Family Topic 3- Roles And Relationships

Question 1

Define the domestic division of labour

Answer 1

The division of tasks, roles, and duties within the household (hh)

Question 2

Who named the roles for men and women

Answer 2

Talcott Parsons created the names for separate and distinct roles that men and women have
(Expressive and instrumental)

Question 3

Define the instrumental role

Answer 3

Male role
Geared towards achieving success at work, earning money for the household and supporting them financially.
He is the breadwinner

Question 4

Define the expressive role

Answer 4

Female role
Socialisation of the young and meeting the families emotional needs.
She is the homemaker, and a full time housewife, rather than wage earner.

Question 5

What does parsons argue the diction of labour is based on

Answer 5

Biological differences

Question 6

What does parsons argue women are more naturally suited to (roles)

Answer 6

The nurturing role

Question 7

What does parsons argue men are more naturally suited to (roles)

Answer 7

The provider

Question 8

Young and Willmott criticism on parsons gender roles

Answer 8

Argue these roles are outdated, and these roles have changed. Men in current times are taking a greater share of domestic tasks. Women are now working more

Question 9

Feminist criticism on parsons gender roles

Answer 9

This division of labour is not natural and it only benefits men, rather than men and women, and society like parsons argued

Question 10

What are the types of roles defined by Bott

Answer 10

Conjugal roles; segregated and joint

Question 11

Define Bott’s segregated conjugal role

Answer 11

Whwre the couples have separate roles: a male breadwinner and a female homemaker/career (as in parsons roles)
Their leisure activities also tend to be separate (relaxation etc)

Question 12

Define Bott’s joint conjugal roles

Answer 12

Where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together

Question 13

Define Young and Wilmott’s March of progress view

Answer 13

Mop view of the family means that the family life is seen to be gradually improving for all its members and becoming more equal.

Question 14

Young and Wilmott’s argument on how the family is becoming more symmetrical (mop view)

Answer 14

They argue there has been long term movement away from segregated conjugal roles, and a movement towards joint conjugal roles and a symmetrical family

Question 15

Define Young and Wilmott’s symmetrical family

Answer 15

Roles of husband and wife are a lot more similar (but not necessarily identical)
Eg women are now going to work// men helping more with housework// couples now spending their leisure time together instead of separately

Question 16

Describe Young and Wilmott’s research in London on gender roles

Answer 16

Found the symmetrical family was more common among;

young couples // couples who were geographically isolated // and more affluent

Question 17

Young and Wilmott’s reason for the increase in the symmetrical family

Answer 17

Symmetrical family increase as a result of major social changes during the last century
Eg: changes in womens position // geographical mobility (driving to work etc) // new technology (dishwasher etc to help with domestic tasks) // higher standards of living require more money

Question 18

Future foundations study (2000) findings on gender roles participation with domestic labour

Answer 18

In a study of 1,000 adults, 60% of men claimed to do more housework than their fathers and 15% of women do less housework than their mothers

Question 19

Feminist Anne Oakley view on the March of progress view

Answer 19

Anne Oakley rejects the mop view. She believes little has changed between men and women
Women still remain unequal in the family
They see this inequality as stemming from the fact that the family and society are “male dominated”

Question 20

Anne Oakley criticism on Young and Wilmott’s interview claims

Answer 20

Anne Oakley claims Young and Wilmott’s views are over exaggerated.
Eg, in their interviews they claimed most men “helped” their wives at least once a week. — this is hardly symmetrical

Question 21

Anne Oakley (feminist) research on housewives and her findings

Answer 21

Found some evidence of husbands helping in the home, but defo not symmetrically
Only 15% of husbands had a higher level of participation in the housework, and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare, with fathers taking on the “fun” activities with children such as taking them on days out

Question 22

Boulton (feminist) findings on male involvement with childcare

Answer 22

Found that 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare.
Argues that Young and Wilmott exaggerate mens contribution because they looked at tasks rather than overall responsibility
Eg- a father might help with some tasks, but a mother is always more likely to be responsible for overall security and well being

