Sociological Perspectives on the Family, Childhood, and Social Policy

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key sociological theorists, concepts, and themes regarding family structure, gender roles, and childhood development as discussed in the lecture.

Allan and Crow

Sociologists who argued that stepfamilies are unique arrangements requiring role negotiation and critiqued the 'natural family' as a social construction used by the New Right.

Althusser

A Structural Marxist who distinguished between the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), viewing the family as an ISA that reproduces class inequality.

Ansley

A Marxist Feminist who argued that women perform unpaid emotional labor and act as a 'safety valve' for the capitalist system by absorbing men's frustrations from work.

Archard

A sociologist who analyzed the boundary between childhood and adulthood as socially constructed through three conceptions: child as innocent, developing, or social actor.

Aries

Author of 'Centuries of Childhood' who argued that in medieval Europe children were 'mini-adults' from age $7$ and that modern protected childhood emerged from the $13^{th}$ century.

Barrett and McIntosh

Feminists who critiqued the 'myth of the family' for concealing unequal power and women's unpaid work which subsidizes the capitalist economy.

Beaumont

A researcher who documented the rise in lone-person households and distinguished between voluntary and involuntary lone living across age groups.

Beck

A postmodernist who identified 'manufactured risks' and 'the normal chaos of love' in societies where individuals construct biographies through choice.

Becker

A Rational Choice theorist who applied economic analysis to families, using concepts like 'utility,' 'psychic income,' and 'comparative advantage.'

Benston

A Marxist Feminist who argued unpaid domestic labor is central to reproducing labor power for capitalism at no cost to the employer.

Berthoud

A social policy researcher who used quantitative data to show that poverty often precedes family breakdown, challenging New Right narratives.

Bhatti

A researcher who explored how 'izzat' (honor) shapes socialization and produce high academic expectations in British South Asian families.

Black Feminism

A perspective that argues mainstream feminism ignores intersectionality and that for Black women, the family is often a site of resistance against racism.

Boulton

A feminist researcher who found that childcare remains gendered, with men's contributions often framed as 'help' rather than responsibility.

Bourdieu

A Neo-Marxist who explained the reproduction of inequality through 'cultural capital' and 'habitus,' making class advantage appear as 'natural ability.'

Brannen

The sociologist who identified the 'beanpole family,' characterized by long and thin structures with strong vertical links across generations.

Bruegel

A Marxist Feminist who applied the 'reserve army of labor' concept to women, arguing their domestic role justifies their secondary status in the labor market.

Capitalism (Marxist view)

An economic system based on profit and exploitation which the family serves by socializing children to accept hierarchy and reproducing the workforce for free.

Carlson et al.

Researchers who analyzed how parenting stress and mental health vary by gendered expectations and policy supports like parental leave.

Chambers

A social policy theorist who showed that extended kin act as safety nets, distributing support across households during crises.

Cheal

A sociologist who highlighted how the 'public/private' divide causes domestic violence to be under-recognized and protects the family's privacy.

Chester

A sociologist who argued family diversity is exaggerated and that most people aspire to a 'neo-conventional' nuclear family consisting of dual-earners.

Conflict Theory

A theory held by Marxists and Feminists suggesting society is characterized by group competition and that social institutions like the family serve the dominant group.

Consensus Theory

A functionalist perspective suggesting society is held together by shared norms and values, with the family creating social solidarity.

Consumerism (Marxist view)

The idea that identity is achieved through purchasing; the family is the key unit of consumption for capitalist profit through the creation of 'false needs.'

Cooper

A Radical Marxist who argued that children are 'disciplined' within the family to accept authority and hierarchy to prepare them for capitalist exploitation.

Craig

A feminist who used time-use surveys to demonstrate that women suffer a 'dual burden,' performing a disproportionate share of housework and childcare.

Cunningham

A researcher who documented the historical shift from authoritarian to child-centered parenting and the increasing focus on the needs of the child.

Dale et al.

Researchers who found that diverse family patterns, such as South Asian extended or African-Caribbean matrifocal structures, are equally functional.

Loss of Functions

A sociological debate regarding whether the family is losing roles to the state or specializing in core areas like emotional socialization.

Delphy and Leonard

Radical Feminists who argued that the family involves a 'domestic mode of production' where men appropriate the unpaid services produced by women.

