families and households Flashcards
1
Q
industrialisation
A
machines being extensively used in the production of goods
requires factories to mass produce consumer goods
2
Q
urbanisation
A
moving away from rural living to larger communities based in town
urban areas developed as industrialisation and factory production developed
3
Q
globalisation
A
production being transferred overseas as well as a global economy and global forms of work
4
Q
preindustrial
A
pre modern
5
Q
industrial
A
modern
6
Q
postindustrial
A
post modern
7
Q
family
A
group of people who are related by kinship ties, relations of blood, marriage, civil partnership and adoption. committed to cohabiting couples can also be regarded as a family relationship
8
Q
household
A
either one person living alone or a group of people who live at the same address and share living arrangements (bills, housework)
the group within a household may or may not be related to one another
9
Q
traditional nuclear family (cereal packet family)
A
2 generations, parents who are married and their biological adopted children living in the same household, father is breadwinner mother will stop working and look after children and home
preferred by functionalists and new right
10
Q
neoconventional family
A
2 generations
parents who may or may not be married, biological/ adopted children living in same household. both parents may work and house care and childcare is shared
not ideal for functionalists
11
Q
reconstituted family
A
a married or unmarried couple living together with at least one child from previous marriage
stepfamily - children from both adults is blended family
12
Q
lone parent family
A
lone/single parent with dependent children
13
Q
co parent family
A
share duties of bringing up a child of parents who are not in a relationship
14
Q
same sex family
A
same sex couple living together with/ without children
15
Q
extended family
A
all kin/relations including but extending beyond the nuclear family including grandparent, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews etc
vertically extended is 3 or more generations, grandparents and parents and children
horizontally extended is 2 generations, sisters (aunts) parents brothers (uncles) and children
16
Q
beanpole family
A
multi generation extended family in a pattern which is long and thin with how members in each generation. fewer children being born and people living together and longer
17
Q
empty nest family
A
a family in which the dependent children have grown up and left the parental home
18
Q
cohabiting couple
A
lives together in intimate and committed relationship who aren’t married
19
Q
childless couple
A
couple without children
20
Q
living apart together (LAT)
A
family where the adults are in committed relationship but don’t live together
may get on better apart or prefer their independence
could be married with kids
21
Q
murdocks four essential functions of nuclear families:
A
- stable satisfaction of sex drive - eases sexual urges - relieves stress - build bonds - heterosexuality is the norm
- reproduction - have children and raise them in stable environment
- economic - shared households decreases costs - mothers and children are financed
- primary socialisation - occurs in nuclear family - children are taught societies norms and values - can grow up to be dutiful citizens
22
Q
talcott parsons perspective
A
- family has adapted to suit modern society
- nuclear family is self contained, which is why structurally isolated (living in house without extended family)
- gradually less requirements for extended family functions to occur
23
Q
structural differentiation
A
functions once provided by kin have been transferred to specialised institutions e.g education and health
24
Q
parsons 2 basic functions found in every family
A
- socialisation of children: primary socialisation is vital for society, family’s are personality factories and children need to learn norms of their culture to fit in
- stabilisation of adult personalities: achieved through gender roles (segregated), husband has instrumental role and is breadwinner providing finance for family, wife is expressive role and vital for family’s needs
25
warm bath theory
man’s work is full of pressure and frustration from work, which could destabilise him so wife’s expressive role brings comfort and warmth in order to destress her husband when he returns from a hard days work
26
breadwinner
instrumental role
27
housewife
expressive role
28
fletchers perspective
- pre and early industrial families often neglected children and ignored welfare and educational needs however rise of welfare state means families shows more concern over children health
- disagrees with parsons claim family’s functions have been reduced
- family’s has more functions not less
- families keen to raise living standards so work hard to buy new products
- focus on education means parents are more involved in helping children learn
29
affluence
wealth
30
6 main reasons why isolated nuclear family has grown and extended family has weakened
- geographical mobility
- social mobility
- affluence and reduced functions
- home centred family life and strengthened conjugal (marriage) bonds
- conflict avoidance
- increases meritocracy (what you know not who you know)
31
young and wilmotts perspective
- agreed that classic extended family had largely disappeared in modern society
- were functionalists and looked at changes happening within nuclear families more equal conjugal roles
- took v positive view of changes of family life ‘march of progress’
32
key features of symmetrical family
joint decision making - decisions about holidays, money, kids schools, moving home
joint leisure time - more likely to share friends and go out for fun
closer conjugal bonds - because of doing so much more together
33
new rights views on families
- supports traditional values and want nuclear families as main family type
- very concerned by rise of other family types
- see traditional nuclear family as best family for social stability
- blames social changes and overgenerous welfare state
34
ways families enable capitalism
- inheritance of private property
- ideological conditioning device
- unit of consumption
- safe haven
- ‘takers of shit’
- unpaid labour force
- commercialisation of intimate life
35
verbal appellation
gendered words and phrases e.g beautiful only for girls
36
canalisation
gender socialisation through interaction with toys and objects
37
hegemony
leadership or dominance over others
38
conjugal roles
refers to roles men and women perform in the family in relation to housework, childcare and paid work (who does what)
can be segregated or integrated
39
dual burden
although women go out to work and contribute financially to housework, share of domestic chores still falls on women
40
emotion work (hochschild)
despite paid work and unpaid domestic tasks, women are still responsible for taking care of family
41
triple shift
women doing housework, out to work, and emotion work
42
young and wilmott disagree with functionalist parsons
saying that the move to integrated conjugal roles and symmetrical family is a match of progress, meaning everything is shared more equally
43
what’s enabled growing equality in conjugal roles?
