Full Families and Households Notes and Flashcards

What is the functionalist view of the family?

Society is like a body with interdependent parts; institutions work together for a smooth-running society.

What is the best fit theory?

A framework that explains how different elements of society, like family, education, and economy, contribute to social stability and function harmoniously.

What are social institutions?

Institutions have clear social functions, ensuring consensus about norms and values and enabling orderly social change.

What is the warm bath theory?

Talcott Parsons described the family as providing emotional support and stress relief, stabilising personalities and preparing individuals to return to society refreshed.

What is universal nuclear family?

• Two generations living together, typically parents and children.

• Traditional gender and conjugal roles are expected.

What is the functionalist view of the family?

The family has important functions for both society and individuals.

What are the functions of the family according Murdoch?

• Economic

• Reproductive

• Sexual

• Educational

What is the economic function?

Pooling resources to ensure all members have what they need

What is the reproductive function?

Producing the next generation

What is the sexual function?

Ensuring stable and controlled adult sexual relationships

What is the educational

Teaching children societal norms and values (primary socialisation)

What are the functions of family according to Parsons?

• Primary Socialisation

• Stabilisation of Adult Personalities

• Preventing disruptive behaviour

• Emotional support

What is the primary socialisation function?

The family is the main agent, teaching children how to interact and prepare for adult roles

What is the stabilisation of adult personalities function?

Emotional security adults achieve within a marital relationship

What is the preventing disruptive behaviour function?

Encouraging conformity to social norms, especially during stress

What is the emotional support function?

Providing emotional support to its members via the warm bath theory

What is the evaluation of the functionalist view?

Parsons argued families helped prevent adults from behaving in disruptive or dysfunctional ways by encouraging them to conform to social norms, especially at times of stress.

What are the Marxist views of the family?

• Economic base

• Superstructure

• Cushioning Effect

What is the economic base?

The fundamental economic structure of a society (means of production and relations of production) dictates the social, political, and cultural aspects of society (superstructure).

What is the Superstructure?

Institutions, culture, and ideas that support the ruling class; determined by the economic base.

What is the cushioning effect?

The family acts as a protective buffer against the stresses and alienation experienced by workers in a capitalist society (Eli Zaretsky).

What is the ideological state apparatus?

Institutions that spread bourgeois ideology ensure that the proletariat is in a state of false class consciousness.

What is the inheritance of private property?

• The bourgeoisie began owning private property for personal profit; monogamous nuclear family structure emerged to prevent property from being shared.

• According to Engels, this structure reproduced and reinforced social class inequality, with wealth remaining in the hands of the bourgeoisie.

• The monogamous, nuclear family structure is advantageous to class hierarchy, inequality, and capitalism.

What is Marxist view of the family?

Families are conservative institutions that help to preserve capitalism and weaken the position of individual workers.

What are the Marxist functions of the family?

• Engels argued that the family had a clear economic function for capitalism, by ensuring that wealth remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie.

• Family relations, based on clear legal contracts, facilitate inheritance

What is false class consciousness?

The proletariat does not recognise its exploitation by the bourgeoisie and contributes to its own exploitation through bourgeois ideology.

What are criticisms of the marxist view?

• Economic determinism: Overemphasis on economic functions.

• Outdated theories: Assumptions about the worker being male and only one worker in the family.

• Ignores non-economic factors: Neglects emotional support and comfort.

• Doesn't consider cultural factors: Ignores the role of cultural factors, such as religious beliefs, in family formation.

What is the evaluation of the Marxist view?

The family is a social institution serving the needs of capitalism, maintaining class inequalities, and reproducing ideologies that support capitalism.

What are the feminist views of the family?

• Reserve Army of Labour

• Domestic Violence

• Triple Shift

What is the reserve army of labour?

Unemployed workers are prepared to work for low wages in temporary jobs, serving the interests of the bourgeoisie.

What is domestic violence?

Radical feminists see domestic violence as a means by which men control women and exercise patriarchal power (Dobash and Dobash).

What is the triple shift?

Women take on paid work, unpaid domestic work, and emotional labour (Duncombe and Marsden).

What is the dual burden?

• The workload of people (often women) who work for money and do unpaid domestic labour.

• Anne Oakley found that women had an unequal workload, and increased female employment had not made the family more equal.

What is the patriarchy?

Rule by the father; a society dominated by men with systematic gender oppression.

What is malestream sociology?

When male social scientists assume their findings about men apply to women.

What is the general feminist view of the family?

The family is a social institution that perpetuates gender inequality and oppression.

What is the liberal feminist view?

Families can be made equal through legal and social change; historically, they have been a source of inequality.

What is the Marxist feminist view?

• The family is a patriarchal institution integral to capitalism that oppresses women.

• Women are exploited in the family and workplace.

What is the radical feminist view?

• The family is a primary structure of patriarchy that oppresses women.

• Traditional family structures limit women’s autonomy and subject them to male control.

What are the criticisms of the feminist views?

They haven’t considered and given importance to the impact of inequalities of class and ethnicity.

