Families and Households Flashcards

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1
Q

Functionalism: Parsons.

A

Primary socialisation of children, value consensus, stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory).
Males: instrumental leaders.
Females: expressive leaders.

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2
Q

Functionalism: Murdock.

A

Reproductive, sexual, educational, economic.

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3
Q

Functionalism: Evaluation.

A

Still aim to live as a nuclear family. Social policies have an origin in functionalist theories.
Consumption is a key feature.
Child abuse and domestic violence are ignored.
Ethnocentric and heteronormative.
Reproduction is less important.
Other sources of socialisation have overtaken the family.

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4
Q

Marxism: Zaretsky.

A

Family supports capitalism. Children are socialised into becoming future workers. Alternative ideas are suppressed. Manages resentment of capitalist system. Responsibilities such as bills and mortgages.
Inequalities are unchallenged.

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5
Q

Marxism: Overview.

A

Wealth is passed down through inheritance. Maintains divide between bourgeoisie and proletariat.
Workers are less likely to strike due to the necessity of providing for family.

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6
Q

Marxism: Evaluation.

A

Targetted by advertisers. Working class parents teach working class norms and values.

Too simplistic, dismissive of social and emotional satisfaction gained from family.

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7
Q

Feminism: Oakley.

A

Gender inequality is a product of institutional discrimination. Socialisation leads to creation of patriarchal discrimination.

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8
Q

Feminism: Wilkinson.

A

Women more able to take up jobs, no longer dependent on a partner. Genderquake.
Greater aspirations.
Greater reproductive rights.

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9
Q

Feminism: Evaluation.

A

Only explains progression for white, middle class, professional women.
Corsaro: no established link between gender role socialisation and role development.

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10
Q

Feminism: Marxists.

A

Social class inequalities main source of oppression. Patriarchal ideologies benefit the capitalist society.

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11
Q

Feminism: Radical.

A

Gender inequality main source of oppression. Nuclear family benefits heterosexual men. Permits violence against women. Natural division of labour.

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12
Q

New Right:

A

Family is central in social policies. Poor behaviour is down to poor family background. Nuclear family is ideal. Single motherhood leads to a culture of welfare dependency.

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13
Q

Postmodernism:

A

Free to construct own identity. Society is a collection of subcultures. Family is less stable. Greater diversity. Domestic violence undermines positives.

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14
Q

Policy: Donzelot.

A

Policy is a form of state control over family. Professionals exercise power over clients through knowledge (policing of families).

Fletcher says social policy is a progression to a society where families are assisted by the state rather than controlled.

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15
Q

Policy: Leonard.

A

Male head of household benefits from women’s services. Women financially and emotionally dependent. Nobody was interested in wellbeing of women. Single mothers reliant on state benefits. Lesbians regarded as a subject of amusement.

Social policies constructed on women and children’s dependency on men.
Equal pay and welfare benefits support women.

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16
Q

Policy: Murray.

A

Social policies designed to support nuclear families and encourage self reliance, reducing a culture of dependency.

Feminists argue this pushes women back into a homemaker role. 
Marxists say this would push more working class families into poverty.
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17
Q

Policy: Evaluation.

A

Tax and welfare favour heterosexual married couples. Mothers are more often granted custody after a divorce. Housing is designed with the nuclear family in mind.
State intervention has increase.
Functional single parent may be more beneficial than dysfunctional nuclear family.

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18
Q

Patterns in Marriage.

A

Steep decline, increase in age, increase in middle class.

Corse: less working class get married, decline in factory jobs.
Berthoud: 3/4 Pakistani and Bangladeshi women married by 25, compared to 1/2 white women. 

Married people live longer.
Secularisation.
Still a life goal.

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19
Q

Patterns in Cohabitation.

A

Number of couples doubled, fastest growing household type, increased children born outside of wedlock.

New Right: argue cohabitation is replacing marriage.
Morgan: ‘marriage-lite’.
Murphy: worse results, left school earlier, more likely to develop serious illnesses.

Beaujoauan and NiBrolchain: test run, decline in marriages ending in divorce.

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20
Q

Patterns in Divorce.

A

Major increase, number of silver splitters increased.

Alternatively: separation, empty-shell marriages.

1969 Divorce Reform Act. Changes in attitude. Higher marital standards. Secularisation of society. Declining influence of extended family.

