Families and Households - Couples

Question 1

What is the domestic division of labour?

Answer 1

The domestic division of labour refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework , childcare and paid work.

Question 2

What is an ‘instrumental role’ ? (Parsons)

Answer 2

Parsons believe the husband plays an instrumental role in the family, geared towards achieving success in the workplace and providing for his family financially. He is the breadwinner

Question 3

What is an ‘expressive role’? (Parsons)

Answer 3

Parsons believes the wife plays an expressive role, geared towards primary socialisation of the children and meeting the family’s emotional needs. She is the homemaker , a full time housewife rather than a wage earner

Question 4

What does Parsons argue about the domestic division of labour and gender?

Answer 4

He argues the roles are based on biological differences, with women being “naturally” suited to the nurturing role and men to that of the provider. He claims it is beneficial to both men and women, their children, and wider society

Question 5

Criticisms of Parsons - Young and Willmott (1962)

Answer 5

They argue that men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming wage earners

Question 6

Criticisms of Parsons - Feminists

Answer 6

Feminist sociologists reject Parsons’ view that the division of labour is natural. In addition, they argue that it only benefits men

Question 7

What are segregated conjugal roles? - Bott (1957)

Answer 7

Where the couple have separate roles: a male breadwinner and a female homemaker/carer, as in Parsons’ instrumental and expressive roles. Their leisure activities also tend to be separate.

Question 8

What are joint conjugal roles? - Bott (1957)

Answer 8

Where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.

Question 9

What is the “March Of Progress” view? - Young and Willmott (1973)

Answer 9

The view that family life is gradually improving for all it’s members, becoming more equal and democratic. They argue that there has been a long-term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and the “symmetrical family”.

Question 10

What features make the “Symmetrical family”

Answer 10

-Women now work
-Men now help with housework/care
-Couples now spend their free time together as oppose to with workmates or female relatives

Question 11

Which social changes do Young and Willmott believe influenced the rise of the symmetrical family?

Answer 11

-Changes in women’s position , including married women going out to work
-Geographical mobility , more couples living away from communities they grew up in
-New technology and about saving devices
-Higher standards of living

Question 12

What is the feminist view of housework?

Answer 12

-Reject the “march of progress” view and argue little has changed
-They say men and women are still unequal in the family which stems from patriarchal society
-Oakley (1974) criticises the Symmetrical family theory as she believes the evidence for it is lacking. Although Young and Willmott’s interviews found husbands helped their wives at least once a week, this could be as simple as making breakfast or taking the kids for a walk

Question 13

Impact of paid work

Answer 13

Now most women work part or full time jobs. The trend towards both partners working raises an argument - Is it leading to men doing more housework, or do women now suffer a “dual burden”

Question 14

Impact of paid work - March of Progress view

Answer 14

Like Young and Willmott’s symmetrical family, some sociologists take an optimistic view of the impact of paid work. Many think the division of housework has become more equal. Sullivan (2000) found an increase in the number of couples with an equal division of labour from data collected in 1975, 87, and 97.

Question 15

Impact of paid work - Feminist view

Answer 15

In the view of feminist sociologists, paid work has only made the inequality in the family worse, as women now have to work a job, and also take care of housework which creates a “dual burden”.

Question 16

What did the British Social Attitudes survey (2012) find about men and housework?

Answer 16

It found that men on average did 8 hours of housework a week, and women did 13. Similarly men spent 10 hours a week taking care of family, whereas women spent 23. 60% of women felt this division of labour was unjust. The survey also found that women did more “womanly” tasks like laundry , care for sick, laundry etc. while men did small repairs around the house.

Question 17

What did Boulton (1983) say about fathers and childcare?

Answer 17

Boulton (1983) points out although fathers may help performing specific childcare tasks , the mother usually takes care of the child’s security and well-being

Question 18

What do studies show about fathers and Childcare?

Answer 18

-Ferri and Smith (1996) found that fathers took responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4% of families
-Dex and Ward (2007) found only 1% of fathers took care for their sick children
-Braun, Vincent and Ball (2011) found only 3 out of 70 studied families where the father was the main carer - the rest were “background carers”

Question 19

What is the “triple shift”

Answer 19

Hochschild (2013) describes taking care of family members mentally as “emotion work” , which typically is carried out by mothers. Duncombe and Marsden (1995) would go as far to say that women suffer a “triple shift”, as they carry out a job, domestic tasks, and “emotion work” - essentially a more extreme dual burden

Question 20

What does Southerton (2011) argue about “quality time”?

Answer 20

He argues coordinating and scheduling a family’s quality time usually is a responsibility which falls to the mother, and has become increasingly difficult in today’s “24/7” society. Southerton claims quality time is “becoming more and more difficult as working mothers find themselves increasingly juggling the demands of work and careers, personal leisure time and family”.

Question 21

What is the cultural or ideological explanation of inequality - Crompton and Lyonette (2008)

Answer 21

In this view, the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape the gender roles in our culture . Women perform more domestic labour simply because that is what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do.

Question 22

What is the material or economic explanation of inequality - Crompton and Lyonette (2008)

Answer 22

In this view, the fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically rational for women to do more of the housework and childcare while men spend their time earning money.

Question 23

Evidence for the Cultural explanation of the division of labour

Answer 23

-Gershuny (1994) found that couples who’s parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally, suggesting role models are important
-Man Yee Kan (2001) found that younger men do more domestic work
-British Social Attitudes Survey (2013) found that less than 10% of under 35s agreed with the traditional division of labour, against 30% of over 65s.
-Gillian Dunne (1999) found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of traditional heterosexual “gender scripts”.

