Family & Households (Definitions & Basic Theory)

Question 1

Nuclear Family

Answer 1

Two parents of the opposite sex with biological children living in one household

Question 2

Extended Family

Answer 2

Three or more generations of the same family living together or close by, with frequent contact between grandparents, grandchildren, aunts cousins etc.

Question 3

Family

Answer 3

A married couple, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child

Question 4

Household

Answer 4

one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room sitting room or dining room

Question 5

Reconstituted Family

Answer 5

two partners living in one household sharing parental duties for one or more children, but only one of them is the biological parent.

Question 6

Lone Parent Family

Answer 6

One adult with one or more dependent children living in one household

Question 7

Same Sex Family

Answer 7

Homoesexual/lesbian couples who have either one or more dependent children…

• From a previous relationship
• From adoption

Question 8

Attenuated Extended Family

Answer 8

Nuclear families that live apart from their extended family, but keep in regular contact by phone or email

Question 9

Murdock’s view on family

Answer 9

• Functionalist view
• Four basic functions: Sexual, Reproductive, Economic, Educational)
• Argued that there was a form of the nuclear family in each culture

Question 10

Criticisms of Murdock & Parson’s view

Answer 10

• Very ethnocentric. Only reflective of 1940s America
• Dated (Changing role of women, religious influence decline, influence of mass media)
• Politically conservative
• Doesn’t consider the dark side of family; domestic abuse
• Children are not just ‘empty vessels’

Question 11

Parson’s view on family

Answer 11

• Functionalist view
• The nuclear family is superior as it can adapt to the needs of modern industrial society
• ‘Warm Bath Theory’: stabilises adult personalities
• Clear distinct roles between the man and woman.

Question 12

Zaretsky’s view on family

Answer 12

• Marxist view
• Nuclear family benefits capitalism as it is a major component of consumption
• Children’s experience with socialisation involves obedience and conformity

Question 13

Engel’s view on family

Answer 13

• Marxist view
• Nuclear families became popular because the ruling class wanted to protect their wealth
• Marriage was a useful tool for providing descendents of wealth
• Family had an economic function of keeping wealth in the bourgeoisie by passing it to their kids

Question 14

Criticisms on Marxist view

Answer 14

• Interpretivist: Fails to consider how individuals interpret and experience the family
• Focuses on benefit to the economy not benefits to individuals
• Some parents may resist ruling class ideology
• Some people choose to go along with capitalism as they believe it’s a better choice than communism

Question 15

General Feminist view of family

Answer 15

• Family is a negative environment for women

- Men obtain greater benefits from the family than the woman. Not egalitarian

Question 16

Liberal Feminist view of family

Answer 16

• March of Progress view: things are gradually improving
• Ann Oakley: Criticised ‘malestream sociology’. Inequality in the family is bc of discrimination from individuals and institutions, not that it’s embedded in society.
• Leonard (2000): Men resist change because the inequality benefits them
• Acknowledge massive social change over the last 50 years

Question 17

Marxist Feminist view of family

Answer 17

• Acknowledge the contribution of domestic labour of women as it is unpaid but has great value. Women are a reserve army of cheap labour
• Margaret Benston (1972): Nuclear family produces the future workforce at little cost to the capitalist state
• Ansley (1972): Women are ‘takers of shit’. Capitalism has stripped men of power and dignity at work and emasculates them.

Question 18

Radical Feminist view of family

Answer 18

• Calls for radical reforming of the system to abolish patriarchy
• All societies are founded on patriarchy/ men are the enemy
• Political Lesbianism
• Delphy: Men exploit their wives despite loving them. Women’s role is to provide emotional support, whereas the husband rarely returns this support.

Question 19

Criticisms of Liberal Feminism

Answer 19

Fail to consider that in any society that is fundamentally unequal, ‘equality of opportunity’ is a meaningless concept.

Question 20

Criticisms of Marxist Feminism

Answer 20

• Too much emphasis on class relations and don’t focus on women’s experiences outside the labour market.
• Their ‘solution’ to female exploitation tends not to be seen as one that is useful to pursue
• Radical feminists criticise their emphasis on capitalism because the patriarchy is present in all institutions, not just Capitalism

Question 21

Criticisms of Radical Feminism

Answer 21

• Accused of ‘men hating’
• Tend to ignore any social changes over the last 50 years
• Tend to over emphasise factors that separate men and women

Question 22

New Right perspective on the family

Answer 22

• Traditional nuclear family is threatened by modern social policies
• Nuclear family plays an important role in shaping the moral order of society. Socialises next generation into discipline, respect and civility
• Patricia Morgan: Critical of Welfare State policies. This discourages families from supporting themselves and instead relying on the State
• Murray: One parent families are more likely to produce crime, educational failure and drug abuse.

Question 23

Criticisms of New Right perspective

Answer 23

• Focus on single parenthood even though it is only often temporary. Don’t consider that this may be preferable to domestic violence.
• Classist and ethnocentric as they only focus on poorer families.
• Criticised for ‘victim blaming’

Question 24

Postmodern perspective on family

Answer 24

• Judith Stacey (1990): There will never be a dominant family type as they are varied and flexible.
• Look at Life Courses. Rather than focusing on family types, they look at rites of passage to better reflect diverse family life.

Question 25

How was Industrialisation a crucial process for Parsons?

Answer 25

• Changed the function of the family
• Family became more geographically mobile
• Nuclear family had to move away from extended family and became consumers instead of producers as the nuclear family is more suited to industrial society

Question 26

How was Industrialisation a crucial process for Wilmott & Young?

Answer 26

Stated that it caused the family to develop in four stages:

1. Pre-Industrial Family: Economic production unit. Work & home combined
2. Early Industrial Family: Extended family is broken up as individuals leave home for work.
3. Symmetrical Family: Family is a unit of consumption. Man and woman have joint roles.
4. Asymmetrical Family: Man spend more leisure time away from the home (at the pub). This stage didn’t really happen.