Families Flashcards
Instrumental and Expressive roles
Parsons
instrumental- male role, provide money
expressive- female role, look after family, domestic labour
Joint and Segregated Conjugal roles
Bott
joint- couples share tasks like housework
segregated- separate instrumental and expressive roles
March of Progress
Young and Willmott
see family as becoming increasingly equal to a symmetrical family, roles similar but not identical
more common in younger couples
Feminist view on march of progress
Oakley
argue little has changed and that men and women are still unequal, believe that their similar roles are exaggerated
only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework
Dual Burden/Triple Shift
Marsden
women have to be housewife, mother and work a job- paid work, emotional work, domestic work
Cultural explanation for gender inequality
determined by patriarchal norms and values within society
Dunne- lesbian relationships more equal bc no male role or gender script to follow (no cultural norms that men and women follow)
Material explanation for gender inequality
women generally earn less than men so rational to have men work more
Kan- for every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week (if women earn more then the roles will be more equal)
Money Management
Vogler
allowance system- men give their wives allowance to budget to meet family’s needs, man retains surplus income
pooling system- both partners have access to income and joint expenditure
Decision-making
Edgell
men have final say on very important decisions, important decisions taken jointly (never just by wife), less important decisions normally made by wife
men tend to have final say because they earn more and women are more financially dependant
Personal life perspective on money
focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money- for some, one controlling money may be unfair but for others its what is best
Smart- same sex had no importance on who controlled money and was happy to leave to partners, did not see control of money as equal or unequal
Patterns of domestic violence
dv does not occur randomly but follows patterns- men committing violence against women
Coleman- two women a week killed by a partner or former partner
Dobash and Dobash- violence set off due to challenging authority
Radical Feminist explanation of dv
widespread dv is inevitable feature of patriarchy, keeps power over women
family is large patriarchal institution where men dominate women
male domination in state institutions also explains police reluctance of dv cases
Materialist explanation of dv
Wilkinson- dv result of stress on family caused by social inequality, high stress means can’t maintain stable relationships so results in conflict
those with more social inequality more at risk of experiencing dv
Social construction of childhood
there is no single universal childhood, different cultures and time periods have a different understanding of childhood
Punch- at 5yrs children in rural Bolivia expected to take on work responsibilities
Globalisation of Western Childhood
welfare agencies have are imposing the western norms of childhood on the rest of the world
History of Childhood
Aries
in middle ages childhood did not exist, children not seen as having different needs, began work when stopped weaning
used pieces of art as evidence- look like small adults
Reasons for modern childhood
-laws restricting child labour
-introduction of compulsory schooling
-child protection and growth of children’s rights
-industrialisation
Disappearance of childhood
Postman
information hierarchy- printed word made sharp divide between children who cant read and adults who can, tv blurs this distinction and so destroys the hierarchy meaning no difference between adults and children
Postmodernity of childhood
Jenks
childhood changing not disappearing
adult relationships more unstable now so feelings of insecurity, children the only constant in an adults life so become overprotective of them
March of progress of childhood
todays children are more valued, protected and have more rights, have laws to protect them and have a better survival rate
family is also more child-centered- people care a great deal about their children and and invest a lot into them
Toxic Childhood
Palmer
rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children physical, emotional and intellectual development
changes such as junk food, computer games and long hours worked by parents
Conflict view of childhood
Marxists and Feminists
children today experience more control and oppression than ever
Inequalities among children
gender- Hillman, boys allowed out after dark, girls do more domestic labour
ethnic- Brannen, asian parents more likely to be strict towards daughters
class- poor mothers have low birth weight children leads to delayed development, more likely to die in infancy and fall behind in school
Inequalities between children and adults
adults control childrens space, time bodies and resources
Gittins- age patriarchy saying adults dominate children
Functionalism and family- Murdock
family performs 4 essential functions:
-satisfaction of sex drive
-reproduction of next gen
-socialisation of the young
