Family And Households

Question 1

What is the sociobiological view?

Answer 1

The idea that men are born to have an instrumental role and women are born to have an expressive role within the family.

Question 2

Define instrumental role

Answer 2

The sociobiological view of men having the role of providing economically for the family

Question 3

Define Expressive role

Answer 3

The sociobiological view of women having the role of providing emotionally for the family.

Question 4

Define Kinship

Answer 4

The system of family relationships between people in a society or cultural group who are biologically related by blood or by law.

Question 5

Functionalism - what is Murdock’s theory of the family

Answer 5

The family have 4 main functions-

1. Reproductive
2. Sexual
3. Primary socialisation
4. Economic

Question 6

Define primary socialisation.

Answer 6

The process by which we learn basic social behaviours such as norms, values and customs.

Question 7

How can Murdock’s theory be criticised?

Answer 7

• Murdock’s theory is ethnocentric (reflecting the the dominant culture of the society and the time period)
• Murdock’s theory is also historically bound and it fails to take in to account that other institutions can fulfil the functions of the family.
• Murdock’s theory is politically conservative as he emphasises on the nuclear family suggesting there is a ‘right’ way and ‘wrong’ way to organise family life.

Question 8

What is Parson’s theory of the family?

Answer 8

The family has 2 functions

• primary socialisation
• stabilisation of adult personality

Question 9

What is the stabilisation of adult personality?

Answer 9

Immersion in family life relieves the pressures of work and contemporary society.

Question 10

What was the main family type in pre industrial society? Include its functions.

Answer 10

Extended family:

• Unit of production
• primary socialisation
• Health care

Question 11

Define geographical mobility.

Answer 11

Movement of people and families, usually in search for work, often urban areas.

Question 12

Define urbanisation

Answer 12

Movement of people who had previously lived in the countryside to the towns and cities.

Question 13

Define relative isolation

Answer 13

Members of extended kin live in nuclear units and will have less physical contact with extended kin.

Question 14

What was the main family type in post industrial society?

Answer 14

Nuclear family

Question 15

What are the criticisms against the functionalist theory of the family?

Answer 15

Fletcher argues that the family has 3 functions :

• satisfying sexual and emotional needs of parents
• raising children in a stable environment
• provision of a home to which all family members can return to.

Question 16

What sociologists introduce the idea of the ‘symmetrical family’?
And what is the symmetrical family?

Answer 16

Wilmott and Young
The symmetrical family refers to a family that is nuclear in structure with men and women having joint conjugal roles and is child-centred.

Question 17

Who do Marxists think the family benefits?

Answer 17

The bourgeoise and capitalism

Question 18

What is Engels view of the family?

Answer 18

Engels is a traditional Marxist that claims the family:
- monogamous marriage was used by the bourgeoisie because it conferred legitimacy on children ensuring that their fortunes were inherited by their direct descendants.

Question 19

What is Zaretsky’s view of the family?

Answer 19

Zaretsky claims that the nuclear family exploits members of society in 3 ways:

1. Socialises children into capitalist ideology and accepting exploitation as the ‘natural’ way of life.
2. Helps workers manage their resentment of capitalist workplace that exploits them.
3. As a unit of consumption, the nuclear family socialises children into consumerism and materialism.

Question 20

What is Benston’s (Marxist-feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 20

Women reproduce the future workforce at little cost to the capitalist state. Benston also argues that women act as a reserve army of labour allied in when needed

Question 21

What is Ansley’s (Marxist-feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 21

Women soak up the annoyances and frustrations that their husbands feel at being exploited in the capitalist world which allows them to return to work the next day.

Question 22

What is Millet’s (radical feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 22

Men dominate women in both the public and private sphere. Millet claims the family transmits patriarchal ideology and emphasises that the sexual division of labour is ‘natural’. This is all done through gender role socialisation.

Question 23

Define gender socialisation.

Answer 23

The learning of behaviour and attitudes considered appropriate for a given sex in the society they are brought up in.

Question 24

What is Firestone’s (radical feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 24

Firestone claimed women become dependent on men during pregnancy and so they need to be freed from the ‘tyranny’ of their reproductive biology. Her solutions were to abolish marriage and family and resort to reproducing through IVF.

Question 25

What are the solutions given by radical feminists to avoid patriarchal oppression?

Answer 25

Separatism: men and women live independently of each other
Political lesbianism: choosing to have same-sex relationships to deliberately remove themselves from exploitative relationships with me.
Matrifocal families: a family structure where the mothers head families and fathers play a less important role.

Question 26

What is Greer’s (radical feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 26

The family continues to disadvantage women regardless of their role whether it be mother, wife, or daughter. Greer suggests matrilocal families is the solution in which all members are females.

Question 27

How do difference feminists view the family?

Answer 27

Difference feminism criticises the family for oppressing women, however, they argue that not all women are equally exploited in the family. Ethnic minority, working class and young women are exploited more than white, middle class women.

Question 28

How do postmodern feminists view the family?

Answer 28

The Postmodern feminism approach argues that gender is no longer a determining factor in postmodern society. Women can pick and choose their role within the family. Individualisation allows women to choose to become a wife or mother, or to pursue a career, etc…

Question 29

What are the criticisms of feminism?

Answer 29

Ignores the satisfaction some women get from the Expressive role.
Radical feminism is too unrealistic
Liberal and radical feminists ignore ethnic and class inequality.

Question 30

What is Oakley’s (liberal feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 30

Oakley claims that gender role socialisation is the main source of patriarchal control, but changes in the economy and social attitudes have led to political and legal changes that challenge patriarchy.

