Studied by 37 people
Family
Two or more people linked by birth, marriage, adoption or cohabitation based on longterm relationship (kinship)
Household
Group of people who live together, but are not necessarily related e.g. students renting a flat.
Cohabitation
People who live together in a sexual relationship without getting married.
MARRIAGE TYPES: Monogamy
Relationship with only one person
MARRIAGE TYPES: Serial Monogamy
The practice of engaging in a succession of monogamous sexual relationships
MARRIAGE TYPES: Arranged Marriage
Martial union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals based on race, religion, social class etc.
Civil Partnership
A legally recognised union with rights similar to those of marriage, created originally for same sex couples in places they were not legally allowed to marry.
Polygamy
The practice or custom of having more than one wife simultaneously.
Polyandry
Polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband.
STRUCTURES: Nuclear Family
A couple and their dependent children, basic social unit.
STRUCTURES: Extended Family
Nuclear family and grandparents and other relatives
STRUCTURES: Classic Extended Family
3 or more generations live together in one household
STRUCTURES: Modified Extended Family
When a family lives apart but they keep their family ties alive.
STRUCTURES: Bean Pole Family
Those with fewer children and multiple generations of older members.
STRUCTURES: Patriarchal Family
A family controlled by a man
STRUCTURES: Matriarchal Family
A family controlled by a woman
STRUCTURES: Symmetrical Family
Where a family divides all responsibilities equally between partners.
STRUCTURES: Reconstituted Family
Two adults marrying, where at least one has children from outside the relationship.
STRUCTURES: Lone Parent Family
A person who lives with a child or children and who does not have a spouse or live with a partner.
STRUCTURES: Gay/Lesbian Family
LGBT people raising one or more children as parents or foster care parents.
STRUCTURES: Single Person Household
One person living in a household alone
Functionalist main view of the family
Just like an organ in the human body, functionalists believe that the family enables society to function.
The family is the basic building block of society that eventually leads to social cohesion
Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
Reproduction of the next generation
Socialisation of the young
Meeting its members’ economic needs
A03: Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Other sociologists believe that these functions could be carried out equally well by other institutions, like education.
A03: Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Murdock recognises the contribution of other institutions but argues that the nuclear family is universal (in 250 societies he studied) because of its ‘sheer practicality’ in performing the 4 essential functions.
A03: Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Murdock has a ‘rose tinted’ harmonious consensus view
A03: Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Feminists believe that the family only serves the needs of men and oppresses women.
A03: Murdock’s 4 functions of the family
Marxists believe that the family only serves the needs of capitalism not the needs of its members and society as a whole.
Parsons ‘Functional Fit Theory’
Parsons argues that the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will fit the needs of society.
Pre-Industrial Family: Extended family, Unit of production, Ascribed status
Post-Industrial Family: Isolated nuclear family, Unit of Consumption, Geographically Mobile
A03: Parsons ‘Functional Fit Theory’
Young and Willmott (1973) and Laslett (1972): pre-industrial family was nuclear, not extended.
A03: Parsons ‘Functional Fit Theory’
Young and Willmott: hardship of the early industrial period gave rise to a ‘mum centred’ working-class extended family.
A03: Parsons ‘Functional Fit Theory’
Hareven (1999): extended family not the nuclear was structure best equipped to meet the needs of the early industrial society.
A03: Parsons ‘Functional Fit Theory’
There is some support for the claim that the nuclear family has become dominant but the extended family has not disappeared.
Marxists main view of the family
Marxists see all society’s institutions as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism
For Marxists, the functions of the family are purely for the benefit of the capitalist system. (tool for capitalism)
How is the family a tool of capitalism for Marxists?
Inheritance of Wealth- Engels
Socialisation- Althussar
Cushioning Effect- Zaretsky
Unit of Consumption- Zaretsky
Reproduction
Engels- Inheritance of private property
The nuclear family developed so that men could control children and women, and allow the to pass property to their biological offspring. This is the patriarchal monogamous nuclear family where women have been turned in ‘a mere instrument for the production of children’
Zareksky- Unit of Consumption
The family is a prop to the capitalist system. The unpaid work of housewives support future generations of workers.