Dermott

A postmodernist who introduced the concept of 'displaying families' and researched 'intimate fatherhood' where fathers seek emotional connections.

DeVault

A feminist who analyzed 'feeding the family' as invisible gendered labor through which women 'do' family and maintain social bonds.

Difference Feminism

A feminist branch arguing that men and women have different qualities (nurturing vs. autonomous) leading to distinct 'ethics of care' vs. 'ethics of justice.'

Dobash and Dobash

Feminists who demonstrated that domestic violence is a tool for power and control patterned by patriarchal relations and male authority.

Duncombe and Marsden

The sociologists who coined the 'triple shift' concept, referring to women's paid work, domestic labor, and 'emotion work.'

Edgell

A power researcher who showed that men retain influence over high-stakes decisions while women handle routine domestic decisions.

Eichner

A social policy theorist who developed the 'supportive state' model, advocating for universal childcare to enable diverse family forms to thrive.

Engels

A Marxist who argued the monogamous nuclear family emerged to protect private property and ensure the paternity of heirs for male inheritance.

Ferri and Smith

Researchers who provided evidence for the 'dual burden,' showing increased female employment has not resulted in men doing an equal share of domestic work.

Finch

A researcher who challenged the 'fit' thesis by finding that extended kin remained functionally important for the working class during industrialization.

Firestone

A Radical Feminist who argued women's oppression is rooted in biology and advocated for reproductive technology like artificial wombs to free women.

Fletcher

A functionalist who challenged the 'loss of functions' thesis, arguing the family’s core roles in socialization and intimacy have become more intensive.

Friedan

A Liberal Feminist who identified 'the problem that has no name,' referring to the unhappiness of housewives trapped by the 'feminine mystique.'

Gershuny

A researcher who used time-use studies to track gradual increases in men's participation in housework over several decades.

Giddens

A postmodernist who introduced the 'pure relationship' and 'confluent love,' which are based on personal choice and satisfaction rather than tradition.

Gillis

A social historian who showed that mandatory legal marriage is a recent development and that informal unions were historically common.

Globalization (Postmodern view)

The decline of religious authority and increase in social interconnectedness leading to greater family diversity and choice.

Goode

The sociologist who proposed the 'fit' thesis, suggesting the nuclear family is mobile and functional for industrial society.

Gordon

The sociologist who described the 'modified extended family' where nuclear units maintain kinship ties through technology and visits despite living separately.

Gubernskaya

A social policy researcher who examined how the experiences of aging and care work are shaped by policy, class, and gender rather than just biology.

Hecht

A researcher who studied Brazilian street children, finding they are active social agents who socialize outside the traditional family structure.

Hillman

A researcher who documented how media-amplified risk and parental fears have led to a decline in children's independent mobility.

Horwitz

A sociologist who revised functionalism to include micro-interactions and engaged with New Right claims about family decline and social problems.

Hughes and Church

Researchers who used quantitative data to show that secularization and women's economic independence have made cohabitation the norm.

Individualism

A postmodern trend emphasizing personal autonomy over collective duty, driving the rise of 'living apart together' and cohabitation.

Jacobson

A researcher who showed how minority groups construct multi-layered identities, balancing heritage with multicultural adaptation.

Jeffries et al.

Feminists who analyzed how dual-income households increase work-family pressures without eliminating the gendered division of labor.

Kan

A feminist researcher who found that housework is a way of 'doing femininity' and remains unequal even when women earn more.

Kirkwood

The Radical Feminist who developed the 'web of abuse' concept to describe how controlling behaviors trap victims in relationships.

Knudson and Waerness

Social policy researchers who found that supportive welfare states enable more egalitarian divisions of labor within households.

Lareau

A Neo-Marxist who identified class-based parenting styles: 'concerted cultivation' in the middle class and 'natural growth' in the working class.

Laslett

A Life Course theorist who distinguished between the independent 'third age' and the dependent 'fourth age' of old age.

Liberal Feminism

A branch of feminism seeking equality through legal and policy reforms, such as the Equal Pay Act, rather than total social restructuring.

Malinowski

A functionalist who argued the family is universal because it fulfills functions like socialization, as seen in his study of the Trobriand Islands.

