1.3.5 Families and Households: Changing Patterns and Family Diversity Flashcards
The Extended Family Today
Cheal
- Rules around obligation to assist : spouse, daughter, daughter in law, son, others.
- Sons are rarely chosen for health support and daughters rarely chosen for financial support.
The Extended Family Today
Brannen
- ‘beanpole’ family - extended vertically but not horizontally.
- Emerged as a result of higher life expectancy and lower family sizes.
The Extended Family Today
Chamberlain (1999)
- Studied Caribbean families and found that despite being geographically dispersed, they continue to provide support. ‘Multiple nuclear families’.
- lol
The Extended Family Today
Willmott (1988)
- Extended family continues to exist as a ‘dispersed extended family’ where relatives are geographically seperated but maintain frequent contact.
:)
The Extended Family Today
Charles (2008)
Studies families in Swansea and found that the multi generational family is ‘all but extinct’ except in the Bangledeshi community.
Divorce
Explanations for the increase in divorce
(7)
- Changes in the law
- Declining stigma and changing attitudes
- Secularisation
- Rising expectations of marriage
- Women’s increased financial independence
- Feminist explanations
- Modernity and Individualisation
Divorce
Smart (2011)
- Personal life perspective
- Divorce can become normalised and family life can adapt to it without disintigrating.
- A transition rather than a problem.
Divorce
Morgan (1996)
- Interractionalist
- We cannot generalise around the meaning of divorce as it is different for everyone.
Divorce
‘Pure relationship’ definition and which theorists coined it?
- Beck and Giddens - individualists
- A relationship which seeks to satisfy the partner’s romantic needs, not under obligation from society / kids / norms
Divorce
Bernard (1976)
- Radical feminist
- Women are becoming more conscious of patriarchal oppression and more confident in rejecting it, leading to higher divorce rates.
Divorce
Cooke and Gash (2010)
(Criticise Sigle Rushton)
Found no evidence that working women are more likely to divorce because women working has become the norm.
Divorce
Hochschild (1997) which links to Sigle Rushton’s findings
- Hochschild - Women feel more valued at work then they do at home. Men’s reluctance to do housework is a source of frustration.
- Sigle Rushton - Mothers with a dual burden are more likely to divorce then those who do all, or none of the housework.
Divorce
Fletcher (1966)
- Higher divorce rate is a result of the higher expectations which people place on marriage, leading to a couple being less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
Divorce
What date what the Divorce Law Reform Act and what did it change?
- 1969
- Made the ‘irrotrieval breakdown’ of marriage the sole ground for divorce.
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
Matrifocal definition
Female headed family
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
Reynolds (2010)
- Argues that statistics are misleading and that many of the black women headed families classed as single are actually in supportive LAT relationships.
slay
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
Heidi Mirza (1997)
- The high rate of lone parent families amongst blacks is not a result of disorganisation, but of the high value black women place on independence.
- icon
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
Why is it more common for Asian families to be multi generational?
(3)
- Younger age profile of British Asians, since a higher proportion are of childbearing age in comparison to the population as a whole.
- High value places on extended family.
- Need for assistence when migrating.
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
Reasons for more black lone parents
(3)
- The legacy of slavery - couples were separated and the children went with the mother, establishing a matrifocal pattern.
- High male unemployment
- Black women valuing independence more highly.
Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns
What percentage of Black families are lone parent?
49%
Partnerships
What government policies are there for same sex?
Same Sex Couples act 2013 gave same sex couples the right to marry.
Partnerships
Duncan and Phillips for the British Social Attitudes survey (2013) - LATs
- 1 in 10 adults are in LATs (which is half the number classified as single).
- ‘too early’ to cohabit, wanted to keep own home, past relationship trauma
Partnerships
Same sex
Weston (1992)
- describes same sex cohabitation as ‘quasi-marriage’
- Cohabiting contrasts gay lifestyle of casual relationships in the past.
Partnerships
Same Sex
Stonewall (2012)
- 5 to 7% of the adult population are in same sex relationships.
- Cannot judge whether this is an increase or decrease due to past stigmas and laws.
Partnerships
Cohabitation
Bejin (1985)
Cohabitation amoungst young people represents a conscious choice to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship then patriarchal marriage.
Partnerships
Cohabitation
Chester
Coast (2006)
(Relating theorists)
Chester
* Cohabiting can be seen as a ‘trial marriage’ which is part of the process of getting married.
Coast
* - 75% of cohabting couples say they intend to marry each other.
Partnerships
Cohabiting statistics
(2)
- 1 in 8 couples are cohabiting
- Estimated 2.9 million cohabiting couples in Britain
Family Diversity
Rapoport’s five types of diversity (CLOGS)
- Cultural - e.g ethnic groups have different family structures
- Life cycle differences - e.g pensioner couples, newlyweds, young couple with kids
- Organisational - e.g joint or conjugal roles
- Generational differences - e.g in attitudes towards cohabitation
- Social class - e.g differences based on resources
Family Diversity
Chester
- Although there is some increased diversity, the nuclear family remains dominant.
- Neo-conventional family - where both families work (like the symmetrical family)
- The nuclear family remains the norm that people aspire to and many of those not in a nuclear family have been or will.
Family Diversity
The New Right
(3)
- Sees the patriarchal nuclear family as the only normal one and all other as abnormal / problematic.
- Believe in intrumental and expressive roles based on biology.
- Believe lone parents are problematic as they cannot discipline children, don’t provide a male father figure, and are poor so a burden on the welfare state.
Family Diversity
Parsons
functionalist
(functional fit and irreducible functions)
- ‘functional fit’ between modern society and nuclear family.
- Nuclear family allows for a gepgraphically and socially mobile workforce.
- two ‘irreducible functions’ - the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities.
Family Diversity
Which perspectives are considered modernist?
(2)
- Functionalism
- The New Right
Postmodernism and family diversity
Explain the ‘connectedness thesis’ and name the theorist.
- Smart
- Argues decisions are made within a “web of connectedness”
- Argues that personal histories and relationships all strongly influence our current relationships and obligations.
Postmodernism and family diversity
What are the criticisms of the individualisation thesis?
(3)
- Exaggerates how much choice people really have
- Ignores that our decisions are made in a social context
- Ignores the importance of social structures (class inequalities, gender norms) in influencing relationships.
Postmodernism and family diversity
How does Beck describe postmodern society and the impact on family?
Argues that we now live in a
‘risk society’
where people calculate the risks and rewards before making decisions
The ‘negotiated family’ is not fixed but varies according to its members, making it less stable
Postmodernism and family diversity
Describe the ‘pure relationship’ and who theorised it?
- Giddens
- The ‘pure relationship’ is one that exists in postmodern society purely to satisfy the partner’s needs, not under obligation.
- Only survives as long as it brings satisfaction to each partner
Postmodernism and family diversity
Describe the individualisation thesis and the sociologists that came up with it.
- Giddens and Beck
- The individualisation thesis argues that traditional social structures, such as class, gender, and family, have lost their influence over society. This gives individuals more choice over their relationships.
Postmodernism and family diversity
Stacey
- Argues that more freedom and choice has benefited women as they have freed themselves from patriarchal oppression.
- Found women in California were working, improving their education. improving job prospects, divorced.
- Identified the ‘divorce extended family’ in which family members are connected by divorce.
Postmodernism and family diversity
Explain postmodern society
A society past the ‘modern’ society with its orderly structures (e.g. nuclear family), into a chaotic postmodern society with no dominant family type, but choice in relationship style.