Question 24

Evidence for the Material explanation of the division of labour

Answer 24

-Kan found that for every £10k a year more a woman earns , she does 2 hours less housework per week
-Arber and Finn (1995) found that better paid, middle class women were more able to buy in commercial produced products like labour-saving devices, ready meals, domestic help etc to reduce domestic labour.
-Ramos (2003) found that when a woman is the breadwinner and the man is unemployed, the man does a much domestic labour as she does

Question 25

What did Barrett and McIntosh (1991) say about resources and decision making in households?

Answer 25

They said that :
- men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
- The financial support that husbands give to their wives is so unpredictable there are often “strings” attatched
- Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

Question 26

What did Kempson (1994) find about women in low income families?

Answer 26

She found that among low income families, women denied their own needs, seldom going out, and eating smaller portions of food or skipping meals altogether to make ends meet - this shows family members do not equally share resources.

Question 27

What is “the allowance system”?

Answer 27

Where men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet their family’s needs , with the man retaining any surplus income for himself.

Question 28

What is Pooling?

Answer 28

Where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure ; for example, a joint bank account.

Question 29

What do studies show about decision making in couples?

Answer 29

-Pahl and Vogler (2007) found that in pooled incomes, men typically make the major financial decisions
-Edgell (1980) found that men make most choices or have the final say in decisions about finances, changing jobs, moving houses etc. while women dealt with less important stuff like holidays, home decor, children’s education etc. Edgell argues this is the case because men typically make more than their wife.

Question 30

What did Gershuny (2000) find about couples and decision making?

Answer 30

She found that by 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions. Significantly , though, they found that women who were high earning , well qualified professionals were more likely to have an equal say.

Question 31

Cultural VS Material explanations of gender inequality

Answer 31

Opposing Crompton and Lyonette’s new, Feminists argue that inequalities in decision-making are not simply he result of inequalities in earnings. They argue in patriarchal society, the cultural definition of men as breadwinners is ingrained into men and women through gender role socialisation.

Question 32

“The meaning of money”

Answer 32

Just because money is pooled, doesn’t mean there is equality. For example if a husband makes twice as much as his wife, but both put the same amount of money in the joint account, does this count as equality? Nor does each partner keeping their money separately always mean inequality. Volger found that cohabiting couples are less likely to pool money, however they are more likely to equally divide home labour . These idea point towards the fact that money has no fixed meaning and couples can define it however they want, which may reflect the nature of their relationship.

Question 33

Personal life perspective of money

Answer 33

This perspective focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money. From this perspective , the meanings that money may have in relationships cannot be taken for granted. For example, while we might assume that one partner controlling the money is a sign of inequality in the relationship, for some couples it may not have this meaning.

Question 34

What is the definition of Domestic Violence?

Answer 34

The Home Office (2013) defines Domestic Violence and abuse as:
‘Any incident or pattern or incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality’

Question 35

What forms of abuse can Domestic violence come in?

Answer 35

Psychological, physical, sexual, emotional, financial

Question 36

What evidence challenges the view that Domestic Violence is simply the work of a minority of disturbed or sick individuals?

Answer 36

DV IS TOO WIDESPREAD to be the work of a few sick individuals - The Women’s Aid Federation (2014) found that DV accounts for between 1/6 and 1/4 of all recorded violent crime. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013) found that two million reported having being a victim of Domestic Abuse in the previous year.
DV DOES NOT OCCUR RANDOMLY but follows particular social patterns which have social causes. The most striking being that it is mainly violence by men against women. Kathryn Coleman (2007) found that women were more likely than men to have experienced ‘intimate violence’ across all four types of abuse - partner abuse , family abuse, sexual assault , and stalking.

Question 37

What do studies show about gender and domestic abuse?

Answer 37

-Walby and Allen (2004) found that women were much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and sexual violence
-Ansara and Hindin (2011) found that women suffered much more severe violence and control with more serious psychological effects
-Aliyah Dar (2013) points out it can be difficult to count separate DV incidents because abuse may be continuous, or may occur so often the victim can’t count the instances.

Question 38

Do official statistics over or underestimate the extent of the problem of Domestic Violence?

Answer 38

Underestimate

Question 39

Why do Official Statistics underestimate the true extent of the problem of Domestic Violence

Answer 39

• Victims may be reluctant to report their experience to the police. Yearnshire (1997) found that women on average suffer 35 instances before reporting anything. It is the least likely violent crime to be reported .
• Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record, investigate or prosecute the cases that are reported to them. David Cheal (1991) thinks this reluctance comes from the assumptions they make about family life, like -
  -The family is a private sphere , so they should have limited access to it
  -That the family is a good thing so they tend to neglect it’s ‘darker side’
  -People are free individuals, and are under the impression that if someone is being abused they are free to leave as they please however in most instances this is never the case due to DV often being coupled with economic power.

Question 40

What are the 2 established explanations for domestic violence?

Answer 40

The radical feminist explanation and Materialist explanation

Question 41

What is the radical feminist explanation for Domestic Abuse?

Answer 41

This emphasises the role of patriarchal idea, cultural values and institutions

Question 42

What is the materialist explanation for Domestic Abuse?

Answer 42

This emphasises economic factors such as lack of resources.

Question 43

Evidence for radical feminist explanation of Domestic Abuse?