Families & Households - couples, childhood, theories of the family, demography + changing family ect... Flashcards
COUPLES Sociologists :
Parsons
Bott
Willmott and Young
Feri & Smith
Dobash
Ansley
Wilkinson
Couples : Domestic Division Of Labour : Parsons
Parson believes that men and women have biologically suited roles that are functional for society: the men play the ‘instrumental role’ which is the ‘breadwinner’, earning the family income. Women are seen as ‘expressive’ and are the ‘homemaker’ the family member who cooks, cleans and looks after the children.
Couples : Domestic Division Of Labour : Bott
Bott believes in separated conjugal roles, the division of labour between men and women, couple spend time separately. Joint Conjugal Roles = couples share domestic tasks and leisure time.
Couples : Domestic Division Of Labour : Willmot & Young
Willmot &. Young say there are more symmetrical families as a result of increased conjugal roles.
Couples : Are Couples More Equal : March Of Progress
The ‘new man’ means couples have an equal share of housework and childcare.
Couples : Are Couples More Equal : Dual Burden
Women now do both paid work and domestic work (Feri & Smith)
Couples : Are Couples More Equal : Triple Shift
Women not only carry the dual burden of paid and domestic work, but also have to do emotional work (Duncombe & Marsden)
Couples : Decision Making : Material Explanation
Material Explanation, men have more power decision because they are earning more.
Couples : Decision Making : Cultural Explanation
Cultural explanation, gender role socialisation instils the view that men are the primary decision makers.
Couples : Domestic Abuse : Dobash
Dobash says that marriage and the nuclear family is the key institution of patriarchy, and the main source of women oppression. Domestic violence is inevitable because it serves to preserve the power men have over women.
Couples : Domestic Abuse : Ansley
Ansley, domestic violence is the product of capitalism, male workers are exploited at work and take their frustrations out on their wives.
Couples : Domestic Abuse : Wilkinson
Domestic violence is the result of the Stress on the family caused by social inequality.
Childhood : Summery
sociologist argue the position of children have improved due to the introduction of laws that protect children’s rights. However, some sociologists believe childhood has turned ‘toxic’ due to rapid technological and cultural change
Childhood : changes to childhood over time : Aries
Aries, in the middle ages, the idea of childhood didn’t exist (-social construct-). Children has the same responsibilities, rights and skills as adults - in turn, they were considered economic assets. However, as the modern notion of childhood began to emerge, there became a profound distinction between children in adults in terms of clothing, rights and responsibilities.
Childhood : changes to childhood over time : Postman
Postman, in modern society, childhood is ‘disappearing’. Children and adults have some of the same rights, children’s unsupervised traditional games are disappearing, children are committing ‘adult’ crimes. The printed word created a hierarchy between adults, who can read, and children, who cannot - this gave adults the power to keep ‘adult matters’ private. However, TV blurs the distinction and information hierarchy; Tv does not require special skills to access it.
Childhood : changes to childhood over time : Shorter
Shorter, in the middle ages, the high death rate of children encouraged indifference and neglect. E.g: parents referred to their child as “it” or gave the child a name of a recently dead sibling.
Childhood : has childhood improved : The March Of Progress view
Childhood has improved significantly, due to how children are now perceived as vulnerable people who need taking care of. In addition, there has been an introduction of laws which improve the experience of childhood (E.g. laws banning child labour)
Functionalists : The organic Analogy
The human body is made up of different parts that function together to meet its needs and maintain it. Functionalists believe society does the same, in which it is made up of interdependent parts (e.g. the education system, the government, religion.) that work together to maintain the social system as a whole
Functionalists : Murdock
The nuclear family performs four essential functions:
- Socialisation of the young
- Satisfaction of the member’s economic needs
- Reproduction of the next generation
- Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
Functionalists : Parsons
The functions that the family perform depend on the type of society in which they are found:
> Pre-industrial society - extended family - had the function of production and consumption
> Modern society - nuclear family - have the function of social and geographical mobility
The nuclear family has two irreducible functions:
> Primary socialisation of the young - equipping the next generation with basic skills and society’s values.
>Stabilisation of adult personalities - enabling adults to relax so they can return to the workplace and perform their roles effectively.
Marxist : Engels
The family exists so men can pass their private property onto their biological offspring, notably a son.
Marxist : Zaretsky
There is an ideological function of the family called the ‘cult of private life’ - this is the belief that we can only gain fulfilment from family life, which distracts attention from exploitation.
Marxists : Poulantzas
Nuclear families are brainwashed into thinking capitalism is fair, which teaches lower generations how to conform and co-operate with the capitalist system.
Liberal Feminists
Liberal feminists take a march of progress view in suggesting gender inequality is gradually being overcome through reform and policy change, which changes people’s attitudes towards socialisation and challenges stereotypes. For example, the new man is becoming more widespread.
Marxist Feminists
Capitalism is the main form of women’s oppression in the family and this performs several functions for capitalism:
> Reproducing the labour force - women socialise the next generation of workers.
> Absorbing men’s anger - wives soak up their husband’s frustration from being exploited at work.
> A reserve army of cheap labour - when not needed, women workers can return to their domestic role.
Radical Feminists
The family and marriage are the key institutions in a patriarchal society, meaning that men benefit from the women’s unpaid domestic labour and sexual services, as well as dominate them through violence or the threat of it.