The family consumes the products produced by the bourgeoisie to make profits. The family supports workers to help them carry on working.
A02: Zareksky- Unit of Consumption
Advertised urge families to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ by consuming all the latest products
The media target children, who use ‘pester power’ to persuade parents to spend more.
Children who lack the latest clothes or ‘must have’ gadgets are mocked and stigmatised by their peers.
Poulantzas- Family as an ISA
The family is part of the superstructure, part of the ISA used to control and create values to support capitalism.
The family is nothing more than ‘an ideological conditioning device’. Children learn to conform and become cooperative and exploited workers.
Ideological functions of the family (marxist)
Family socialised children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable. Parental power over children over children accustoms them to the idea that someone is always in charge and prepares them for work.
Zaretsky- Family=Haven
Family also provides a ‘haven from the harsh world’ of capitalism, although it is an illusion and is based upon the domestic servitude of women.
He argues that class inequalities are ‘reproduced’ generation after generation within families.
3 main Marxist functions of the family
Inheritance of property
Ideological functions
Unit of consumption
A03: Marxist view of the family
Marxists assume that the nuclear family is dominant and ignores wide and increasing variety of family structures in society today.
A03: Marxist view of the family
Feminists believe that Marxists emphasis on capitalism and social class underestimates the importance of gender inequalities in the family.
A03: Marxist view of the family
Functionalists believe that Marxists ignore the very real benefits that the family provides for its members, such as intimacy and mutual support.
A03: Marxist view of the family
Zaretsky has been criticised for exaggerating the extent to which the family can escape from alienating work as he ignores the fact that the family can be a place of cruelty, neglect and violence.
A03: Marxist view of the family
Some families are anti capitalist and socialise their children to be critical of the ruling class.
A03: Marxist view of the family
Marxism is useful for highlighting the importance of economic influences of family life and because it raises the possibility that the family as an institution benefits some social groups (higher classes) more than others.
Feminists main view of the family
Argue that the nuclear family has traditionally performed 2 key functions that have oppressed women.
Socialisation
Inequality
Liberal Feminists view of the family
Causes of inequality in the family
Long inflexible working hours
Expectations in domestic labour
Sommerville- March of progress view
Changes in government polices- Equal Pay Act (1970), Sex Discrimination Act (1975)
Dual earning household- both parents earning an income
Changes in parenting- more stay at home dads
Changes in social attitudes- education, marriage, sexuality etc.
Marxist Feminism
Looks at how women are exploited and how this benefits the capitalist society
Society needs to tackle capitalism to tackle patriarchy.
Beechey- Marxist Feminism
Reproduction of the labour force
Beechey- Marxist Feminism
Reserve army of cheap labour e.g. WWII
Ansley- Marxist Feminist
Women are takers of shit
When men come home and try to relieve their stress (Warm Bath Theory) from working in a capitalist system, they do so by taking their frustrations out on their wives.
Marxist Feminism- Soft Feminism
Payment for invisible work.
Closing the Pay gap
If domestic labour and invisible work was compensated it could equal an extra £222.54 per week for Women and £137.13 for men. Based on the average hourly rate paid to domestic workers.
Marxist Feminisms- Hard Solutions
Revolution to overthrow capitalist systems.
Delphy and Leonard- Radical Feminism
The main role of the family is to maintain patriarchy.
Family is a reflection of patriarchy in society.
Family= ownership
Gender Role Socialisation
Radical Feminism- Solutions
Only by getting rid of patriarchy and the family in particularly will lead to the end of women's oppression.
Separatism: Women must organise themselves to live independently of men.
Political Lesbianism: heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive.
Matrilocal Households: all female households (Greer, 2000)
Intersectional Feminism view on family
There is a false universality of women’s experiences in the family.
Lesbian, heterosexual, black, white, middle class and working class women will have very different experiences of the family.
A03:Liberal Feminism
Intersectional Feminism: Ethnocentric View
Radical Feminism: Patriarchal Structures still persist
Anne Oakley: “Helping Out”
Over states the progress made.
