couples

Question 1

domestic division of labour

Answer 1

the way jobs and roles are shared between men and women the home

Question 2

Parsons: instrumental and expressive role

Answer 2

instrumental role: the husband who performs paid work in the labour force/breadwinner
expressive role: the life who primary socialises children and meets family emotional needs.

Question 3

summary of Parsons (func) and New right view on the dividing of labour

Answer 3

it is based on biological differences, women naturally suited to a more nurturing tole and men as a breadwinner.
This division is beneficial for men, women, children and wider society as it created primary socialisation for children that enables social stability and more women at home means less childcare and men at work = taxes for government.

Question 4

summarise Bott joint and segregated conjugal roles

Answer 4

march of progress view as there’s been a shift from segregated to going conjugal roles.
segregated conjugal roles: separated gender roles (instrumental and expressive)

joint conjugal roles: couple share tasks equally

Question 5

march of progress approach

Answer 5

society is always moving forward and improving

Question 6

briefly summarise Young and Willmott (func) Bethnal Green study and idea of symmetrical family

Answer 6

longitudinal study found in 1950s roles were segregated and men were bread winners and women were homemakers but in 1970s when revisited they took a march of progress view as they now saw joint conjugal roles and symmetrical families.

there had been a rise in symmetrical families due to changing position of women, geographical mobility, new technology & labour saving devices, higher standards of living.

Today they argue roles are more likely to be shared and found 72% husbands did housework and women are more likely to share decision making. This is because women broke ties with their female kinship and draw their husband in more to housework/the family as women now have less children allowing them to go to work.

Question 7

evaluation of Young and Willmott by Oakley ( liberal feminist)

Answer 7

criticised their research as it was based on one poorly designed question of if your husband helps with housework once a week meant you had a symmetrical family.
her research found only 15% men had a high level of participation on housework and 25% in childcare.

Question 8

Warde and Hetherington (feminists) criticism of Young and Willmott

Answer 8

failed to see sex typing of domestic roles that still exists, with men cherry picking fun jobs

Question 9

briefly summarise Gershuny (func) march of progress view of impact of paid work on families

Answer 9

found wives who work full time do less domestic work as men help out more due to increase in the new man.
supports Y&W symmetrical families

Question 10

British Social Attitudes survey (2013) support for symmetrical families

Answer 10

found a fall in number of people thinking men should be the breadwinner and women should be homemaker

Question 11

feminism criticisms of new man and BSA survey

Answer 11

little evidence of new man and BSA shows women do twice as much housework as men and couples continue to divide housework along traditional stereotypical gendered roles.

Question 12

Ferri and Smith (1996)
- argue no symmetrical families

Answer 12

argue women have acquired dual burden (paid and unpaid work) so family remains patriarchal as men benefit off women’s earnings and domestic labour

Question 13

Dex and Ward (2007)
- argue no symmetrical families

Answer 13

men take large role of playing with children (78% involvement) and only 1% tale main responsibility caring for sick child.
agree with Warde and Hetherington sex typing domestic roles

Question 14

Duncombe and Marsden (2013)
- argue no symmetrical families

Answer 14

women perform a triple shift (paid, housework, emotional work)

Question 15

Southerton (2013)
- argue no symmetrical families

Answer 15

women are responsible for organising family quality time

Question 16

Pahl and Volger (1993)

Answer 16

focus on partners contribution to family income affecting decision making:
allowance system- wives given budget to run house and men make decisions
pooling: joint account = joint decisions (more common in younger couples today)

Question 17

Edgell (1980)

Answer 17

men = very important decisions like finances
women = less important decisions like clothes and food

Question 18

Smart (2007)

Answer 18

same sex couples place less importance on who controls money as they don’t have traditional heterosexual gendered views of money and power

Question 19

Dobash & Dobash (1979) trends of domestic violence in families

Answer 19

initiated by women questioning males authority (e.g. asking him to wash up).
they argue marriage legitimises violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependancy on wives

Question 20

Walby & Allen (2004)

Answer 20

found women more likely to be victims of multiple incidences of abuse and sexual violence

Question 21

Ansara & Hindin (2011)

Answer 21

women suffer more severe violence and more likely than men to fear their partners

Question 22

Dar (2013)

Answer 22

highlights difficulty in counting separate domestic violence incidences as it may be continuous

Question 23

Cheap (1991) 3 reasons why police are unwilling to intervene with domestic violence

Answer 23

family is a private sphere so access by state should be limited.

family is perceived as positive so police don’t see dark side.

individuals are free agents so if a women was unhappy she is able to just leave.

Question 24

briefly summarise radical feminist explanations of domestic violence

Answer 24

Milett, Dobash & Dobash, Firestone argue patriarchy in society is reinforced in key institutions like the family and so men create violence to ensure their power is persevered and women are oppressed. Shows how men dominate state institutions so reluctant to deal with cases efficiently as questions power men should have over women

Question 25

briefly summarise materialistic explanations of domestic violence

Answer 25

Wilkinson & Pickett see d/v as a result of stress on family members caused by social inequalities (e.g. worries of money and housing and jobs)