Radical feminists also believe the patriarchal system needs to be overturned, and the only way to achieve this is through separatism, meaning women need to organise themselves to live independently to men.
Difference Feminists
Not all women share the same experience of oppression; women of different ethnicities, class, age etc may have different experiences of the family.
New Right
A biologically-based division of labour - the division of labour between a male breadwinner and a female homemaker is natural and biologically determined.
Families should be self-reliant - reliance on state welfare leads to a dependency culture and undermines traditional gender roles. It produces a family breakdown and an increase of lone-parent families, which results in social problems due to poor socialisation.
Personal Life Perspective : Smart
Looks at relationships that individuals see as significant and gives a sense of identity, belonging and relatedness (pets, friends etc.). Interactionists believe that structural approaches assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant type of family. This ignores the increased diversity of families today
Demography (study of births, deaths ect…) Summery
Some sociologists believe the quality of life has significantly improved, whereby life expectancy is increasing, birth rate is decreasing and infant mortality is decreasing. Technological, cultural and social change has led to such an improvement. However, some sociologists disregard this in arguing there is now an increased dependency culture which is a burden on society.
Demography : Birth Rate Definition
Birth rate - the number of live births per year per 1000. Trends: a long-term decline in birth rate. However, there were 3 ‘baby booms’ after WW1, WW2 and during the 1960’s.
Demography : Reasons For Decline In Birth Rate
- Changes in the position of women - Increased educational opportunities, more women in paid work, change in attitude towards family life and the women’s role, wider access to abortion and contraception.
- Fall in infant mortality rate - improved housing, sanitation, nutrition, knowledge of hygiene and child health, improved technology, antibiotics.
- Children as an economic liability - Laws banning child labour coupled with the introduction of compulsory schooling has meant children remain economically dependent for longer, changing norms about children’s right to a high standard of living raises their cost.
- Child centerdness - childhood is now socially constructed and uniquely important period of life, parents focus on quality not quantity, meaning they have fewer children but lavish more attention and resources on them.
Demography : Impact Of Declining Birth Rate
The dependency ratio increases - the relationship between the size of the working population and the non-working (dependent) population.
The working population’s earnings support the dependent population through tax.
Women are having fewer children because this reduces the ‘burden of dependency’.
Public services - fewer schools, child health services etc
Demography : Death Rate
Death rate - The number of deaths per 1000 per year. Trends: declining.
Demography : Reasons For Decline In Death Rate
Improved nutrition
Medical improvements (vaccinations, antibiotics, NHS)
Public health improvements (better housing, clean water, clean air)
Social change (decline in manual labour, greater knowledge of disease)
Demography : Ageing Population : Reasons For
The average age in the UK is increasing because of:
> Increased life expectancy
> Low infant mortality rate
> Declining fertility
Demography : Ageing Population : Impact
> Increased strain on public services
More one-person households
The rising dependency ratio
Ageism
Demography : Ageing Population : Marxist
Phillipson :The old are of no use to capitalism because they are no longer productive and an economically dependent group, adding to the dependency ratio.
Demography : Ageing Population : Postmodernist
Hunt : We can choose our identity no matter what our age is: our age no longer determines who we are. As a result of this, the elderly become a market for body maintenance and rejuvenation services and goods, such as cosmetic surgery, gym membership and anti-ageing products.
Demography : Migration
IMMIGRATION:
Movement into a society
EMIGRATION:
Movement put of a society
REASONS FOR MIGRATION
>Push factors - unemployment and economic recession
>Pull factors - higher wages and better opportunities
Changing Family Patterns : Summery
Divorce is increasing and marriage is decreasing. Reasons for this include secularisation, decline in stigma, changing position of women, and changes in the law.
Changing Family Patterns : Increasing divorce Rates
40% of marriages now end in divorce. The reasons for the increase over the past 60 years include:
- Legal changes - divorce has become easier to access; equalising the grounds between both genders; widening the grounds (eg. irretrievable breakdown).
- Less stigma - divorce has become more common and widely accepted.
- Secularisation - decline in religious influence on society.
- Higher expectations of marriage - the rising expectation of marriage based upon unrealistic scenarios shown in movies has led to the dissatisfaction amongst many couples (Fletcher).
- Women’s financial independence - more women are now in paid employment, and lone parent welfare benefits are available. Women are less economically dependent on a man, and can afford divorce.
Changing Family Patterns : Decreasing Marriage Rates
Reasons for the decline in the number of people getting married include:
+ Changing attitudes - less pressure to marry
+ Alternatives to marriage (such as cohabitation) are less stigmatised
+ Women’s economic independence
+ Impact of feminism - some women now see marriage as a patriarchal institution
+ Rising divorce rates - this may put women off marrying
Other trends in marriage:
Rise in serial monogamy - many people re-marry
Later marriages - the young spend longer in education and cohabit before marrying
Fewer church weddings - due to secularisation
Changing Family Patterns : Partnerships
More people are living together without being married (secularisation, stigma and cost)
Increase in same-sex partnerships (secularisation and stigma)
More people living alone (life expectancy and stigma)
Changing Family patterns : Childbearing
More children are born outside marriage
Women are having children later
Radical feminists are still unhappy with women being the main caregivers
Family Diversity : Summery
Family diversity has increased, and there as been a shift away from the traditional nuclear family. Nowadays, it is more common for reconstituted, lone-parent and cohabiting families to exist. However, functionalists and the new right reject this in arguing the nuclear family is the only family type functional for society.