Marxist Feminism

The perspective that women's oppression is rooted in capitalism, with domestic labor reproducing the labor force at no cost to capital.

McVeigh & Finch

Gender studies researchers who documented the shift from breadwinner to nurturer roles for fathers, despite workplace constraints.

Millett

A Radical Feminist who argued patriarchy is the systematic male domination of all institutions and coined the phrase 'the personal is political.'

Mitchell and Goody

Sociologists who argued that rising divorce rates are linked to changing attitudes and women's independence rather than social 'decline.'

Morgan

A New Right theorist who argued that cohabitation is a sign of moral decline and that marriage provides essential stability for children.

Murdock

The functionalist who studied $250$ societies and concluded the nuclear family is universal because it fulfills sexual, reproductive, economic, and educational needs.

Murphy

A postmodernist who argued that the rise of cohabitation reflects individualization and the weakening of traditional marriage norms.

Murray

A New Right theorist who argued the welfare state creates a 'dependency culture' and an 'underclass' of single parents.

Neale

A postmodernist who focused on 'family practices' and found that children value the quality of relationships over formal family structure.

Neo-Functionalism

An updated version of functionalism that acknowledges conflict but maintains that the family is an adaptive institution tending toward equilibrium.

Neo-Marxism

A perspective emphasizing that the family reproduces class advantage through the transmission of cultural and social capital rather than just economic means.

O'Neill

A New Right researcher who linked single parenthood to cycles of deprivation and argued for the superiority of two-parent married families.

Oakley

A feminist who critiqued the 'New Man' myth and argued that gender roles are socially constructed through childhood socialization into domesticity.

Pahl & Vogler

Power researchers who identified money management systems and found that men usually retain control over major financial decisions.

Palmer

A critic of 'toxic childhood' who argued that modern conditions like screen time and academic pressure harm children's well-being.

Parsons

The functionalist who proposed the 'warm bath theory' and argued the family is a 'personality factory' for primary socialization.

Parsons and Bales

Functionalist sociologists who argued that instrumental (male) and expressive (female) roles are necessary for social stability in industrial society.

Pilcher

The sociologist who identified the 'ideology-practice gap' where people believe in equality but maintain gendered practices due to socialization.

Postman

The scholar who argued for the 'disappearance of childhood' because electronic media erodes the knowledge gap between adults and children.

Postmodernism

A perspective that rejects grand narratives and views the family as a matter of personal choice, resulting in fluid and diverse forms.

Radical Feminism

The perspective that identifies patriarchy as the fundamental source of oppression and the family as the primary site of male domination.

Ramos

A feminist who found that housework threatens masculine identity, leading to modest domestic contributions even from unemployed men.

Rapoport and Rapoport

The researchers who identified five types of family diversity: organizational, cultural, class, life-course, and generational.

Robertson

A researcher who introduced 'glocalization' and 'adultification' to describe how global marketing turns children into miniature consumers.

Roseneil

A postmodern researcher who studied 'Living Apart Together' (LAT) relationships as a challenge to traditional links between cohabitation and commitment.

Smallwood and Wilson

Structualists who documented that the decline of the nuclear family as the default form follows patterns of class and ethnicity.

Smart and Stevens

Researchers who found that cohabitation is a normalized, conscious negotiation rather than just a 'trial' marriage.

Somerville

A Liberal Feminist who argued that legal and policy reforms in family law have led to progress in women's rights and family equality.

Stacey

A postmodernist who researched 'postmodern families' in Silicon Valley, finding fluid networks of chosen kin and ex-partners.

Sullivan et al.

Sociologists who identified a 'quiet revolution' consisting of a gradual movement toward gender equality in housework since the $1960\text{s}$.

Thornes and Collard

Researchers who noted that modern marriage is defined by companionship, even though emotional labor remains gendered.

Vincent and Ball

Neo-Marxists who showed how middle-class parents strategically use resources and school choice to maintain their class position.

Wilkinson

An economic sociologist who argued that family changes like delayed marriage are driven by structural shifts in the labor market and inequality.

Wilmott and Young

The researchers who proposed the 'symmetrical family' thesis and the concept of 'stratified diffusion' regarding conjugal roles.

Zaretsky

A Marxist who argued the family serves capitalism by providing an 'illusion of private life' while acting as a unit of consumption.