families and households - keywords Flashcards
Achieved Status
a person’s position in society based on hard work and effort.
Age Patriarchy
Gittens - the power adults have over children. It is the same way men have power over women.
Ageism
negative stereotyping/prejudice/discrimination of people based on their age.
Agencies of socialisation
family, education, religion, media and peer group - all of these teach us the norms and values of our society through rewards and sanctions.
Alienation
Individual/group feels socially isolated and estranged because they lack the power to control their lives and realise their true potential
Ascribed status
a person’s position in society based on birth
Arranged marriage
a marriage planned and agreed by the families or guardians of the couple concerned
Baby boom
a temporary marked increase/large increase in birth rate - the number of babies that are born - E.g: WW2
Bigamy
The offence of marrying someone while being already married to another person
Birth rate
the number of live birth per thousand of the population per year
bourgeoisie
Marxist term for the capitalist class - these people were the owners of the means of production (factories, machinery, raw materials, land, etc). They are the ruling class. Marx believes they have political and ideological power.
Child centred
giving priority to the interests and needs of children
childhood
a socially defined age-status. Western societies defined childhood as vulnerable and segregated
civil partnership
civil partnership act 2005 - giving same sex couples similar legal rights as to married couples
commune
a group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities
culture
a way of life of a group of people passed from generation to the next
Death rate
the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year
demography
the study of population including birth, death, fertility and infant mortality rate, immigration and emigration, age structure and the reasons for changes
dependency culture
when people assume that the state will support them, rather than relying on their own efforts and taking responsibility for their families
dependency ratio
the relationship between the size of the working population and the non-working or dependent population
divorce
a legal dissolution of a marriage by a count or other competent body
Divorce Law Reform Act 1969
easier for couples to escape an unhappy marriage. Neither partner has to prove fault with their husband or wife. There is an increased divorce rate
domestic abuse
any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive and threatening behavior, violence or abuse between those aged 16 and over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless if gender or sexuality
domestic labour
work performed in the home. E.g: childcare, cooking, cleaning etc
dual burden
when a person is responsible for two jobs. Usually applied to the women who are in paid work but are also responsible for domestic labour.
Emigration
the act of leaving one’s country to settle permanently in another, moving abroad
empty shell marriage
a marriage in name only. It is where the couple continues to live under the same roof but as separate individuals
Expressive role
the caring, nurturing, ‘homemaker’ role in the family
extended family
any group of kin (people related by blood, marriage, adoption) extended beyond the nuclear family. Vertically (grandparents) Horizontally ( aunts, uncles, cousins)
family diversity
idea that there is a range of different family types. there is choice about the relationship you want - creating greater family diversity
familistic gender regimes
family orientated social policies are based on the assumption that the husband works to support the family while the wife stays at home and is responsible for domestic work and child learning
feminism
a sociological perspective and political movement that focuses on women’s oppression and the struggle to end it. Feminist argue that sociology has traditionally taken a ‘male stream’ viewpoint that ignores women
functional fit
Parson’s theory that, with industrialistion the structure of the family becomes nuclear to fit the needs of the individual society for a geographically and socially mobile labour force
geographical mobility
being able to move around the country
household
one person living alone or a group of people who live at the same address and share living arrangements
Housing Act - 1977
Made it the responsibility of local authorities to re-house certain categories of people (mainly families) providing they had left a violent man should not be seen as having intentionally made themselves homeless and should be re-housed
Immigration
people coming into the country to live and work
individualistic gender regimes
based their family-oriented social policies on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same. Wives are not assumed to be financially dependent on their husbands. This means that each partner has a separate entitlement to state benefits
infant mortality rate
the number of babies who die in their first year as a population of all live births
information hierarchy
structure and priority given to various pieces of information
instrumental role
the breadwinner or provide role in the family. Functionalists see this as the man’s role
Legal Aid Act 1949
British Act of Parliament - extended welfare state so that those who were unable to pay for a solicitor were able to access free legal help
life course
a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time
life cycle
the series of changes in the life of an organism including reproduction
life expectancy
how long on average people who are born in a given year can expect to live
marriage rate
the ratio of marriages to the population of a particular area or during a particular period of time
marxism
a conflict theory based on the ideas of Karl Marx. He sees society divided into two opposing classes. Marx’s predicts the lower class would eventually overthrow the higher class
means of production
facilities and resources for producing goods. (facilities, machinery, etc)
modified extended family
an extended family living far apart but in regular contact by phone, email, etc
monogamy
the practice of having only one partner
net migration
the difference between the number of immigrants entering a country and the number of emigrants leaving it
norm
