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Sociology - Family > couples > Flashcards

couples Flashcards

1
Q

define household

A

1 or more people living together. can be family or friends

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2
Q

define domestic division of labour

A

domestic division of labour = the roles that w + m play in relation to housework, child care or paid work

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3
Q

define reconstituted

A

a family consisting of children from previous relationships (step family)

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4
Q

outline Parsons (Fu) view on the male and female roles

A
  • husband has the instrumental role (breadwinner)
  • wife has the expressive role (house worker, child carer)
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5
Q

what is Parsons explanation for his roles

A
  • its based on biological differences, as women are naturally suited to the nurturing role and men to that of a provider
  • the DoL is beneficial to both men and women and wider society
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6
Q

what are AO3 evaluations for Parsons view

A
  • Young + Wilmott: men now take a greater share of domestic tasks + more women are in paid work
  • Feminists: the DoL is not natural and only benefits men
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7
Q

outline Bott’s (Fu) view on the male and female roles

A
  • segregated conjugal roles = the couple has separate roles. men are the breadwinners, women are the home makers. leisure time is separate
  • joint conjugal roles = the couple shares tasks (housework, childcare). spends leisure time together
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8
Q

outline Young + Wilmott’s study of 1950 w/c families

A
  • in their study of w/c families in 1950 East London, men were the breadwinners and played little part home life and spent leisure time with colleagues
  • women were full time housewives and had limited leisure time with female kin
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9
Q

what is Young and Wilmott’s (Fu) view on the family

A
  • they take a March of Progress view
  • the family is more symmetrical (husbands + wives roles are now more similar)
  • family life is improving for all parties, becoming more equal and democratic
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10
Q

what are Young + Willmott’s (Fu) explanations of the symmetrical family

A
  • the roles are becoming more equal + there are more symmetrical families due to social changes like;
  • changes in w’s positions; in paid work, although part time rather than full time
  • geographical mobility; more couples living away from where they grew up
  • new tech; (e.g. washing machine) allows for easier childcare/ housework in which m can take on
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11
Q

what is the feminist view of housework

A
  • they reject the March of Progress view and say that little has changed
  • m + w remain unequal with women still doing most housework
  • this inequality stems from the patriarchal society
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12
Q

what does Oakley (Fem) say about men and women’s roles in the family

A
  • criticises Young and Wilmott by saying that little has changed; family is still unequal
  • women still do most of the housework and childcare
  • men are still the primary breadwinners
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13
Q

what is Oakley’s (feminist) explanation + stats for the family roles

A
  • the family and society are male dominated/ patriarchal
  • 15% of men take an active role in housework
  • 25% of men take an active role in childcare, but more so of the ‘fun’ parts
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14
Q

what does Boulton (feminist) say about families becoming more equal

A
  • men are starting to contribute more, but not much; she found less than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare
  • Y + W exaggerate men’s contribution by looking at the tasks involved in childcare rather than the responsibilities
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15
Q

what does Warde + Hetherington say about household tasks

A
  • sex typing of domestic tasks remained prevalent, e.g. w were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing
  • m only carry out ‘female’ tasks when their partners weren’t around to do them
  • however, there was a slight change in attitude among younger men
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16
Q

state the 2 sides to the debate of the impact of women in paid work

A

1) March of Progress: w in paid work leads to a more equal share of domestic tasks/ childcare
2) Feminist: w now have to carry a dual burden of paid and domestic work

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17
Q

what is the MoP view on the impact of w in paid work

A
  • it leads to a more equal division of labour - men become more involved in housework + childcare whilst w become more involved in paid work
  • Gershuny: w in full time employment leads to more equal division of labour
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18
Q

what is the Feminist view on the impact of w in paid work

A
  • w going into paid work hasnt led to a more equal division of labour, but a ‘dual burden’
  • there is little evidence of the ‘new man’ who does an equal share of domestic tasks
  • overall, women do 2x as much domestic tasks as men
  • British Social Attitudes survey: 60% of women felt this division of labour as unjust
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19
Q

define dual burden

A

when women do both paid (employment) and unpaid work (housework, childcare)

20
Q

are w/c or u/c women more likely to have a dual burden

A
  • w/c women; as u/c women can afford dishwashers, childcare services, cleaners, which can alleviate the burden of childcare and housework
21
Q

outline Hochschild’s concept of emotional work

A
  • Feminists: w are often required to perform the emotional work, where they’re responsible for managing the emotions of family members
22
Q

what did Duncombe + Marsden (1995) say the triple shift was

A
  • emotional work = caring for other family members emotionally (e.g. delegating sibling arguments)
  • housework = unpaid work in the home
  • paid work = paid employment
23
Q

outline the responsibility of quality time

A
  • Southerton: mothers are often held with the responsibility of organising the family’s quality time
24
Q

what did Crompton + Lyonette (2008) say about the gender division of labour

A

there are 2 explanations for an unequal division of labour:
- cultural/ ideological explanation: unequal roles are caused by patriarchal norms, values and socialisation
- material/ economic explanation: women perform more domestic roles, as generally, men earn more money + are more busy due to paid work

