened directly to influence content
Support the media as it is an important agent of secondary socialisation which teaches norms and values.
The public influence the content by exercising their market power (pluralist approach)
Critical of the media as it is controlled by men and continues to perpetuate negative stereotypes of women, leading to gender socialization
Support the media but believes it should transmit traditional norms and values and promote the nuclear family and consumer choice.

5. Marxism Functionalism Feminism New Right
Marxism
Functionalism
Feminism
New Right
Social Inequality
Criticises the structure of society as structured in a way that the poor stay poor and rich stay rich. This reinforces the class system (education system, families, workplace).
Social inequalities affect life chances
The ruling classes own the means of production and so control society’s wealth. They exploit the working classes by threatening their job security
Supports stratification as some jobs are more important than others because they are vital to the continuation of society. These required specific high level skills and education so should be rewarded
The amount of wealth and prestige an individual has is directly related to their merit. Inequality encourages progression.
The UK is a meritocracy due to free healthcare and education
Criticises the structure of society as it patriarchal and women are gender socialized to become housewives and mothers
Women are significantly poorer than men because they experience a glass ceiling due to sex discrimination and gender expectations
Triple shift (Dunscombe & Marsden)
People are to blame for their own poverty and the welfare state encourages dependency (welfare dependency & underclass – Murray)
Social issues such as poverty, crime & deviance are due to the breakdown of the traditional family