an unwritten, informal rule that guides our behaviour in a particular situation. Norms come from our values. They are enforced through positive or negative sanctions - rewards or punishments
nuclear family
a two - generation family of a norm and women and their dependent children, own or adopted
official statistics
quantitative data collected by the government. They can be gathered wither by registration or b official surveys
patriarchy
literally means ‘rule by the father’. Feminists use it to describe a male dominated society. male power over women
primary socialisation
a process of passing on society’s norms and values to younger generations by he family
postmodernism
society and changes in society characterized by chaos and uncertainty and choices; a consumer led society
pure realtionship
one which exists solely to meet each partner’s needs. couples stay together for love, happiness or sexual attraction, rather than because of tradition or for the sake of the children
proletariat
the working class in capitalist society. They own no means of production and are ‘wage slaves’ forced to sell their labour. the power is with the bourgeoisie in order to survive
reconstituted family
a step-family, in which one or both partners has children from a previous relationship
reserve army of labour
a marxist concept describing groups who can be brought into the workforce when there is a labour shortage as the capitalist economy expands during a boom and discarded when it contracts
role
describes a person’s expected and acceptable behaviour. E.g: we expect a doctor to be a professional
role conflict
occurs when one of our roles clashes with another one E.g: daughter, student, friend
Secularisation
the decline of religion; the process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose their importance and influence
separatism
a radical feminist idea that women should live separately from men as the only way to free themselves of the patriarchal oppression of the family
separation
the action or state of moving or being moved apart
serial monogamy
a series of long term realtionships
secondary socialisation
a process a passing on society’s norms and values to younger generations by other social institutions such as education, religion, media and peer group
segregated conjugal roles
traditional sexual division of labour where women take care of domestic labour and men take responsibility as breadwinner and head of the household
social class
social groupings or hierarchy based on differences in wealth, income or occuption
social construct
where something is created by social processes, rather than simply occurring naturally
social institutions
family, education, workplace, religion, media and peer groups
social policy
the actions, plans and programmes of government bodies and agencies that aim to deal with the problem or achieve a goal
socialisation
process of passing on society’s norms and values to younger generations
society
a group of people who have common interest and a distinctive culture
sociology
study of society
status
a person’s position and standing in society
subculture
a group in society whose norms and values are different from the mainstream culture
stigma
a negative label or mark of disapproval, discredit or shame attached to a person, group or characteristic. The stigma is used to justify the exclusion of the individual from normal social interaction
subculture
a group in society whose norms and values are different from the mainstream culture
symmetrical family
a nuclear family in which both parents perform equally important roles
triple shift
some sociologists argue that women in modern society carry triple shift burden of housework, paid work and emotion work
underclass
those at the lowest level of the structure; a class below the working class with a separate, deviant subculture and lifestyle, including a high rate of lone-parent families, male unemployment and criminality
unit of consumption
unlike the pre-industrial family, the modern family no longer works together but still consumes together as a single unit or group the income that its members earn
unit of production
where family members work together as economic producers, said to be more common in pre-industrial society
value
a general, unwritten belief and idea about appropriate behaviour. Values vary cross-culturally - each society in the world has its own values.
value consensus
agreement among society’s members about what values are important; a shared culture. It integrates individuals into society by giving them a sense of solidarity
welfare state
where the government or state takes responsibility for people’s well being, especially their basic minimum needs. (It provides minimum income, NHS, state education, council housing etc)
cohabiting couple
this unit consists of an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together with or without children. 60% of these couples do end up getting married and treat living together as a practise marriage to see if they will get along
conventional family
traditional family - it is the ‘ideal’ family. Its members cooperate with each other. They share and nurture each other
dark side of the family
refers to the abuse within the family, particularly, but not exclusively, towards women and children
empty nest family
this family unit consists of an elderly couple living alone once their children have grown up. They start off as nuclear families, but when the children grow up, they move away (go to uni). This leaves their parents living alone
joint conjugal roles
(intrigate gender roles) - the couple share housework and childcare and are both in paid employment
lone parent family
single parent family. This family unit consists of a mum/dad living together with his/her children. This usually is a result of divorce, but increasingly people are choosing to bring up children alone
polygamy
being married to more than one person at the same time
polyandry
means that a woman has more than one husband at the same time
polygyny
a man has two or more wives at the same time
same sex family
this type of family became possible following the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act 2005. It is made up of a homosexual couple and their children. They can have children through IVF treatment, adoption and surrogacy
singleton/singlehood
a person living alone, usually a young adult or an elderly person. The recent increase in singleton is due to emphasis on education and career, increase in divorce rates, decline in marriage rates, marrying at a later age
