2. Theory and Methods: Structuralist
theories of society.
Before we can begin to look at and understand sociological theories which
explain why some people commit crime and deviance and why the vast
majority of people in a society conform to the rules, we need to
understand how different sociological theories explain the
organisation of society. These theories of society underpin and/or
influence most criminological theories.
There are three broad groups of sociological theories which aim to
explain how societies work:
(a)
STRUCTURALIST theories. These theories are also
sometimes called ‘structural’ theories.
(b)
SOCIAL ACTION theories. These will be covered later by
study-guide 8a.
(c) STRUCTURATION theory or POSTMODERNISM. This theory will
be covered later by study-guide 8b.
Structural or Structuralist Theories of Society
This study-guide is going to focus on four structuralist theories of
society –
(a)
Functionalism
(b)
Marxism
(c) Weberian
(d)
Feminism.
So, what do all these theories have in common?
1. All structuralist theories are interested in how societies are
structured or organised as social systems – a social system is a
collection of social institutions such as: the family, education,
politics, the mass media, work, criminal justice, health care,
1
religion, etc. These social institutions are often inter-dependent
on one another and are usually focused on common goals.
2. Most importantly, structuralists argue that the social
institutions which make up the social system exert a
tremendous influence over individual behaviour. For example,
most people follow the rules laid down by these institutions. Note
that most people go to school, drive according to the Highway Code,
obey the law and get married and live in families. These types of
behaviour are not a product of chance – they are directly
shaped by the social system.
3. Structuralist theories therefore share the view that free will and
human choice are less important than structural forces or
laws that originate in the social system. They tend to see
people as the ‘puppets’ of society. Structuralists are therefore
positivists – they see the social structure or organisation of
society (i.e. the social system) as more worthy of study than
individuals. Structuralists consequently spend most of their time
examining the effects of society and its social institutions on
human actions.
4. Structuralists believe that human behaviour, like that of animals, is
broadly similar because it is shaped by these greater influences.
In other words, structuralist sociologists generally believe that
human behaviour is patterned (members of similar groups
behave in similar ways) and consequently human action is
predictable.
However! Evaluation!
Some structuralist thinkers are consensus sociologists. This means they
see society as exerting a positive effect on individuals and their
behaviour because the way society is organised produces consensus or
agreement on how to behave and consequently social order and
stability.
On the other hand, some structuralist thinkers are conflict sociologists.
This means they see society as exerting a negative effect on
individuals and their behaviour because the way society is organised
produces inequality, especially class and patriarchal differences in
wealth and power, and consequently the potential for social conflict
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between social groups. From this perspective, social order and stability
are merely illusions.
Structuralist Theory No.1 - Functionalism
Functionalism is a structuralist theory which argues that society as a
social system mainly produces consensus or broad agreement on
behaviour and that this in turn explains why society is characterised by
social order rather than chaos and anarchy.
Functionalists often use a biological analogy to describe how society
works, i.e. the social system is likened to the human body. All the
organs of the body work together to bring about good health just as all
the social institutions of society work together as a social system
to bring about social order.
The flow-diagram below identifies the social institutions that make up the
functionalist social system.
FAMILY
EDUCATION
WORK/ECONOMY
MY
POLITICS
JUSTICE/LAW
HEALTH CARE
WELFARE
MASS MEDIA
RELIGION
However, functionalists also use the human body analogy to illustrate
potential problems with the way society is structured or organised. If an
organ should break down, then, the whole body may be diseased until it
