Sociologists

rapoport and rapoport

-increasing family diversity in modern Britain

-organisational, cultural, class-based, life‑stage and generational diversity

-no single family type now dominates

challenges the idea that the nuclear family is “normal.”

Willmott and Young

• functionalist

• the family has become more symmetrical, with husbands and wives sharing roles more equally than in the past

• due to social changes such as better living standards and women working

Talcott Parsons (families)

• functionalist

• the nuclear family performs two key functions

• : (1) the primary socialisation of children and (2) the stabilisation of adult personalities

• the nuclear family best fits the needs of modern industrial society.

Eli Zaretsky

• marxist

• the family supports capitalism by providing an emotional escape for workers, helping them cope with exploitation at work

• cult of private life

• the family encourages consumerism

• sees the family as maintaining class inequality.

Delphy and Leonard

• radical feminists

• the family is a patriarchal institution where men benefit from women’s unpaid labour, even when they also work outside the home

• the family serves men’s interests more than women’s

Ann Oakley

• a feminist

• women still do the majority of housework and childcare, even when employed

• traditional gender roles remain strong and disadvantage women.

• gender roles are taught from a young age through canalisation and manipulation

Charles Murray (family)

• a New Right thinker

• single‑parent families—particularly those headed by women—contribute to a “dependency culture” where people rely on state benefits

• poor socialisation of children and rising crime

• nuclear family as the most stable and effective family structure

• men providing discipline and women providing emotional support.

Emil Durkheim

•  functionalist

• education creates social cohesion by teaching shared norms and values, helping individuals feel part of a wider society

• schools teach specialist skills needed for work

• essential for the functioning of the economy.

Talcott Parsons (education)

• a bridge between the family and wider society

• secondary socialisation

• moving children from purely family values to the values expected in society

• meritocracy

Bowles and Gintis

• Marxists

• education reproduces class inequality by preparing working‑class students for working‑class jobs

• correspondence principle, meaning the organisation of school mirrors the organisation of the workplace, teaching obedience and acceptance of hierarchy.

Becky Francis

• feminist

• boys often receive more negative attention from teachers, while girls may face gender stereotypes in subject choice

• schooling can reinforce gender identities even while girls’ academic performance has improved.

David Hargreaves

• studied labelling

• teachers often classify students based on behaviour, appearance or background

• lead to subcultures, where students reject school values and underachieve

• teacher expectations can shape student outcomes

• self-fulfilling prophecies.

• interactionist

Paul Willis

• marxist

• working‑class “lads” formed an anti‑school subculture that rejected education and middle-class values and instead valued manual labour.

• led them into the same working‑class jobs as their parents, helping reproduce social class inequality

Stephen Ball

• streaming disadvantages working‑class children

• in lower bands, students receive fewer opportunities and lower expectations, which can harm achievement

Albert Halsey

• a student’s social class strongly affects their chances of staying in education

• middle‑class pupils benefit from greater financial, cultural and social support, while working‑class students face barriers to achievement and progression.

Davis and Moore

• functionalist

• role allocation, ensures the most important jobs go to the most talented people because these roles offer higher rewards

• motivates individuals to train and compete for key positions

Max Weber

• stratification is based on three factors: class, status and party- people’s lifestyle, prestige and political influence also shape their social position

• the three types of authority are traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal.

• marxist

Fiona Devine

• critiqued the idea that the working class today have become more individualistic and like the middle-class

• people still value community, solidarity and mutual support

• challenges the New Right view of a “declining” work ethic.

Sylvia Walby

• feminist

• identified six structures of patriarchy (such as paid work, household work and culture) that keep women in subordinate positions

• women face multiple and overlapping forms of disadvantage

Peter Townsend

• relative deprivation

• people are poor if they lack the resources to participate fully in ordinary society

• far more widespread than official statistics suggested.

• 60 indicators

Charles Murray (stratification)

• New Right

• welfare benefits create a “dependency culture”, where people rely on the state rather than work.

• underclass with distinct norms and behaviour