-meeting members economic needs
Liberal feminism and family
hold a march of progress view, believe that the family is gradually becoming more equal
Marxist feminism and family
main cause of womens oppression in family is capitalism not men
-women reproduce labour force through unpaid domestic labour
-women absorb anger, soak up husbands frustration
-women are a reserve army of cheap labour that can be taken on when extra workers needed, employers let them go and go back domestic
Radical feminism and family
family and marriage are key institutions in patriarchy- men benefit from womens unpaid work
family must be abolished before women can be equal
political lesbianism to avoid sleeping with the enemy
Difference feminism and family
cannot generalise womens experiences, lesbian and straight and white and black and WC and MC women will have different experiences of the family to each other
Birth patterns
long term decline in birth rates
long term decline in fertility rate (average number of children a woman will have)
Reasons for decline in birth rate
-changes in womens position: Harper- education of women most important reasons for decline, many choose career, use family planning
-decline in imr: Harper- if more babies die then have more babies
-children economic liability
Effects of changes in fertility
family- women more likely to work due to smaller families
dependency ratio- fewer babies being born means fewer young adults and smaller working population, earnings of working population supports the dependant population
public services and policies- age of population is rising due to fewer babies, fewer schools and maternity services may also be needed
Death patterns
death rate is declining
Reasons for changes in deaths
Tranter- main reason due to decrease in deaths from infectious disease, decreased due to:
-improved nutrition
-medical improvements
-smoking decrease
-public health measures
Changes in life expectancy
life expectancy increased
Harper- if continues we will reach ‘radical longevity’ with lots of people living to over 100
still class, gender and ethnicity differences: women live longer than men, poorest areas die 7 years before richest (Walker)
Effects of ageing population
public services- older people consume more health services, overgeneralising
one person pensioner households- these account for 15% of all households, mainly women
dependency ratio- dependent group, increases burden on working population
Old age in modernity and post-modernity
modernity- excluded from a lot bc they cant work (phillipson- useless to capitalism) dependent and powerless
postmodernity- Hunt, can choose identity regardless of our age, old become target for rejuvenation goods, age does not determine who we are anymore
Patterns of migration
Immigration- until ww2 largest group was irish, during 1950s black immigrants started arriving and then from asia, more ethnically diverse society, european took over due to restrictions on on-white immigration
Emigration- Uk net exporter of people, more left than came in, went to usa/canada
Impact of migration on population structure
Population size- currently growing due to- net migration in 2019 was 270,000, natural increase with deaths decreasing and births to non-uk mothers being high
Age structure- migration lowers average age of population, generally younger and have more babies
Dependency ratio- more likely to be working age so lowers it, have more children so increase it but will join work and lower it again, the longer they are settled the closer their fertility rate comes to average so reduces overall impact on the dependency ratio
Impact of globalisation on migration
increased international migration, migration sped up, increased the diversity of types of migrant- come from a wide range of countries, feminisation of migration-work being increasingly filled by women from poor countries
Types of migrant
Citizen- full citizenship
Denizen- privileged foreign nationals welcomed by state
Helot- slaves, unskilled poorly paid work, most exploited
Migrant identities
transnational identity- Erisken, dont feel they belong to one culture or country due to more back and forth movement
Politicisation of migration
Assimilationism- make migrants adopt host culture
Multiculturalism- accept migrants may want to retain separate culture, acceptance may be more superficial
shallow diversity- chicken tikka being englands national dish accepted
deep diversity- veiling of women not accepted
Divorce patterns
divorce is increasing since 60s peaking in 93
then began decreasing but still high levels
women often divorcing men now
Reasons for change in divorce- law changes
made it cheaper, equalised grounds between sexes, widened grounds for divorce
equalised in 23 causing spike from women
71- divorce reform act, made divorce grounds easier
Reasons for change in divorce- decline in stigma
divorce is now more socially acceptable so people tend to do it more as it is not so much of a shame anymore
Reasons for change in divorce- secularisation
religion is not as important anymore, people less likely to be influenced by teachings when making choices
Reasons for change in divorce- rising expectations of marriage