A03: Radical Feminists
Fails to recognise any improvements in domestic life
A03: Intersectional Feminists
Fail to recognise that women share many experiences such as low pay
The Personal Life Perspective (PLP)
Very different from Functionalists Marxists and Feminists
Which are ‘top down’ structural approaches.
This is a ‘bottom up’ Interactionist approach.
PLP main view of the family
People start with the meaning individuals give to their relationships and how these shape their actions.
They look at the wider view of relationships rather than just blood and marriage ties.(Kinship)
Draws our attention to relationships that can’t conventionally be defined as ‘family’.
Instead, it looks at relationships which individuals see as significant and give a sense of identity, belonging and relatedness.
Postmodernist view of the family
The structures of the family are no longer dictated by tradition or society
There is no such thing as the universal family type.
PLP theorists
Giddens- Needs based family
Beck- Negotiated family
Stacey- Family is ambiguous and fluid
Leech- Cereal Pack Family
Smart- Connectedness Thesis
Material Support Policies
Working Tax Credits
Child Tax Credits
Statutory Maternity Pay
Physical Support Policies
Maternity and Paternity Leave
Child Protection Plan
Early years child care
Important policies pre-1980
Legalisation of the Contraception Pill (1967)
Divorce Reform Act (1969)
The Beveridge Report (1942)
Cross-Cultural Examples of Social Policies & The Family
China- One Child Policy: 1979-2016
Limited the number of children in order to control the massive population growth in China.
Those who had more than one child faced sanctions, forced abortion and sterilisation.
Communist Romania 1948 - 1989
Aimed to increase population, restricted contraception and abortion availability, set up infertility centres and made divorce more difficult. Unmarried and childless couples paid 5% more in tax.
Conservative Policies (1997-1997)
Aimed to increase population, restricted contraception and abortion availability, set up infertility centres and made divorce more difficult. Unmarried and childless couples paid 5% more in tax.
Child Support Agency (1993)
Children’s Act (1989)
Married Men’s Tax allowance
Section 28
Illegitimate Children given same rights as those who have married parents
New Labour Policies (1997-2010)
Still under the influence of the New Right, however much more progressive, favouring the Duel Earning family over traditional roles. Gave some support to alternative family types but still preferred the heterosexual nuclear family.
Parenting Order for parents of unruly children
Longer Maternity leave
Allowed unmarried and same sex couple adoption
The New Deal
Working Families Tax Credit
Civil Partnership Act
Coalition Policies (2010-2015)
The coalition government had very inconsistent policies on the family due ro the conflict between the two camps of MP’s:
Modernists- acceptance of diversity in the family
Traditionalists- who favour the New Right’s view of the traditional nuclear family.
Removed couples Penalty form Tax Credits
Introduced shared parental leave
Equal Marriage Act
Conservative Policies (2016-2019)
The Conservative government has been mostly concerned with the issue of the UK leaving the European Union, however they have passed some polices relating to the family which return to the New Right focus they had in the 1980/90’s
Reintroduction of the Married Couples Tax allowance
2 Child cap on Child tax
Civil Partnerships for Heterosexual couples
Policies: Shaped Family Structure
2 child tax credit cap- Conservative Govt 2016+
Civil Partnership Act- New Labour 1997-2010
Equal Marriage Act- Coalition Govt 2010-2016
Married couples tax allowance - Conservatives 2016+
Policies: Shaped roles and responsibilities in the family
Longer maternity leave- New Labour 1997-2010
Shared Parental Leave - Coalition Govt 2010- 2016
Working Family Tax Credits- New Labour 1997-2010
Policies: Changing position of children
Illegitimate children given the same rights as those to married couples- Conservatives 1979-1997
Child Support Agency- Conservatives 1979-1997
Parenting Order- New Labour 1997-2010
Benedict - Differences between societies
Found that children in non-western cultures have more responsibility at home and work
How found that in many non-western cultures, the expected behaviour of children was less clearly separated from the expected behaviour of adults.
A03: Benedict - Differences within societies
At the time of Benedict’s research, western societies has a very different opinion of non-western cultures. There was an idea that adults in these societies were childlike themselves.
Pilcher (1995)- Differences between societies
Childhood in the west is clearly defined as a separate section of life to adulthood.
