Changing roles and relationships

Question 1

Elizabeth BOTT (1957)
'Family and social network'

Answer 1

TWO types of conjugal roles:
1. SEGREGATED conjugal roles
2. JOINT conjugal roles
Both found that joint roles were more likely to be found amongst middle class and young couples.
CLOSE-KNIT SOCIAL NETWORKS, where many friends and relatives lived close by and knew each other, were more likely to experience segregated roles-probably because husband and wife were less dependent on each other for social life and attitudes.
LOOSE-KNIT SOCIAL NETWORKS, where few of their friends and neighbours knew each other, were more likely to have joint conjugal roles.

Question 2

Willmott and Young (1975)

‘The symmetrical family’

Answer 2

Used the concept of conjugal roles in their explanation of the symmetrical family, which they saw to be the typical family of today.
The symmetrical family is seen to have THREE main characteristics:
1. nuclear in structure
2. joint conjugal roles
3. home-centred

Question 3

OAKLEY (1975)

‘The sociology of housework’

Answer 3

40 married women between 20-30 years old.
Found greater equality in domestic tasks in middle class than in WC.
Most marriages shared low participation by husbands. There was more male participation in childcare than in housework.
Only 15%housework
25% childcare
Saw the role of housewife as created by industrialisation and the exclusion of women and children from the world of work by men.

Question 4

EDGELL (1980)
'Middle class couples'

Answer 4

Husbands dominated THREE areas of decision making-moving house, finance and car.
Wives dominated on internal decorations, children’s clothes, domestic spending on food.
50% of husbands saw equality as a bad thing.