Families Names Flashcards
Murdock
Functionalism
(Nuclear Family)
4 Roles:
- Reproductive
- Socialising
- Sexual
- Economic
Families “sheer practicality” - Unit of Production and Consumption
Bell and Vogel
Functionalism
Child as emotional scapegoat for adults tension and emotion
This has stabilising influence on family and therefore society (despite being dysfunctional for child)
Parsons
Functionalism
Primary Socialisation
Stabilisation of Adult Personalities
Social Mobility - eg: Son of labourer becomes labourer too
Expressive Vs Instrumental Role (Women + Men Respectively) - Effective Socialisation
+ Warm Bath Theory - Husband of family uses family as a ‘warm bath’ to destress from work
Personal Life
Definition
Interactionist and Postmodernist Ideas
Micro Approach
Focus on Meanings
Stacey
Personal Life
Divorce Extended Families
Clarke
Personal Life
Marriage and Differences in its reality for each person/couple
How does it make sense to those acting it out? How does it feel?
Nordqvist and Smart
Personal Life
Donor-conceived families - Feelings towards relationships and involvement with the children and families of a donor
Leach
Personal Life
Overloaded Electrical Circuit - Nuclear Family
Too great demands put upon it
Creates Conflicts
Causes them to huddle together and shield from society - which is a source of fear and violence
Laing
Personal Life
Family draws defensive barrier - “them and us”
Radical theory - schizophrenia can only be understood through families as it causes it
Engels
Marxism
Means of production communally owned - family did not exist
Family and society interlinked
Family designed to control women and protect property
Zaretsky
Marxism
Family as a Haven to work which was alienating
But is unable to provide the psychological and personal needs for individuals - cannot meet refuge of ‘brutal’ society
And as such family becomes a ‘Prop’ to Capitalism
- Husband is comforted by family and uses them to destress (domestic violence?), allowing him to keep going to work
- Family is a vital Unit of Consumption
Althusser
Marxism
Family an Ideological State Apparatus
Passes on ideals and values of ruling class
Mary Wollstonecroft
Feminism (Liberal)
Women exist in metaphorical ‘bird cage’
Policy necessary
eg: Equal Pay Act, Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Opportunities Act etc
Oakley
Feminism (Marxist)
Sexual Division of Labour - Women responsible for domestic work and childcare - so are economically dependent on men
Beechey, Breugal + Benston
Feminism (Marxist)
They form a reserve army of labour (easy to hire + fire) - Support men
Women economically dependent on men
Capitalism gets two price of one
Ansley
Feminism (Marxist)
Wife and family as ‘safety valve’ similar to Parsons
Wives as ‘takers of shit’
This frustration is due to capitalism - wife serves role to keep husband happy
Rich
Feminism (Radical)
There is compulsory heterosexuality
Lesbianism the solution - sexual freedom and removal of oppression
Firestone
Feminism (Radical)
Childbearing a burden
New reproductive technology - free women
Delphy and Leonard
Feminism (Radical)
Women contribute more to family but don’t get the benefits of it
Women provide 57 varieties of unpaid labour
Not always passive victims but have social and economic constraints
Amos and Parmar
Feminism (Black Difference)
Black women suffer from both racism and sexism
Dobash and Dobash
Feminism
Domestic Violence
109 Interviews with women who had experienced domestic violence
Informal and unstructured - meanings and understandings
Male use to destress - power over women and the family
Causes include men feeling like their authority/power was at threat/being challenged
Official Statistics
Domestic Violence
Unrepresentative?