25
Q

outline evidence/ theorists that back up the cultural explanation for the unequal division of labour

A
  • Gershuny: couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework themselves - shows parental models are important
  • Dunne: within lesbian couples with children, there was a more equal division of labour than in hetero sexual couples
26
Q

outline evidence/ theorists that back up the material explanation for the unequal division of labour

A
  • Kan: for every £10,000 a w earns per year, she does 2 hours less housework per week
  • Arber + Ginn: m/c w are able to rely on products + services (nannies, day care, ready meals) in order to spend less time on domestic tasks whilst holding down a career
27
Q

what did Barrett + McIntosh (1991) say about households

A
  • men gain more from w’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
28
Q

what did Kempson (1994) say about women in low income families

A

in low income families, women were more likely to deny their own needs (e.g. going out, eating less) to make ends meet

29
Q

define Vogler’s term Pooling

A
  • pooling = where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility with funding (e.g. a joint bank account)
  • pooling is on the increase
30
Q

define Vogler’s term Allowance System

A
  • allowance system = when men give women an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet the families needs, and the man keeps the surplus for himself
31
Q

what does Hardill say about decision making

A
  • important decisions were either taken on by the man alone or jointly
  • the man’s career usually took priority when deciding if to move house
32
Q

what did Finch (1983) say about women’s life structures

A
  • women lives tend to be structured around their husbands career
33
Q

what were Edgell’s (1980) tiers of decision making

A
  • very important decisions: e.g. finance, moving house; decided by the husband alone or joint
  • important decisions: e.g. holiday location; decided jointly or by the wife alone
  • less important decisions: e.g. home decor; decided by the wife
34
Q

what is the material reason for inequalities in decision making

A
  • men earn more, and so women are financially dependent on them, so they have less input in decisions
35
Q

what do feminists say about the explanation for inequal decision making

A
  • inequalities are caused by the patriarchal society - the idea that m are the dominant, decision makers is instilled into both men and women’s minds
36
Q

outline the ‘personal life’ perspective on money

A
  • focuses on the meaning given to who controls the money in couples
  • 1 partner controlling the money doesn’t necessarily equate to inequality
  • Smart: some gay men + women attached no importance to who controlled the money - they didn’t see this control as inequality
37
Q

define domestic violence

A
  • controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between people who have been intimate partners or live together
38
Q

what is the common view of DV

A
  • DV is the behaviour of a few disturbed / sick individuals and its causes are psychological rather than social
39
Q

what are sociological evaluations of the common view of DV

A
  • DV is too far widespread: Crime Survey for England and Wales; 2 million people reported having been victims of DV
  • DV doesn’t occur randomly: it follows particular social patterns which have causes - Dobash + Dobash: DV is initiated by women questioning their partners authority
40
Q

what are the issues of using official statistics for DV

A
  • victims may be unwilling to report DV to the police
  • Yearnshire: a woman experiences 35 assaults before making a report. DV is the crime least likely to be reported
  • police/ prosecutors may be unwilling to reluctant to record, investigate and prosecute these cases
  • Cheal: this is due to how state agencies dont want to get involved in family affairs; as the family is a private sphere, so access to it is limited. also, the family is a good institution, in which the darker side is neglected
41
Q

what percentage of crime does DV account for

A
  • 25%
42
Q

what are England/Wales Crime survey stats on DV for men and women per year

A
  • 1.5M women experience DV
  • 700K men experience DV
43
Q

outline the radical feminist (Millett + Firestone) explanation for DV

A
  • Millett + Firestone: all societies have been founded on patriarchy in which DV is inevitable to maintain men’s power
  • the family + marriage are the key institutions in women’s oppression. m dominate w with the threat of DV
  • the male domination of state agencies explains why so few DV are prosecuted
44
Q

what is the AO3 evaluation of the radical feminist view of DV

A
  • Elliot: rejects the idea that all men benefit from DV. Rad F ignore that most men oppose DV
  • Rad F also fail to explain DV on men from women (18% of men have experienced DV) or DV in lesbian relationships
45
Q

outline the materialist explanation for DV

A
  • material factors like inequalities in income + housing can explain why some groups are more at risk than others - those with less power, money and status
  • Wilkinson + Pickett: DV is the result of stress on family members caused by social inequality
  • w/c families on lower incomes heightens stress and so lessens their likelihood of maintaining a stable relationship
46
Q

what is the AO3 evaluation of the materialist view of DV

A
  • Wilkinson + Pickett fail to explain why women are at more of a risk than men to be DV victims
47
Q

what does Ansley say about DV

A
  • wives are ‘takers of shit’
  • DV is the product of capitalism; male workers are exploited in the workplace and take their frustrations out on their wives

Sociology - Family (8 decks)

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