Differences in childhood within a society
One major difference in childhood within a society is the experience of childhood e.g. Middle class children may be more likely to go to private school and afford the latest technology.
AO3: Is this really the case in modern Britain?
Shorter-Differences in childhood over time
The main difference is in pre-industrial Britain, childhood and adulthood were not clearly distinguished from each other.
Shorter (1975)
Children had similar responsibilities to adults
Work began at an early age
There were no differences in rights
High infant mortality rates meant that parenting attitudes were different
Differences in childhood over time
Reasons for differences in childhood over time
Laws & Legistlation (e.g. child labour, child protection, children’s rights, age limits)
Compulsory schooling
Lower infant mortality rates
Increased medical knowledge related to children
The main catalyst for this change was industrialisation.
Postman
Postman thinks that childhood is disappearing.
He thinks that the shift from print culture (written words) to television culture has been the cause of change.
Therefore there is no longer an information hierarchy.
Aries
Aries believe that children in today’s society:
Are more valued
Are more protected
Are better educated
Are healthier
Have by more rights.
Child-centred family- Statistic
On average, you will cost your parents £227,000 by the time you reach your 21st birthday.
Cunningham-Child-centred family
Childhood is the opposite of adulthood
Physical and symbolic separation
Different ‘rights’
Wells- Child-centred family
Government almost entirely organised around internal and external threats
Palmer- Toxic Childhood
Palmer believes that rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development.
This is the result of
intensive marketing to children
parents working long hours
testing in education
Age patriarchy- Gittins
Gittins believes that there is an age patriarchy of adult domination and child dependency.
This may assert itself in the form of violence against children.
Child Abuse statistics
1 in 14 children have been physically abused
Physical abuse is 19% of a child abuse cases
Over a third of all police-recorded sexual offences are against children
73% of UK children know another child who is suffering neglect
Turney
there are certain indicators of abuse
Injuries can occur accidentally when а child is at play it may, howevеr, be the result of ovеr-discipline or physical punishment that is inappropriate to the child’s age
Physical abuse should be suspected if the explanations do not fit the injury or if а pattеrn of frequency is apparent.
Physical abuse may consist of just one incident or it may happen repeatedly.
Singer- Child soldiers
Found that thousands of children, some as young as 10, are serving as soldiers around the world
Observes that African states have been at the epicentre of using child soldiers
In Northern Uganda as many as 14,000 children have been abducted to serve as soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army
During the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, many children were drugged and brainwashed by rebel militias and were forced to kill miam civilians, those who objected were killed
Girls were often used for sexual purposes
Abuse or neglect may stunt physical development of the child’s brain and lead to psychological problems, such as low self- esteem, which can later lead to high-risk behaviours.
Consequences of child abuse
Physical health : increased risk of brain damage, heart attack etc
Psychological : Diminished executive functioning and cognitive skills, attachment and social difficulties,
Behaviour : alcohol and other drug use, future maltreatment
Jeffrey et al- Social class effecting childhood
By the age of 7 children who experienced poverty had significantly fallen behind in school compared to children from middle class backgrounds. This also increased the chance of illness.
Ghumann- Religion effecting childhood
Found that religion had a big impact on childhood experience of Asians
He found that generational conflict between Asian parents and children exists, but it is often resolved through compromise
For example, many Muslim children spent there Saturday mornings learning Qur’ an
O’Brien et al- Racism effect on childhood
found that ‘race’ and gender often interact to have a negative impact on the experience of childhood.
Globalisation & Childhood statistics
Children in developing countries are less likely to have access to education (67.4 million do not attend school)
122 million children 18 and under cannot read and write
⅔ are thought to be girls
‘the value of mum’
In 2013, a report called ‘the value of a mum’ (The Legal and General insurance firm) estimated a domestic labour figure.
£31,627 per year
£608.21 per week
Pahl
Housework is a relatively modern invention. In pre-industrial times, household tasks were not clearly distinguished from more general economic tasks, such as working on the farm, tending to the animals, baking and the various activities of cottage industries
During the Industrial Revolution, men became increasingly identified with the public world of production and wage labour, while women were confined to the private sphere of consumption and the home.
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