Famillies and households (theories, childhood, gender roles,social policy, demography, life course))

Murdock

4 Functions: sexual, reproductive, economic, educational

Parsons

Stabilisation of adult personalities, socialisation, norms, geographical mobility, instrumental and expressive roles, warm bath

[eval: conflict theories criticise for being optimistic, Ansley & Zaretsky question ‘warm bath‘ as tool of opression and distraction, family doesn’t benefit everyone]

Engels

Patriarchal monogamous family maintains capitalism, property

Zaretsky

• Unit of consumption

• Warm bath distraction

  [eval: too negative, omits positiove emotional benefits, negates role of women, outdated]

Benson (New Right)

Cohabiting couples are more likely to break down than married ones

Murray

Underclass has been created through an over generous welfare state

Somerville

Social policies have freed women and the family is no longer a patriarchal institution

Firestone

Separation of the sexes

Ansley

against warm bath theory ‘takers of shit’

[eval.: too negative, generalised and assumes women are passive (postmodern & intersectional/liberal feminists, Stacey, Sommerville), forgets family diversity and benefits (functionalists)]

Smart

connectedness thesis, more able to influence life course

• Argues against Giddens and Beck and Stacey: that wide structural family life still affects us

Murphy

Children born outside of marriage are more likely to underachieve and develop serious illness

Chester

Cohabitation is testing the water before marriage

Fletcher

High expectations are the reason for divorce

Mooney (et al)

Parental conflict has more of an affect than separation

De’Ath and Slater

Conflict in reconstituted families

Allan and Crow

Divided loyalties and difficulties disciplining

Melanie Phillips

Riots caused by absent fathers

Chester

Neo-conventional family - nuclear is the ideal

Rapoports

• Cultural diversity

• Life course diversity

• Organisational diversity

• Generational diversity

• Social class diversity

Judith Stacey (Post-modern life choices)

• diverse famillies, unpredictable

• Divorce extended family

• Women have been the main agents of change

• Individual choice in choosing family

Giddens and Beck

Family is unstable due to greater freedom e.g: serial monogamy (risk society)

individualisation thesis - due to life choices

Elizabeth Bott

Conjugal roles vs segregated roles

Young and Willmott

March of progress, symmetrical families

[eval: Oakley criticises, not drastic change, outdated, negates existing family diversity]

Ann Oakley

Dual burden - men do housework but not enough

Dunscombe and Marsden

Triple shift

Dunne

Gender scripts - same sex couples are equal

Gershuny

Equality, symmetry due to women paid employment. The longer the wife had been in paid work, the more housework the husband did

Oakley criticises this idea, 15% of men found doing housework and childwork

Pahl and Vogler

Pooling and allowance system due to dual income

Edgell

Husband makes all the important decisions in middle class families

Smart

Same sex couples are happy to leave finances to one as they don’t associate it with power

Dobash and Dobash

Domestic violence

Elliot

Not all men are aggressive

Aries

Portraits of children presented them as adults showing that childhood is a construct

Pollock (criticsms of Aries)

Artwork of children doesn’t display their role

Shorter

March of Progress: Childhood has a functional fit with modern society

Gittens

Adults force children to be dependent on them in order to maintain authority (age patriarchy)

Hockey and James

Childhood is an oppressive phase of life and often wish to escape it by acting up/down

Sue Palmer

Toxic childhood, due to fast food and media

Postman

Childhood is disappearing due to media and techonology, decreasing information hierarchy

Opie

Children are still partaking in childlike activities but in different forms due to technology

Jenks

Childhood is changing and adults are dependent on their children as all their other relationships are now unstable

Womack

Childhood is only disappearing for children who are poor

McRobbie

Bedroom culture

Bonke

More expectation for girls to do housework than boys

Brannen

Asian families strict on daughters

What does Pilcher argue?

Childhood is separate as they are protected, clear life stage , golden age in the West

What does Aries argue?

Childhood is a social construct as historical portraits show them dressed as adults

What is a criticism of Aries?

Pollock argues that he generalises and the children were just dressed up

What does Shorter argue?

Societies have become child centred

How is society child centred?

• Time and money spent on children

• Legislation

How does Gittens evaluate the child centred society?

