family Flashcards

Question

The Feminist view of the family - Jessie Bernard

Answer 1

Jessie Bernard argued that marriage was good for men and that they needed marriage more than women. Radical Feminists Delphy and Leonard see the family as patriarchal and maintain the power of men over women. They argue that women contribute the most to family life in terms of domestic work, emotional work and support, while men benefit the most from family life.

Answer 2

Ann Oakley, a Feminist, suggests that from birth, children are taught that men and women have different places in the world and that the male role is superior (canalisation) Oakley argues that the division of roles in the family benefits men, as it gives them more power, status, money and choice

Answer 3

Feminists argue that another way men dominate women, sometimes, is through domestic violence and abuse.

Answer 4

According to the Office for National Statistics in 2015, two women are murdered every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner.

Answer 5

argues that domestic violence against women is both a consequence and cause of women’s inequality in a culture that undermines and devalues women.

Answer 6

In the 1980s, the Rapoports (American Social Scientists) suggested that families were becoming more diverse in Britain. The Rapoports noticed a change in family structure and the roles between family members. Structures included the rise of lone parents and extended families. They looked at the increase in divorce, remarriage and cohabitation and suggested that these trends have made family structures more unpredictable.

Answer 7

This group has a lower rate of marriage, a higher rate of divorce and separation and a higher rate of single parenthood. They are less likely to live with a partner than white people

Answer 8

South Asians are more likely to get married, have larger families and women are less likely to work when they have children. They have lower rates of separation and divorce. They are more likely to keep ties with the extended family.

Answer 9

Chester disagrees with the Rapoports! There have been some changes BUT the nuclear family is still important and the main family type. He suggests several arguments to back up his view. o The majority of people still marry and do not divorce. o Most cohabitating couples go on to marry. o Many divorced people still remarry. o Most people live in a nuclear family at some time in their lives and the nuclear family is the family type people aspire to. Data shows, that despite an increase in cohabitation and lone parents over the las decade or so, married couples and civil partnerships are still the most common in the UK. However, cohabitating couples are the fastest growing family type.

Answer 10

- Changes in norms: Secularisation - Stigma (public shame) was attached to children born outside marriage, and to divorce and same-sex relationships (the latter being particularly stigmatised and was once, for men, illegal). -These norms were based on and strengthen by religious ideas of marriage as an institution set by God.

Answer 11

Call the Midwife, a popular television drama set in London in the 1950s, reflects the norms of the time by its treatment of the characters Patsy and Barbara. These young women were in a lesbian relationship, but had to hide it from their family and friends because such as relationship was unacceptable at the time.

Answer 12

Sex outside marriage, cohabitation, divorce and same sex relationships have become more acceptable. This process can be associated with the decline in religion in Britain, known as secularisation

Answer 13

Another reason for the growth in family diversity is that the position of women in society has undergone change. It was the norm for women to give up work when they had children. The husband’s role was the breadwinner (to earn money) and the wife’s role was to look after the children and home.

Answer 14

The Good Wife’s Guide’ from a 1955 edition of the marriage Housekeeping monthly gives the following advice to women on how to treat their husbands (in the evenings) in order to keep their marriages happy Women’s magazines and books today are unlikely to offer advice like this

Answer 15

-Opportunities at school have improved for girls and, in some areas, girls are achieving better exam results than boys. --Job opportunities and career prospect have opened up for women and more women are now working and establishing a career rather than filling a temporary job until they marry. - Women are not as dependant on men to support then financially and this allows them to remain single, cohabit or divorce, and to bring up children on their own. -Developments in contraception have enabled women to control when they have their children and how many they have.

Answer 16

It’s a family unit based on equality between partners * Couples and their children are more home centred i.e. the growing interest in DIY. * Family members spend more time together. * Entertainment is more home based.

Answer 17

-Some reasons include; o New Technologies: ‘Labour Saving Devices’. o Increased Employment Opportunities o Improved Status & Rights of Women o The Importance of ‘Dual Incomes’. o Divorce Reform & Higher Expectations of marriage

Answer 18

Willmott and Young claimed that the way of life of those at the top of the class structure, would filter down to those below them. They call this ‘stratified diffusion’.

