couples Flashcards
what role do males / females have in parsons (functionalist) theory relating to the domestic division of labour?
- the husband has the instrumental role
- wife has the expressive role
explain parsons (functionalist) theory of instrumental and expressive roles
the husband is the breadwinner, and the wife is the homemaker.
this division is based on biological differences because women are ‘naturally suited to the nurturing role.
what does parsons (functionalist) say the differences between men and women are based on?
biological differences
what type of theorist is parsonons?
functionalist
what type of theorist is Bott?
functionalist
what does Bott think male and female roles are?
segregated conjugal roles,
joint conjugal roles
describe what “segregated conjugal roles” means
the couple have separate roles, a male breadwinnwer and a female home maker
the leisure activities also tend to be seperate
describe “joint conjugal roles”
where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together
evaluate Parsons (functionalist) theory about the domestic division of labour
- young and wilmott
men are doing housework and women are becoming wage earners - feminists
division of labour is not natural and only benefits men
whos study reinforces Botts (functionalist) theory about joint and segregated conjugal roles?
Young and Willmotts
what study reinforces Botts (functionalist) theory about joint and separate conjugal roles?
Young and Willmott
identified a pattern of segregated conjugal roles in their study of traditional WC extended families
describe Young and Willmott’s (functionalist) view of the history of the family
march of progress
explain Young and Willmotts (functionalist) ‘march of progress’ view
the family life is gradually improving for all its members, becoming more equal and democratic
what do Young and Willmott (functionalist) argue male and female roles are?
we are moving away from segregated conjugal roles and more towards joint conjugal roles and the ‘symmetrical’ family
what is meant by the ‘symmetrical’ family?
one in which the roles of husbands and wived, although not identical, are now much more similar
how is the family becoming more symmetrical?
-women now go out to work, although this may be part time rather than full time
-men now help with housework and childcare
-couples now spend their leisure time together
describe Young and Willmott’s study about the symmetrical family
more common in younger couples, who are more geographically and socially isolated, and the more affluent (better off)
define affluent
better off
what social changes have led to the rise in the symmetrical nuclear family during the past century?
-changes in womens positions
-geographical mobility
-new technology
-higher standard of living
what type of sociologist are Young and Willmott?
functionalists
what type of sociologist is Ann Oakley?
feminist
evaluate the march of progress view when relating to the symmetrical family
feminists argue little change has been made
dual or triple burden
describe Ann Oakley’s (feminist) study about families
only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework, and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare
husbands were more likely to share in childcare than housework, but only the more pleasurable parts
evaluate Oakley’s (feminist) point of view on families
it can be hard to research how much housework people do because people may lie
complete the sentence:
radical feminists argue that heterosexual relationships are…
patriarchal and will always be unequal
what sociologist researched into the division of labour in lesbian couples?
Dunne (1999)
describe Dunne’s (1999) study of lesbian couples
they have a more equal division of labour because heterosexuals are under pressure to conform to ‘gender scripts’
what sociologists identify two resaons of unequal division of labour?
Crompton and Lyonette (2008)
state the two reasons for the unequal division of labour identified by Crompton and Lyonette
-cultural / ideological explanations
-material / economic explanations
explain the two reasons for the unequal division of labour
- cultural / ideological:
patriarchal norms and values and socialisation - material / economic:
women perform domestic roles because generally men earn more money and are more busy doing so
what sociologists attempted to give evidence for the cultural explanation of inequality?
Gershuny
the Future Foundation
Dunne
what did Gershuny’s study find? (explaining gender division of labour, culturally )
couples whose parents shared housework more equally were more likely to share house work equally themseleves
what foundation found a generational shift in behaviour has occurred?
the Future Foundation
describe the future foundations study surrounding the generational shift in behaviour occurring
most men claimed to do more housework than their fathers and most women claim to do less than their mother
what sociologist studies lesbian couples and gender scripts?
Gillian Dunne
describe Dunne’s study on same sex couples and gender scripts
- 37 lesbian couples
- lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of traditional heterosexual ‘gender scripts’
what sociologists attempted to give evidence for the material explanation of inequality?
Kan
Arber and Ginn
what did Kan’s research show when studying material explanations about the gendered division of labour?
for every £10,000 a year or more a woman earns, she does two hours less house work per week
what did Arber and Ginn’s research show when studying material explanations about the gendered division of labour?
middle class women were more able to buy goods and services rather than having to spend the time carrying out domestic tasks themselves
what does Rosemary Crompton (1997) conclude about the division of labour amongst the sexes?
there is no immediate prospect of a more equal division of labour if this depends on economic equality
what is the triple shift?
unpaid house work
paid work
emotional work
what is the dual burden?
unpaid housework
paid work
what do Barrett and Mcintosh note about resource and decision making in the household?