Fletcher- people are less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage, in past people did not have much choice over who they married so did not care if unhappy, today people have more expectations and will divorce if not happy
Reasons for change in divorce- womens increased financial independence
women now in paid work- 72% in 2020
narrowed pay gap
girls do better in education
welfare benefits, dont have to remain financially dependent on their husbands
Reasons for change in divorce- Individulisation
Beck- each person entitled to pursue own self interest
Giddens- people seek pure relationship that exists to satisfy each others needs and not out of duty, leads to higher divorce
can cause conflict of interest esp w both working and pursuing career
Reasons for change in divorce- feminism
women do dual burden and so leads to conflict as men dont do both and so divorce. marriage is patriarchal and men benefit
View of theories on divorce
New right- divorce undermines marriage, created welfare dependent women who burden the state, has bad effect on kids
Feminists- desirable as women are breaking free
Postmodernists- major cause of greater family diversity and people are choosing themselves
Functionalists- result of peoples higher expectations, not necessarily threat to marriage as institution
Personal life- can cause problems like finance, Smart- divorce become normalised and can adapt without disintegrating
Marriage patterns
fewer people are marrying
remarriages increasing
people are marrying later
people less likely to marry in church
Reasons for changing marriage patterns
-changing attitudes, quality more important than legal status
-secularisation, influence declines so people freer not to marry
-decline in stigma towards alternatives, cohabitation widely accepted and pregnancy no longer means marriage
-changing position of women, dont have to marry to be supported as have better careers
-fear of divorce, rising divorce rate so many people put off
Cohabitation patterns
increasing, 1/7 cohabiting, double of of 96, cohabiting couples with kids fast growing family type
Reasons for cohabitation patterns
-declines in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
-young accept it more
-changing womens position
-secularisation
One person households
big rise in people living alone, half of them are over 65
mainly men, in divorce kids live with mum
people marrying later and remaining single
older people have less options for partners
many also live alone but are in a relationship
Childbearing patterns
nearly half of all children born outside of marriage
women having children later
women are having fewer children and many not having children at all
Reasons for lone parent families
make up 24% of all families w children
risen due to increase in divorce and never married women having kids, linked to decline in stigma of birth outside of marriage
tend to be single mum- expressive role, custody gives kids to mum, men dont want to give up work for children, many mothers also single by choice
New right view on lone parents
Murray
growth due to over-generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mums and kids
created perverse incentive that rewards stupid behaviour like having kids without being able to support them
solution is to abolish welfare benefits as will reduce dependency culture
Step family patterns
10% of all families, at greater risk of poverty (smith), more diverse, can lead to divided conflict over loyalties
Ethnic differences in family patterns- South Asian
Immigration has also brought over diff kinds of family patterns. Individualism taking place in British culture
higher marriage rates and low cohabitation and divorce. married younger and high fertility rates. obligation to assist extended kin, young had strong sense of duty for elders. high value on izzat (family honour)
Ethnic differences in family patterns- Asian
Bhatti- signs of changing attitude among young, some conflict with elders often bc sons marrying out of ethnic group
rising rates of lone parenthood, increased from 10% to 17% in 20yrs
Qureshi- growing acceptance of divorce bc of conflicts within arranged marriages. While attitudes are not as individualistic as wider society, British Pakistani families becoming less distinctive
Ethnic differences in family patterns- Black
Bethoud- higher proportion of of lone parents and lower of married and cohabiting families, continuation of caribbean families where mother households common and often no men are present
Reynolds- argues stats of lone parents are misleading and that many are stable non-cohabiting with a visiting partner
Mirza- higher rate of lone parents reflect high value that black women place on independence
leading towards individualism and personal choice
Extended family
had declined but not completely disappeared. Willmott- exists as a dispersed extended family where they are physically separated but still very close in communication
Bell- emotional bonds with kin and and relied on them for support, suggests importance of bean pole family- result of increased life expectancy and smaller families
Finch&Mason- over 90% of people had given or accepted financial help from wider extended kin.