is fixed by a doctor. Similarly, if one social institution should
malfunction, this may produce unhealthy social effects and
undermine the smooth running of the whole social system, e.g. a
sudden rise in divorce may have the effect of producing
underachievement in the education system and a sharp rise in
delinquency and anti-social behaviour. Politicians may have to bring in
new laws either to make divorce more difficult or to control delinquency.
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Functionalists such as Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons believe
that societies as social systems exist independently of the people
or individuals of whom they are composed. This idea can be
illustrated in two ways; firstly, individuals are born into a society that
already exists, they spend on average 70-80 years living in that
society and when they die, society continues on without them.
Secondly, note how we refer to society as a living, breathing entity, e.g.
we might say ‘society demands answers’ to a particular social problem or
‘what is happening to society’. However, we cannot see or touch ‘society’.
Rather ‘society’ is a merely a concept but one which functionalists
believe exerts a powerful influence over social behaviour. In other
words, we do what we do because ‘society’ demands it of us.
Functionalists like Parsons argue that society as a social system
functions to fulfil particular needs for its members. The main need
is for social order or stability so that people can cooperate and
work alongside each other, therefore avoiding instability, chaos
and anarchy.
Parsons argues that the social institutions that make up the social
system function inter-dependently to achieve four main goals that
are purposely aimed at bringing about this social order and
stability.
1. Socialisation into value consensus — children learn the basic
norms and values of society in the family (primary
socialisation), e.g. the difference between right and wrong,
conscience, gender roles etc.
Other more universally shared values such as achievement,
individualism and competition are learned via agents of
secondary socialisation such as the education system, work,
religion and the mass media, e.g. people tend to learn a sense of
morality from religious value systems. According to functionalists,
successful socialisation produces the conformist law-abiding
citizens and good workers necessary for social order.
2. Social integration — a sense of belonging to society or
community. Socialisation agencies such as education do this
through the teaching of history, religion etc. The mass media
may promote nationalism by positively reporting on the Royal
Family or British achievements in sporting events like the Olympic
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Games. Religion creates moral communities which people identify
with, e.g. Christian, Muslim etc.
3. Social control or pattern maintenance - functionalists note
that many social institutions are agencies of social control once members of society have been socialised into values, they
need to be morally regulated – their commitment to common
values or consensus need to be reinforced now and then by both
informal and formal agencies of control. For example, informal
agencies such as the family do this through praise and
punishment. Religion uses promises of heaven and threats of
hell to keep members of society on the straight and narrow.
Formal agencies of control such as the criminal justice system,
e.g. the law, the police the judiciary etc use the fear of
imprisonment etc to encourage people to toe the line.
4. Role allocation or adaption - Members of society are encouraged
to take their place in the specialised division of labour (i.e. the
economy) as workers. This is encouraged by education which
functions to transmit skills and attitudes through exams and
qualifications so that people can be allocated to jobs that best
suit their abilities. Families encourage their members to commit
themselves to a career etc. The workplace is an important social
institution because work not only equips the individual with a
sense of identity but it also provides the wages which
underpin people’s standard of living and consumer spending.
In other words, it fuels the economy.
Parsons refers to these four functions as ‘functional imperatives’ and
argues these need to be achieved if a society is to continue to exist
and to be successful.
Evaluation of Functionalism