What are the contributions of the feminist view?

They provided important insights into how families perpetuate gender inequalities

What is the new right view?

• Welfare

• Dependency

• Single parent family

What is welfare?

Welfare policies undermine the traditional nuclear family and lead to inadequate socialisation (Charles Murray).

What is the dependency culture?

The welfare state undermines individual responsibility (Charles Murray).

What is a single parent family?

Changes in family forms are damaging to society.

What is the nuclear family?

• Support of the traditional heterosexual nuclear family.

• Conformity and raising children within a family made up of two natural parents, and the division of instrumental and expressive gender roles is very important.

What is the underclass?

• Murray suggested that the welfare state created welfare dependency and encouraged lone parenthood.

• Generations of boys grew up without male role models, leading to a criminal underclass.

What is the evaluation of new right view?

• Accused of ‘blaming the victim’ and not considering other explanations for poverty.

• Considered a political position rather than a sociological perspective.

What is the thinker of the sociology of personal life?

Carol Smart

What is the definition of the family?

A broad concept that includes more than just blood relatives.

What is the personal life view of the family?

People construct their own families based on choice and social context

What are other significant reltionships?

Close friendships, relationships with deceased family members, chosen families, and bonds with pets.

What is the evaluation of the sociology of personal life?

Examines how people form relationships and define their families.

What is Gidden’s view of the family?

• Family has changed due to greater gender equality and freedom of choice.

• People enter into relationships on their own terms.

What is Stacy’s view of the family?

Women have more freedom to choose their family arrangements.

What is the evaluation of postmodernist views?

Critiques: Overemphasis on choice, underemphasis on social structures, and promotion of relativism.

What is a social policy?

The study of how societies distribute resources to meet human needs and how governments respond to social challenges.

What is the functionalist view on social policies?

Social policies help society function smoothly and efficiently.

What is the new right on social policies?

The state should have minimal involvement in society.

What is the feminist view on social policies?

Social policies often uphold patriarchal structures, benefiting men at the expense of women.

What is the marxist view on social policies?

Social policies serve the interests of the ruling class and maintain the capitalist system.

What are types of social policy?

• Child support

• Adoption

• Civil partnerships

• Same-sex marriage

• Child protection

• Parental leave

What is child support?

The Child Support Agency was established in 1993 to ensure that absent fathers paid child maintenance

What is adoption?

The Adoption Act of 2005 allowed cohabiting and same-sex couples to adopt

What is civil partnerships?

The Civil Partnership Act of 2004 increased the number of legally recognised same-sex partnerships

What is same-sex marriage?

The Same Sex Couples Act of 2013 allowed same-sex marriage

What is child protection?

The Children Act of 1989 outlined the rights of children

What is parental leave?

Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave, 37 of which are paid

What are the conservative policies (1980-1990s)?

• The Children Act 1989 – a piece of legislation that clearly outlines the rights of children

• The Child Support Agency, 1993 – established to ensure absent fathers paid maintenance for the upbringing of their children

• Married Men’s Tax Allowance

• Proposed changes to divorce rules

• Section 28

• Back to Basics

What are the new labour policies (1997-2010)?

• Cuts to lone parent benefits.

• Working family tax credits.

• Paid paternity leave

• Civil Partnership Act

• Adoption and Children’s Act (2002). allowed same-sex couples to adopt children

• Equal age of consent in 2001

• The repeal of Section 28 in 2003

What are the coalition policies 2010+?

• Removing the so-called couples’ penalty

• Shared parental leave.

• Equal marriage.

What are other policies?

Child protection laws, parental leave policies, childcare provision, tax benefits for families, policies regarding adoption, benefits for single parents, policies addressing domestic violence, and legislation concerning same-sex couples and their rights to parenthood.

What is family diversity?

The variety of family types and characteristics that exist in society

What is the dominate family type according to Murdoch?

Nuclear family

Why is the nuclear family the dominant family type according to Murdoch?

He believed it is a universal structure found in all societies, performing essential functions like reproduction, socialisation, economic cooperation, and sexual regulation across different cultures; essentially arguing that the nuclear family is the most prevalent and functional family unit across the globe

What is the dominant family according to Peter Wilmott?

Symmetrical family

Why is the symmetrical family the dominant family type according to Peter Wilmott?

Men and Women perform similar roles. Modern families have men and women both doing paid work, and both doing work around the house, including childcare. did not find that men and women did exactly the same types of jobs- whether in the workplace or at home- but family life was becoming more shared and equal

What does Julia Brannan believe?

She believes that family structures have changed, and the new family type is the beanpole family.

What are the 5 types of family diversity?

• Cultural diversity

• Life course analysis

• Organisational diversity

• Generational diversity

• Social class diversity

What is cultural diversity?

Different cultural groups have different values, beliefs and practices about family life

What is life course analysis?

Individuals experience different family structures and arrangement throughout their lives, meaning people may move through various family types like nuclear, single-parent household, or reconstituted family, depending on life stages like marriage, divorce or having children, highlighting that family diversity is not just a snapshot in time but a dynamic process across the life course.

