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Claire Simmons Assess the Usefulness of Functionalism for an Understanding of the Family. Functionalists such as Talcott Parsons (1956), suggest that the modern nuclear family has evolved to meet the needs of industrial society. Parsons argued that the most common family type in pre-industrial society was the extended family and that this extended unit was 'multifunctional'. It was responsible for a number of functions such as education, production, health care and welfare. He argued that the industrial revolution bought about three fundamental changes in family functions and structure. These are: 1. Structural differentiation: Specialised agencies developed which gradually took over many of the family's functions, such as factories taking over the production function. The state eventually took over the functions of health, education and welfare. 2. Early industry's demand for a geographically mobile workforce saw the nuclear family breaking away from the extended family. 3. The nuclear unit provides the husband...

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