5
It is over-deterministic — this means that it suggests that social
behaviour is solely determined by social factors beyond the
individual’s control such as socialisation into value
consensus or the economy’s need for workers. It does not take
individual choice or how people interpret and react to their
social situation into consideration. Consequently functionalists
are rarely interested in how people see or interpret social
influences such as socialisation, consensus, integration, work etc
and how they choose to react to them.
EVALUATIVE ILLUSTRATION: For example, is socialisation
always successful? What social problems suggest it is not?

It presents an over-socialised picture of people in that it assumes
that the social system produces conformist citizens. However it
fails to understand that some people may actually resist these
processes.
EVALUATIVE ILLUSTRATION: For example, do all groups accept
the authority of religion or the police? What evidence suggests
otherwise?

Functionalism also fails to account for the social conflict that
exists in modern societies between social classes, between
ethnic groups, between men and women and between
cultures. It places far too much emphasis on consensus/order
although the functionalist thinker Durkheim did predict that the
way modern societies are organised was likely to produce
moral confusion or dissatisfaction – (he called this ‘anomie’)
which in turn was likely to lead to conflict rather than
consensus.
EVALUATIVE ILLUSTRATION: Why did Durkheim predict modern
societies were likely to be anomic?

Finally functionalism is so focused on explaining the positive
functions of society that it fails to consider the possible
negative consequences or dysfunctions of social institutions
such as the family, e.g. domestic violence.
EVALUATIVE ILLUSTRATION: What other dysfunctions do
Functionalists neglect?
Structuralist Theory No. 2 - Marxism
Marxism is a structuralist theory too. However, it takes a conflict rather
than a consensus approach because Marxists believe that the way modern
societies are organised has led to inequalities in wealth, income,
power, educational opportunities and life expectancy and
consequently conflict between social classes. Marxism is therefore
critical of the organisation of the social structure of modern
6
societies because it has a negative effect on human behaviour in the
sense that it has resulted in exploitation, greed, envy, resentment
and stress.
Marxists see modern societies as organised along capitalist lines. This
means that the pursuit of profit by competing economic elites is the
most important goal of these societies. They see the capitalist
social structure as divided into two inter-related parts; the
infrastructure and the superstructure.
(a) The economic infrastructure
The most important part of the capitalist social system is the
infrastructure or economic system. Marx claimed that this
infrastructure was dominated by a wealthy and powerful minority –
the bourgeoisie or ruling capitalist class - who own and control the
means of production, e.g. capital, land, factories, technology and
raw materials.
However, in order to manufacture goods in factories, the
bourgeoisie need the labour-power provided by the proletariat
(working-class). The relationship between the bourgeoisie and
proletariat is known as ‘the social relations of production’.
However, Marx argued that this relationship is unequal because the
bourgeoisie set wage levels and control the organisation of the
workplace, e.g. the speed of the assembly-line in factories.
More importantly, the wage paid to the worker is only a small fraction of
the true value of their work – according to Marx, the bourgeoisie
monopolises wealth today because they exploit the ‘surplus value’ of
working class people’s labour - the difference between what their
labour is actually worth and the wage they are paid becomes
profit and is the main cause of inequalities in wealth, power etc
today. For example, it is a fact that approximately 7% of the British
population owns about 85% of the country’s wealth – Marxists
claim that this 7% (the bourgeoisie) has exploited the other 93%
(people who work in return for a wage).
(b) The superstructure
So why do those who work for the bourgeoisie put up with this
exploitation and inequality? Marxists argue that they do so because of
7
the influence of the second part of the capitalist social structure –
the superstructure.
The superstructure is made up of social institutions such as the family,
education, religion, legal system, mass media, politics etc. According to
Marx, the function of the superstructure is to transmit ruling class
ideology – ideas that originate with the bourgeoisie but which the
majority of members of society are ‘persuaded’ to accept as
‘normal’ or ‘natural’.

For example, parents encourage their children to take their place
within the capitalist system as workers and consumers.

Schools and colleges stress achievement through examinations and
qualifications. They convince pupils and students that
capitalist society is a meritocracy – that if people are
intelligent and if they work hard, they will be rewarded with
a great job and standard of living. However, this is not true! It
conveniently neglects the fact that the 7% of pupils and students
who attend the top fee-paying private schools (the children
of the ruling-class) disproportionately monopolise the top
jobs and economic rewards in the UK.

Marx also saw religion as the ‘opium of the people’ —he
suggested it was a type of ideology because it convinces the poor
that their situation in society, (e.g. poverty) is God- given
and can only be changed by God or in an after-life rather
than, say, by taking to the streets and over-throwing the
ruling class.

The mass media too plays an ideological role in that it
convinces people that the wealthy are deserving of their
status and wealth whilst the poor are probably undeserving,
e.g. newspaper stories and television series like ‘Benefits Street’
often focus on the underclass who supposedly do not want to work
or who are scrounging off the welfare state whilst ignoring the vast
tax avoidance of the super-wealthy.
The overall function of ruling-class ideology transmitted by those
social institutions which make up the superstructure, therefore, is to
convince those lacking in wealth and power that capitalism is a
fair system and that inequality and particularly their social class
8
position and status are the products of their own shortcomings
and therefore justified. As a result,
Marxists argue that the working-class suffer from false class
consciousness – they are deliberately kept in a state of ignorance by
the ruling-class about the true cause of their problems, i.e. the unequal
organisation of the capitalist system which overwhelmingly favours the
wealthy.
The relationship between the infrastructure (or base) and the
superstructure is nicely summarised in the house-diagram below. Note
that from a Marxist perspective, all inequality is rooted in the
economic relationships established at work between employer and
employee which are based on exploitation.
Note too that the superstructure is dependent on the infrastructure
– everything that goes on within the family, education, religion,
politics, mass media and justice-legal system is determined and
shaped by the inequalities in wealth, privilege and power
generated by the economic base or infrastructure.
The superstructure’s function, therefore, is to maintain, justify
and reproduce the class inequality that originates in the economic
infrastructure.
9
The Marxist analysis claims that social class inequality shapes social
behaviour and consequently Marxists see capitalist societies as
organised along class lines – people generally belong to three broad
social groups:
10

The upper class made up of those who own and control big
business and finance capital.

