Families and Households - The New Right

Question 1

The New Right and families

Answer 1

They are politicians

• Believe in the cereal packet family = traditional nuclear family and believe it is the only correct family type
• New right theorists argue that the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity causes many social problems, such as higher crime rates, educational failure, poverty and health problems

Question 2

What are the 5 issues causing a decline in the nuclear family?

Answer 2

• Contraception and abortion
• Divorce legislation / de-stigmatisation
• Secularisation
• Equal opportunities legislation (same-sex)
• Changing social attitudes / morals

Question 3

Traditional nuclear family features

Answer 3

• Biologically natural
• Heterosexual and married
• Dependent children
• Clear labour division
• Fulfils all important family functions

Question 4

New Right Ideas

Answer 4

• Family is the cornerstone of all social policies
• Many conservative politicians in the era of Margaret Thatcher said ‘poor’ family backgrounds (morally poor) caused societal issues
• Nuclear family as the perfect model - John Redwood (1993) was critical of single mothers and subsequently contributed to the idea of an ‘underclass’ - ‘the natural state should be 2 parents caring for children’
• Conservative policies created a ‘moral panic’ - single motherhood was deemed the greatest threat to the nuclear family, particularly lone mothers
• The New Right identified other areas which were threatening the nuclear family such as homosexual marriage

Question 5

The ideas of Charles Murray - Key New Right Thinker (1989)

Answer 5

- Wrote about the emergence of the underclass in the US 
Identified two groups in society - 
1. The New Rabble - long term unemployment, welfare dependents and single mothers relying on benefits and this group is dangerous for society as children are not socialised properly 
2. The New Victorians - respectable middle class who marry, socialise their children properly, work and pay taxes

Question 6

Who are the underclass?

Answer 6

A group of people who exist outside the main culture and at the bottom of the class system, often associated with welfare dependency, criminal activities and lone parents.

Question 7

How does a lack of a nuclear family contribute to educational failure?

Answer 7

• Also connected to high crime - educational failure - lack of qualifications = lack of employment = turn to crime
• Lower income in SPF - one income only (could be in a deprived area = lower quality school
• Family breakdown = lack of time for parents to invest in education / too much stress
• Nuclear families breakdown because of a ‘flaw’ - e.g. divorce / death = this has a negative impact on the educational outcomes of young people (stress/anxiety/trauma)

Question 8

How does a lack of a nuclear family contribute to high crime rates?

Answer 8

• Lower income in SPF - one income only = more deprived area so negative influences in peer group
• Family breakdown = poorer socialisation or less monitoring of children = attention offered by peer group which replaces lack of attention in family
• Nuclear families breakdown because of a ‘flaw’ - e.g. divorce / death = anger and frustration might result in criminal behaviour

Question 9

Evaluation of the New Right approach to families and households

Answer 9

A lot of sociologists strongly disagree with the New Right view. They are accused of “blaming the victim”. It is a theory that tends to blame the poor for their own poverty, rather than seeking other explanations for why people find themselves in need of welfare payments, etc.

Some argue that the New Right is not really a sociological perspective but a political position. Marxists would argue that the New Right is merely an ideological justification for capitalist and bourgeois politics. It is a convenient case for cutting public spending on welfare (and therefore either reducing taxes on the wealthy or channeling money into preferred projects).