Family: Intro lesson, Definitions, Types, Alternatives Flashcards
What is Giddens’ definition of the family?
A group of persons directly linked by kin connections, the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children’.
What is kinship?
relationships based on biological or marital ties.
What is a household?
The place of domesticity - home and family life.
Allan and Crow (2001) definition of the family
the definiton of tfamily is complex due to marriage, cohabitation and divorce
Finch and Mason (1993)
Divorce doesn’t always end relationships between all family members.
Because whil they are legally divorced there still may be an emotional connection. Divorced parent still look after thei child
Murdock’s definition of the nuclear family
2 generations: parents and children. the adutls assume responsiblity for the chldren - biological or adopted
Edmund Leach - cereal packet family
Media portrays a happy, smiling nuclear family - male breadwinner, female housewife, consuming product
Media promotes the nuclear family as default - hypodermic syringe
Barrett and McIntosh
Critical - nuclear family devalues other ways of living, makes those who aren’t in a nuclear family feel inadequate
highlight the dark side of the nuclear family - institution of abuse and neglect
Cohabitation
lviing together not married
extended family
Family of several generations, extends past nuclear family - grandparents, aunts/uncles
Nuclear Family
a family consisting of an adult male and female with one or more children (including adopted)
kin
relatives based on marriage or genes
monogamy
marriage/relationship with only one person at a time
Serial monogamy
During our lives we have serveal monogamous relationships one after the other
Confluent love
Giddens. We flow from one intimate, loving relationship to the next
Polygamy
Marriage with more than one person at a time
Polygyny
man with multiple wives
Polyandry
woman with multiple husbands
Oneida
Christian community founded by John Humphrey Noyes.
Complex marriage: no man or women could be married exclusively. All men and women were married to each other
Free love: anyone was free to have sexual activity with anyone
Children raised by the community.
Kibbutz
type of settlement in Israel
Intentional community: Designed for social cohesion and teamwork
Children generally raised apart form their parent in age groups, spent family time each evening and weekend with their biological parents
Today most children eat and sleep with their parents
Young and Wilmott (1973) - extended family
Extended family developed into the nuclear family with the process of industrialisation.
Large families lived on farms. When the industrial revolution happened, people started moving into cities. The family had to shrink in order to move into and around cities easier
Classic extended family
family (blood, marriage, adoption) that extend beyond the nuclear family, all living in the same household
Vertically extended
Extended to include older relatives - grandparents
Beanpole family
Family becomes long and thin - less aunts and uncles
grandparents live longer, women have less children
Horizontally extended
Aunts, uncles, cousins - 2 generations
Modified extended
lives far apart but keeps in touch by phone, letters, email, visits, social media.
Park et al (2001)
used findings from a British SOcial Attitudes survey and found evidence of extended kin contact.
Asked 18+ how often they saw close family members they didnt live with.
More than half saw their mother once a week or more. see siblings less often.
Wilmott (1988)
Research in North London suburb.
EVen when people didnt live really close to their extended family ther was still a lot of contact and family support.
ONS estimates grandparents are an important source of what % of childcare?
40-70%
Hillman and Hastings
in families with disadvantage (lone parenthood, disability), grandparents played the role of emotional, practical, financial support.
Caring for the elderly
As older people live longer there is also a burden of care on some families.
This burden often falls upon women- they may have jobs and also be caring for the children and their own parents
Sandwich generation
women, often in their 50s, who are supporting elderly parents, their children and their parents at the same time.
