Family and Households

Question 1

Define family

Question 2

Define household

Answer 2

One person who live lone or a group of people who live at the same address + who share facilities

Question 3

What are all the types of family?

Answer 3

Nuclear, extended, empty nest, vertically extended, horizontally extended, empty shell, lone parent, bean pole, reconstituted, same sex, cohabiting couple

Question 4

What is polygamy?

Answer 4

Marriage to more than one person at a time

Question 5

What is polyandry?

Answer 5

A woman having more than one husband at the same time

Question 6

What is polygyny?

Answer 6

A man having more than one wife at the same time

Question 7

What are the reasons for lone-parent families?

Answer 7

Divorce, greater social acceptance, welfare state benefits, changing attitudes to marriage, teen pregnancy, death of a partner

Question 8

What are the reasons for the increase in one person households?

Answer 8

Ageing population, solo living among younger people, civil partnership act

Question 9

What are the expressive and instrumental roles and who explained this idea?

Answer 9

Expressive- wife has the role of meeting the families emotional needs, socialising children

Instrumental- husband has the role of providing financial support for the family and achieving success at work

Question 10

What is the domestic division of labour

Answer 10

Household work divided between family members

Question 11

Bott

Answer 11

There are two types of conjugal roles: joint + segregated

Question 12

Oakley

Answer 12

Idea of the dual burden: where women take on two jobs— career and housework

Question 13

Duncombe + Marsden

Answer 13

Idea of the triple shift: where women take on three jobs— career, housework and emotional work

Question 14

What does the dark side of the family reef to?

Answer 14

Domestic abuse

Question 15

What are the five types of abuse?

Answer 15

Physical, psychological, neglect, sexual and financial

Question 16

What are criticisms of national statistics on domestic abuse?

Answer 16

Inaccurate- as not everyone speaks up

Masculinity- not all men report due to embarrassment

Question 17

What are the 4 stages that the family have gone through?

Answer 17

1. Pre-industrial
2. Early industrial
3. Symmetrical family
4. Principle of stratified diffusion

Question 18

What is the symmetrical family?

Answer 18

A nuclear family where here are similar roles in terms of housework and decision making

Question 19

What are some features of the symmetrical family?

Answer 19

Leisure time is shared, egalitarian, child-centred, dual career

Question 20

What are criticisms of the symmetrical family?

Answer 20

Feminists question n option of symmetry as women are still oppressed by men in the family

There is an over-focus on harmonious families and real problems are ignored (domestic abuse)

Question 21

Define social construction.

Answer 21

Something that is created + defined by society, rather than simply a biological state

Question 22

What is the ‘March of progress view’ on childhood?

Answer 22

That childhood has improved, due to:
-laws protecting children
-better healthcare
-child-centred family
-own brands, media…

Question 23

Why is childhood seen to be unequal/toxic?

Answer 23

Idea of toxic childhood, not all children have equal opportunities, adults controlling children

Question 24

What points are there to explain how childhood is socially constructed?

Answer 24

-length of childhood varies between history+cultures
- status of children in different societies — rights + laws

Question 25

What points are there to support the view that hold hood is disappearing?

Answer 25

-same rights as adults
-similarities between adult and children’s clothing
-committing adult crimes

Question 26

How has childhood changed over the last century?

Answer 26

-child labour used to be common but isn’t now
-children use more technology
-changes in laws and rights for children

Question 27

What is the functionalists ideal family type?

Answer 27

Nuclear

Question 28

Why do functionalists favour the nuclear family?

Answer 28

-its beneficial and necessary for the smooth running of society
-Murdock four functions
-maintains social order and stability
-constructs and maintains the economy
-individuals benefit from emotional support of woman

Question 29

What are criticisms of the functionalist view of the family?

Answer 29

Feminists- family serves the needs of men and they family oppresses women

Marxists- family meets the needs of capitalism, not the needs of family members + society as a whole

Question 30

What are the two needs of the industrial society?