The middle-classes – people who are generally employed as
managers and professionals (white-collar workers) and who
generally enjoy a good standard of living.

The working-classes – people who are employed in manual
work (blue-collar workers). The working-class are often
differentiated by skill – skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled. In
recent years, those who have been unemployed and on
benefits for a significant time have been identified as an
‘underclass’.
Marxists suggest that social behaviour is generally patterned
along social class lines. This suggests that there are distinct types
of working-class, middle-class and upper-class modes of
behaviour. For example, the evidence suggests that watching
television and following football are mainly working-class pursuits, that
theatre-going and drinking in wine-bars are middle-class pursuits, and
that blood sports such as shooting and hunting are upper-class
pursuits.
Construct a table of social classes and list types of behaviour
you think are mainly associated with each class.
Evaluation of Marxism
11

Like functionalism, Marxism is also over-deterministic — it
suggests that people’s social behaviour is wholly determined
by their social class which in turn is the product of the
infrastructure. Marxism does not acknowledge that people may
be free to make their own choices or that people can
experience the same social class situation in different ways
and decide to react differently to their peers.

Marxism too presents an over-socialised picture of workingclass people being turned into conformist workers and being
duped into false class consciousness by the superstructure’s
transmission of ruling-class ideology. However, this fails to
consider that the working-class might actually be aware of
class inequality (surveys indicate they are) but feel that the
benefits of capitalism (e.g. standard of living) compensate
for it.

There is also evidence that some sections of the working-class
have resisted capitalist exploitation. Industrial action in the
form of strikes, riots and voting for political parties that
oppose the present organisation of capitalism suggest that
many working-class people can see through ruling-class
ideology.

The neo-Marxist Gramsci argues that what goes on in the
superstructure is not always shaped by the infrastructure. He
argues that some institutions that make up the superstructure can
act independently of the economy and class and therefore equip
the working-class with the ideas that they need to overthrow the
capitalist elite. Gramsci believed that both religion and the media
had the power to socialise the working-class into
revolutionary ideas independently of the infrastructure.

