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Assess the Claim that the Nuclear Family is a Universal Institute.
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Henry Cuthbertson 12E Sociology Assess the Claim that the Nuclear Family is a Universal Institute By studying over 250 societies, Murdock defined four irreducible functions of the family; sexual: regulated sexual relations, reproduction: sustained the human population in the society, educational: taught the norms and values of the society, economic: provided a stable environment in terms of food, shelter etc. He thought the nuclear family is the most efficient institute for carrying out these four functions and thought it as a universal human social grouping that existed distinctly within every society. Murdock would argue that the nuclear family is a universal institute as from studying over 250 societies it can be assumed his definition is a firm one and the alternatives are few and far between in small scale, which often have little impact on society. However, it is suggested that the nuclear family defined by Murdock is not universal by...
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