all of gender roles and the family

dark side of the family

domestic abuse is often referred to as this as it can be hidden and difficult to research features of family life.

emotional abuse

abuse that can result in damage to mental health and trauma

physical abuse

abuse that's most often reported to the police and recorded

crime survey for england and wales (CSEW)

found that:

• 2x as many women as men are victims of domestic abuse

• working-class households are 2x as likely to experience domestic abuse compared to others

• domestic abuse is the most common reason people give for homelessness

• married couples experience the least domestic abuse, cohabiting 3x more likely, divorced 5x, separated 15x all compared to married couples.

the social class that experiences the most domestic abuse is?

working class

married couples are _______ likely to experience domestic abuse

least

cohabiting couples are ___ more likely to experience domestic abuse compared to married couples

3x

divorced couples are ___ more likely to experience domestic abuse compared to married couples

5x

separated couples are ___ more likely to experience domestic abuse compared to married couples

15x

soft figures

statistics that are considered questionable and inaccurate

(criticism CSEW) ansara and hindin - psychological harm

they argue that the stats don't show the levels of psychological harm nor the fear that women have to live with.

(criticism of CSEW) walby and allen - repeat victimisation

they argue that the CSEW underestimates the levels of abuse because women are most often victims of multiple incidents - repeat victimisation.

(criticism of CSEW) yearnshire - reporting to the police

argues that there are often dozens of incidents of abuse before being reported to the police. found that on average there'd be 35 assaults before the first report

children

those who don't even appear in statistics because it's considered unethical to survey them.

patterns of domestic abuse and policing sociologist

cheal

cheal - family treated as a private sphere by police

police often decide that family are personal areas of the social world that shouldn't be interfered with

secondary victimisation

many women want to avoid taking an abuser to court as the process of legal examination will often result in further trauma and humiliation (secondary victimisation)

(radical feminist) explanation of abuse

abuse is the result of patriarchal culture, walklate

walklate

male violence as a way of doing gender

walklate - male violence as a way of doing gender

abuse by men is another way of reinforcing traditional gender roles

firestone - dependency on men

argued that domestic abuse against females is the result of women's dependency on men

dobash and dobash - domestic violence as a result of challenges to male

did a study which found that domestic abuse is usually designed to assert men's control over women and to prevent them challenging male power

subordinate

domestic abuse is designed to ensure that women remain compliant and inferior to men

materialistic explanation of abuse

abuse is related to material deprivation, gilligan

connell - hegemonic masculinity

low-income men are more likely to resort to violence to achieve this compared to middle class and upper-class men

how do wealthier men achieve hegemonic masculinity?

through their high-status profession and career.

wilkinson and pickett - financial pressures

their research showed that financial pressures can create tension and stress which can lead to domestic abuse

gilligan

lack of self-worth due to poverty

gilligan - lack of self-worth due to poverty

low income individuals can often lack pride and belief in themselves, feeling shame for supposedly being unsuccessful

(criticism) statistics on domestic abuse

emotional, psychological and secondary abuse rarely appears in the statistics, its not reported to the police/CSEW. CSEW doesn't include children either so it doesn't give an accurate picture of abuse. repeat victimisation isn't measured properly, therefore abuse stats are soft statistics.

(criticism) feminist perspective on domestic abuse

changes in policing. all police now have female officers to work with victims and they'll never leave a claim of abuse without being investigated. law has changed to recognise the complexity of abuse, expanding definitions. e.g including secondary abuse

(criticism) radical feminist explanation for abuse

(critics argue that radical feminists describe all men as potential abusers/women as victims) argue that factors such as low-incomes, unemployment and alcohol abuse make a difference to who becomes victimised and it's more likely to be young women. also argue that many children are victims of abuse by women and that millions of men in the UK are reported to be victims of abuse by women.

(criticism) material explanations for abuse

it doesn't explain why, among low-income couples, it's more likely to be men that are abusers and women that are the victims.

march of progress

young and willmott take this view in regards to conjugal roles.

(functionalist) young and willmott

symmetrical family

(functionalist) young and willmott - symmetrical family

families that are balanced with men and women doing similar amounts of housework and childcare

(feminist) oakley

• segregated conjugal roles

• asymmetrical family

(feminist) oakley - segregated conjugal roles

the splitting of roles into different responsibilities for females and different responsibilities for males

(feminist) oakley - asymmetrical family

families that are unbalanced with women taking on more domestic work than men

sociologists for conjugal roles

parsons, duncome and marsden, miller

parsons

instrumental role and expressive role

parsons - instrumental role

the role which provides material resources

parsons - expressive role

the role which provides emotional support

duncombe and marsden

(woman's) triple shift

duncombe and marsden - triple shift

women having to do domestic work, paid work and non-physical fate

miller

new fatherhood: undoing gender and falling back into gender

miller - undoing gender

couples trying to not conform to traditional gender roles

miller - falling back into gender

parents trying to share roles but giving up and reverting to traditional roles

power and money sociologists

pahl and vogler

pahl and vogler concepts

• husband-controlled finances

• joint-pooling of finances

• partial-pooling of finances

pahl and vogler - husband-controlled finances

allowance system, a small amount of money set aside for the other partner's spending

pahl and vogler - joint-pooling of finances

all money is paid into a joint account to be managed fairly

pahl and vogler - partial-pooling of finances

both partners have their own accounts but a joint account/shared account also

braun et al and fatherhood

• active fathers

• background fathers

• male provider ideology

braun et al - active fathers

male parents that take a pro-active role in childcare

braun et al - background fathers

male parents that take a secondary role with childcare rather than active participation

braun et al - male provider ideology

society is conditioned to believe that men should do paid work and provide material resources for their family

gabb - parents and 'feeling rules'

males and females developing differing emotional attachments to domestic roles, especially parenting

hardill et al - male careers prioritised

found that among almost 2/3rds of the couples, the man's career took precedence. women's careers took priority only in 1 in 6 of the couples.

smart - money isn't a source of power among same-sex couples

argues that because same-sex couples don't have the same cultural and historical baggage surrounding money, they are more egalitarian as they don't see money as a source of asserting power (unlike straight couples)

extra sociologists:

crompton and lyonette

crompton and lyonette concepts

cultural and materialistic theories

crompton and lyonette - cultural theories

explanations for the unequal domestic division of labour being the result of societal expectactions

crompton and lyonette - materialistic theories

explanations for the unequal domestic division of labour being the result of earning power

sociologists: criticisms for division of labour being unequal

sullivan, kan, arber and ginn

(criticism of unequal) sullivan

found women in full-time paid work do much less domestic work

(criticism of unequal) kan

found younger men do more domestic work so there's a gradual shift happening from generations to generation

(criticism of unequal) arber and ginn

found domestic work is reduced for women in higher income households due to labour saving devices, cleaners and nannies etc. for every £10,000 more a woman earns a year, she does 2 hours less domestic work.

(criticism of unequal) dual earners

dual earners tend to have more equal division of domestic labour and the number of dual earner households is increasing

sociologists: criticisms for division of labour being equal

oakley, miller, braun, duncome and marsden

(criticism of equal) oakley - family symmetry

argues that family remains asymmetrical due to patriarchal culture and male provider ideology

(criticism of equal) oakley - token work

found male involvement in childcare is often only token work (fun and enjoyable) rather than tasks such as changing nappies etc.

(criticism of equal) miller

found most well-intentioned men quickly 'fall back into gender'

(criticism of equal) braun

found that rather than being active fathers, most men remain background fathers

(criticism of equal) duncombe and marsden

found that female employment doesn't always reduce domestic work, it often results in the triple shift.