explain and assess the view that extended family is still dominant in modern industrial societies. (25m)

Question 1

Talcott Parsons ;

Fit Thesis

Answer 1

Parsons claims that modern isolated nuclear family fits the needs of the modern industrial society. this idea is called the fit theses. along with the other functionalists, his approach of family became known as march of progress thesis. Parsons suggested that there was a close link between the economic system and the kinship network. As the society becomes more industrialized, modernized and urbanized, the pre - industrial extended family will break up and be replaced by the isolated nuclear family.

Question 2

Fletcher

Answer 2

Fletcher suggests that the isolated, privatized nuclear family has become the most dominant family type in contemporary British society.

Question 3

The reasons why there is a decline in extended family in modern industrial societies
- geographical mobility

Answer 3

contemporary industrialized society has a specialized division of labor with different occupations with different incomes, lifestyles. This means that the labor force needs to move around the country to areas where their skills are required - to be geographically mobile. this often involves leaving relatives behind which weakens the bonds of extended families. therefore, the isolated nuclear family is more convenient because it is small in size and it often does not tied down with responsibilities like the extended families.

Question 4

the higher rates of social mobility weaken kin links

Answer 4

social mobility means that people can move up and down the social ladder compared to the family they were born into. this means that different members of the extended family has different income, lifestyles, occupations, education, values, opportunities and attitudes. these differences would weaken relations between kin as they have less in common

Question 5

reduced family function

Answer 5

people are better off today as the welfare state has took a number of functions that were previously performed by the family such as education, health and welfare. parsons referred to this as structural differentiation. this has reduced dependence on kin for support in times of distress and weakens the bonds of extended family members. consequently, the isolated nuclear family is left with two basic and irreducible functions which are the primary socialization of the young and the stabilization of adult personalities.

Question 6

However, while the isolated nuclear family may be more coomon than the classic extended family today, the classic extended family still survives in modern Britain in two types of communities which are

Answer 6

1) traditional working class communities

2) The asian community

Question 7

the return of the extended family ; the beanpole family

Answer 7

British ageing population means that a growing number of people are reaching old age and often living well into their 80s and 90s.
at the same time, couples are having fewer children and nuclear families are getting smaller.
this means that there is an increase in the number of extended to 3 or 4 generation families. there are declining number of children in families but they grow u in extended families alongside several of their grandparents and even great grandparents. this new shape of the extended family is called the beanpole family. (Brannen, 2003). this is because the family is sometimes less bushy and thinner ; fewer brothers and sisters leads to fewer aunts and uncles in the next generation.

Question 8

Peter Willmott (1986)

Answer 8

local, dispersed and attenuated extended families are new forms of extended families. therefore, what looks like nuclear families in statistics may in actual reality be new versions of extended families

Question 9

Other than extended families, we cannot ignore and we have to take account of the diversity of family forms other than extended and nuclear family.

• the growth of lone parent family
  (known as single parent family or one parent family)

Answer 9

• over a 20 year period from 1961 to 1981, the number of single parent families in Britain increased from 474,000 to 975,000
• the proportion of British families headed by a lone mother rose from 7% in 1971 to 23% in 2000. there were nearly 1.9 million lone parents with dependent children in the UK in 2013

Question 10

the reasons why lone parent families increase

Answer 10

• the greater economic independence of women : women have a greater economic independence today, both through more job opportunities and support by a husband, is less of an economic necessity today compared to the past
• Changing social attitude: there is less social stigma or social disapproval attached to lone parenthood today. women are therefore less afraid of the social consequences of becoming a lone parent.

Question 11

 One of the main reasons for the decline in marriage is because it is easier to divorce today.

-Changes in divorce laws make divorce easier and cheaper to obtain compared to in the past.

Answer 11

Divorces rose from 27,000 in 1961 to 153,000 in 2006

• The Divorce Reform Act of 1969 – no longer necessary to prove that one party had to be found guilty of some form of misbehavior (e.g.adultery, cruelty) to allow divorce.
• It simply has to demonstrate that a marriage has broken down beyond repair.
• After 1971, one way of demonstrating ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of a marriage was by two years of separation.
• This change in the law was followed by a large increase in divorce as more couples took advantage of the easier process of divorcing.
   Therefore, based on these changes, if countries introduce laws which make it easier to divorce, then more marriages will end in divorce.
• However, the sharp increase in divorce rates does not indicate that there is a sudden marital breakdown. It merely reflected that many couples who had been separated or living in unhappy marriages decided to divorce simply because of the changes in the law
• Statistics might just reflect how easier it is to obtain divorce not the extent of marital breakdown.
   Hence, divorce statistics can be misleading & should be treated with caution.

Question 12

Another reason why there is a rising divorce rates is

1) changing social attitudes
2) possible of domestic violence

Answer 12

1) divorce has become more socially acceptable and 1) there is less social disapproval and condemnation of divorces.
divorces no longer hinders careers through a public sense of scandal and outrage.
as a result, people are less afraid pf the consequences of divorce and more likely to seek a legal end to an unhappy marriage rather than simply separating or carry on a empty shell marriage.

2) a possible factor to why individuals choose not to marry might be due to the prevalence of
domestic violence especially among female partners. It was found that 650000 cases of domestic abuse
is reported in Britain yearly with a report being filed by a woman every minute (Stanko, 2000). This shows
that the decline of status in marriage could be due to fear of being abused in a marriage and not knowing
if it is possible to be free of said toxic relationships.

Question 13

matrifocal families

Answer 13

the sociologists Gonzales (1970) found that matrifocal families are a well organised social group which is well adapted to living in poverty. by not tying to herself to husband, the mother is able to maintain casual relationship with a number of men who can provide her with financial support. she retains strong links with her relatives who give her both emotional and economic support which can help her to cope with raising children.

Question 14

cohabitation ;

the state of living together and having a sexual relationship without being married.

Answer 14

Over the past 20 years, there has been a rise in the number of cohabiting adults in England and Wales. The number of opposite sex cohabiting
couple families increased significantly between 2001 and 2011, from 2.1 million to 2.9 million (Families and Households, 2011).
 Attitudes towards cohabitation have also changed. The 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey found two-thirds of respondents thought there
was ‘little difference socially between being married and living together as a couple’ (Beaujouan and Bhrolchain, 2011).
 Attitudes towards cohabitation in the UK are becoming steadily more positive: in 1989, 71% of survey respondents thought that couples
wanting children ought to get married. By 2002, this had dropped to 51% (British Attitudes Survey, 1989-2002).

Question 15

reasons for the growing cohabitation;

Answer 15

Secularisation is used to describe the process whereby, especially in modern industrial societies, religious beliefs, practices and institutions are
losing significance.
- Secularisation has undermined the idea that marriage is a union for life and is reflected in the fact that there is much less social stigma attached to the status of ‘divorcee’.
 Goode (1971) and Gibson (1994) argue that this has resulted in marriage becoming less of sacred, spiritual union and more a personal and practical commitment which can be abandoned if it fails.
 Evidence for this lies in the fact that more than 65% of marriages today no longer involve a religious ceremony. Many people today do not
attach much religious significance to their marriages.