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21
Q

Patterns in Childbearing.

A

Decreased over time, recent slight increase.

More reliable birth control. Prioritising careers. Voluntary childlessness.

Increase in fertility due to immigration.

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22
Q

Life Course:

A

Postmodernists: focus on life course instead of family. Individual may live in several different household types.

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23
Q

Single Person Household:

A

Largest type of household, increase in divorce, increase in geographic mobility, less social stigma, increase in affluence. 47% are elderly one-person households.

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24
Q

Single Parent Household:

A

91% led by women. New Right: incentive of welfare benefits. Large proportion not in work.
Mooney: parental conflict greater negative effect than parental separation.

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25
Q

Patterns: Chester:

A

Neo-conventional: dual earning, both spouses work, greater equality.

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26
Q

Patterns: Giddens:

A

Personal relationships less stable with choice. Less likely to get married due to structural changes.
Pure relationship: only lasts as long as both partners are happy.

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27
Q

Patterns: Rapoports:

A

Diversity in life-cycle, organisational, cultural, social class, life-stage, generational.

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28
Q

Explanations: Weeks:

A

Sexual morality personal choice, less social stigma. Church and state have lost power.

Non-heterosexuals, kin-like ‘family’.

29
Q

Explanations: Snapshot Problem:

A

Chester: most are not choosing to live in alternatives. Most children still reared by two parents. Most marriages continue until death. Some ethnicities more likely to live in nuclear families.

30
Q

Explanations: Stacey:

A

Greater choice for women, break free from patriarchal oppression. Women are main agents of chains. Reject housewife role for education.

31
Q

Personal Life Perspective:

A

Smart: family like friendships, fictive kin, gay families, relatives who have passed away, pets.

32
Q

Arguments: Young and Willmott:

A

Working class families: conjugal roles separated, males considered themselves the head of household. Wives dependent on husbands. Unequal power. Wives victims of domestic violence.

Later: more joint conjugal roles, equal distribution of family. Greater opportunity.

33
Q

Arguments: Dunscombe and Marsden:

A

Triple Burden: girls emotionally skilled in empathy: worked all day, household and emotional labour.

34
Q

Arguments: Pahl:

A

Decision Making:
Husband controlled pooling: 39/102.
Wife controlled pooling: 27/102.
Husband control: 22/102.

35
Q

Arguments: Dunne:

A

37 lesbian couples, equal division of labour, highlights patriarchal nature of labour. More open to negotiation.

36
Q

Relationship Aspects: Pahl and Vogler:

A

Only 1/5 households were egalitarian decision making households. The more a woman contributes financially, the more important decisions they participate in.
Even when earning the same, women more likely to care for children and complete housework.

37
Q

Relationship Aspects: Dobash and Dobash.

A

Most domestic violence occurs in marriage. Marriage gives power to men through dependency.

Radical feminists: as long as men have the capacity to threaten women through violence, there will never be equality.

38
Q

Relationship Aspects: Gershuny.

A

Wives working full time did less household labour: no job 83%, part-time 82%, full-time 73%. Increased over time.

39
Q

Relationship Aspects: Fisher.

A

British father care rose 800% from an average of 15 minutes to 2 hours a day.

Craig: men more likely to play with and interact with children, women more likely to complete practical tasks.

40
Q

Relationship Aspects: Evaluation.

A

Feminists emphasis negative too much. Ignores women who enjoy childcare and domestic labour. Women are more biologically suited to childcare.

Oakley: men are resistant to change because inequality benefits them.

41
Q

Demographic: Birth Rate.

A

Number of live births per 1000 of the population over a year. Fall in births during WW1, baby boom. Repeated in WW2.
Decline in infant mortality. Improvements in sanitation, water and nutrition. Contraception widely available.

42
Q

Demographic: Death Rate.

A

Number of deaths per 1000 of the population over a year.

Decreased, life expectancy increased. Dependent on region, social class and ethnicity.

Improved public health, technology and medical practice. Rising living standards. Improved welfare.

McKeown: rising wages, less poverty. Public health policy. Improved social housing. Maternity care. Welfare state and NHS.

43
Q

Demographic: Ageing Population.

A

Increase in children caring for elderly parents. Increase in domestic burden, financial hardship and overcrowding.

