The Functionalist may view this shift, and other changes, as a means for weakening and disorganizing the family and disrupting the social synchronization under which the family structure was established. .
The Feminist views the family by focusing on the experiences the women goes through in the family. In their observations, they do not see the family as serving the hierarchy of needs of the entire family equally. There is one change that is taking place in today's family that feminists may look at as another form of inequality in today's society. That change is the increase of single parent and female-headed households. Single-parent households form from high divorce rates, and female-headed households form from the high divorce rate and the high rate of women having children out of wedlock, especially teenagers. .
Another outlook on family structure comes from the Symbolic Interactionist. The Symbolic Interaction theory of the family studies how different people define and comprehend the meaning of family, the experiences people go through in their families, and the sorts of relationships families have. Symbolic Interactionists look more towards the context under which people construct the meanings of their families. In the case of the increase of single-parent families, the Symbolic Interactionist looks out how people define the roles within their households and the context under which people form relationships within single-parent households.
The last view of the family stems from the Conflict Theorist, who views the family as a "system of power relations that reinforces and reflects the inequalities in society at large" (page 179, Study Guide, Andersen and Taylor). Family privileges and disadvantages are attained through race, gender, and class. Using the Conflict Theory of the family, the African-American family's changes can be attributed to the disadvantages they experience due to their class and race.