What is organisational diversity?

The different ways in which families are structured and the role that individuals within families assume

What is generational diversity?

The presence of people from different generations in the family

What is social class diversity?

The variation in family structures, experiences, and dynamics that occur across different social classes, meaning that families from different socioeconomic backgrounds will have distinct family patterns due to their varying access to resources, cultural norms, and life experiences associated with their class position; this can include differences in family size, living arrangements, work patterns, child-rearing practices, and attitudes towards marriage and cohabitation.

What are causes of family diversity?

• Changing attitudes

• Migration

• Life-course changes

• Other causes

What are features of changing attitudes?

• Marriage and divorce:

  • Lower marriage rates and higher divorce rates reflect changing priorities and lifestyles.

• Child-bearing:

  • Attitudes towards having children have changed over time.

• Secularisation:

  • The decline of religion and religious attitudes means people no longer feel religious pressures to get married.

What are the features of migration?

Cultural mix:

• Migration brings family traditions from other cultures, which can lead to a deviation from the traditional nuclear family norm.

What are features of life-course changes?

• Age diversity:

  • Different generations have different life experiences, which can affect family formation.

• Family structure:

  • The acceptable family structure and gender roles have changed over time.

• Family types:

  • Families can go through different stages of their lives, for example, starting as a nuclear family, then becoming a lone parent family after a divorce.

What are other causes of family diversity?

• Interracial couples:

  • The number of interracial couples has increased.

• Transnational families:

  • The number of transnational families has increased.

• Blended families:

  • Two different parents come together, each bringing their children from a previous relationship.

What is the functionalist (Parson) theory of family diversity?

It is not a central concept, as he primarily focused on the nuclear family as the ideal family structure, believing that it best serves the needs of modern, industrialised societies due to its ability to facilitate geographical mobility and social mobility, with clearly defined gender roles where the husband takes on "instrumental" roles (breadwinner) and the wife takes on "expressive" roles (emotional support); however, his emphasis on the nuclear family is criticised for overlooking diverse family structures and being overly idealised based on the American middle-class family of his time.

What is the new right (Murray) theory of family diversity?

The rise of single-parent families and a growing "underclass" is largely due to welfare policies that incentivise dependency on the state, creating a culture where people are less likely to work and more likely to rely on benefits, particularly single mothers, leading to a decline in traditional nuclear family structures and increased social problems; essentially, he believes that excessive welfare benefits encourage single parenthood and undermine the nuclear family as the ideal family form.

What is the postmodernist theory of family diversity?

Family is unique for everyone, and the family dynamics or interactions cannot (and should not) be generalised. This is evident in the increase in alternative family types, such as: single-parent families. reconstituted families.

What is feminist (Stacy) theory of family diversity?

• Family structure:

  • Traditional family structures have reinforced gender roles that favour men.

• Gender inequality:

  • Women are often disadvantaged in the workforce due to unpaid maternity leave and other factors.

• Social injustice:

  • Women are often objectified and experience domestic violence.

• Family diversity:

  • Different types of families, including single-parent, lesbian, gay, and families in poverty, experience gender inequality differently.

What is the neo conventional family (Chester) theory of family diversity?

A modern family structure that is considered the new norm, characterised by dual-earner couples where both partners work outside the home, essentially a more egalitarian version of the traditional nuclear family, reflecting the changing dynamics of gender roles in society; it signifies a shift away from the traditional "breadwinner-homemaker" family model while still maintaining a nuclear family structure at its core

What is cohabitation?

When two people live together in a domestic partnership without being married. It has become more common and socially acceptable in many societies.

What is marriage?

A legally and socially sanctioned union between two people. It is a social institution that helps create the basic unit social structure.

What is divorce?

The legal ending of a marriage between two people. It’s a significant social phenomenon that affects more than just the couple involved

What are trends in cohabitation?

• The number of cohabiting couples in the UK has increased by 144% between 1996 and 2021.

• The age gap between cohabiting couples has become more similar to that of married couples.

• One in three children is born to cohabiting parents

• Cohabitations formed after 2000 have a higher risk of dissolution than earlier cohorts

What are trends in marriage?

• The number of marriages in England and Wales peaked in 1972 and has since almost halved

• Same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are becoming more common. Remarriage and blended families are also becoming more common.

• People are marrying for love instead of economic reasons. People are questioning the link between marriage and parenting, gender roles and heterosexuality

What are trends in divorce?

• In 2022, divorce rates in England and Wales were lower than in 2021. The number of divorces granted in 2022 was the lowest since 1971.

• The rate of ‘grey divorce’ (divorce at age 50 and older) has increased. This trend presents challenges, such as dividing assets like retirement funds and real estate.

• The way society views divorce has changed, with many seeing it as a step toward personal growth. Younger generations are more likely to view marriage as a partnership that can evolve over time

• Couples are waiting longer to get married, or choosing not to get married at all

• The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act, which came into effect in April 2022, introduced no-fault divorce. This meant that people could get a divorce without having a valid reason to do so