extended family continues to play important role for people both practically and emotionally but is not the classic extended family
Modernism and nuclear family- Functionalism
Parsons sees nuclear family as suited to meeting needs of modern society for a geographically and socially mobile workforce and performs socialisation of children and stables adult personalities, add to stability of society. in modern society you will find a nuclear family, other family types dysfunctional as they cannot provide the functions as well
Modernism and nuclear family- New right
firmly opposed to family diversity, see nuclear family as natural and based on biological differences between men and women, oppose same sex and cohabitation
primarily concerned with lone parents as they cannot socialise children, no male role model and more likely to be welfare dependent
Benson- 15,000 babies and over first three years 20% of cohabiting break down and 6% of marriage. only marriage can provide stable environment. Govs need to encourage couples to marry to avoid breakdowns
Criticisms of modernism and new right
-Oakley: wrongly assumes roles are fixed by biology, negative campaign against feminism
-No evidence that children in lone parent families are more likely to be delinquent
-Smart: rate of cohabitation higher among poorer social groups so may be poverty that leads to breakdown instead
Chester- neo-conventional family
family diversity is increasing but it is not significant nor negative, only important change is move from nuclear to neo-conventional
neo-conventional family defined by dual earners where both go to work
nuclear still remains the ideal to which most people aspire to
stats on household composition misleading as only a snapshot in time as their family will be changing
patterns: most adults marry and have kids, most marriages continue til death, cohabitation temporary phase before marriage
Rapoports- five types of family diversity
family diversity increasing and positive response to peoples needs
-Organisational diversity: differences in ways family roles are organised
-Cultural diversity: diff culture, religion and ethnic groups have diff family structure
- Social class diversity: differences in structure due to income differences in households
-Life stage diversity: family structure differs according to stage in life cycle
- Generational diversity: older and younger generations have diff attitudes and experiences so will have diff views on on morality of divorce
Individualisation thesis- Giddens
we have become freed and disembedded from traditional roles and structures and we have more freedom to choose how we live our lives, more equality and greater choice
Pure relationship- relationships now based on choice, no longer bound traditional norms, relationship exists solely to satisfy each others needs. the relationship will survive as long as its in both partners interest, couples stay together bc of love not tradition or sense of duty
means that it is less stable and can end at any moment, more family diversity
same sex couples are leading the way as no tradition and purely based on choice
Negotiated family- Beck
we live in a risk society as people have more choice. greater equality and individualism led to new negotiated family- do not conform to trad roles but vary according to wishes and expectations of members and decide whats best for themselves, less stable as people leave if needs not met
Connectedness thesis- Smart
agree there’s more diversity but disagree with Beck and Gidden
instead of seeing us as disembedded with loads of choice in relationships, she argues we are social beings whose choices are made within a web of connectedness. we live in a network of existing relationships which influence choices
class and gender also influence our choices- women often keep children after divorce, harder to find new relationship
Postmodernism and families
family more fragmented with more choice and new types of family
Stacey- greater freedom benefited women, shape family to meet needs, can work and divorce and remarry. women created new types of family to better suit their needs, divorce extended family (linked by divorce not marriage)
cant make large scale generalisations like functionalists do as family is whatever the members choose to call their family
China’s one child policy
population control policy, supervised by workplace family planning committees who women had to ask permission from to get get pregnant. often waiting list and quota for each factory. couples who complied got benefits like free child healthcare. couples who broke this had to pay a fine and women faced pressure to sterilise after first child
Communist Romania policy
in 1980s policies introduced to drive up birth rate which had fallen along with living standards. restricted contraception and abortion, made divorce harder and made childless couples pay an extra 5% income tax
Functionalist view on policy
see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members
Fletcher- introduction of health, education and housing policies since industrial revolution has led to development of welfare state that supports family in performing functions more effectively
criticisms- assumes all members of family benefit equally from social policies, assumes there is a march of progress with social policies steadily making family life better
Policing the family