Hirsch: changes in policy to cope with a longer living population. Earlier retirement needs reversing. Changes in housing policy.

Townsend: negative attitudes to elderly comes from a period of dependency.

44
Q

Demographic: Migration.

A

Increase in both immigration and emigration. Over 50% of African-Caribbean families are single parents.
Most Asian families are nuclear.
1/10 mixed race families.

45
Q

Demographic: The Griffiths Report.

A

Growing health and social care costs in look after the elderly - pensions time bomb.
Ageism: vulnerable, incompetent, burdensome.

46
Q

Childhood: Laws.

A

Child labour laws, compulsory schooling, FGM banned, The Children Act.

Restrictions on smoking, drinking and sexual consent.

Social services. Medical knowledge advancements.

47
Q

Childhood: Pilcher.

A

Childhood is a special time. Extended period of protection, nurture and socialisation. Dependency on adults. Distinct laws, dress, products and services.

48
Q

Childhood: Aries.

A

Children were mini adults, looked serious in paintings (not necessarily representative). Decrease in infant mortality. Childrearing central focus of family life. Toys, games and clothes designed specifically for children.

Pollack: diaries and first hand sources may be more accurate.

49
Q

Childhood: Donzelot.

A

Poor families more likely to be controlled and monitored. Health visitors, social workers, risk registers.

Prevents deviance and delinquency.

50
Q

Cross Cultural Differences: Wagg.

A

No universal childhood experiences. Widely varies.

51
Q

Cross Cultural Differences: Punch.

A

5 year olds in Bolivia. Work inside and out of the home.

52
Q

Cross Cultural Differences: Malinowski.

A

Trobrian Islanders: allowed to explore sexuality without shielding.

Other cultures not separated like Western cultures. Not protected/shielded from sex, work.

53
Q

Experiencing Childhood: Postman.

A

Childhood is under threat. Television exposes children to adult world too soon. Social blurring, less distinction between children and adults.

Opie: there is a separate childhood culture. Songs, rhymes and games.

54
Q

Experiencing Childhood: Palmer.

A

Toxic Childhood: parents rely on technology and junk food. Deprived of quality time, easily distracted, impulsive and self-obsessed.

55
Q

Experiencing Childhood: Womack.

A

Difficult to draw a conclusion on childhood due to variation. Children who are poorer are less likely to enjoy their childhood.

56
Q

Experiencing Childhood: Aries.

A

Children nowadays are more valued, cared for, protected and educated. Have more rights.

Fmaily is child-centric.

57
Q

Ethnicity:

A

Asian families less likely to cohabit, live in single-person households of divorce. Greater increase in empty-shell marriages and extended families households.

Some ethnic minorities have more children.

58
Q

Gender Differences:

A

Hillman: Boys are given more freedom than girls. Boys are more likely to be allowed to stay out after dark.

Poorer mothers have lower weight babies.

Brannen: Asian parents more likely to be strict with daughters.

Howard: children in poor families more likely to die in infancy, suffer long-term illness, be shorter, fall behind at school, placed on the child protection register.

59
Q

Gender: McRobbie and Garber:

A

Bedroom culture, follow codes on romance, fashion and beauty, creating a cult of femininity. Girls experiment with fashion and make-up, identity through presentation and developmental tastes.
Boys socialise in public spaces.

60
Q

Griffiths:

A
Control inequality:
Bodies.
Access to Resources.
Neglect or Abuse.
Time.
Space.
61
Q

Sociologists: Policy.

A

Donzelot, Leonard, Murray.

62
Q

Sociologists: Patterns.

A

Chester, Giddens, Rapoports.

63
Q

Sociologists: Explanations.

A

Weeks, Chester, Stacey.

64
Q

Sociologists: Arguments.

A

Young and Willmott, Dunscombe and Marsden, Pahl, Dunne.

65
Q

Sociologists: Relationship Aspects.

A

Pahl and Vogler, Dobash and Dobash, Gershuny, Fisher.

66
Q

Sociologists: Childhood.

A

Pilcher, Aries, Donzelot.

67
Q

Sociologists: Cross Cultural Differences.

A

Wagg, Punch, Malinowski.

68
Q

Sociologists: Experiencing Childhood.

A

Postman, Palmer, Womack, Aries.