1 - Families - couples, domestic abuse, decision making

What did Parsons say about the division of labour in the family?

The husband has the instrumental role geared towards achieving success at work so he can provide for the family financially whereas the woman has the expressive role geared towards the primary socialisation of the children and meeting the families emotional needs.

He sees this division of labour as based on biological differences so naturally suited to each gender

Evaluate Parsons view on the domestic division of labour

• Young and Willmott argue it is outdated as men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and wives are becoming wage earners

• Feminists reject the view that the division of labour is natural

What did Elizabeth Bott say about roles within the family?

She said there are segregated conjugal roles (man as the breadwinner and woman as the expressive role) or joint conjugal roles (couples sharing tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together).

Joint conjugal roles are more popular in homosexual couples whereas segregated roles were more popular in traditional working class households

WC extended families in East London had segregated roles

What is the symmetrical family view and who came up with it?

Young and Willmott came up with this march of progress view saying the family is slowly improving for all members and becoming more democratic where men and women have equal roles within the family.

This is most popular among younger, socially isolated and more affluent couples

This is because of:

- Changes in women's position eg women going out to work even if it is just part time

- Geographical mobility

- New technology and labour saving devices

- Higher standards of living

Outline and explain some key evidence points Oakley found to support that the division of labour is not equal?

• Only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework

• Dex and Ward found in their 2007 study 78% of fathers would play with their children however when it came to caring for a sick child less than 1% took main responsibility

• This proves that women are subordinate to men so the men only do the more pleasurable activities.

• Most couples defined the fathers role in the family as ‘taking an interest’ such as playing with the child in the evenings. Men may help with specific tasks however, it is generally the female who is responsible for the child’s security and well-being

What did Warde and Hetherington find out about domestic duties?

• Wives were 30 times more likely to be the last one to have done the washing while husbands were 4 times more likely to be the last one to have washed the car

• Shows that domestic chores remained sex-typed

• Men would only carry out the routine ‘female’ tasks when their partners weren’t around to do them

What did Gershuny find to prove that the division of labour is getting more equal? Give some stats supporting this from 2012 British Attitudes Survey

Women’s changing position in society meant they are now taking on more full time jobs leading to a more equal division of labour.

In 1984 45% of men agreed with the view that a man’s job is to earn money while the woman’s job is to look after the home and family. However, by 2012 only 13% of men agreed with the view

What did feminists Duncombe and Marsden say about the division of labour?

They said it was like a triple shift where women would have to do housework, paid work and manage everyone in the family's emotions for example arguments between siblings

What is the cultural and material explanation for the inequality in the division of labour? Crompton and Lyonette

Cultural - Women perform more domestic labour as that's what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do due to norms and values

Material - Women generally earn less than men and so it's economically rational for men to do the work while women care for the children - especially due to the cost of living crisis. Gender pay gap is 7%

How do Dunne and Gershuny support the cultural explanation for the division of labour?

1. Dunne - says lesbian couples have more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of heterosexual gender scripts/norms. However, Pleck would disagree and say that men create hierarchies among each other despite the absence of gender scripts

2. Gershuny - couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to have a more equal relationship themselves suggesting we act how society and our role models has socialised us to do

What 2 sociologists support the material explanation for gender division of labour?

1. Arber and Ginn found the better paid middle class women were more able to afford commercial products such as ready meals which are labour-saving devices and mean women don’t have to spend as much time themselves carrying out labour intensive tasks

2. Ramos found where the woman is the full time breadwinner and male is unemployed he does as much domestic labour as her

What was found out by Barrett and McIntosh about decision making within the family?

• Men usually make the decisions about the spending of money on important items

• Men gain far more from women's domestic work than they give back in financial support.

• The financial support men give to their wives us often unpredictable and comes with strings attached

What were 2 types of control over family income and which 2 sociologists came up with them?

• Feminists Pahl and Vogler.

• The allowance system where men give the woman an allowance to meet the needs of the family and keeps the rest for himself.

• Pooling where men and women have joint access to income and joint responsibility for how it is spent eg: joint bank accounts. While this may seem more equal, you don’t know who controls the pooled money or whether each contributes equally. Cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money to maintain independence however, they are more likely to share domestic tasks equally

What did Finch say about the structure of women's lives?

Women's lives were mainly based around their husbands career and so the family may move house based on the husband's job. His career took priority

Why did Edgell argue men are more likely to make the important decisions?

Because women generally earn less than men and so are more economically dependant on men and make less of the decisions. However women may be allowed to make the less important decisions such as what food they buy but not about moving house

What are 2 evaluation points with sociologists for saying that there is inequality within the family in the decision making? Personal life

1. Smart found that gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were happy to leave it to their partners not seeing it as equality or inequality

2. Weeks et al focus on "co-independence" where a partner retains some control over some of their money but also shares some for household spending

What percentage of women that suffer domestic abuse are women? Why may sociologists challenge the view that domestic violence isn’t seen as behaviour of a few sick individuals?

• 84%

• Because it is too widespread and doesn’t occur randomly but follows social patterns

What did Wilkinson and Pickett find about the material explanation for domestic abuse?

• Those on lower incomes will experience more stress due to lack of money and so quick tempers and so are more at risk of domestic abuse. Eg: worries about money, housing or jobs

• Lack of money can reduce people's support circles so they have less support

What do Dobash and Dobash say about the reasons for domestic violence?

• Men don't like their authority to be challenged eg: a women asking the man why he is home late for dinner

• Men may feel threatened or intimidated so use violence to assert authority

• they are radical feminists

What are some evaluation points you can use to support the official statistics for domestic violence being too underestimate the true extent?

- Police believe the family is a private sphere and so tend to neglect the darker side of family life for example conviction rates stood at 6.5% of all incidents reported (Cheal)

- The family is generally seen as a good thing and so agencies hope families work through it

- The believe that people are free agents and can leave if they want however male violence may also be alongside male economic power meaning women are not economically independent alone. Or children may be a worry for women

-Victims are less likely to report it to the police. Dar argues victims of domestic abuse are less likely to report it because they believe it is not a matter for the police, trivial or they fear reprisals

What is the radical feminist explanation for domestic violence?

Firestone and Millet argue that patriarchy is within society and the family and marriage are key institutions in the oppression of women. The family serves to preserve the power men have over women and can be done through domestic violence

Male domination of state institutions explains the reluctance of the police to deal with domestic abuse cases

Evaluate the radical feminist view on domestic violence?

• Elliot argues that not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence.

• Radical feminists also ignore the violence against children, men or in lesbian relationships. 18% of men in 2013 were seen to have experienced domestic violence since age 16.

• Feminists explain why women experience more domestic violence than men but fail to explain which women are more at risk and why (linked to social groups)

Describe the Marxist feminist explanation of domestic violence with a sociologist.

Ansley describes women as takers of shit and argues domestic violence is a product of capitalism. Male workers are exploited at work so take out their frustration on women