Studied by 2 people
Murdock
-Functionalist
-The family is nuclear and performs 4 essential functions: sexual, reproductive, socialising and economic. These are universal
-Nuclear family has clear male and female role models
-The family is a unit of production (they work for wages) and consumption (they buy goods and services)
Bell and Vogel
-Functionalist
-In dysfunctional families the child can become an emotional scapegoat for marriage problems
-This has a stabilising influence on the parents
Parsons
-Functionalist (links to conjugal roles)
-Nuclear family is responsible for primary socialisation and the ‘stabilisation of adult personalities’
-Modern families are small and geographically mobile
-”Loss of functions” thesis due to specialisation and differentiation
-Expressive (female) & Instrumental (male) roles based on biology
Warm bath theory
Links to Parsons’ expressive/instrumental roles: the family is a warm bath which a husband sinks into after a stressful day at work. The comfort (provided by the wife) leaves him stress free and ready to work again
Criticisms of Functionalism
-Overplay harmonious nature of the family: as of March 2013 there are over 50,000 children on child protection registers
-42% of marriages in England/Wales end in divorce
-Ignores sexism and domestic violence
-Overemphasises dominance of nuclear family
-Ignores how children can influence parents personality
-Murdock fails to consider necessity of family
Personal life perspective
Focuses on how people within families give meaning to their relationships and situations
Leach
-Personal Life Perspective
-The shift from extended to nuclear families means there is too much internal pressure as each member places too much responsibility on one another
Laing
-Personal Life Perspective
-Family members are tactfully interacting with one another due to pressure and ‘act like gangsters’
-Children in high pressure family environments are more likely to develop schitzophrenia
Clarke
-Personal life perspective
-Looked into what marriage meant to individual couples
-Marriage is a practice: something we do rather than have
Nordqvist and Smart
-Personal life perspective
-Within donor concieved families relationships can be more complicated as role allocation depends on different factors
-Genetic donors can become jealous, causing circumstances to change
Criticisms of Personal life perspective
-Accused of taking too broad a view and ignoring what is special about relationships based on blood or marriage
-Leach and Laing ignore social factors such as class/gender/ethnicity and have been characterised as more extreme
-Functionalism: The family can be a place of love and support
Engles
-Marxist
-Nuclear families only developed so that inheritance was only passed down to those you knew to be your children
-Before this children were communually looked after, so to develop the idea of the monogamous nuclear family, women’s sexuality had to be brought ‘under control’
Althusser
-Marxist
-The family is an ideological state apparatus used to pass on the ideals of capitalism to children and justify their position in society
Zaretsky
-Marxist
-The family is a ‘prop’ of capitalism as it perpetuates that private family life is separate from the economy and the world of work
-The family is a ‘haven’ as it provides comfort and satisfaction that is unavailable at work
Criticisms of Marxism
-Ignores family diversity found in modern society
-Emphasis on class underestimates scale of gender inequality
-Functionalists say they ignore the benefits of the family
Feminism & Family
-Women’s domestic role makes them economically dependent on men
-Women do more work allowing men to relax
-Wife loses status and independence
Liberal Feminism
-Women’s lives have improved due to changing attitudes
-Aim to continue equality through legislation and education
e.g. 1970 equal pay act, 1975 sex discrimination act
Wollstonecraft
-Liberal Feminist, 1700s
-Patriarchy traps women in a ‘bird cage’ and they should be entitled to family equality and education
Radical Feminism
-Men are the direct cause of women’s oppression and extreme measures such as separatism are the only way to liberate women
Rich
-Radical Feminist
-”Compulsory heterosexuality” women are forced into traditional relationships as it is the only accepted sexuality
Millet
-Radical Feminist
-Men benefit directly from the exploitation of women in the family
Firestone
-Radical Feminist
-Childbearing is a burden which has put women at a disadvantage, trapping them and making them dependent on men
Delphy and Leonard
-Radical Feminist
-Women contribute much more to family life through their domestic work but get less material benefits, as men control finance
-It is usually the man who has the decision making power
-’57 varieties of unpaid service’ provided by women
Marxist Feminism
Capitalism is responsible for women’s oppression, as it allows for economic and therefore social inequality
Oakley
-Marxist Feminist
-Women being responsible for domestic work makes them economically dependent on men, meaning they lose independence and identity
Beechey
-Marxist Feminist
-Employers pay women a wage they could not live off of as they are seen as dependent on men
Benston
-Marxist Feminist
-Capitalism gets ‘2 workers for the price of one’ as women’s unpaid domestic work is what allows men to relax and be ready to work
Ansley
-Marxist Feminist
-The wife is a ‘safety valve’ that men can vent their frustration (caused by capitalism) on to
Breugal
-Marxist Feminist
-Women form a ‘reserve army of labour’ as they can be summoned and then easily dropped, as their unemployment is disguised e.g during the wars
Intersectional Feminism
-aka Black/Difference Feminists
We cannot assume that all women’s experiences are the same as intersectionality affects views
Amos & Parmar
-Intersectional feminists
-Intersectionality needs to be recognised in women’s experiences
-Black women may find comfort in the family after experiencing racism
Domestic Violence
Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality”
Dobash & Dobash
-Completed study “violence against wives”
-Argue family is not a secure, happy and peaceful place. Family can be the most violent group to which people belong
-Interviewed 109 women who had been abused and found violent incidents were often set off when a male felt his authority was challenged
-88% had left at some stage but returned due to financial/emotional dependency
ONS (Domestic Violence)
Groups more susceptible to domestic violence included children and young women, lower social classes, those in rented accommodation, low incomes/financial struggles, high levels of alcohol and drug use, those with long term illness/disability
Yearnshire
-DV
-On average a woman suffers 35 assaults before reporting to the police
-Domestic violence is the least likely crime to be reported
Cheal
-DV
-Police may be unwilling to record or investigate because they make 3 assumptions:
The family is a private sphere
The family is a good thing so ignore dark aspects
Individuals could leave an abusive relationship
Millet & Firestone (DV)
-DV: radical feminists who argue Dobash&Dobash’s work is evidence of patriarchy
-All societies have been founded on patriarchy as men are the oppressors of women - normalising domestic violence
Wilkinson
-DV: materialistic explaination
-Violence is a result of stress on family members caused by social/economic inequality
Criticisms of Feminism
-Fail to explain women who commit DV
-Overly Negative?