Answer 30

Geographically mobile workforce + socially mobile workforce

Question 31

What is the Marxist perspective of the family?

Answer 31

-Family reproduces, nurtures and maintains a workforce to support capitalism
-reproduces inequality + transmission of wealth between generations

Question 32

What are criticisms of the Marxist view of the family?

Answer 32

-Out-dated
-They express a very negative view but family life can be harmonious and fulfilling
- assume nuclear family is dominant family types and ignore wide variety of family types in society
-underestimates the importance of gender inequalities

Question 33

What are the feminists views of the family?

Answer 33

The family is a patriarchal institution which reproduces the inequality of women

Question 34

Liberal feminist view on family

Answer 34

Best way to combat effects of patriarchy the family is by:
- avoiding gender stereotyping during primary socialisation
- implementing laws
- prevention of sex discrimination
- making maternity and paternity leave equal

Question 35

Radical feminist view on family

Answer 35

Men exercise power and control over women, men benefit from women’s unpaid domestic labour

Question 36

Marxist feminist view on family

Answer 36

Emphasises the way women are doubly exploited as workers and women

Question 37

What are the criticisms of the feminists view of the family?

Answer 37

• women’s roles aren’t the same in all families
• changes in women’s employment gives them more independence
• more women than men initiate divorce

Question 38

What are the postmodernist views of the family?

Answer 38

The family is more diverse and view focusses on the personal relationships within families
-based on individualism- if family doesn’t serves needs one will leave

Question 39

What evidence is there for the rise in individualism?

Answer 39

• disintegration of the nuclear family
• growing diversity of households
• personal relationships in which people to choose to live

Question 40

What evidence is there for the decline in tradition?

Answer 40

• rising divorce rates
• Cohabitation
• multiple partners
• stepfamilies
• gay couples
• births outside marriage

Question 41

What do intersectional feminists think of the family?

Answer 41

That not all women are the same and many dont live in nuclear families and have different experiences
-women suffer from more Tahoe thing (class, gender, race…)

Question 42

What is the personal life perspective on the family?

Answer 42

To understand the family/family life we must look at the individuals and the meanings they give to their relationships
- wider view of family:
>relationships with friends
>gay and lesbian families
>pet
>dead relatives
>close friends

Question 43

what is demography?

Answer 43

a word for who makes up society + the study of statistics which illustrates the changing structure of human populations

Question 44

what is natural change?

Answer 44

the number of births - the number of deaths

Question 45

what is net migration?

Answer 45

the number of immigrants-number of emigrants

Question 46

what is birth rate?

Answer 46

number of live births per 1000 of the population per year

Question 47

what is total fertility rate?

Answer 47

the average number of children a woman will have in her fertile years

Question 48

what factors have contributed to Britains birth rate decreasing?

Answer 48

–changing position of women
–fall in infant mortality rate
–children as an economic liability
–child-centredness

Question 49

what is dependency ratio?

Answer 49

the proportion of the population that is dependent on the welfare state in comparison with the population in employment

Question 50

what is general fertility rate?

Answer 50

the number of children born to women of a childbearing age in one year

Question 51

what are the causes of declined fertility rates?

Answer 51

–reliable birth control
–feminisation in the economy

Question 52

what impacts has the change in fertility rates had?

Answer 52

–smaller families so women are more likely to go to work
–fewer schools, child health + maternity services needed
–ageing populaiton
–less children= less dependency on WC parents

Question 53

what does death rate mean?

Answer 53

the number of deaths per 1000 of the population per year

Question 54

what are the population trends for deaths in the UK?

Answer 54

–number of deaths have remained the same over the past 100 years
–death rate has fallen – due to population increasing

Question 55

what has caused death rates to decrease?

Answer 55

–better nutrition- better knowledge of balanced diets= better health/fitness
–medical improvements– improved NHS, free healthcare + better treatments
–public health– improved and laws restricting harmful drugs
–social changes– better education, infrastructure and technology