- men gain far more from women’s domestic work then they give back in financial support
- the financial support that husbands give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached
- men usually make the decisions about spending on important items
what did Elain Kempson find in relation to resource and decision making?
in lower income families, women deny their own needs for other families.
even in households with higher incomes women are left in poverty
what two feminist sociologists identified two types of control over family income?
Phal and Vogler
state the two types of controls over family income identified by Phal and Vogler
- the allowance system
- pooling
what is the allowance system?
men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet the families needs, with the man retaining any surplus income for himself
what is pooling?
where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure
what money management system is becoming increasingly more common?
pooling
evaluate pooling
even where there was pooling, men made the major financial decisions
what sociologists evaluated pooling?
Pahl and Vogler
what did Finch’s observation about decision making suggest?
womens lives tend to be structured around around their husbands careers
what did Stephen Edgell’s (1980) study of professional couples find?
• very important decisions - the husband had the final say
• important decisions - jointly
• less importantly decisions - the wife
what did Laurie and Gershuny (2000) find in relation to financial equality and decision making?
by 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions
women who were high earning and well qualified professionals were more likely to have an equal say in
what do feminists argue that inequalities in decision making are the result of?
a patriarchal society
- instilled through gender role socialisation
what did Vogler et al’s find about cohabiting couples ?
cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money
- perhaps from a desire to maintain their independence
but more likely than married couples to share domestic tasks equally
what meaning does the personal life perspective focus on?
the meanings couples give to who controls the money
what did Carol Smart (2007) find in her study about same sex couples and their meaning attached to money?
found that some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money
what did Weeks et al (2001) find about typical patterns of finance were?
pooling some money for household spending, together with separate accounts for personal spending
what did Carol Smart suggest as an explanation of her study?
same sex couples do not enter relationships with the same ‘historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings around money’
what do supporters of the personal life perspective argue?
it is essential always to start from the personal meanings of the actors involved in the situations
what personal life perspective sociologists can be referenced when writing about resource and decision making in households?
- Carol Smart (2007)
- Weeks et al (2001)
how does The Home Office (2013) define domestic violence?
any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behavior, violence or abuse between those ages 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality
how do sociologists challenge the view that domestic violence is the behavior of a few disturbed individuals?
- domestic violence is far too widespread
- domestic violence does not occur randomly
according to the Women’s Aid Federation (2014), domestic violence accounts for _________ of all recorded violent crime?
between a sixth and a quarter
the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) found that _________ people reported having been victims of domestic abuse that previous year?
2 million
sociologists argue domestic violence does not occur randomly but instead….
follows particular social patterns and these patterns have social causes
what did Kathryn Coleman et al find in relation to domestic violence?
women were more likely than men to have experienced ‘intimate violence across all four types of abuse
what are the four types of abuse?
partner abuse
family abuse
sexual assault
stalking
what did Dobash and Dobash find in relation to domestic violence?
violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority
what do Dobash and Dobash argue about marriage?
it legitimates violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives
according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013), what type of gender gap of domestic abuse victims is there?
relatively narrow
7.3% women
5% men
what sociologists evaluated the narrow gender gap of domestic abuse?
Dar
Walby and Allen
what did Walby and Allen find which can be used to evaluate the narrow gender gap of domestic abuse?
women were more likely to be victims of multiple incidents abuse and sexual violence
what did Dar find which can be used to evaluate the narrow gender gap of domestic abuse?
it can be difficult to separate domestic violence incidents, because abuse may be continuous or the victim may lose count
how did Stephanie Yearnshire (1997) reinforce the fact victims may be unwilling to report DV to the police?
she found on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report
what sociologist explored the reluctance of police to investigate DV cases?
David Cheal (1991)
what did David Cheal (1991) find when exploring police involvement in domestic violence cases?
they are not prepared to become involved in the family life
they make 3 assumptions about family life:
- the family is a private sphere
- the family is a good thing - so agencies tend to neglect the ‘darker side’
- individuals are free agents so its assumed that if a women is being abused she is free to leave
why is the assumption that if a women is being abused she is free to leave not true?
male violence is often coupled with male economic power
what is the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence?
patriarchal ideas, cultural values and institutions
what is the materialist explanation of domestic violence?
economic factors
what explanations of domestic violence can be identified?
radical feminist
materialist
what do Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2010) see domestic violence as?
the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
which sociologists can be referenced to back up the materialist explanation of domestic violence?
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
what do Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett say increases the risk of conflict?
- worrys about money, jobs housing
- lack of money and time
how does worrys about money, jobs housing lead to increased domestic conflict according to Wilkinson and Pickett (2010)?
tempers become frayed
how does a lack of money and time lead to increased domestic conflict according to Wilkinson and Pickett (2010)?
restricts people social circle and reduces social support for those under stress
evaluate the materialistic explanation of domestic violence
- it helps to explain class differences in statistics on DV
- unlike radical feminists Wilkinson and Pickett do not explain why women rather than men are the victims
What marxists feminist described women as the ‘takers of shit’
Fran Ansley