Conjugal Roles
The roles of the man and the woman in the home: can be joint or separate, includes domestic division of Labour
-e.g Parsons expressive & instrumental roles based on biological differences
Young & Willmot
-Conjugal Roles
-”March of progress” view: used questionnaires and found that the family is becoming more equal and fair and there have been improvements for women
Women now go out to work
Men help with housework/childcare
Couples share their leisure time
-Symmetry was more common among younger couples
Reeves
-Conjugal Roles
-We are halfway through a revolution in the interaction between gender roles and family. By 2043 terms like ‘stay at home dad’ will lose novelty
-Gender pay gap predicted to close by 2040, 1/5 women now earn more than their partner, women are no longer economically reliant, growth of welfare state etc.
Oakley (CR)
-Conjugal Roles (Marxist feminist)
-Found some evidence of husbands helping in the home but no trend towards symmetry
-Only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework
-Only 25% of husbands had a high level of participation in childcare
Gershuny
-Conjugal Roles
-Women working full-time is leading to a more equal division of labour within the home
Dual Burden
Women have to balance dealing with housework and paid work
Duncombe and Marsden
-Conjugal Roles
-Go further on dual burden and argue women have to perform a ‘triple shift’ including balancing housework, paid work, and emotional work
Crompton & Lyonette
-Conjugal Roles
-Identify two explanations for the unequal divisions of labour:
Cultural or ideological explaination (patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles)
-Material or economic explaination (Women earn less than I men so it is economically rational)
Kan
-Conjugal Roles
-Younger men tend to do more domestic work
Dunne
-Conjugal Roles
-Lesbian couples had more symmetry in their relationship as they felt no need to adhere to gender roles
Ramos
-Conjugal Roles
-When the woman is the full time breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much housework as she does
Pahl and Vogler
-Conjugal Roles
-Identified two main types of control over family income:
The allowance system - men give wives an allowance
Pooling - Both partners have access to income
-Even when pooling was most common, men usually made the most important financial decisions
Edgell
-Conjugal Roles
-Studied professional couples in the 1980s and found:
Very important decisions, including financial, were made by men
Important decisions, including children’s education, were made jointly
Less important decisions, including decoration choices, were made by women
Smart
-Conjugal Roles
-Gay couples attached no importance to who controlled the money
-There is greater freedom for same-sex couples for them to do what suits them as a couple
Functionalist view of Policy
Social policies help families perform their functions more effectively
Flectcher
-Functionalist (social policy)
-The introduction of the welfare state and policies such as a free NHS, compulsory education and housing policies all help families take better care of its members
Marxist view of Policy
The state and its policies benefit and support capitalism, such as the low level of state pension: though these appear to benefit the lower classes
Donzelot
-Marxist (social policy)
-Policy is a form of state control over families, with social workers, doctors and teachers using their knowledge to control and change families
Althusser (SP)
-Marxist (social policy)
-Policies are part of the ideological state apparatus which maintains false class consciousness by suggesting capitalism has a ‘friendly face’ e.g. minimum wage
Feminist view of policy
Social policies assume the ideal family is patriarchal - with a male provider and female home maker (firestone)
e.g. universal child credit is paid to women, so assumes they take care of the children
Leonard (SP)
-Radical Feminist (sp)
-Where policies appear to support women, they still may reinforce the patriarchal family and act as a form of social control upon women e.g maternity leave policy
Liberal Feminist view of Policy
Legislation and the changing of law is key in being able to create greater levels of gender inequality
New Right view of Family
-Family should be based on heterosexual marriage between two parents - it forms the building blocks of society and is essential to its stability
-All other family structures are deviant and a threat to society
-Family diversity creates welfare dependency
Murray
-New Right (sp)
-Benefits/Council Housing encourages dysfunctional family types as they offer ‘perverse incentives’
(rewarding irresponsible or anti-social behavior and discouraging society to uphold moral values)
New Right view of Policy
-Policy needs to change with cuts in welfare spending and benefits
-The less the state intervenes, the better: policies only support a reduction in state involvement
e.g child support agency, withdrawal of benefits
-Introduced clause 28 under Thatcher
New Labour view of Family
-Saw the family as the basis of society and needing to be headed by a married heterosexual couple
-Reject the view that the nuclear family is the only acceptable family form
