changing family structures-extended family

Question 1

beanpole family

Answer 1

a multigenerational family that is long and thin with few aunts, uncles and grandparents

Question 2

why did the Beanpole family come about?

Answer 2

• as a result of increasing life expectancy and fewer children being born
  -contraceptive control also means that families are becoming smaller

Question 3

sociologist (Brannen)

Answer 3

saw the development of the beanpole families as a result of the ageing population
-multigenerational meaning children have better relations with grandparents who live longer

Question 4

charles (sociologist)

Answer 4

-families more geographically mobi;e
-ethnic families tend to have particular emphasis with extended family , increasingly conducted at long distances and communication via social media =argues extended family is extinct

Question 5

Willmott (sociologist)

Answer 5

-disagrees with charles, argues extended family continues to exist as ‘dispersed extended family’, through frequent contact- e.g phone calls, messages despite being geographically separated

Question 6

Chamberlain

Answer 6

found even if family were geographically dispersed, they still continued to provide support
-She describes them as “multiple nuclear families’ with close and frequent contact between siblings uncles, aunts and cousins, who often make a big contribution to childrearing.

Question 7

Bell

Answer 7

-the extended family continued to survive because it provides important functions for its members
-Bell’s (1968) earlier research in Swansea found that both working class and middle class families had emotional bonds with kin and relied on them for support.

Question 8

reasons for changes in extended families

Answer 8

-geographical and social mobility
-ethnic diversity in family structures
-state policies and welfare

Question 9

geographical mobility and social mobility

Answer 9

-decline in the nuclear family because of the need for geographical mobility in the globalised workforce
-internal migration and international migration for employment results in nuclear family often leaving close relatives to gain employment
-can result in upward social mobility for some families- due to better housing, education, changing lifestyle
-more focuses on individual gain

Question 10

state policies and welfare

Answer 10

-decrease in social care funding has led to more parents moving in with grown children and their families for support
-increased benefits for lone parents and working families have meant less reliance on extended parents

Question 11

Parsons- pre-industrial families

Answer 11

argues that the pre-industrial families were usually extended families as society was less developed so provided fewer services (e.g fewer schools,no welfare benefits, NhS etc)
-extended family provided food,clothing jobs so had to be larger

Question 12

due to urbanisation and the industrial revolution parsons argues that

Answer 12

-more jobs available in the city as goods were produced using machinery so less agriculture
-parsons argues that the family had to become geographically mobile so therefore beca,e smaller
-so nuclear family became most common family type, easier for families to move - men performed instrumental role, women performed expressive role, state performed more functions so no need to extended family

Question 13

young and wilmott

Answer 13

-found the extended family ties were still strong in Bethnal Green, east London
- later found nuclear family more isolated