Answer 19

Edgell (1980) found that men are more likely to make the important decisions.

Answer 20

1. Men tend to earn more money than women 2. For some ethnic groups, traditionally men make decisions. 3. Men may feel like their masculinity is threatened if they do not make decisions. 4. Some feminist argue that women are socialised to be passive.

Answer 21

Domestic violence includes violence by men against women within the home and violence by women against their male partners. It also includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse of children, violence between brothers and sisters and the neglect and abuse of the elderly

Answer 22

Feminists claim Wilmott and Young have exaggerated their findings. Patriarchy is rife! Anne Oakley found some evidence of husbands helping but no evidence of symmetry.

Answer 23

-Ann Oakley argued that despite women working they have acquired a dual burden of paid work and unpaid housework. -Men benefit from women's earnings and their domestic labour. -Duncombe and Marsden (1995) added to Oakley's idea and talk of a ‘Triple shift’ refers to women who have paid work, do most of the housework and take on the emotional needs of her family.

Answer 24

o Esther Dermott (2003) conducted a survey and found that many fathers wanted to be involved with childcare and wanted to spend more time with their children.

Answer 25

Many working class men had jobs that required strength and hard physical work. Men were the breadwinners. Men had authority in the home and were regarded as the head of the household because they worked hard to earn the money the family needed. All these factors gave men status and respect. Boys were socialised in a way that would prepare them for this.

Answer 26

Refers to the qualities, character and behavioural traits expected of men.

Answer 27

1. Traditional industries in Britain such as coal mining have decline, leading to unemployment and the loss of the breadwinner role. 2. Manual jobs have been replaced by the service industry which do not require physical strength and can be done my women. 3. More women are succeeding in education and following a career and challenging the male role as breadwinner. 4. Women expect more involvement from men in the home. 5. Feminism has questioned the right of men to have power over women in the home.

Answer 28

Men receive conflicting messages. Agents of socialisation such as the media in the form of magazines, TV and films still tend to show men in traditional ‘masculine roles’. Male heroes such as the Avengers series are physically powerful and assertive. Most car adverts feature a male driver. BUT Feminism, and many of the women in men’s lives, expect men to be more caring and sensitive and in touch with their feminine side

Answer 29

How does the decline in the ‘traditional male role’ affect men? Sociologists and politicians suggest there is a crisis of masculinity in society. Men are losing their traditional roles and taken for granted authority and are left confused and unsure of their identity. 53 This has caused particular concern because young men have higher rates of suicide and depression, lower rates of educational achievement and are more likely to be homeless than any other group in society.

Answer 30

d the chance for more involvement with their partners and children is welcome. Research by Ester Dermott has shown that some father want to be what she calls ‘intimate fathers’, that is, fathers who are closely involved with their children and their daily activities.

Answer 31

where men and women may have several marriages over their lifetime, has become more common in Britain as people are increasingly divorcing and marrying again.

Answer 32

Divorce has become normalised. With less stigma people are more willing to resort to divorce.

Answer 33

Fletcher (1966) Argues that we now place too higher expectations on our marriages which is why so many of us end up getting divorced. Higher expectations make couples nowadays less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage.

Answer 34

Women are more likely to be in paid work. This has risen from 47% in 1959 to 70% in 2005. Although women generally still earn less than men do, equal pay and anti-discrimination laws have helped to narrow the pay gap. This means women can take care of themselves financially without a husband.

Answer 35

he New Right see the nuclear family of two parents and their children as the ‘proper’ and best family form. They argue that it is how families are meant to be (and would be biologically) and that any other family type is inferior. As we have seen, New Right sociologist Charles Murray believes that lone-parent families are the cause of most of society’s problems. The New Right see divorce as threatening the future of the nuclear family and causing an increase in ‘inadequate; and ‘inferior’ families. The New Right support their disapproval of divorce with evidence which suggests that children from lone parent families are more likely to fail at school and are also more likely to be involved in crime.

