Couples Flashcards
what roles did Parsons come up with
instrumental and expressive
what are the instrumental and expressive roles
instrumental- (husbands) meant to financially support the family
expressive-(wives) meant to support the emotional needs of the family
who criticised Parsons
Young and Willmott
Feminist sociologists
who distinguishes the two conjugal roles in marriage
Elizabeth Bott (1957)
what are segregated conjugal roles
where the couple have separate roles: a male breadwinner and a female carer. They tend to spend their leisure time separate.
what are joint conjugal roles
where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.
what do young and willmott find with their research into symmetrical family
-women now going to work
-men helping with domestic work and childcare
-couples spending leisure time together
what social changes have occured to lead to a rise in the symmetrical nuclear family
-changes in womens positions, including marriage and women going to work
-geographical mobility, more couples moving away from where they grew up
-new tech and labour saving devices
-higher standards of living
what do feminists say about young and willmotts view on the symmetrical family
they are little has changed and that men and women remain unequal within the family
what does Ann Oakley say about Young and Willmotts theory that the families symmetrical
she argues that their claims are exaggerated and criticises it
what is some of Ann Oakleys research
-she found that only 15% of husbands had high levels of participation in housework
-only 25% had high participation in childcare
what did Ferri and Smith(1996) find
that fathers took responsibility for childcare in few than 4% of families
what did Dex and Ward(2007) find
even though fathers had high levels of involvement in childcare when it came to caring for a sick child only 1% of fathers took main responsibility
what did Braun, Vincent and Ball(2011) find
that only 3 out of 70 families was the father the main carer
what is the triple shift
someone doing emotional work, domestic work and paid work
what is the dual burden
doing paid work and domestic work
what is the cultural explanation of inequality
equality will be achieved only when norms about gender roles change
evidence for the cultural explanation
Gershuny (1994) found that couples who parents had more equal relationships are more likely
what is the material explanation of inequality
is that women generally earn less than men which means it is economically rational for women to do more housework and childcare
evidence for the material explanation
-Kan found that for every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does 2 hours less of housework
-Sullivan shows that working full-time rather than part-time makes the biggest difference in terms of how much domestic work each partner does
what are the two main types of control over family income according to Pahl and Vogler (1993)
- The allowance system
- Pooling
what did Pahl and Vogler find (2007)
They found that even where there is pooling, the men usually made the majority of financial decisions
what does Edgell argue (1980)
he argues that the reasons men are likely to take the decisions is that they earn more
what can be included in domestic abuse
-psychological
-Physical
-Sexual
-Financial
-Emotional
-Abuse
