changing patterns

Question 1

Significance of individual choice

Answer 1

Smart - ‘Connectedness thesis’ means that people can form meaningful connections with friends, colleagues, and pets. Sometimes these bonds are stronger than family relations because of shared experiences.

May - increasing number of single-person households and changes in society results in people seeking both physical + emotional support from outside their families, creating their own personal network. This new type of ‘family’ may include actual family members, friends, colleagues, pets, or even important figures of the person’s religion.

Weeks - the construction of homosexuality as abnormal and the establishment of gender roles led to the nuclear family, therefore heterosexual couples being considered the only legitimate family form for a long time. He interviews non-heterosexual people about their relationship experiences and discusses how meaningful, non-familial relationships have changed how we think about family formation in society at large.

Stacey - She argued that more and more women are able to choose to leave their families and establish new ones to suit their needs and happiness. In particular, Stacey identified a new type of non-familial relationship called the ‘divorce-extended family’, where women stay in touch with their ex-partner’s family after a divorce.

Question 2

Sociological explanations of marriage

Answer 2

• CHANGES IN THE POSITION OF WOMEN (Dobash and Dobash) Feminists view male violence in the family as a means by which women’s subordinate role is enforced. Power through control over your partner’s actions, thoughts and emotions is about showing women who is in charge. Therefore traditional, heterosexual marriage is oppressive for women, and view the declining rates of marriage and later-in-life marriages favourably.
• THE PURE RELATIONSHIP (Giddens) there is a quest today for the perfect relationship putting some off getting married if they’re always imagining a better relationship is around the corner. The role of marriage has changed, as it is all about the perfect relationship rather than the financial security that particularly women used to use.
• CHANGING ATTITUDES (Sharpe)
• SECULARISATION (Sanderson)

Question 3

Sociological explanations of divorce

Answer 3

• CHANGING STATUS OF WOMEN (Dobash and Dobash) feminists believe male violence in the family is the means by which women’s subordinate role is enforced. Power through control over your partner’s actions, thoughts and emotions is about showing women who is in charge. Therefore traditional, heterosexual marriage is oppressive for women, and view the declining rates of marriage and later-in-life marriages favourably.
• THE PURE RELATIONSHIP (Giddens) there is a quest today for the perfect relationship putting some off getting married if they’re always imagining a better relationship is around the corner. The role of marriage has changed, as it is all about the perfect relationship rather than the financial security that particularly women used to use
• SECULARISATION HAS LED TO INDIVIDUALISM (Bruce) it is no longer the centre of our lives, religion no longer exerts the same control over communities, being religious is now something that is left to the individual choice in the uk
• CHANGING ATTITUDES (smart) - ‘Connectedness thesis’ means that people can form meaningful connections with friends, colleagues, and pets. Sometimes these bonds are stronger than family relations because of shared experiences.

Question 4

Sociological explanations of childbearing

Answer 4

• CHANGING ATTITUDES (Smart)
• SUPPORT FROM THE WELFARE STATE (Murray) - women are choosing to have babies that could not afford if it was not for the support of the welfare state. (However only 16% of births are to parents that are not married or cohabiting)
• INDIVIDUALISM (Bruce) - religion no longer the centre of our lives, religion no longer exerts the same control over communities, sexual relationships are now valued outside of procreation. The prevalence of effective, safe, and accessible contraception and abortion means that there are fewer unwanted pregnancies.
• CHANGING POSITION OF WOMEN (Dobash and Dobash)

Question 5

Sociological explanations of the life course

Answer 5

• GROWTH IN ADULT KIDS (Heath) in 2011, 1 in 3 men and 1 in 6 women 20-34 still living with parents, 20% increase in 15 years. Some cannot afford the current property prices and some. Living at home is cheaper and more comfortable.
• REGIONAL DIFFERENCES (Eversley and Bonneriean) On the south coast there are elderly couples. In older industrial areas and traditional rural communities there are more extended families. Inner cities have more families in poverty, lone parents and ethnic diversity. The boundaries between family and friendship are blurred.
• GROWTH IN FAMILIES OF CHOICE (smart) - ‘Connectedness thesis’ means that people can form meaningful connections with friends, colleagues, and pets. Sometimes these bonds are stronger than family relations because of shared experiences.
• GROWTH IN SINGLEHOOD (Sharpe) 1/3 households contain a single person. Lack of stigma and therefore younger people delaying/rejecting marriages

Question 6

Explaining rise in Cohabitiation

Answer 6

• SECULARISATION (Sanderson)
• INDIVIDUALISM (Bruce)
• CHANGING ATTITUDES (Sharpe)