Some critics have noted that functionalist and Marxist accounts
of society are actually very similar. This has led to them
referring to Marxism as a form of left-wing functionalism.
Structuralist Theory No. 3 – Weberian
This theory is associated with Max Weber, an influential German
sociologist, who has had a huge influence on a number of theories. Weber
is not strictly a structuralist sociologist – as we shall see later, his theory
contains elements of structuralism, social action theory and
structuration theory.
Weber’s starting point is his criticism of Marx who he claimed overemphasised the influence of the economic in his stress on social class
as the main source of social inequality and cause of social behaviour.
Weber suggested that there were many sources of inequality and
conflict in society organised around differences in status and power.
He criticised Marx because Marx failed to recognise that social class was
merely one type of status inequality and that other types of status
inequality based on gender, ethnicity, religion and nationality –
which have little to do with wealth or profit – are also important sources
of division and conflict in society. Weber was a major influence on
feminism because he emphasised the role of gender in shaping
inequality and conflict.
Weber also criticised Marx for failing to explain the status differences
that exist within social class strata. For example, within the upper
class, ‘old wealth’ such as that symbolised by the Royal Family and the
aristocracy seems to have more status than ‘new wealth’ symbolised by
owners of companies or wealthy celebrities. Within the middle-classes, we
can see status differences between the upper middle-class, the
professional and managerial middle-classes and white-collar workers.
Within the working-class, there are status differences between the ‘labour
aristocracy’, (i.e. skilled well paid workers), those who are semi-skilled
12
and unskilled and those who are long-term unemployed and dependent
on benefits.
In addition, Weber identified types of power that have little to do
with economics or social class. For example, people may acquire
power because they have greater physical or military strength over
others. People may acquire a legitimate form of power called ‘authority’
from the state or society to exercise power such as the Prime Minister
or police officers or teachers. People may acquire charismatic authority
from the strength of their own personality. The important point that
Weber is making is that none of these types of power originates in
the way capitalism is organised.
Weber’s analysis is important because he notes that it is not always the
capitalist class that is responsible for inequality, exploitation, suffering
and conflict. In many societies around the world, and in many walks of
life, men dominate women, majority ethnic groups and religions
exploit ethnic and religious minorities and powerful nationalistic
groups and societies repress other national groups or societies
because they are interpreted as ‘inferior’. For example, supporters of
Weber would see the Holocaust as the product of status inequality based
on ethnicity and nationalism – rather than class inequalities generated by
the German capitalist system.
We shall return to Weber when we examine Social Action theories and
postmodernism because as we shall see he has been claimed as the
‘founding father’ of these two perspectives.
Structuralist Theory No. 4 - Feminism
Feminism focuses on the conflict between men and women. It
argues that most societies are patriarchal – this means that male
domination, female subordination and therefore gender inequality
characterise the organisation of societies such as the UK.
According to feminists, patriarchy is the dominant form of status
inequality in UK society. They note that it existed well before the
capitalist system and therefore well before social class differences
existed. Feminists argue that patriarchy currently exists in every
social institution that makes up the patriarchal social system. In
social institutions such as the family, the education system, the mass
media, the political system and the economic system, women are
13
systematically disadvantaged and oppressed. They are deliberately
kept under-represented in positions of power. Furthermore, male
violence against women is a norm in patriarchal societies.
Feminists therefore focus on gender inequalities in employment, pay,
social mobility, political power and family relationships and how
these are encouraged by the patriarchal nature of the social
institutions that make up the social structure.
There are three broad types of feminism:
(i)
Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminists see society as patriarchal but suggest that
patriarchal power is in decline for a variety of reasons.
(a) Women now have a great deal more economic power compared
with the past because of the feminisation of economy and
workforce, equal opportunities legislation which has made it
illegal for employers to discriminate against females and
improved educational opportunities. For example, evidence
suggests that females are out-performing males at all levels of the
British educational system.
(b) Liberal feminists argue that these economic changes have resulted
in a profound attitudinal change in young women today which
Wilkinson refers to as a ‘genderquake’ – compared with
previous generations of young women, Wilkinson argues that
young females in 2014 are much more focused on education
and careers.
This idea was supported by Sue Sharpe who compared two
generations of young women. She found that teenage girls in
the 1970s emphasised the importance of marriage and children
whilst teenage girls in the 1990s stressed the importance of
‘getting ahead’ through the acquisition of qualifications and
well-paid jobs.
Furthermore, Liberal feminists argue that gender role
socialisation in families is slowly changing in that girls are
no longer viewed as second class citizens or encouraged to
see themselves as subordinate to males.
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(c) Liberal feminists note that marriage and family life in 2014 is
more egalitarian or equal compared with the past. Men are
doing more around the home with regard to housework and
childcare whilst husbands and wives are more likely to share
decision-making because women are now bringing home a wage.
(d) Women’s easy access to the contraceptive pill has given them
control over reproduction. This means women rather than
men now control decision-making regarding whether to have
children, when to have them and how many to have. This has
led to some women electing not to have children because they feel
it puts them at a disadvantage in the workplace.
(e) The State too has contributed to this improved situation for women,
e.g. the Divorce Reform Act has given them the power to quit
unhappy marriages. The statistics indicate that two-thirds of
divorces today are initiated by women.
However, Liberal feminists argue that patriarchy still persists in
2014. For example:

In the family, domestic violence is still a major and often
unreported problem. It is probably the most widespread violent
crime in the UK. For example, it is estimated that 1 in 4 women
experience domestic violence at some time in their lives.
According to the Home Office, approximately two women per
week are murdered by their male partners or ex-partners.

