FAMILY Flashcards

Question

THEORIES OF THE FAMILY FEMINISTS MARXIST FEMINISTS

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

Not all women share the same experience of oppression; women of different ethnicity, class, age etc may have different experiences of the family.

Answer 4

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 socialization.

Answer 5

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.

Answer 6

1. 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. 2. Fall in infant mortality rate - improved housing, sanitation, nutrition, knowledge of hygiene and child health, improved technology, antibiotics. 3. 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. 4. Child centredness - 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.

Answer 7

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.

Answer 8

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)

Answer 9

The average age in the UK is increasing because of: Increased life expectancy Low infant mortality rate Declining fertility

Answer 10

Increased strain on public services More one-person households The rising dependency ratio Ageism

Answer 11

The old are of no use to capitalism because they are no longer productive and an economically dependent group, adding to the dependency ratio.

Answer 12

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.

Answer 13

Movement into a society

Answer 14

Movement put of a society

Answer 15

Push factors - unemployment and economic recession Pull factors - higher wages and better opportunities

Answer 16

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.

Answer 17

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

Answer 18

More people are living together without being married (secularization, stigma and cost) Increase in same-sex partnerships (secularization and stigma) More people living alone (life expectancy and stigma)

Answer 19

More children are born outside marriage Women are having children later Radical feminists are still unhappy with women being the main caregivers

Answer 20

Parsons states that 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.

Answer 21

THE NEW RIGHT The New Right believe that the nuclear family as the only ‘natural’ family type. Other family types produce social problems (Eg. lone parent families lead to a dependency culture). Generous welfare benefits have encouraged such deviant family types.

Answer 22

Chester states that although there has been some increase in diversity, the nuclear family still remains dominant. There has been an important change from the conventional family (segregated conjugal roles) to the neo-conventional family, which adopts a symmetrical family structure.

Answer 23

Giddens believes that Society has become ‘disembedded’ from traditional family structures, leaving us free to choose how we live our lives. This has led to the ‘pure relationship’ - one that exists solely to satisfy each partner's needs. Beck states that Equality and individualism have created the ‘negotiated family’ which varied according to the members wants.

Answer 24

Smart believes that we are not disembedded individuals, but we make decisions about relationships within a ‘web of connectedness’.

Answer 25

Fletcher states that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of the welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively (eg. the introduction of the NHS means that families can take better care of sick members when they are ill).

Answer 26

Donzelot theorized ‘The policing of families’: social workers, doctors and health visitors use their knowledge to control and gain families. Surveillance is not targeted equally on all social classes; ‘poor’ families are more likely to be seen as ‘problem’ families and the cause of all crime and anti-social behavior. Donzelot rejects the functionalist view and in turn, argues that social policy is a form of state control of the family.

Answer 27

Murray argues that the state is providing overly generous welfare benefits. This is because these policies offer ‘perverse incentives’, meaning that the state rewards people for irresponsible or antisocial behaviour.

Answer 28

Leonard argues that even where policies seem to support women (eg. childcare so the woman can go to work), they still reinforce the patriarchal family and act as a form of social control over women. For example, although maternity leave policies benefit women, it reinforces patriarchy, because the terms of paternity leave are less generous, implying that women are the natural carers.

Answer 29

Policies that are based on the traditional gender divisions between males and females (for example, in Greece, there is minimal state funding for childcare)

Answer 30

Policies are based on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same. Wives are not dependent on the husband, therefore each partner has a separate entitlement to state benefits. (for example, in Sweden, policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for bread winning and domestic tasks)