Family Flashcards
Murdock view of family
Functionalist Four functions - Stable satisfaction of adult sex drive Reproduction Socialisation Economic
Functional fit theory
Parsons (functionalist)
Functions of the family will fit the needs of the society in which it is found
Pre-industrial - extended family
Industrial - nuclear family - geographically mobile
Structural differentiation
Parsons (functionalist)
As society industrialises, some of the functions of the family are lost - other agencies carry them out - state provides education
Two irreducible functions of the family
Parsons - functionalist
Socialisation - instrumental and expressive role models needed
Stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory)
New right theory of family
Murray
Lone parenting is on the rise and leads to social problems such as
Increased crime
Poor exam results
Increased permissiveness
Welfare dependency
New right solutions for lone parent families
Reduce welfare benefits
Women should stay at home and men be the breadwinner
Inheritance of property
Engels - Marxism
Inheritance laws keep the wealth and property in the hands of the bourgeoisie - rich peoples property is passed down to their children
False class consciousness
Zaretsky - Marxism
Socialising children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are the inevitable
Paternal power over children accustoms them to the idea that there always has to be someone in charge
Unit of consumption
Marxism
Capitalism exploits workers by not paying them enough and then advertises the products, encouraging the workers to buy them, thus generating more capital for the the bourgeoisie
The media target children, who use ‘pester power’ to persuade parents to spend more
Children who lack the latest clothes or gadgets are mocked and stigmatised by peers
Radical feminist theory of family
Nuclear family must be abolished - separatism - women must organise themselves to live independently from men
Political lesbianism - heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive because they involve ‘sleeping with the enemy’
Greer - creation of matrilocal households - men move in with the wives family
Liberal feminist theory of the family
Family is patriarchal but change is inevitable and evolutionary
Legal changes - 1970 equal pay act
Social changes - women are more socially free than in the past
Marxist feminist theory of the family
Women are the biggest victims of capitalism
As mothers - reproduce and discipline the next generation of passive workers unpaid
As wives (Ansley ‘takers of shit’) - soothe their alienated husbands and send them back to work passive
Reserve army of cheap labour - taken on when extra workers are needed then dropped
Beanpole family
Each generation has few members
Many generations within a family but with few siblings
Horizontally extended families
Include multiple siblings, their spouses and their children all living together
Vertically extended families
At least three generations of parents and children living together
Modified extended families/dispersed nuclear families
Keep in touch by technology
Lone parent families
One parent living with dependent children
1 in 4 children by the age of five will live with one parent
Why are lone parent families increasing
More divorce
Cohabitation break up
More mothers never in relationship with father
Changing social attitudes - secularisation
Women more economically independent
Changes in adoption laws
Reconstituted families
Married or cohabiting couples with dependent children, at least one of whom is not the biological offspring of both partners
Gay and lesbian families
Weeks - increased acceptance of homosexuality has led to more stable, long term relationships among this group
Same sex couples are pioneers
One person households
Rise due to
Male divorcees
Decline in those marrying
Confluent love
Giddens (postmodernist)
We have unrealistic expectations of relationships given to us by the media
This leads to more relationship breakdown
Risk society and the negotiated family
Beck (postmodernist)
The post modern era is characterised by increased choice and risk taking. Tradition is less influential
As we enter relationships/families we negotiate what we expect from the deal. If this changes, individuals feel justified in leaving the family unit
Divorce extended families
Stacey (postmodernist)
Study of Silicon Valley showed how many families are now linked by divorce, not marriage.
Key members are usually female and may include former inlaws, such as mother and daughter in law
Neo conventional nuclear family
Chester (postmodernist)
Dual earner family - both spouses go to work
People still aspire for nuclear family
5 types of family diversity
Rapoports (postmodernist)
Organisational diversity Cultural diversity Social class diversity Life stage diversity Generational diversity
Individualisation
Beck (postmodernist)
Risk society - tradition has less influence
Greater gender equality - challenged male domination in both work and family
Greater individualism - peoples actions are influenced more be calculations of their own self interest than by absence of obligation to others
Equality and the pure relationship
Giddens (postmodernist)
Contraception has allowed intimacy rather than reproduction to become the main reason for the relationships existence
Women have gained independence so have greater opportunities in work and education
Pure relationship - couples stay together for love rather than law, religion and social norms - relationships can be easily ended by either partner
Socially constructed childhood
Pilcher - separateness
Dress - clothes are different to adults
Entertainment - toys
Food - food advertised specifically for children
Laws regulating what children are required to do - school
Laws protecting children by prohibiting activities - drinking, smoking
What is divorce
The legal termination of a marriage
Changes in law making divorce easier
1971 divorce reform act - people could now ask for a divorce due to the ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage’
1984 matrimonial family and proceedings act - the time a couple had to be married before they could petition for a divorce dropped from three to one
Functionalist view for rise in divorce
Higher expectations of marriage due to romantic love therefore couples are less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage
How changing social values influenced divorce rate
Divorce become more socially acceptable. Normalisation of divorce - decline in stigma attached to divorce - Mitchell and Goody
How secularisation relates to rise in divorce
Traditional opposition to divorce carries less weight in society
How the economic position of women influences divorce
Women are more likely to be in paid work
Equal pay act has helped narrow pay gap
Girls have greater success in school
Welfare benefits mean women don’t have to rely financially on men
Total fertility rate
Average number of children that women will have during their fertile years (15-44)
Changing position of women during the 20th century - decline in BR
Access to abortion and reliable contraception gives women more control
Increased educational opportunities- girls now outperform boys in schools
More women in paid employment and having successful careers
Changing attitudes towards family life - women don’t have to have children
Decline in the infant mortality rate- decline in birth rate
Improved housing and better sanitation
Better nutrition of both mothers and children
Better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare
Improved services for mothers and children - ante and postnatal clinics
Harper - if many infants die, mothers have more to replace the ones they have lost
Medical factors - decline in birth rate
Mass immunisations against childhood diseases such as whooping cough
Improved midwifery
Children have become an economic liability - decline in birth rate
Changes in the law- banning child labour, making school compulsory and raising the school leaving age mean children have to rely on parent economically for longer
Changing norms - about why children have a right to expect from parents (material possessions) this means the cost of raising a child has significantly risen
Child centredness - decline in birth rate
Childhood is now socially constructed as a uniquely important period of life.
