family types sociologists

George Peter Murdock (1949)

compared research on 250 societies ranging from small hunting and gathering bands to large-scale industrial societies. He concluded that some forms of family could be found in every society – the nuclear family.

Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (1995)

argued that we are undergoing a process of **individualisation**, whereby individuals choose their own lifestyles and identities rather than following norms laid down by tradition. Part of this entails individuals choosing whether to maintain ties with extended families or to lead more independent lives.  \n

Ross et al.

found that grandparents spoke positively about being a grandparent and were happy to help with childcare, advice and support. Ross also found that these grandparents sometimes acted as go-betweens in the family when children fell out with their parents.

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Grant (2006)

has suggested that men are increasingly likely to be living with other men's children while their own grow up elsewhere.

Parentline Plus

an organisation for step-families, suggests there are 72 ways in which step-families can be formed. Step-families can include children from one or both parents’ previous relationships and may or may not include children of both parents. Children may also have strong relationships with their absent biological parents or have little or no contact. \n \n

The Millennium Cohort Study (Panico et al. 2010)

was a longitudinal study following families of children born in 2000. Only seven per cent of the families remained lone parents throughout the five years of the study. 

April Guasp

did parent study with same-sex families and found:

* Very young children with gay parents tend not to see their families as being any different to those of their peers. 
* Many of the older children said they saw their families as special and different, but only because all families are special and different - though some felt that their families were a lot closer than other people's families. 
* The report found that children with gay parents like having gay parents and would not want things to change, but that sometimes they wish that other people were more accepting. 

Eric Klinenberg (2013)

**Eric** **Klinenberg** (2013) argues that in western European and North American societies, people are living alone in large numbers for the first time in history. He suggests there are three reasons for this:


1. **The cult of the individual**. The cultural pressure today is to be ‘good to oneself’, so more individuals choose to opt out of living with others or as part of a family.


2. **The communications revolution**. Individuals can achieve the pleasures of a social life even when they are living alone, thanks to new technologies such as email, mobile phones and digital social networks.
3. **The ageing population.** Because people are living longer, it is likely they will be divorced or widowed in old age. Elderly women are particularly likely to live alone as they have a longer life expectancy than men.

rene Levin (2004)

has identified what are called LATs (living apart together) as a newly emergent form of family which allows individuals to enjoy the intimacy of being part of a couple with the autonomy of living alone. She argues that many are replacing marriage and cohabitation with the LAT arrangement.

Haskey and Lewis (2006)

point out that for many, living apart together is simply a **prelude** to **cohabitation** and possibly **marriage**, so many LATs may aspire to relatively conventional relationships in the long run.  \n

Pahl and Spencer

argue then the concept of “family" is becoming obsolete because of the growing importance of ‘non family households'. They believe that people no longer feel they have to maintain relationships with family members out of a sense of duty or obligation.

Roseneil and Budgeon \[2004\]

suggest that aspects of intimacy and emotional relationships are increasingly taking place outside the family. Their study was based on small-scale research on individuals who lived without partners. They focus on two key changes:


1. **Friends are taking the place of family**: For such individuals, their personal relationships were fluid, with a range of lovers, friends, work colleagues and extended family members offering an often changing set of personal relationships in place of a traditional family or romantic heterosexual relationship.
2. **The decentering of conjugal relationships:** Such individuals no longer build their lives and identities around a marriage partnership with a member of the opposite sex and a shared home, meaning that the nuclear family is no longer central to some people's lives. A person’s significant other may not in fact be someone with whom she or he has a sexual relationship.