New Labour view of Policy
-Policy should be used to support different families
-Issued ‘supporting families’ recognising family diversity
e.g. longer maternity/paternity leave, working families tax credit, civil partnerships
Coalition Gov view of Policy
-Found it difficult to take a consistent line in policy due to differing opinions in the government
e.g. legalised gay marriage and introduced shared maternity leave
Postmodern view of Policy
-Family diversity needs to be supported with policy as it emphasises that families should be shaped by the needs and wishes of the individuals (Beck - individualisation thesis)
Changing marriage patterns
-Fewer marrying, more remarriages (4/10 in 2005), People are marrying later and couples are less likely to marry in church (35% in 2005)
-Due to changing attitudes to marriages/divorce/alternatives and secularisation
Divorce
-Has increased massively since the 1960s: numbers in 2001 were 6x higher than 1961
-Due to changes in the law and position of women, declining stigma, secularisation and rising expectations of marriage itself
Divorce Reform Act
1969 - widened the grounds for divorce to a ‘irretrievable breakdown’
Fletcher
-Divorce patterns
-People place higher expectations on marriage which has lead to a increase in the divorce rates
Gittins
-Divorce patterns
-Divorced men are more likely to remarry than divorced women
-Argues because women are more disillusioned with marriage
Beck and Giddens
-Divorce patterns
-In modern society, traditional norms such as staying with the same partner for life have lost their hold over individuals
(individualisation thesis)
Giddens
-Divorce patterns
-There has been a move towards confluent love: focused on intimacy and closeness as the key factor in relationships over duty and obligation
Who Divorces?
-The earlier the age of marriage the more likely divorce is to occur
-The lower class position of the husbands the more likely divorce is to occur
-Remarriages are more likely to end in divorce
Kiernan and Mueller
-Divorce Patterns
-Unemployment, reliance on benefits and low income are all associated with divorce rates
Cohabitiation
-Involves an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together. Rates have increased due to decline in stigma, growing youth acceptance etc
Chester
-Changing family patterns
-For most people cohabitation is part of a process of getting married
Same-Sex relationships
-Estimated 5-7% of adult population, has increased due to acceptance and legislative equality
-2004 civil partnerships
-2014 same sex marriage
Weeks
-Changing family patterns
-Increased social acceptance of same sex couples has lead to more ‘chosen families’
One person households
-Has increased (3 in 10 adults in 2013)
-Due to increases in seperation and divorce, and death in old people
Living apart together
-Has increased (1 in 10)
-Involves adults in a significant relationship but are not married or cohabiting
-Shows trend toward less formalised relationships
Child Bearing
-More children born outside of marriage (4 in 10)
-Women are having children later and having less of them
-More women are remaining childless
Lone parent families
-Make up 22% of all families with children
-Has risen due to increases in divorce and women not marrying at all but having children
Murray
-Changing family patterns
-The growth of lone-parent families has come from an overgenerous state, meaning single mothers come to rely on benefits
Step-families
-Account for around 10% of all families with dependent children
-More children are from the mothers previous relationship
Ethnic differences in changing family patterns
-Black families have the highest proportion of lone parent households
-Asian families tend to be larger than others and sometimes contain 3 generations
Ballard
-Changing family patterns
-Extended family ties provided an important source of support among asian migrants in the 50s and 60s
Pilcher
-Childhood
-The key feature of the modern idea of childhood is separateness from adults
Wagg
-Childhood
-For millions of children, childhood as we know it never happened
Ennew
-Childhood
-In Jamaica children are a part of the workforce and playing is their last priority
Benedict
-Childhood
-Children in non-industrial societies are expected to have greater levels of responsibility at home and work
Aries
-Childhood
-The modern vision of childhood is a recent development: in old paintings, children are depicted as mini-adults.
Postman
-Childhood
-The idea of childhood changed greatly in the 15th century due to the printing press - which created an 'information hierarchy'
Hillman
-Childhood
-Found boys are generally allowed more freedom than girls
Brannen
-Childhood
-Asian parents are likely to be stricter towards their daughters
Firestone
-Childhood
-Extensive care and protection are just new forms of oppression - being banned from paid work is a form of inequality
Gittins
-Childhood
-There is an age patriarchy of adult domination that keeps children subordinate and dependent
Smart
-Childhood
-Children are not merely passive victims of socialisation but are agents in creating their own childhoods (new sociology of childhood)
Note
Flashcard