Lack validity
Victims may be unwilling to report - The least likely crime to be reported (Yearnshire)
Women suffer 35 assaults before reporting (Yearnshire)
Police maybe unwilling to take reports seriously (Cheal) due to seeing: Family as a private sphere, Family a good thing so ignore it’s darker side & See individuals as free agents who can leave when they want to
Explanations for domestic violence
Millet and Firestone - Patriarchy at fault – Men are the enemy and the exploiters of women
Wilkinson – Blames economic factors such as Resources, e.g.: jobs, money, housing etc
Young and Willmott
March of Progress
The Symmetrical Family
Women are working
Men now help with housework and childcare
Couples share more leisure time
Reasons:
Changes in position of women
Higher standards of living
Etc
Criticised by Oakley - Some evidence (of the above) but not close to symmetry
Reeves
March of Progress
We’re halfway through a revolution in the interaction between gender roles and family
Reasons:
Gender pay gap closing (by 2040)
1/5 women earn more than men
Less economic dependence on men
Rise in divorce
More obvious symmetry/equality
Shared leave
Gershuny and Duncombe + Marsden
Feminism
Dual Burden - Housework and Paid Work
Triple Shift - Housework, Paid Work and Emotion Work
Compton and Lyonette
Gender Division of Labour
Cultural/Ideological - Patriarchal norms and values shape gender roles
Material/Economic - Women earn less so are dependent
But younger men do more domestic work (Kan) - gender norms changing
AND study on lesbian couples (Dunne) more symmetry with less stereotypical gender norms - similar to Smart who found that homosexual couples didn’t have these roles eg: with finance etc
Pahl and Vogler
Feminism
Allowance System - Men give their wives an allowance
Pooling - Both partners have access to income
Edgell (1980s)
Feminism
Very important decisions (finance) made by men
Important decisions (childcare/ education) made jointly
Less important decisions (home decor) made by women
Functionalist
Social Policy
Fletcher - Welfare State
Free NHS
Compulsory Education
Housing Policies
All help families to take better care of children which suggests policies help the family
Marxist
Social Policy
Low Level State Pension - Retired people maintained at lowest possible cost
Althusser - Friendly face of capitalism - eg: minimum wage (Ideological State Apparatus and False Class Conciousness
Feminist
Social Policy
Universal Child Benefit straight to women
Courts assume women should have custody of children
Maternity leave (benefits women but also patriarchy - and was also longer than paternity leave typically)
But Liberal identify many that have helped:
Equal Pay Act
Sex Discrimination Act
Shared Leave
Benefits for Lone Parents and Equalising Divorce Laws
New Right
Social Policy
Saw family diversity as the development of welfare dependency and the underclass
Murray - Benefits encourage dysfunctional family types and offer perverse incentives
Child Support Agency - Absent parents responsibility for children
Community Care Policy - Care done by families without state - Benefits banned on 16-18 year olds
Marriage Tax Breaks introduced - encouraged marriage
Clause 28 - Discouraged diversity
New Labour
Social Policy
Said nuclear family is optimum but not necessary - accepted other types of family
So also issued Supporting Families
Maternity and Paternity Leave (Shared)
Working Families Tax Credits
Civil Partnerships for Same-Sex Couples
Postmodernism
Social Policy
Support diversity
Policy should aid individual needs (Individualisation Thesis)
Stacey - Policy should allow for choices - eg: Divorce Reform Act
Wagg, Benedict + Ennew
Childhood
Childhood never existed
Childhood construction cross culturally - Children as part of workforce (Jamaica)
In Non-industrial societies children are expected to have greater responsibilities
Aries
Childhood
Historical Differences - Medieval children were like ‘mini-adults’ - same rights, duties and skills
Postman
Childhood
Information Hierarchy - Distinction in clothing, knowledge of sex, money, violence, death, illness etc
+
Changing perception of childhood (from 15th Century) - ‘seen but not heard’
Changes in Position of Childhood (19th+20th Centuries)
Lower IMR
Child Health Development
Ban on Child Labour
Compulsory Education
Child Protection
March of Progress View on Childhood
Child Centred Families
Family Size Decrease
Parents Spend More Time With Children
Conflict View (Position of Childhood Not Changed - Differences in Childhood)
Differences:
Gender (Hillman - boys more independent and get more freedom)
Ethnic (Brannen - Asian parents likely to be more strict)
Class (Howard - IMR more likely in poorer families)
Child Liberationists (Firestone + Gittins)
Firestone - Extensive care and protection is just a form of oppression, subjecting children to greater adult children
Gittins - Age Patriarchy - Adult domination that keeps children subordinate and dependent
Palmer
Childhood
Toxic Childhood - Technological and Cultural advancement has damaged children’s development
Lee
Childhood
Childhood is disappearing more now than ever - they are getting more rights and their views are also taken into account more - but there is complexity
Opies
Childhood
Children have a separate culture to adults - healthy. eg: games, songs, jokes etc
(Declining) Birth Rate
Reasons:
- Changes in positions of women (Harper) - Further Education
- Decline in IMR
- Children are economic liabilities
- Child Centredness - more likely to have just one kid
Effects:
- (More Ability for) Dual Earner Families
- Dependency Ratio Decrease
- Less need for public services
- Ageing Population