Donzelot- offers diff perspective on relationship between family and state policies from functionalists, sees policy as form of state power and control over families, uses Foucalts concept of surveillance, Foucalt sees power as something found throughout society- Donzelot applies it to family
interested in how professionals carry out surveillance of families- social workers and doctors use their knowledge to control and change families (policing the family)
poor families more likely to be seen as a problem that professionals target for improvement
criticisms- failing to identify clearly who benefits from such policies of surveillance
Nazi family policy
state had a twofold policy, encouraged the healthy and racially pure to breed a master race (restricting access to abortion), also compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people as it was deemed unfit to breed on grounds of physical malformation, mental retardation, deafness of blindness
New Right view on policy
strongly in favour of the conventional nuclear family, see it as naturally self reliant and capable of providing for its members, changes that have led to greater family diversity is threatening the conventional family
New right view on policy- welfare policy
Murray- critical of welfare state, providing generous welfare benefits undermine nuclear family and encourages dysfunctional family types that harm society, offer perverse incentive (reward irresponsible behaviour)- fathers see state will maintain their children so abandon responsibilities, providing housing for unmarried teen mothers encourages young girls to get pregnant
current policies encourage a dependency culture where individuals depend on state rather than being self reliant
Criticisms of Parsons theory of the family
Young and Willmott- pre industrial family was nuclear not extended with parents and children working together
they argue the hardship of the early industrial period gave rise to the mum centred WC extended family, not the nuclear family like parsons suggests
extended family has not disappeared and continues to exist bc of the important functions it still performs
Parsons theory of the family
the functions the family performs depends on the kind of society it is found, argues the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will fit the needs of the society in which its found, finds two basic types of society- modern industrial and traditional pre industrial, extended fits pre industrial and nuclear fits industrial, when britain began to industrialise the extended family began giving way to the nuclear bc of different needs
Parsons theory of the family- Two essential needs
sees industrial as having two essential needs:
geographically mobile workforce- industries constantly popping up and decline in diff parts of country so requires people to move to where the jobs are, easier for compact two gen nuclear family
socially mobile workforce- industrial society based on evolving science and requires skilled technically competent workforce, essential that the most talented people take on most important jobs, individuals status is achieved so makes social mobility possible, better in nuclear as in extended the adult sons live at home in fathers house where father has higher ascribed status as head of house, at work son may have higher achieved status so would give rise to tensions under same roof, solution is for adult sons to leave the home and form their own nuclear family
Marxist theory of the family- Inheritance of property
key factor in determining shape of all social institutions is mode of production (who owns and controls societys productive forces), called the earliest classless society ‘primitive communism’ bc there was no private property and all members owned means of production communally, as production and wealth increased private property came with it- class of men emerged who were able to secure control of means of production. Engels- monogamy became essential bc of the inheritance of private property, men had to be sure of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherit from them, also turned women into mere instrument for production of children
Marxist theory of the family- Ideological functions and unit of consumption
Ideological functions- socialises children into idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable, parental power over children accustoms them to idea that there always has to be someone in charge and prepares them for working life. Zaretsky- family offers apparent haven from harsh and exploitative world of capitalism as workers can be themselves and have a private life, argues it is largely an illusion as the family cannot meet its members needs
Unit of consumption- family plays major role in generating profits for capitalists, advertisers urge families to keep up with the joneses by consuming latest products, media target children who use pester power to get parents to spend more, children who lack latest must haves are mocked by peers
Personal life perspective of the family
argues other theories assume the nuclear family is the dominant time and they are structural theories and assume that families and members are puppets, should focus on the meaning its members give to relationships rather than on the ‘functions’
