Topic 5 - Changing Family Patterns - Divorce Revision

what are the 5 non-theoretical reasons for a rise in divorce/decline in marriage

1. Changes in the law
2. Decline in stigma
3. Secularisation
4. Rising expectations of marriage
5. women’s increased financial independence

Explain the one of the 5 non-theoretical reason “changes in the law’

3 changes to the law have been made that have allowed divorce to be more accessible

What are the three changes in the law that have caused the increase in divorce

equalising grounds for divorce for men and women, widened ground for divorce, changes in the law that have made divorce cheaper

Define the non-theoretical reason ‘decline in stigma’

In the past, divorce had been stigmatised and looked down upon. Churches heavily condemned divorce

what did Goody say in reference to the stigma around divorce from the 1960’s

Goody argued that since the 1960’s, stigma around divorce has rapidly declined.

explain the non-theoretical reason ‘secularisation’

This is the decline of the influence of religion in society. Churches views on divorce hold less weight in society than they once did, meaning people feel more free to make their own decisions.

explain the non-theoretical reason ‘rising expectations of marriage’

Today marriage is solely based on love, if the love dies, then the marriage is no longer justified.

What did Hether argue in relation to the rising expectations of marriage

Hether argued that people are less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage.

Explain the non-theoretical reason ‘woemn’s increased financial independence

women are better educated, women are better paid and anti-discriminating laws have meant that women aren’t as financially dependent on their husbands

Functionalist view on the high rates if divorce

Argues that high divorce rate is not a threat to marriage as a social institution. It is simply the result of peoples rising expectations of marriage. the high rate of remarriage shows peoples continued commitment towards the idea of marriage.

The New Right view on the high divorce rates

sees high divorce rates socially undesirable because it undermines divorce and the traditional nuclear family. High divorce rate leads to a growing underclass of welfare dependent female lone parents who are a burden to the state and also leaves the boys with no positive role model,

Feminist view of a high divorce rate

sees a high divorce rate as a positive because women have many burdens within the household and in marriage, divorce may be better for women to free women from patriarchy is

Personal life view of a high divorce rate

PLP accepts that divorce can cause problems such as financial difficulties and lack of daily contact between children and non-resident parents.

what did Carol Smart argue in relation to the Personal Life Perspective on a high divorce rate

Carol Smart had argued that although divorce causes problems, divorce has also been normalised and that family life can continue through a divorce without disintegrating

what did carol smart say that divorce should be seen as

a transition in life.

Interactionist view of a high divorce rate

The interactionist perspective aims to understand what divorce means to the individual

What did David Morgan argue in relation to the interactionist perspective

David Morgan argues that we cannot generalise about the meaning of divorce as everyones interpretation is different.

Postmodernist view on a high divorce rate

Postmodernism sees a high divorce rate as showing that individuals now have the freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs.

2 reasons why couples today are less likely to get married in church

1. Secularisation
2. Many churches refuse to marry those that have previously divorced.

Why are couples marrying at a later age

Young people delay marriages because they are focused on their careers, when they’re older however, they have more time and don’t want to spend it alone.

Why have remarriages increased in recent years

Because of an increase in divorce rates, people are getting married again later in life.

Explain the reason for changing patterns in marriage “fear of divorce”

because there has been an increase in divorce rates, more people are scared that they are going to get divorced and so don’t marry

Explain the reason for changing patterns in marriage “changes in the position of women”

women have better education and career prospects and women are now more economically dependent and so delay marriage or don’t marry at all.

Explain the reason for changing patterns in marriage “declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage”

Cohabitation, remaining single, having children outside of marriage are more widely accepted in society today.

Explain the reason for changing patterns in marriage “changing attitudes to marriage”

people face less pressure to get married these days, it is believed that a couples quality of relationship is more important than their legal rights.

What is cohabitation

when a couple are living together and have an intimate relationship, but they are not married.

4 patterns in cohabitation

1. the number of cohabiting couples with children are increasing
2. there are 2.9million cohabiting heterosexuals
3. there are 69,000 cohabiting same sex couples
4. 1/5th of all who are cohabiting are ‘serial cohabiters’ who have had one ore more previous cohabitations

reasons for an increase in cohabitation

1. secularisation
2. Young people are more likely to accept cohabitation
3. More career and education opportunities for women means that less women need the financial security of marriage
4. There is less stigma around cohabitation and sex outside of marriage

homosexuals couples rights that are the same as heterosexual couples

1. male heterosexual acts were decriminalised in 1967
2. the age of consent was equalised with heterosexual couples
3. 2004 - civil partnership act - gave same sex couples similar legal rights to married couples in respect of pensions, inheritance etc.

