family patterns Flashcards
reasons for the decline in divorce rates
- seccularisation
- law changes
- womens position and freedom
- changing expectations
- increased domestic violence
1923 matrimonial causes act
equalised grounds between sexes
enables either partner to petition for divorce on the basis of their spouses adultery
1969 divorce law reform act
widened grounds for divorce
‘irretrievable breakdown made sole ground for divorce
2020 divorce and dissolution act
widened the grounds
no blame is needed cant contests divorce and only takes 6 months
makes divorce less acrimonious or traumatic for adults and kids involved
evaluation of law changes
- only tell us why people are more able to get a divorce not why they get one
Mitchell and groody on religion and divorce
an important change since 1960s has been a rapid decline in stigma around divorce
how much has church attendance fallen by
12%-5%
secularisation and divorce
causes fewer people to have the religious obligation to marry. for children etc.
fletchers view (functionalist) on high rates of divorce
higher expectations people place on marriage today are major cause for the increasing divorce rate. higher expectancy make couples less willing to tolerate unhappy marriages
past- marriage was for a females economic stability
now- marriage based on romantic love
criticism of fletchers view
feminists would argue this view is too rosy. there is still female oppression in marriages
what percent of women are in paid work in 2019
72% 2019
giddens choice marriages
giddens argues that marriage has become more focused on choice an equality due to
female independence
and the changing role of sex (more about intimacy than children due to contraception)
giddens calls these ‘pure relationships’ where they only last as longas both partners needs are met
(feminist) hochschild’s view on divorce
an increasing number of working women means they have less time and energy for ‘emotion work’ . if a relationship is string her work and home life women are more likely to leave
how do the new right view high divorce rates
lone-parent families lead to welfare dependency which could lead to the perverse incentive
how do feminists view high divorce rates
women are no longer oppressed by marriage and patriarchal oppression it brings
how do interactionalists view high divorce rates
ignores the reasons people have divorces for the better of the family
how does the PLP see high divorce rates
can cause financial problems but the family. can adapt and it has been normalised for a modern society
what are the alternatives to marriage?
- cohabitation
- same-sex
- LATs
- lone-parent families
how many unmarried adults are cohabiting?
1/4
why are more people cohabiting instead of marrying
- decline in stigma
- young people more accepting of cohabitation
- secularisation
- marriage no longer needed for financial stability
- womens free place in society
what does bejin argue about cohabitation
cohabitations amongst young represent a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship
why are more people living alone?
- marrying later due to focus on career before marriage
- divorced dads, custody usually goes to mother
how many people live alone
around 7.7 million (29% of all households)
issues with LATs
- cost of 2 houses
- trust issues
- parenting one-sided
DUNCAN AND PHILIPS
reasons for LATs
- PURE RELATIONSHIPS beck and giddens more people persuing their own careers
- exisiting prirorities
- roseneil found that 31% said it was too early to cohabit
- fear of trauma from divorce
what did Roseneil et al find out about LATs
surveyed 573 LATs
31% said it was too early to co-habit
31% saw it as a desirable lifestyle to avoid emotional abuse
how many families had one parent in 2019
21%
why is the 21% of families had a lone parent in 2019 statistic misleading?
could be misleading 21% in 2023 will no longer be lone parents
ONLY A SNAPSHOT OF THE SITUATION AT ONE TIME
Allan and corn pointed to two factors as to why there are more lone-parent families. what are they?
- increase in martial breakdown and divorce.
- rise in births in unmarried mothers
who sociologist said benefits create perverse inscentive?
charles murray
a criticism of this is that cutting welfare will only force these families into further poverty creating greater problems
chamberlain on the extended family
- study of Caribbean families found that despite geographical distance families continues to support described at ‘multiple nuclear families’
criticsm of hoschcilds view on dirvoce
cooke
no evidence that working women are more likley to divorce. they argue the dual burden has become an accepted nrom for married women
why are more people having cicil cercives rather than religious marriages
seccularisation
decline in stigma
5% church attednance
in 2016 what % of population said sex before marriage was okay?
65% would haver rapidly increased since then
how many same sex marriage happen each year
7,000
why has there been an increase in same sex marriages
- loss of stigma due to seccularisation
- law changes
what two law changes have made sam sex marriage easier?
2002 allowed same sex co-habited to have equal right to adoption
2004 equal right to inheritance
2015 same ex marriag elegalised
duncan and philips on LATS
1 in 10 are LAT in a signficant relationship
pure relationships leading to LATS
pure relationships are ones that meet the needs of inidivuals so people may LATin order to persure tir own goals and decline the risk of breakdown due to existing responsibilies sucha s children
criticism of beck and giddens pure relationships as to why there are more LATS
duncan and philips argue that LAts arent always the perfect outcome there are points of conflict that come with it such as 2 household bills and loss of trust
morgan on the reasons for the increase of lone paretn families
- men and women: woemn less likely to feel opressed by men and be single not having to worry about dulal burden and tripple shift
- decline in stigma: morgan argues that terms such as illigitmate children have decrease wiht a rise of long parents family probably due to seccularisation
what % of lone parent families are headed by women
90%
how are black family structure different and why
black families are more likely to be lone parents headed by mothers
due to the diorgansiation caused by the high unemployment rates of balck men leading t ofiancl issues causing marital breakdown
crticisms of black families being more likley to have 1 parent due to disorgansiation
mirza argues that it is not that black families are more disorganised but the fact that black women place a lot of importance on independence and therfore are mor likely to leave a unhappy marriage
asian family patterns
- tend to have larger 3 gerenations housefolds due to the fact that asain women have a lower age profile and the value that sian culture places upon family
- ballard argues that the asian extended family emerged for support reasons in the 50s and 60s for new immigrants from asia
argument that the extended family has dissapraed
charles found that in hsi study of swansea he identified that the classic three generation households in extint with the execption of bangaldeshi families
parsons argues that functial fit is the reason for this
argument against the extended family dissapearing
wilmott argues that rather than dissapreating its role has changed relatioves can be geographically seperated by still provide the emtioanl role
beanpole family
bell found the importance of a long and thin beanpole family strustc where people are no longer connected to extended family but mroe to grandparents due tp smaller familiy sizes and longer life exepctancy
argument against beanpole family
finch asn mason say that people are still hevilt connected to extend family and foudn that 90% of fmiyl have givne or recived financal help from extend family members
what % of all children are bron outsdie of marriage
1/2 50%
what % of families are reconsituted step familes?
10%