improved living standards
less pressure from kin to be traditional
improved status and rights of women
more women in paid work
commercialisation of housework
44
gemini’s rejection of young and wilmotts findings
reject the ‘march of progress’ view, as little has changed and conjugal roles are still unequal
key responsibility for childcare still lies with women
2/3 of full time working mothers are responsible for cooking and cleaning
sex typing of domestic tasks still exists
family is still patriarchal
45
women and paid work
72% of women in UK are economically active - as opposed to 52% in 1971
some sociologists take an optimistic view on this and say women with jobs do less domestic chores than those who don’t
46
structural (laws, policies, infrastructure)
changing attitudes can only really be accepted by society if they are reflected in law changes
47
social (social norms, group identity, social networks)
changing attitudes will be influenced by others, how people respond to certain behaviours
friends, family, social groups will all put pressure on what you feel is acceptable or not
48
individual (attitudes, knowledge, personality)
you will have ideas about what you feel is acceptable or not
49
policy
intention to adopt a course of action. all sorts of companies have policies (finance and health) but policies we’re interested in are british government policies
50
social policy
policies that reflect needs of individuals in society
usually relate to family, education and health
51
Russia’s family abolishment policy
soviet union attempted to eradicate traditional patriarchal family structures so made divorce and abortion easier to obtain
began to encourage traditional family structures in order to create a solid industrial economy
52
Nazi germany ‘pure family’ policy
1930’s nazi state opted for two fold family policy
‘radically pure’ families were encouraged to breed a ‘master race’ and mass cull (killing them) of ‘radically impure’
women were removed from work and confined to kids
375.000 disabled people were sterilised
53
Chinas ‘lone child’ policy
population growth in china meant government discouraged couples to have multiple children from 1979
couples who complied were given extra benefits but those who didn’t had to pay back allowances and fines
before getting pregnant women had to get permission and a license
changed in 2015 to allow families to have 2 kids
54
Romania’s ‘multiple child’ policy
attempting to drive up declining population in 1980’s - experienced a restriction on contraception and abortion as well as divorce laws
legal marriage was reduced to 15 years old and unmarried, childless couples had to pay an extra 5% income tax
55
what politicians blame on a family breakdown
teenage pregnancy
sexual promiscuity
educational failure
crime and delinquency
drug abuse
poverty
welfare dependency
56
ways social policy has impacted family
changes to family structure
relationships
creation of welfare state
changes to birth rate
reinforcing nuclear family
less stigma
reinforced roles of women
changes to gender roles
57
changing family structures focus on
divorce
parents and children
ethnic differences in family patterns
extended family today
marriage, cohabitation and partnerships
58
divorce
- since 1960’s and the 1969 divorce act there has been a v large increase in the number of divorces in the UK
- divorce rate was 6 times higher in 2012 compared to 1961 peaking in 1993
- 40-45% of marriages now end in divorce
- roughly 65% of divorces are initiated by women
59
couples that are more likely to divorce
younger couples
different backgrounds
low income
married at least once before
cohabit before marriage
had children before marriage
60
reasons for divorce rate increase
changes in law
declining stigma and changing social attitudes
secularisation
rising expectations of marriage
women’s increased financial independence
feminist explanations
modernity and individualisation
61
divorce law timeline
1923 divorce reasons made equal for both genders
1949 legal aid for divorce available (more affordable)
1969 divorce law reform act passed. divorce now possible after 2 years if agreed and 5 if only one party wants it
62
desertion
one partner leaves the other but still legally married
63
legal separation
financial and legal separation of couples affairs while remaining married
64
‘empty shell’ marriage
couple still lives under same roof but only married in name
65
stigma
negative label or social disapproval towards a person, action or relationship
66
secularisation
decline in influence of religion in societies which are becoming less religious and more secular
- people less influenced by religious teachings
- church condemn divorce and refused to marry divorcees
67
rising expectations of marriage
ronald fletcher argues that ideology of romantic love has led to a lower toleration of unhappy marriages and thus rise in divorce rates
68
women’s financial independence
women in paid work rose from 53% in 1971 and 72% in 2019
women still earn less than men but equal pay and anti discrimination laws have reduced the gap
69
feminist explanations
feminists argue that married women carry a dual burden/ triple shift which generates conflict between husbands and wives
70
marriage and cohabitation
75% of cohabiting couples say that they expect to marry eachother
71
same sex relationships
rose by more than 50% in 3 years
more than a quarter of these were married
changes in the law allowed same sex couples to marry since 2014
increased social acceptance
72
parents and children
women having less children
more women are born outside of marriage almost 50% compared to 10% in 1971 - more socially accepted
marriage sec and parenthood no longer tied together
73
lone parent families
15% of all families with children are now lone parent families
23% of dependent children live with only one parent compared to 7% in 1972
74
overgenerous welfare system
underclass
lifestyle choice
social issue
dependency culture
75
step families/ reconstituted families
11% of all families with dependent children
1 in 10 children live in a reconstituted family
85% of these families have at least one child from women’s previous relationship vs 11% from man’s previous relationship
76
traditional contact
phone, letters, card
77
beanpole families
growth of multi generational families
more vertically extended than horizontally extended
each generation have less children leaving less brothers and sisters so family tree is long and thin
78
ethnicity of british population
86% white
14% ethnic minorities -
7.5% asian and asian british
3.3% black and black british
2.2% mixed
79
black caribbean and african families
higher proportion of lone parent households, just over 50% of black families with dependent children are lone parent families
higher levels of black male unemployment
women being independent from men drawing support of female kin
80
asian families
younger age profile
tend to be quite patriarchal
have strong emphasis on parental authority and family loyalty
traditional value
arrange marriages for their children
81
confluent love
love that is active and a building of trust and emotional intimacy between two people, is conditional as it depends on meeting its needs of both people
82
pure relationship
is one which couple choose to stay together because it meets their needs emotionally and sexually