In the educational system, Liberal feminists note at A-level,
male students are three times more likely to take Physics
whilst females are twice as likely to do English. In higher
education, males are over-represented in physical and
mathematical sciences, engineering and technology and
architecture and construction. Females, on the other hand,
dominate degree courses such as Education, English, the Social
Sciences and Biological Sciences.
Anne Colley blames these differences in subject choice (which can
shape later career choices and pay differences) on patriarchal
beliefs about femininity and masculinity held both by parents
who may steer their daughters away from the hard sciences
and teachers and career advisors, especially in mixed schools.
She notes that girls in single-sex schools are twice as likely to
15
study mathematics at university because patriarchal pressures are
likely to be compensated for by the existence of positive female
role models in terms of teachers and peers.

In the mass media, Liberal feminists have expressed concern
about the constant patriarchal representation of women as
sex objects (e.g. Page 3). A range of Liberal feminist
organisations have appeared in recent years to challenge the
media’s use of sexist stereotypes including ‘Everyday Media
Sexism’, ‘Object’ and ‘Equality Now’.
These Liberal feminists are concerned about these media
representations because they believe that the mass media plays
a major role in the social construction of gender roles, i.e.
how children learn to be feminine or masculine. The media
emphasis on females as domestic goddesses and sex objects is
seen as a problem because it is believed to have a limiting effect
on young females’ behaviour and aspirations. In other words,
young women may be encouraged to see their future as
defined by their bodies rather than their intelligence and
personality. Liberal feminists also argue that the sexual
objectification of women’s bodies in the media undermines young
women’s confidence because it results in young women
experiencing frequent undue anxiety about their size and shape.
16

In the criminal justice system, Liberal feminists such as Sue
Lees have expressed concern about official attitudes and
approaches to rape. It is estimated that only about 20% of
rapes are reported to the authorities. Lees argues that this
under-reporting is the result of victims being put off by the
media’s reporting of rape which often implies women are at fault
because they dress or behave in a ‘provocative manner’,
patriarchal social attitudes which suggest victims are often
promiscuous women who ‘invite’ men’s sexual interest, the
courtroom experience in which the defence attempts to
undermine the victim’s reputation and the poor conviction rate
which currently stands at 6% in 2014.

In the political world, women are still under-represented in
Parliament and in the Government.

In many religions, women are excluded from positions of
influence. For example, some religions forbid women from leading
services or prayer.
(ii)
Marxist-Feminism
Marxists-feminists share many of the ideas of mainstream
Marxists. Like Marxists, they aim to construct a critique of capitalism.
Marxist-feminists argue that the most important type of inequality is
social class which originates in the economic base or infrastructure.
Marxist-feminists agree with Marxism in general that inequalities in
wealth, income etc are caused by the capitalist class exploiting
the labour of the working-class.
Marxist feminists argue that patriarchy is an ideology deliberately
created by the powerful and wealthy capitalist bourgeoisie. In this
sense, it is a product of the superstructure of capitalist society.
Patriarchal ideology aims to support capitalist ideology in justifying the
exploitation of labour and inequalities in wealth, income, opportunities
and power. Patriarchal ideology also aims to ideologically divide and
rule the working-class by gender so they do not unite, oppose and
challenge the supremacy of the capitalist class.
Benston argues that patriarchal ideology is deliberately transmitted by
those who control the capitalist system to convince both men and women
that women are inferior and subordinate to men. If men and
women are divided in their beliefs, Marxists argue that it is easier
for the bourgeoisie to control and exploit both working-class men
and women.
Margaret Benston argues that capitalism transmits the idea that
women’s family role as mothers, nurturers and housewives is
their most important function via gender role socialisation,
religion, the mass media, politics and social policy etc. This is
because women’s domestic labour is crucial to capitalism in two important
respects.
(a)
Capitalism requires a future workforce – it is the role of
females as mothers to reproduce and to bring up the future
workforce free of charge to the capitalist class.
(b)
The present male workforce requires maintenance – it
needs to be fed and its batteries recharged to be efficient. It is the
17
role of females as housewives to maintain the health and
efficiency of the male workforce at no extra cost to the
capitalist class.
Moreover, Benston argues that the bourgeoisie uses patriarchal
ideology to divide and rule the male and female working-class. It
does this by transmitting the idea via gender role socialization and
mass media representations of females as sex-objects, ultra-thin
celebrities and appendages of males (girlfriends and wives of famous
men) that women are inferior/subordinate to men. Men,
consequently take on the role as heads of households and wield power
over women. This compensates working-class men for their lack of
power and control in the workplace.
Marxist-feminists also argue that another ideological role of
patriarchy is to encourage mothers to socialise their children into
capitalist norms and values especially materialism, consumerism etc.
Such values ensure that the future generation does not ‘rock the boat’
and challenge the inequality which characterizes capitalism.
Marxist-feminists argue that this capitalist-patriarchal set-up has various
negative consequences for women in general:
18