strongly influenced by interactionist ideas and to understand we must start from pov of individuals and the meanings they give their relationships, takes a wider view of relationships outside of blood or marriage ties- relationships with friends, fictive kin, gay and lesbian chosen families, relationships w dead relatives, relationships w pets
Nordqvist and Smart studied donor conceived children and what counts as family when your child has genetic link with a relative stranger but not your partner, some parents emphasised importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds, hard to define what family is in this case- are donor parents counted as grandparents for the child
Evaluation of personal life perspective on the family
helps us understand how people themselves construct and define their relationships
accused of taking too broad of a view, including a wide range of diff kinds of personal relationships means we ignore what is special abt relationships based on blood or marriage
New right view on policy- Solution and Evaluation
solution- policy must be changed with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits, would mean taxes could be reduced, gives fathers more incentive to work and provide for their families, denying council housing to teen mums would reduce incentive to be pregnant young, supports policies to support nuclear family like taxes that favour marries over cohabiting couples
evaluation- feminists argue it is attempt to justify return to patriarchal family, wrong assumes patriarchal nuclear family is natural rather than socially constructed, Wallace- cutting benefits drives poor families into greater poverty
New right view on policy- Influence on policies
Conservative gov 1979-97: Maggie T’s gov banned promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, defined divorce as social problem and emphasised responsibility of parents for their kids after divorce, set up Child Support Agency to enforce maintenance payments, however did make divorce easier
New labour gov 1997-2010: shared view w new right that family is bedrock of society and introduced Parenting Orders for parents of young offenders, however they rejected view that family should have one male earner, policies favoured dual earner neo conventional families like longer maternity leave, working families tax credit and the new deal, also introduced civil partnerships for gay couples, unmarried couples had same right to adopt and outlawed discrimination of sexuality
Coalition gov 2010-15: Hayton- conservs long divided between modernisers and traditionalists, conserv party found it hard to maintain consistent policy line, conserv led coalition gov introduced gay marriage
Feminist view on policy
Land- policies assume the ideal family is patriarchal nuclear family, this norm affects the policies governing family life and so effect of policies is to reinforce that type of family at expense of other types (self fulfilling prophecy)
tax and benefit policies- assumes husbands are main wage earners and makes it hard for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right bc it is expected their husband will provide
childcare- not enough childcare payed for by gov to allow parents to work full time, means women are restricted from working and are economically dependent on partners
care for sick and elderly- gov policies assume families will provide this care and this prevents them working full time
Feminist view on policy- Evaluation
not all policies directed at maintaining patriarchy like equal pay act and sex discrimination laws, right for lesbians to marry and benefits to lone parents as well as refuges for women escaping domestic violence
Gender regimes and social policy
by examining policy from a comparative perspective across diff societies we can see whether social policy to reinforce patriarchy is inevitable, for example a countrys policy on taxation and childcare will all affect whether women can work full time or if they have to forgo paid work
Drew- used concept of gender regimes to describe how social policies in diff countries can either encourage or discourage gender equality:
Familistic gender regimes- policies are based on trad gender division between male breadwinner and female housewife, in Greece there is little state welfare and women have to rely heavily on support from extended kin
Individualistic gender regimes- policies are based on belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same, in Sweden policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for breadwinning and domestic tasks
Gender regimes and social policy- State vs Market
Drew argues most european countries are moving towards individualistic gender regimes however policies like publicly funded childcare are not cheap and involve major conflicts about who should benefit from social policies and who should pay for them
Feminists argue that since the global recession began in 2008, cutbacks in gov spending throughout europe has led to pressure on women to take more responsibility for caring for family members as the state retreats from providing welfare, during this period there has also been trend towards neo-liberal welfare policies where individuals and families are encouraged to use the market rather than state to meet their needs like private pension
differences between european countries show that social policies can play important role in promoting or preventing gender equality in the family