Answer 36

* Divorcees with young children may want another partner to assist them in bringing their children up. * In society today, marriage still remains the norm and is seen as the conventional thing to do. * Those who seek divorce are not rejecting the institution of marriage, they are rather rejecting one particular partner and remarrying in the hope to find happiness with someone else * Some people may remarry for companionship.

Answer 37

The New Right view the nuclear family as the ‘right type’ but this family is in decline! Alternative families are inadequate! Lone parent families are on the rise due to perverse incentives- Benefits!

Answer 38

Statistically, the nuclear family is still the most common. Robert Chester points out that most people live in nuclear families at some time in their lives, but fewer people are spending the majority of their lives in traditional nuclear families.

Answer 39

The Rapports looked at family diversity. They agree that traditional nuclear families are in decline, but regard the increase of other family forms as desirable. The family has not declined - It has changed. Postmodernists support this view. They argue that people are now free to choose how they want to live their lives, including what family they want to live in.

Answer 40

1. Socialisation: Women are generally socialised to be more nurturing and to take on the primary care role. 2. Masculinity: Men may feel that caring for children threatens their masculinity. They are generally not socialised to be the carer. 3. Employment: Men are generally more reluctant to give up careers to care for children. 4. Divorce: Women more likely to get custody after a divorce. Courts and Law often side with the female. 5. Social norms: It is more socially acceptable for women to care for children in contemporary society

Answer 41

1. Single parents do a great job. They don’t all raise ‘delinquents’. 2.Feminists and Postmodernists suggest women should have the choice to be a single parent. 3. Cashmore claims that one good parent is better than two bad ones.

Answer 42

1. New Right theorists such as Peter Saunders and Charles Murray argue that single parents provide inadequate socialisation. 2. Single parents are usually dependent on the welfare state. 3. Children from single parent backgrounds under perform at school and more likely to get into trouble.

Answer 43

Singlehood refers to a group of people who are not married and or in a relationship. Instead they remain single. According to the 2011 Office for National Statistics (ONS) 51% of people in England and Wales were single.

Answer 44

Singlehood shows that people are free to make their own lifestyle choices. We are no longer under pressure to marry and have children. Diversity is embraced. We can create our own alternative family.

Answer 45

People are getting older and living longer

Answer 46

Some reasons for high birth rates include: * need for large families, e.g. to work in rural areas * lack of family planning * people have many children because many infants die

Answer 47

* increasing wealth * better hygiene and improved healthcare * better farming techniques

Answer 48

Ageing population can bring benefits, such as more experience and knowledge. But it also increases the cost of healthcare and adds to the government spending, as they have to pay everyone a pension (retirement income).

Answer 49

The Sandwich generation refers to middle aged or older people (usually women) who act as carers for their elderly parents while at the same time providing help and support to their children

Answer 50

refers to grown up children who return to live with their parents because of a breakup of a relationship or because they cannot afford to buy a house.

Answer 51

(Aries)-Childhood is a social construct A social construct refers to something that is created by a society. Childhood is arguably a social construct because it has been created by society. Sociologists know this because childhood changes from time to time and place to place. It is not always based on biology.

Answer 52

Child centeredness refers to prioritising the needs of children. Phillipe Aries refers to this stage as ‘the century of the child’. In this stage Childhood and adulthood are completely separate. Some features associated with ‘child centeredness’ are; * Family time is viewed as important. * Living standards have risen and families are smaller. * Parents spend more leisure time with children. In addition, society has created childhood specific products, services and activities. Children have their own: * TV shows * Toys * Clothes

Answer 53

According to Neil Postman, “Childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed”. -According to Postman, childhood has disappeared due to the movement from print culture vs TV culture. Print culture is described below in the book to the left. In comparison to print culture, TV does not require special skills to access it, and it makes information available to adults and children alike. Children can watch the images. It is more difficult to hide children from ‘adult content’.