Women still experience inequality in the home in the sense that
they are still mainly responsible for housework and childcare.

Women’s primary responsibility for childcare may deter some
employers from recruiting or promoting women. This makes it
difficult for women to fairly compete with men for jobs.

Women who have children are likely to have their careers
interrupted which means they fall behind men in terms of job
opportunities. This means that when they return to work, they
tend to return to low-skilled, low-paid and often part-time
work.

Women often constitute a reserve army of labour. They are only
employed when the economy is booming and are the first to be
sacked in a recession. Marxists argue that women are more
vulnerable to trends such as economic recession, downsizing and
mergers, and therefore constitute a more disposable part of the
workforce. This discrimination does not cause controversy because
patriarchal ideology suggests they are returning to their
most important role, i.e. their family role.

Fran Ansley notes that some women may soak up the frustrations
of men who are unhappy with their jobs in the form of domestic
violence. Patriarchal ideology may function to suggest that this is a
‘normal’ thing for women to experience and may therefore
contribute to the under-reporting of this type of violence.
(iii)
Radical Feminism
Radical feminists suggest that gender inequality is far more
important than ANY other forms of inequality. Radical feminists
suggest that patriarchy existed well before capitalism appeared in the 18th
century. Most importantly, Radical feminists argue that patriarchy
benefits all men.
Radical feminists such as Kate Millett and Shula Firestone argue that
the most basic social divisions in the world are those based on sex
(this refers to biological differences) and gender (this refers to
cultural differences in the way men and women are expected by
society to behave, i.e. masculinity and femininity). They argue that
men and women have very different interests, and that men exploit
women in all aspects of social life.
Delphy argues that men and women constitute separate classes —
these classes are organised around exploitation - men exploit
women’s labour power, especially in the family. This is mainly done
via patriarchal ideology (e.g. through ideas such as a woman’s place is
in the home, a ‘real’ woman wants to have children, children need their
mothers etc) and physical power — violence — e.g. domestic
violence, the threat of rape etc.
Radical feminists believe that women are exploited and oppressed by
men in all the social institutions that make up society. Family,
government, cultural traditions, religion, law, education and the media all
reflect patriarchal ideology – that it is normal and natural for men and
women to have different roles, influence, power etc.
Radical-feminists argue that patriarchy begins in the family because
gender role socialization is where children begin to learn that men
and women are not only biologically different but that they should
occupy separate and distinct social roles too. Girls learn that their
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role is secondary to that of males – that they are first and foremost
meant to be passive, docile, decorative and that their lives should be
dedicated primarily to home and family.
Delphy and Leonard argue that all men benefit in various ways from
the general exploitation of women. For example, they argue that
husbands (even when they love their wives) exploit women in the
home by making little contribution to housework and childcare.
Women are expected to be there for men -to flatter them, to
physically, sexually and emotionally maintain them etc.
Other Radical-feminists such as Wolf note that patriarchal ideology is
used to control women for the benefit of men. Women are told how to
look, dress and behave. Dworkin argues that when patriarchal
ideology fails, women are constantly under the threat of male violence
and sexual aggression, which limits their capacity to live as free and
independent beings. She suggests that men use their physical power and
the threat of it to control women through domestic violence, pornography,
child abuse and rape. Dworkin suggests that all men benefit from rape
because women become dependent on them in order to be protected from
other men.
(iv)
Walby – a combined Marxist-Radical approach
Sylvia Walby (1990) suggests that the Radical-feminist and
Marxist-feminist approaches could be combined. She argues that
capitalism and patriarchy work alongside each other to exploit
women.
Walby argues that patriarchy has evolved over the course of history
from a system of ‘private patriarchy’ to a system of ‘public
patriarchy’. In social systems characterised by private patriarchy,
women are restricted to the home and denied access to education, jobs
etc. A good example of this was when the Taliban controlled
Afghanistan. However, in many societies around the world, women have
now entered the public arenas of education, employment, politics and so
on. Walby argues that this has led to public patriarchy – ‘they have the
whole society in which to roam and be exploited’.
Walby argues that patriarchy intersects with capitalism and racism
to produce a modern form of gender inequality or stratification
underpinned by six key patriarchal social structures:
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(1)
The workplace – women experience discrimination from
employers and restricted entry into particular careers
because of the ideology that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’;
when they enter work they generally experience low pay,
low status, etc.
(2)
The household – female labour is exploited in the family.
(3)
The state – this acts in the interests of men rather than women
in terms of taxation, welfare rules, the weakness of equality laws
which supposedly protect women at home and work, etc.
(4)
Cultural institutions such as the mass media – these
represent women in a narrow set of social roles, such as sex
objects and as mother–housewives or wives and girlfriends,
rather than people in their own right.
(5)
Sexuality – a double standard persists in modern society that
values multiple sexual partners for men but condemns the same
behaviour in women and therefore defines sexually active women
as deviant. We can particularly see this in women’s treatment in
rape trials.
(6)
Violence against women – sexual assault, domestic violence
and the threat of violence are used by men to control the
behaviour of women.
Walby acknowledges that inequalities between men and women vary over
time and in intensity. For example, young women are now achieving
better educational qualifications than men and, as a result, the intensity
of patriarchy has to some extent lessened. Nevertheless, she argues
that women continue to be disadvantaged. Walby notes that the most
powerful positions in all aspects of society continue to be held by men.
She concludes that patriarchy continues to exist but that different gender
regimes affect groups of women differently. For example, the
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experience of White single mothers is likely to be different to the
experience of Asian women or White female professionals.
Evaluation of Feminist theories of society
22