Adults force children to be dependent on them (age patriarchy)

How is the liberationist view of childhood (Gittens and Hockey and James) evaluated?

Children can’t make rational decisions so must be regulated

Wagg

Childhood is social construct, not universal. This is supported by differences in developing societies:

Puch - responsibilities at young age

Firth - less respect for elders

Malinowski - sexual behaviour

What is toxic childhood?

Rapid changes have damaged children’s development

What are the features of toxic childhood?

• Technological change

• Increased junk food

• Focus on testing in school

• Intensive marketing to children

Reasons for childhood changes

1880 compulsory schooling

1889 prevention of cruelty to children

1989 Children Act - Greater welfare provision and living standards

UN Convention of Human Rights 1989

Declining family size & low infant mortality

medical knowledge - donzelot

minimum ages of consent, drinking, finances

What is a criticism of toxic childhood?

First world problems - the real toxic childhood is with children in sweatshops

What is a criticism of Postman?

Opie - children are partaking in childlike activities in different forms

What does Jenks argue?

• Childhood is changing

• Adults are depending on children as other relationships are unstable

What is a criticism of Jenks?

Lack of evidence

What does Hillman (et al) argue?

Boys could stay out after dark, cross roads, and travel accompanied before girls

What does Bonke argue?

More expectation for girls to perform chores

What do McRobbie and Garber argue?

Bedroom culture - girls socialise inside and boys are encourage to go outside

Althusser (Marxism)

family is an ideological state apparatus

Hirsch

age pyramid

Greer (feminists)

seperatism and matrifocal families

Jeffreys

political lesbianism

SOCIAL POLICY

-One-Child Policy, Nazi Germany bonuses

New Right - Murray -less welfare

Functionalists- Fletcher - increased healthcare, education, housing

Marxists - Wallace, Donzelot- only drives poverty, state controls

Conservatives 1979-91

Child Support Agency 1993

Section 28 - upholds ‘traditional values‘, bans educational talk of homosexuality

“Back to Basics“

Married Men’s Tax allowance

[eval: ideological right wing bias, creates inequalities, negates growing family diversity]

New Labour 1997 -2010

Paternity and maternity leave, working class famillies credit tax, 2004 civil partnership, adoption & children’s act 2002, Civil Partnership 2005

[acknowledges diversity, continued ‘dominant‘ family ideals, while it does help lone parents, access to childcare and work it cuts welfare payments, did not go far enough for rights]

Coalition 2010-2015

Equal marriage for homosexuals 2014, shared parental leave

[eval: cuts public spending, requires more change to match changing atttudes and behaviours]

DEMOGRAPHY AND LIFE PATTERNS Ageing population

Increased to 80 years due to rising life expectancy and declining birth rates. Sociologist: Hirsch. Evaluation: Creates dependency ratio issues (more elderly dependents vs. working population), strain on healthcare and pension systems.

Phillipson - ageing population no longer useful to capitalism, forced dependency

Death Rate & Infant Mortality Rate

Sociologist: Donzelot. Evaluation: Declining rates reflect improved healthcare, sanitation, and living standards.

Effect: care-giving, longer emotional connection, single-person households, sandwhich generation, increased strain on public services

Fertility & Birth Rate

Baby boom, smaller families or single-child famillies increased symetrical couples, children are economic liabilities, child centeredness from parents

Evaluation: Lower rates may indicate changing societal values, increased female education/employment, and access to contraception.

Divorce

Sociologist: Fletcher. Evaluation: Increased divorce rates by 42% can be attributed to rising expectations of marriage, secualrisation, less stigma, changes in law, and increased financial independence of women.

Effect: single-parent famillies, reconstituted, greater choice individual

Childbearing/Childrearing

women having children later, fewer children, none at all 25% choose, 40% born out of wedlock. Due to secularisation , less stigma Evaluation: smaller family sizes, and diverse parenting styles influenced by economic , employment for women

Marriage & Cohabitation

Sociologist: Chester . Evaluation: Declining marriage rates and increasing cohabitation reflect changing attitudes towards costs of marriage, secularisation, risk and instability of marriage , age to marry is 30s. 80% of married couples were cohabiting, greater individual freedom, and secularization.

Effect: individual freedom, diverse partnership choices, single-person households, blended famillies

Beneston (feminist)

women are reserve army of labour