diversity and social change Flashcards
duress
emotional pressure in addition to physical abuse
bigamy
the state of being married to two people at the same time. It’s a criminal offence in Western societies.
monogamy
the state of only being married to one person at any one time
serial monogamy
the practice of engaging in a succession of monogamous cohabiting relationships of opposite-sex couples.
same-sex marriage
The marriage of same-sex couples recognised by law as having the same status and rights as marriage of opposite-sex couples.
polygamy
a cultural norm which allows spouses to have more than one husband or wife
polyandry
a type of polygamy in which a woman can marry more than one husband. It is quite rare compared with polygyny.
arranged marriage
a type of marriage organised or arranged by the parents of the couples and/or matchmakers
marriage rate
the number of marriages per 1000 people per year
leftover women
a term used in China to describe women who are still not married by the age of 27. They are seen to be ‘left on the shelf’
forced marriage
a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will
dual-career/income families
families in which both adult partners pursue a career and in which each contribute income that is important to the family’s standard of living
DINK families
‘dual income, no kids’. A term which refers to a couple who both earn an income and do not (yet) have children.
remarriage
the act of marrying again after experiencing a divorce
cohabitation
the state of living together and having an intimate relationship without being married
irretrievable breakdown
when both spouses agree that the marriage is over and that there is no hope that it will ever be revived
secularisation
A general decline in religious belief in God and religious practices such as regularly going to church.
individualisation
a concept that associated with Beck that refers to a dominant ideology that stresses freedom, from obligation or community pressure and gives people the freedom to look out for themselves first and foremost
conflict
a clash of interests that can cause inequality
chaos of love
Beck believes that marriage is potentially a battleground, because the institution of marriage demands compromise and selflessness but people often look out for their own interests first.
single-parent families
families with children under age of 18 headed by a parent who is widowed or divorced and who has not remarried, or by a parent who has never married
reconstituted family
also called a step-family- a family unit where one or both parents have children from a previous relationship but have combined to form a new family
blended family
a variation on the reconstituted family that includes, in addition to step-children, the natural children of the remarried couple
single-person households
a person living alone
organisational diversity
differences in the size or organisation of families. Extended families are obviously larger than nuclear families, which in turn are larger than one-parent families
vertical extended family
families composed of three generations that may live under the same roof or in very close proximity who are in frequent daily contact
dispersed extended family
extended kin who normally live in geographically scattered nuclear families but who feel a sense of duty and obligation to provide mutual support and assistance to each other in times of need or to het together on symbolic occasions such as Christmas
domestic diversity
differences of internal arrangements of families. For example, in some families the mother has a career and goes out to work. In others, the mother stays at home full-time, and in a rare number of families the father stays at home as a full-time carer.
dual income/dual career nuclear families
a family in which both adults have a career and in which the wage of each partner makes a significant contribution to the lifestyle of the family
cultural diversity
refers to how families might differ in organisation across different societies and across ethnic and religious groups within the same societies
dual-heritage children
the children of inter-ethnic marriages
inter-ethnic marriage
marriages that take place between people who are from different racial or ethnic groups
class diversity
refers to how social class, especially wealth and poverty, may shape family living arrangements and the opportunities for a quality childhood
beanpole family
a four-generational type of family that has few extended kin such as aunts, uncles and cousins
neo-conventional family
Chester’s term for the modern form of nuclear family. According to Chester, most of us will live as a child or adult in this type of family at some point in our lives
dependency culture
according to New Right sociologists a way of life characterised by dependency on state benefits
underclass
the lowest social stratum in a country or community, consisting of the poor and unemployed. The New Right claim that members of the underclass are most likely to be welfare-dependent and criminal.
welfare-dependent
the New Right claim that some individuals are no longer capable of taking responsibility for themselves because they have grown too dependent on state benefits. They are no longer motivated to seek work
perverse incentive
an incentive that results in unintended negative consequences; e.g., females may find it advantageous to get pregnant and bring up a child alone rather than get married, because state benefits are generous
personal life
Smart believes that, rather than study families, sociologists should study how individuals negotiate their way though their personal lives. By doing this, we can see that a vast range of people beyond immediate kin play important roles in our lives
life course
the stages that all human beings go through during their life, covering birth to death
empty nest families
households in which only the parents remain once their grown-up children have left home
boomerang family
families in which children leave home, but because of circumstances beyond their control they are forced to return to live with their parents as young adults
personal communities
a network of close friends and kin (even pets) that a person might regard as closest to them
fictive kin
normally, close friends of the family, particularly parents, who have been given the honorary title of ‘uncle’ or ‘aunt’
voluntary childlessness
consciously and voluntarily choosing not to have children. It should be distinguished from the state of not being able to have children more medical or biological reasons
child-free
the decision usually taken in conjunction with a partner not to have children
childlessness
the state of not having children. This may be voluntary or involuntary
co-parenting
when a separated, divorced or unmarried couple share the duties of parenting, for example, a child may spend part of a week living with one parent and the rest of the week living with the other
bi-nuclear family
children of divorced or separated couples often belong to two nuclear families because their natural parents have remarried or are cohabiting with a new partner
surrogacy
the process in which a woman agrees to bear a child on behalf of another woman, either from her own egg fertilised by the other woman’s partner, or from the implantation in her uterus of a fertilised egg from the other woman
in vitro fertilisation
a medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilised by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body
living apart together (LAT)
a modern household set-up in which a couple who are romantically involved make the decision to maintain separate households rather than move in together
failure to launch generation
children who for a variety of reasons have not been able to leave home and therefore still live with their parents despite being adults
test-tube babies
children whoa re the product of reproductive technology such as in vitro fertilisation or artificial insemination because their parents cannot conceive naturally for medical reasons
hetero-norm
the idea that relationships should be heterosexual
decentring of conjugal relationships
a radical feminist idea that rejects the idea that the most important relationship a woman has is with a man. Radical feminists believe that women can have the same quality family relationships with other women and/or gay men
families of choice
an idea which suggests that members of our family are who we choose them to be- for example, we might regard close friends as symbolic family members, as well as cats and dogs
cult of the individual
an idea very similar to Beck’s concept of individualisation. It refers to the increasing trend to put ourselves before others and a desire not to live or mix with others, thus the trend towards living in single-person households
empirical
based on experience or observation
epistemological
relating to how knowledge of a given subject is obtained