Like functionalism and Marxism, feminism is also overdeterministic — it suggests that men and women’s social
behaviour is wholly determined by patriarchal factors. It does
not take choice or how females interpret their social situation
into consideration, e.g. Catherine Hakim’s research suggests
some women may be quite happy to be mothers and
housewives – they actively choose this option (despite the fact
that feminism sees it as a second-class option compared with
having a career).

Feminism presents an over-socialised picture of women being
turned into conformist mother/housewives. In this sense,
Marxist and Radical feminists, in particular, may be a bit dated.
They fail to consider recent changes which have led to women
having a wide range of choices in the 21st century, e.g. the
feminisation of the economy and workforce, gender-quake,
better pay, educational opportunities, divorce laws, easy
access to contraception etc.

Some critics have suggested that if patriarchy is universal, i.e.
found in all societies, then, its origin may be biological. It has
been suggested that whilst women are in the stages of advanced
pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing, they are more likely to be
dependent on men. Patriarchy may therefore be the product
of women’s reproductive role –biology- rather than culture
or capitalism.

Feminism generally underplays the influence of social class
and ethnicity. Delamont (2001) has pointed out that feminist
writers wrongly seem to assume that women share a
common position of exploitation. She suggests that there are
many divisions between women on grounds of income and
social class, ethnicity and religion which feminists either
ignore or neglect. For example, middle-class women may not
be exploited by men as much as working-class women
because they have more access to economic power. The
influence of factors such as religion or racism may mean that
Black or Asian women may experience more male
exploitation than White women.

Scott (2008) found that support for gender equality appears
to be declining across Britain (even amongst women) because of
concerns that women who play a full-time role in the
workforce do so at the expense of family life and contact
with children. She found both women and men are becoming
more likely to believe that both the mother and the family will suffer
if a woman works full time.
Note:
It is essential that you get to grips with the theories of society
contained on this study-guide because these (and the social
action and postmodern theories covered by study-guides 8a and
8b) are likely to be the focus of the 33-mark question found in
Section C of the Crime & Deviance examination paper. This section
of the examination only contains one theory question – there is
NO choice of questions.
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