Families 2

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from lecture notes covering family forms, gender roles, sociology of childhood, and demography.

Neo-conventional Family

A dual-earner version of the nuclear family that Chester (1985) argues has replaced the traditional nuclear family as the social norm.

Instrumental and Expressive Roles

Parsons's (1955) functionalist division of family labour, where the male performs the breadwinner (instrumental) role and the female performs the homemaker and emotional caregiver (expressive) role.

Reconstituted/Blended Families

Families where one or both partners have children from previous relationships, making up about 10% of UK families with dependent children.

Pure Relationship

A concept from Giddens (1992) linked to individualisation and reflexivity, where intimate relationships are entered into for personal fulfilment rather than traditional duty or legal ties.

Beanpole Families

A family structure described by Brannen (2003) with strong intergenerational ties across multiple generations but fewer children per generation, producing a tall and thin structure.

Living Apart Together (LATs)

A relationship pattern identified by Haskey (2005) involving committed couples who reside in separate households, applying to roughly 1 in 10 UK adults.

Rapoport and Rapoport's Five Types of Diversity

A 1982 model identifying organizational, cultural, social class, life cycle, and cohort diversity as central to contemporary family life.

Chosen Families

Support networks highlighted by Weeks (1999), particularly within LGBTQ+ communities, based on social and emotional connection rather than biological ties.

Visiting Relationships

A romantic arrangement common among Afro-Caribbean families where committed partners live in separate households.

Connectedness Thesis

Carol Smart's (2007) critique of individualisation theory, arguing that people are embedded in social relationships and choices are constrained by existing obligations and networks.

Segregated and Joint Conjugal Roles

Bott's (1957) distinction between traditional separated domestic tasks and leisure activities (segregated) versus shared tasks and decision-making (joint).

Symmetrical Family

A modern nuclear family form described by Wilmott and Young (1973) in which domestic roles, leisure, and decision-making are shared more equally.

Lagged Adaptation

Gershuny's (1994) concept stating that men's increase in domestic work lags behind women's increased participation in paid employment.

Triple Shift

Duncombe and Marsden's (1995) concept describing how women face the burden of paid employment, unpaid domestic chores, and emotional labour.

Social Construction of Childhood

The view supported by Wagg (1992) that childhood is not a fixed universal stage of life, but varies across time, cultures, class, and social contexts.

Age Patriarchy

Diana Gittins' (1998) term describing adult power, domination, and oppressive control over children's space, time, and bodies.

Disappearance of Childhood

Neil Postman's (1994) theory that mass media and digital technology erase information boundaries, causing children to dress, talk, and behave like adults.

Toxic Childhood

Sue Palmer's (2007) argument that modern elements like junk food, testing, screen time, and reduced play damage children's mental and physical development.

Paranoid Parenting

Frank Furedi's (2001) concept describing excessive parental fear over safety and strangers leading to strict over-regulation and reduced child independence.

KIPPERS

An acronym for "Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings," denoting young adults who remain financially dependent on parents well into their 20s or 30s.

Birth Rate

A demographic measure representing the number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year.

Total Fertility Rate

The average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, noted at around 1.6 in the UK in 2023.

McKeown's Thesis on Death Rates

Thomas McKeown's (1972) argument that improved nutrition and living standards were main drivers of falling death rates rather than medical advances.

Ageing Population

A population structure with a growing proportion of individuals aged 65 and over, which Hirsch (2005) notes impacts pensions, healthcare, and housing.

Net Migration

The difference between immigration into a country and emigration out, which has been positive in the UK since the 1990s.