Sociologists Crime, Family and Education

Parsons 

-Functionalist

-secondary research

-education teaches the difference between particularistic and universalistic values

-role allocation and meritocracy

-education acts as a bridge between the family and society

-education may not benefit all students equally

Ball, Bowe and Gerwitz

-N/A

-interviews and secondary research

-parental choice and competition has increased inequalities in education

-m/c’s parents have more choice

-schools focus on image and results

-Assumes competition always increases inequality

-Focusing on image and results oversimplifies school motivations

Halsey, Heath and Ridge

-N/A

-face to face survey

-survery of 8000 men

-3 social classes: service, intermediate,working

- a service class boy is 11 times more likely to go to university than a w/c boy

-Ignores Other Influencing Factors

Durkheim

-Functionalist

-secondary research

-education transmits shared norms and values promoting social cohesion

-school acts like a mini society encouraging co-operation

-education may not benefit all students equally

Bowles and Gintis 

-Marxist

-Interviews and secondary research

-correspondence principle:school corresponds to the workplace through teaching obedience, accepting boredom and to be motivated by external rewards 

-could be outdated as pupils are prepared for a wider range of jobs today.

Ball

-N/A

-case study: participant observation and interview

-lower class students most likely to be in low ability classes

-teachers had different expectations of different bands

-labelling also happened in mixed ability classes

-Overgeneralisation

-Minimizes the impact of mixed ability teaching

Willis

-Marxist

-Case study: participant observations

-studied ‘the lads’ an anti-school subculture for 2 years

-found they were not obedient but their subculture was similar to w/c workplaces

-doesnt apply to all w/c people

Carlen

-feminist 

-unstructured interview 

-w/c women are controlled by promising of rewards 

-class deal

-gender deal

-no reward=crime

-doesnt apply to women in single parent families or same sex relationships 

merton

-functionalist

-official statistics

-five reactions to strain:

~conformity- following accepted means of success 

~innovation-w/c make new ways to achieve goals 

~ritualism-m/c, low paid but respectable jobs

~retreatism-any class people who drop out of society

~rebellion-reject means and goals of society

-Neglect of race, gender, and power

Cohen

-functionalist

-questionnaire

-looking at w/c boys

-w/c suffer from status frustration due to not being able to succeed in society legitimately

-doesn’t apply to all working class

Heidensohn

-feminist

-secondary research

-patriarchy is both public and private

-public=in society male-dominated

-private=at home, where women “belong”

-overemphasis on control

zaretsky

-marxist

-secondary research

-family serves capitalism through: womens unpaid labour, passing on of advantage in families e.g. inheritance, unit of consumption

-Doesn’t apply universally

-Overgeneralises gender roles

Delphy and Leonard

-feminists

-secondary research

-family is patriarchal: women are economically exploited, family is hierarchal, patriarchal family reflects our patriarchal society

-Ignores changing gender roles

wilmott and young

-functionalist

-survey: face to face structured interviews

-found the family was becoming more symmetrical, similar but not identical roles, equal contribution to household work

-lack of evidence

oakley

-feminist

-secondary research

-analyses conventional family finding:

~women expected to do unpaid work

~idea of conventional family is powerful

~expect happiness; nucleur family is stressful

~middle class- more family diversity

-Small, unrepresentative sample

Parsons

-functionalist

-secondary research

-2 key functions of the family:

~primary socialisation

~stabilisation of adult personality

-instrument and expressive roles

-outdated gender roles

Rapoport and Rapoport

-N/A

-secondary research

-5 types of family diversity:

~organisational-structure of family

~cultural-cultural/religious differences

~social class-class differences

~cohort-historical differences

~life course-differences in life cycle of family

-Exaggerated diversity