Families and Households - Family Diversity Flashcards
What are the Modernist perspectives of family diversity?
- Functionalism
- The New Right
- Chester (1985) - the neo-conventional family
- Rapoports (1982) - the five types of family diversity
Why does Parsons see the nuclear family as prevalent in modernity?
Parsons argues that it is a ‘functional fit’ as it is both geographically and socially mobile enough to meet the needs of a moving, meritocratic society whilst still performing the ‘irreducible functions’ of primary socialisation and stabilisation of adult personalities. As such, other types of family are dysfunctional.
Give a criticism of the functionalist perspective of the nuclear family.
Feminists argue that Parsons ignores all negative aspects of the traditional nuclear family - more than 1/3 of women and more than 1/4 of men have experienced abuse from a partner.
What is the preferred family structure of the New Right?
Traditional patriarchal nuclear family consisting of a married couple and their dependent children, with a clear-cut division of labour between the breadwinner-husband and homemaker-wife.
Parsons (1960) and matrifocal families:
Matrifocal families inadequately socialise boys as they lack male role models of legitimate success and the mother’s caring is then seen as feminine - this then pushes the boys to commit crime as ‘compensatory, compulsory masculinity’ - this is in line with the New Right dislike of single-mothers
Benson (2006) and marriage:
The rate of breakdown of parents in the first three years is much higher among cohabiters (20%) than the married (6%) - the new Right prefer marriages as they are seen as more stable as they require a deliberate commitment, whereas cohabitation allows partners to avoid it.
Oakley (1997) and the New Right:
The New Right assumes gender roles as biologically pre-determined, but cross-cultural studies show a great degree of variety - with many Afro-Caribbean households having a matriarch instead - this is rooted in the New Right’s anti-feminist and anti-equality dogma.
Smart (2011) and the New Right:
Cohabitation may be more likely to break down as poorer people are more likely to cohabit, the stress of poverty causing the break in the relation, rather than the lack of commitment.
Chester (1985) and the neo-conventional family:
Chester (1985) argues that increased family diversity is insignificant, instead we have moved from the dominant ‘conventional family’ (described by the New Right) to the neo-conventional family based on dual-earner spouses.
How does Chester (1985) refute the decline of the nuclear family?
Chester argues that thos not living in nuclear families are often not out of choice and te nuclear family remains most’s ideal - the elderly and divorced are not not in nuclear families out of choice.
Give evidence for Chester (1985).
Most people who get divorced remarry, 1/3 of marriages in 2012 were remarriages for one or both parties.
Rapoport (1982) and family diversity:
The Rapoports argues that increased choice and cultural diversity in society has led to greater diversity of familiy types, with families in the UK adopting a ‘pluralistic society’.
Rapoport (1982) and the five types of diversity:
Different family structures are based on 5 diversities:
- Organisational: the organisation of roles
- Cultural: different cultural religious and ethnic groups
- Social class: income-differences
- Life-stage: different stages in life lead people to different family types, like lone-person
- Generational: differing attitudes between generations.
What are the post/late-modern perspectives on the family?
- Stacey (1998): family and patriarchy
- Giddens (1992): the pure relationship
- Beck (1992): the negotiated family
- The Connectedness Thesis
Stacey (1998) and postmodern families:
Stacey argues that greater freedom in a postmodern age has allowed women to free themselves of patriarchal and oppressive family structures, shaping them as needed and new structures arising - one such being a ‘divorce-extended family’ where one of her interviewees described building a strong bond between her and her ex-husands partner.
Morgan (2011) and postmodern families:
It is pointless to make large-scale generalisations about ‘the family’ as they are increasingly diverse and based on who it’s members define as their family.
What is the individualisation thesis?
Traditionla social structures like class, gender, and family have lost much of their influence, meaning people are no longer defined by fixed roles that decide their life course an we are now ‘disembedded’ from traditional roles and structures.
Beck (1992) and individualisation:
The ‘standard biography’ (life course that people followed in the past) has been replaced by the ‘do-it-yourself biography’ that individuals today must construct for themselves.
What does Giddens (1992) argue the two reasons for greater equality in relationships are? What is the effect?
- Contraception has allowed relationships to be about sex and intimacy, rather than just reproduction
- Feminism has increased women’s independence
As a result, relationships are no longer held together by external forces like law, rather now people are allowed to define their own relationships.
Giddens (1992) and the pure relationship:
Giddens argues that relationships are based on the mutual and equal fulfillment and satisfaction of all members’ needs, known as the ‘pure relationship’, with relationships becoming part of individuals’ path of self-discovery - this inevitably makes relationships more unstable as they can end at any point, leading to even greater family diversity.
Giddens (1992) and same-sex couples:
Giddens saw same-sex couples as pioneers in creating more democratic and equal relationships; this is because they are not influenced by tradition (and often veemently oppose it) in the same way as heterosexual couples, allowing them to create personalised relationships based on their needs.
Weston (1992) and gay families:
Same-sex couples created supportive ‘families of choice’ from among friends, former lovers and biological kin,
Beck (1992) and the declining nuclear family:
The traditional, stable but oppressive patriarchal family is undermined by undermined by two trends in late modernity:
- Greater gender equality, which challenges male authority
- Greater individualism, which encourages self-interest rather than obligation.
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) and the negotiated family:
Trends in late modernity have led to the creation an replacement of the patriarchal family with the ‘negotiated family’, which structure and dynamics are variable based on the equal fulfillment of all its members’ needs, rather than socal obligation. However, this is more unstable as individuals can freely leave if their needs aren’t met.
Beck (1992) and the traditional family:
Beck calls the family a ‘zombie category’ as people want it to be alive and a safe haven of security so promote it, but it cannot provide this as it is insecure itself.
Budgeon (2011) and criticising the individualisation thesis:
The individualisation thesis over estimates the level of choice people have about family relationships - reflecting a neoliberal idea that people have complete free choice and ignoring the continuing constraints of traditional norms.
May (2013) and criticisng the individualisation thesis:
Giddens and Beck assume that we are all disembedded independent individuals that are unaffected in our decision-making by structures like class and gender because their idea of the individual is ‘an idealised version of a white, middle-class man’.
Smart (2007) and the ‘interconnectedness thesis’
Humans are inherently social creatures who make choices “within a web of connectedness” of existing relationships and interwoven personal histories that influence our range of options in relationships, ‘”where lives have become interwoven and embedded, it becomes impossible for relationships to simply end.”
Finch and Mason (1993) and the interconnectedness thesis:
Within extended families, although there is negotiability to an extent, members are embedded within family connections and obligations that restrict their freedom of choice.
What is the connectedness thesis’ view on class and gender?
It emphasises the role of strutures in limiting our choices in relationships, identity and family, with gender norms often giving women majority custody or poverty making divorce virtually impossible.
May (2013) and the power of structures:
Although the agency of women has increased, Beck and Giddens claim that we now exist in an age of complete choice is wrong - the structures aren’t gone, they’re reshaping.
Einasdottir (2011) and the prevalence of structures:
Although lesbianism is tolerated, heteronormativity and continuing homophobia means many women have to stay in the closet, limiting their choice in relationships and identity.