Question 31

What is Wilkinson’s (liberal feminist) theory of the family?

Answer 31

Economic changes because of globalisation and recession has caused a rise in the service sector accompanied by the. Feminisation of the economy leading to women acquiring economic power. These economic changes has caused a ‘genderquake’ in which dramatic cultural changes in women’s attitudes have allowed them to be able to leave the expressive role in the family if they wished to because they have access to university and employment in the service sector.

Question 32

What is the new right view of the family?

Answer 32

The New Right transmits the familial ideology and argues that the nuclear family is the only family structure that can provide adequate socialisation to maintain social solidarity. The New Right blame juvenile delinquency on the decline of the nuclear family.

Question 33

Define familial ideology.

Answer 33

The set of dominant ideas that promotes a particular set of family features and the ideal aspirational type of family

Question 34

What social policies have been argued to be a threat to the nuclear family?

Answer 34

The Abortion Act (1967)
Sexual Offences Act (1967): decriminalised homosexuality
Sex Discrimination Act (1975): outlawed discrimination against women by employers
Equal Pay Act (1970): illegal for employers to pay women less than men for the same job.

Question 35

What did Aries argue about childhood?

Answer 35

Aries studied paintings from the medieval period and found that there was no difference between adults and children. Children were rarely painted playing. Aries claimed that the concept of childhood did not exist until the end of the 17th century due to a declining infant mortality rate.

Question 36

How is Aries research criticised?

Answer 36

Pollock claims Aries used a limited and highly selective set of paintings
Wilson argues Aries was ethnocentric and historically bound, parents may have loved their children in ways that people cannot understand in modern society.

Question 37

What was childhood like during industrialisation?

Answer 37

There was no childhood for the working class, children were a source of financial security and many died due to poor working conditions. However, there was social change encouraging the emergence of childhood: child protection act, prevention of child cruelty act, compulsory education, factory acts restricted children working.

Question 38

What was childhood like in the 20th century?

Answer 38

Childhood became a relative experience across classes, genders and ethnicities. Some cultures do not have a childhood and is an exploitative period of life.

Question 39

How has society become child-centred?

Answer 39

Children have become expensive, economic liabilities, people are more invested in them in terms of love, socialisation and protection.
Chambers claimed as result of social policy children have rights of their own, and have been centred due to their innocence and vulnerability, this has led to two social worlds (children in schools and home, adults in workplace and public houses)

Question 40

How is childhood a relative experience in terms of gender?

Answer 40

Primary socialisation is gender specific. Feminists claim gender role socialisation leads females to be exploited within the family as gender domains dictate girls are to be confined to the private sphere.

Question 41

How is childhood a relative experience in terms of class?

Answer 41

Low income families are more likely to have underweight children which effects their intellectual and physical growth, increase the likelihood of death in infancy, suffer long term illness and suffer low educational achievement.

Question 42

What do evans and chandler argue about material deprivation and childhood?

Answer 42

Evans and chandler state poorer students are more likely to commit crime. They are socialised into capitalist values such as materialism and consumerism. As a result of material deprivation they turn to crime to avoid being bullied due to not having the latest designer goods.

Question 43

How is childhood a relative experience in terms of ethnicity?

Answer 43

Pakistani and Bangladeshi’s are more likely to experience poverty impacting childhood experiences. Females in some ethnic groups are more tightly controlled due to patriarchal cultural values.

Question 44

What is the functionalist view of childhood?

Answer 44

Emphasise the importance of socialisation.
Postman claims that childhood is under threat-television and video games has given children unlimited access to the adult world. This has led to social blurring and there is little distinction between adults and children.
Pugh suggests parental spending on children is ‘consumption as compensation’ and that parents who are ‘cash rich, but time poor’ alleviate their guilt for not spending time with their children by buying them whatever consumer goods they desire.

Question 45

What is Walters (feminist) view of childhood?

Answer 45

A hyper-sexual culture with celebrities such as the Kardashians have caused the objectification of women’s bodies in British society as a result of gender role socialisation within the family. Young girls aspirations when entering adult society have changed with the association of empowerment and sexuality through toys and clothing.

Question 46

What is Wilmott and Young’s view of the distribution of domestic labour?

Answer 46

Men and women’s attitudes towards the distribution of labour has radically changed. As a result, family structure has become symmetrical. Dual earner families with joint conjugal roles. The family has become more egalitarian.

Question 47

What did edgall argue about who makes decisions within the family?

Answer 47

Edgall found the decision making in a nuclear family could be allocated to 3 categories:
Less important decisions on everyday issues of family life made exclusively by wife.
Important decisions on the quality of family life made jointly, guided by the husband but mainly the wife.
Very important decisions on economic or financial problems made exclusively by husband.

Question 48

Define conjugal roles

Answer 48

The domestic tasks that spouses are primarily responsible for within their married or cohabiting relationship.

Question 49

Define domestic division of labour

Answer 49

Refers to the way a couple divides the conjugal roles. For example, they can be joint or segregated.

Question 50

What did Wilmott & Young conclude about the distribution of domestic labour in the home?

Answer 50

In the 1950s conjugal roles were segregated, men were the primary wage earner and women were responsible for domestic chores and childcare. They found that women were entirely economically dependent and had little decision making power. Women were sometimes victims of their spouses physical power in the form of domestic violence. In the 70s they found that the family had undergone radical change in which there were joint conjugal roles and the family was more egalitarian.