are SPs good for family life? Flashcards
yes - functionalist
SPs maintain social solidarity by helping families perform functions as gov acts for benefit of all members of society
Fletcher - intro of welfare state with housing, health and education policies takes pressure off family so it can concentrate on 4 main irreducible functions efficiently (stabilising adult personality, reproductive, economic, educational, sexual)
e.g - creation of the NHS in 1948 by the Labour gov, enables family to focus on emotional care of members as nurses and doctors take care of medical needs.
functionalist criticism
assume that SPs benefit everyone in family equally, but Feminists say SPs benefit men more than women.
yes - new labour (FD)
maternity and paternity leave - creates gender equality
CPA 2005 - same sex families and expanded adoption - creates FD and gives everyone the rights to have a family - equality for LGBTQ couples
child tax credit, increased benefits, creation of minimum wage - reduced child poverty.
New deal - helps single parents get back into work - supports existence of LPFs
new labour criticism
leonard - when SPs appear to support women, they still reinforce traditional patriarchal family
e.g - maternity leave enables women to receive medical care and recover from childbirth, but at same time they’re based on assumption that childcare is mother’s responsibility
no - feminist
land - SPs maintain patriarchy and traditional NF - gov assumes NF is ideal so all SPs are designed to maintain TNF e.g - benefits, lack of childcare and lack of care for elderly - make women financially dependent on husbands
feminist criticism
not all laws are patriarchal - Equal Pay Act & Sex Discrimination Act protect women’s rights in workplace.
no - new right
SPs such as benefits, divorce and taxation negative as they encourage and enable social changes, threatening traditional NF
murray - SPs are form of gov interference, undermining NF.
e.g - welfare benefits encourage dysfunctional family types and irresponsible behaviour - provide perverse incentives - reward anti-social behaviour - encourage young women to become pregnant as they’ll get council house and child benefits and have negative impact on children - fail in edu and become delinquent - creates dependency culture.
almond - divorce undermines importance of marriage as a social institution and life long commitment, tax allowance is only available to dual income which undermines TNF with male breadwinner and encourages women to work
new right criticism
feminists - new right trying to re-establish old patriarchal order - assume patriarchal NF is ‘natural’ rather than socially constructed.
no - donzelot
SPs are form of state power and control over families. based ideas off foucault - gov agencies carry out surveillance - control family life by observing and monitoring families, poorer families
more likely to be seen as ‘problem families’ so policed more.
SPs give teachers, healthcare workers, police etc the rights to interfere in family life
donzelot criticism
marxists - fails to explain who benefits from the work of these professionals whilst marxists would argue it is the r/c who benefits