Parents have less children but give them more attention
Future trends in birth rates
Immigration - mothers from outside the uk have a higher fertility rate than women born in the uk
Babies born to mothers who were from the outside the uk accounted for 22% of births in the uk
Effects of changes in fertility
Smaller families means that women are more likely to be free to go out to work - creating a dual earner family
However better off couples may be able to afford childcare so can still have a large family and go out to work
Dependency ratio
Relationship between the size of the productive (working) part of the population and the size of the non - working (dependent) population
A fall in the number of children reduces the burden of dependency
Lower birth rate effect on public services
Fewer schools
Smaller houses being built
Companies being able to give higher rates of maternity pay because women aren’t having as much time off overall
Infectious diseases - reason for falling death rate
Tranter
3/4 of the decline in the death rate from about 1850-1979 was due to a fall in deaths from infectious diseases like tb, smallpox
Improved nutrition - decline in death rate
Mckeown - improved nutrition accounted for up to half the reduction in death rates
Medical improvements - decline in death rate
Advancements in antibiotics, widespread immunisation and blood transfusions
Better midwifery - reduce infant mortality rate and maternal mortality
NHS introduces in 1949
Public health measures and environmental improvements - decline in death rate
Improvements in housing
Purer drinking water
Pasteurisation of milk
Improved sewage disposal
Laws to protect peoples health - clean air acts
Social changes that reduce death rate
Decline in more dangerous jobs like mining
Smaller families reduces the transmission of infections
Greater public awareness of the causes of illness
Higher income sallow a healthier lifestyle
Regional differences in life expectancy
Those living in the north of England and Scotland have a lower life expectancy than those in the south
Social class differences leading to life expectancy
Wc men in unskilled or routine jobs are nearly three times more likely to die before they are 65, compared with men in managerial or professional jobs
Causes of an ageing population
Increased life expectancy
Decking infant mortality rate
Effects of an ageing population
Older people consume a larger proportion of services than younger people - increased expenditure
The number of pensioners living alone has increased. One person pensioner households account for 14% of all households.
Feminisation of later life - mainly females living in their own as they live longer than men
Socially constructed view of the elderly
Griffiths report - society faces the problem of letting the escalated costs of health and social care for the growing numbers of old people
Ageism - negative stereotyping of people based on age. Elderly often portrayed as vulnerable, irrational and a burden
Net migration
The difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants
Recent patterns in migration
2011 - ethnic minority’s groups accounted for 14% of the population
Migration acceleration
According to the UN 2013 between 2000 and 2013, international migration increased by 33% to reach 3.2% of the worlds population
Migration differentiation
Many different types of migrant
Permanent settlers
Temporary workers
Spouses
Forced migrants
Super diversity - migration
Vertovec
Migrants is come from a much wider range of countries and within a single ethnic group people may have different legal status
3 types of migrant
Cohen
Citizens - full citizenship rights
Denizens - privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state - highly paid employees of multinational companies
Helots - disposable units of labour
Feminisation of migration
Hochschild
Expansion of service occupations in western countries has led to increasing demand for female labour
Western women have joined the labour force and are less willing to perform domestic labour
Western men remain unwilling to perform domestic labour
The failure of the state to provide adequate childcare
Politicisation of migration
States now have policies that seek to control immigration, absorb migrants into society and deal with increased ethnic and cultural diversity
Assimilation
First state policy approach on immigration. It aimed to encourage immigrants to adopt the language, values and customs
Multiculturalism
Accepts migrants may wish to retain a separate cultural identity
Shallow and deep diversity
Erikson
Shallow - acceptable to state- accepting chicken tikka masala as Britain’s national dish
Deep - not acceptable to state - arranged marriages
Othering of immigrants
Castles
Assimilation leads to othering. This leads to minorities responding by emphasising their differences - Islamic fundamentalism
Divided working class communities - migration
Castles
Assimilationist ideas may encourage workers to blame migrants for social problems such as unemployment, resulting in racist scapegoating