What did ‘Weeks’ argue in relation to the chosen family

Weeks had argued that the chosen family was creating family based on the ideas of ‘friendship as kinship’, where friendships become a type of kinship network

how have homosexual relationships changed since the 1970’s according tp Weston

1. Weston argued that in the 1970’s, homosexual couples often rejected monogamy and promoted having many partners. Now, homosexual couples cohabit, showing a move towards monogamy

what has been the impact of legal acceptance pf same sex couples on same sex couples

same sex couples have to negotiate their commitment and responsibilities more than married couples

Why mighty some gay people see legal recognition of sae sex couples as limiting

gay people may see legal recognition of homosexuals as restricting because it may limit the flexibility and negotiability of their relationships

3 patterns in one person households today

1. Rise in the number of people living alone. 30% of households are 1 person households
2. 40% of all 1 person households are people 65+ in age
3. by 2033, over 30% of the adult population will be single.

2 reasons for an increase in one person households

1. increase in separation and divorce - after the divorce, children stay with the mother, fathers likely to leave the home
2. decline in the number of people that are marrying

2 reasons why a couple may choose to live apart

1. people may want their won independence
2. Those who have already divorced kay not want to cohabit too soon after the divorce.

other changes in family life

1. More children are now being born outside of marriage- reason for this is because there has been a decrease in marriage rates, this could be due to a fear of divorce and so people are choosing to cohabit instead of marry
2. women are having fewer children and are having children later - reason for this is because women are now more educated and have better work opportunities meaning that women are likely to focus on their careers and play marriage and children until later. Because they have having children and getting married later they are going to have fewer children because they are old and candy have as many children
3. Lone paren families are increasing in number - a reason fro an increase in lone parent families that are headed by mothers os that there has been an increase in divorce rates and this is due to a change in the law that has allowed divorce to become cheaper and more accessible not women and also because there is a decreased stigma around divorce. They are mostly headed by mother because courts are more likely to give custody of the children too the mother.
4. Stop and/or reconstituted families are on this rise - a reason for this is an increase in divorce rates and an increase in remarriages and also because people are living longer and so are getting remarried later in life.

Black family statistics

1. higher proportion of lone parent families - in 2012, 50% of lone parent families were black

Comparison of black families to British families

White families with dependent children are headed by a married couple most of the time, only 23% of white families are lone parent families. Black families, however, have 41% of families headed by a married couple and 51% are lone parent families

What did Mirza argue about in relation to black lone parent families

Mirza argued that black women place. higher importance on independence which could explain the trend in high amounts of black lone parent families.

Asian family statistics

1 in 9 asian families are headed by a lone parent. Asian families altos have larger households with 3 generations living under 1 roof.

Comparison of Asian families to British families

88% of Asian families that have dependent children are lead by a married couple. Only 11% of Asian families will have one parent.

What are the reasons for the trends in Asian families

Asian families place larger value on the extended family and so will have more people in a household.

What did Charles argue about the extended family?

Charles argued that the extended family is extinct except for Bangladeshi families

What did Willmott argue about the extended families?

Willmott argued that the extended family still exists as a ‘dispersed extended family’ where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact.

What did Chamberlain argue about the extended family

Chamberlain argued that despite being geographically dispersed, the extended family continues to support each other. Chamberlain described them as ‘multiple nuclear families’

What did Bell argue about the extended family

Bell argued that both working class and middle class families had emotional bonds with kin and relied on them for support.

What is a beanpole family

A bean pole family is a multi-generational extended family. This means that there are many generations within in the family but only a few siblings in each generation.

how did the beanpole family come about

1. increased life expectancy meaning that there are more surviving grandparents and great grandparents
2. Smaller family sizes as people are having fewer children.

What is meant by obligations and the principle of reciprocity

1. Obligations - obligations are when people feel a sense of obligation to help their extended kin
2. Principle of reciprocity - the principle of reciprocity is when people believe that help received should be returned tp avoid any feelings of indebtedness

How is the extended family today

The extended family continues to play an important role for many people today, providing support.