Diversity of the family

Question 1

Define family diversity

Answer 1

The idea that families may vary in terms of their size, structure and internal organisation.

Question 2

Define household

Answer 2

A group of people who live under the same roof. A single person living alone also constitutes as a household

Question 3

Define Kin

Answer 3

People who are related by blood or family

Question 4

The majority of the households in the UK are made up of

Answer 4

Families

Question 5

What is a nuclear family

Answer 5

Family that consist of a mother and father who are married and their children. Fathers are the main earners of the family and are the ‘head of the household’. Mothers stay at home and tend to be full time housewives.

Question 6

Has the nuclear family been declining

Answer 6

YES

Question 7

What is argued about the decline of the nuclear family

Answer 7

It is argued that in the 21st century that there is no such thing as a normal or typical family and that the nuclear family is indeed in decline.

Question 8

What family type is becoming more present in working class families

Answer 8

Extended families

Question 9

How are extended families present in working class families

Answer 9

Because most families have strong relations with extended kin and would mutually support one another.
Male relatives might help others find jobs or lend one another money. Female relatives would help other female relatives with childcare.

Question 10

What do Young and Wilmott (1973) say about extended family

Answer 10

They found that most these families had evolved into a new type of nuclear family called the symmetrical family in the 70s

Question 11

What is a symmetrical family?

Answer 11

A type of nuclear family associated with Young and Wilmott in which the married couple share domestic labour and decision making.

Question 12

What is Dispersed extended family?

Answer 12

Networks of nuclear families who may be geographically separated from one another but feel obligated to send time with one another still, like Christmas.

Question 13

What is said about nuclear units and dispersed extended family

Answer 13

That even though most people are apart of nuclear units they are still members of dispersed extended family too. They can stay in contact via social media etc.

Question 14

What do postmodernist sociologists say about family diversity

Answer 14

They argue that people have much greater choice and flexibility today in how they organise their personal and family lives. Consequently family diversity has become the norm - there are now many social groupings that qualify as families.

Question 15

What are Lone-parent families

Answer 15

Single-parent families, that are mostly headed by mothers and their children (Normally stay with their mothers after divorce or separation)

Question 16

Lone-parent families made up about…

Answer 16

a quarter of families with dependent children in 2013

Question 17

What do lone-parent families often evolve into

Answer 17

Reconstituted families

Question 18

What are Reconstituted families

Answer 18

A step-family formed by people with children from previous relationships marrying one another.

Question 19

What are blended families

Answer 19

A type of reconstituted family in which the couple have their own children, for example step children may be supplemented with half-brothers and sisters.

Question 20

How are reconstituted families made from lone parent families

Answer 20

As lone parent mothers often remarry or cohabit and their children acquire a step-father who may also bring children to the family.

Question 21

What does Grant (2006) observe

Answer 21

That men are increasingly likely to be living with other mens children while their own grow up elsewhere

Question 22

What are the ONS statistics on reconstituted families

Answer 22

In 2011 about 11 percent of families with children were reconstituted families.

Question 23

What are LATs (Living apart together) family

Answer 23

A couple in a committed relationship who spend time together but live at separate addresses.

Question 24

What does Taylor say about LATs

Answer 24

They are popular amongst young couples because they allow individuals to combine the freedom of living alone with the intimacy of being part of a couple.

Question 25

What does research by Haskey and Lewis suggest

Answer 25

That younger LAT households are likely to evolve into cohabitation, marriage and eventually nuclear families.

Question 26

What does Levin observe

Answer 26

That some people entering a relationship in old age may prefer to maintain a relationship with a partner who lives elsewhere

Question 27

What did the government legalise in 2002

Answer 27

The right of gay couples to adopt children, this made same-sex families

Question 28

What did mainly lesbian same-sex couples possibly already have

Answer 28

A blood-related child from a previous heterosexual marriage or relationship

Question 29

Pre-2002 what did some gay couples do

Answer 29

Arrange to have children via surrogate mothers.

Question 30

When was gay marriage legalised

Answer 30

2014

Question 31

What are ONS statistics comparing Same sex families and Nuclear families

Answer 31

In 2013 same-sex families with children only numbered about 13,000 compared to 5.7 million nuclear families

Question 32

Define individualisation

Answer 32

The idea that people are individuals choosing their own identities rather than having their lives structured by membership social groups e.g. genders or religion

Question 33

What are societies like the UK experiencing

Answer 33

Individualisation when they are breaking away from traditional rules and choosing their own family lifestyle

Question 34

Define Family of choice

Answer 34

People who are not necessarily related by blood, for example, close friends who choose to acknowledge and recognise each other as belonging together as symbolic families.

Question 35

Has society seen an emergence in Family of choice

Answer 35

Yes because individuals may choose to include people as family members who are not traditionally related like calling a close family friend aunty.

Question 36

What does Klineberg (2013) argue

Answer 36

That people in modern societies like the UK and USA are increasingly living alone for a number of reasons

Question 37

Define Cult of the individual

Answer 37

Refers to the late-modernity idea that individualisation and selfishness have become more important than social obligation or tradition

Question 38

Klinburg reason for living alone: Cult of the individual

Answer 38

People are putting their own needs before the needs of others in society. He argues that this philosophy may be responsible for the large increase in single-person households. Instead of women settling down with a husband they are putting her needs for a career before the husband lifestyle.

Question 39

Klinburg reason for living alone: Communications revolution

Answer 39

The availability of smart phones and the popularity of social media make such single household lifestyles more attractive because face to face physical interaction is no longer essential to establish relationships

Question 40

Klinburg reason for living alone: Ageing population

Answer 40

Many single households are made up of divorced and widowed people. The latter group is more likely to be female because females generally outlive males.

Question 41

Define ageing population

Answer 41

The decline in both birth and fertility rates combined with the increase in life expectancy means that the number of older people in the UK society aged over 50 years outnumber the number of young people aged under 30

Question 42

What did Smith (2005) find

Answer 42

That older single people living alone were very active as a part of a dispersed extended family network and were often visited and supported by their children and grandchildren.

Question 43

What do radical feminists Roseneil and Budgeon (2004) suggest

Answer 43

That the traditional nuclear family does not appeal to some women because it is based on the ‘Hetero-norm’ - which is the idea that intimacy or sex with a member of the opposite sex forms the heart of the family.

Question 44

Define Conjugal

Answer 44

The roles played by husband and wife with regard to the distribution of domestic labour and childcare.

Question 45

What do Roseneil and Budgeon argue about conjugal relationships

Answer 45

That there has been a ‘de-centering of conjugal relationships’ which means some women do not subscribe to the hetero-norm anymore. For these women the most important relationship in their life is with someone they aren’t having sex with but is their best friend whom she regards as family.

Question 46

What is a criticism about Roseneil and Budgeons evidence

Answer 46

That the evidence is limited to a small number of case studies and may not be generalisable to the population at large.

Question 47

What does Roseneil say are more important than ties of blood or marriage

Answer 47

Friendship networks. Like students in shared households may feel a strong sense of duty or obligation to their housemates.
Roseneil argues such friendships are not tied together by heterosexuality. In 2012, it is perfectly reasonable for heterosexuals to have close relationships with gay people.