Question 23

Warde and Hetherington (‘93) (feminist) findings on different gender tasks

Answer 23

Found that sex typing of domestic roles is still very strong. Women are 30% more likely to be the last person to have done the washing, whilst men were 4x more likely to be the last person to have washed the car
They found that men were only likely to do “female” tasks if their wives were not around to do them

Question 24

Gershunny (‘94) findings on women who didn’t work compared to women who do and their involvement with housework

Answer 24

Women who didn’t work= 83% of housework
Women who work full time = 73%
Gershunny explains this trend as being a gradual change in the values of society, and to the fact women are now working full time
However, even tho men are now doing more housework, they still tend to take responsibility for different tasks

Question 25

Sullivan (2000) nationally collected data on gender roles

Answer 25

Analysis of nationally collected data in 19; ‘75, ‘87, ‘97 found a trend towards greater equality as men did more domestic labour within the housework, especially in womens tasks

Question 26

Crompton view on gender roles as a result of paid work

Answer 26

Agrees with Sullivan; but says it’s due to women now having more power within the household as they are contributing money

Question 27

Man-Ye Kan (2001) view on paid work impacting gender roles in domestic labour

Answer 27

Income, age and education can have a positive or negative correlation with the amount of housework women do.
For every £10,000 increase in salary, there is a 2 hour reduction in housework for women

Question 28

Ferri and Smith (‘96) view on paid work leading to equal domestic roles

Answer 28

Argue that paid work has little impact on women, and women now have a “dual burden”
In their sample of 1,500 + men and women = father took more responsibility for children in only 4% of families

Question 29

Describe Ferri and Smith (‘96) sample and findings on paid work leading to equal roles

Answer 29

In their sample of 1,500 + men and women = father took more responsibility for children in only 4% of families

Question 30

Define Ferri and Smith dual burden

Answer 30

Women have to take on full time paid work AND the responsibility of maintaining their household, leading to stress due to a dual burden of work and maintenance

Question 31

Morris (‘90) findings on mens involvement with housework even when unemployed (impact of paid work)

Answer 31

Found that even when men were unemployed, and the women was in full time work, men still didn’t do more in the home. In their study, they found that unemployed men had lost their masculine role and saw domestic work in the home as a woman’s job and avoided it

Question 32

Define Marsden’s tripple shift

Answer 32

Women now have the responsibility of paid work, housework and the emotional work of looking after the family
Therefore paid work for women has caused more burden for them rather than benefiting them

Question 33

Silver (‘87) and Schor (‘93) description of the commercialisation of housework and impact on women

Answer 33

Emphasis that because women are now earning money, this has contributed to less housework for them- partly because of the commercialisation of housework. This refers to goods and services that women are now able to purchase instead of doing it themselves. It has made their job a lot easier, and have given them less to do

Question 34

What does the commercialisation of housework mean

Answer 34

• Cleaning influencers (Mrs hinch, tiktok etc who help with household cleaning by giving ideas and tips)
• machines (dishwashers, washing machines)
• ready meals

Question 35

What are gender scripts

Answer 35

Expectations laid out by society about the different roles played by men and women

Question 36

Outline Dunne’s study on lesbian couples (gender scripts)

Answer 36

Investigated how roles workEd within lesbian couples. Dunne studied 37 cohabiting lesbian couples with dependant children and compared their roles to heterosexual couples.

Question 37

What did Dunne find on lesbian couples gender roles

Answer 37

Dunne found that compared to heterosexual couples, lesbian couples were more likely to: describe their relationship as equal, and share housework and childcare equally

• give importance to both partners
• view childcare positively

Question 38

How did Dunne explain his finding on lesbian couples v heterosexual

Answer 38

Lesbian couples interact in different ways, as they are not under pressure to conform to traditional feminine and masculine gender scripts
This supports the radical feminists idea that women can only achieve equality in same sex couples

Question 39

Dunne conclusion on his investigation on lesbian couples and paid work

Answer 39

Dunne found that when one partner did more paid work than the other, the time each partner spent on domestic housework was unequal, showing that the impact of paid work still has an impact even on same sex couples

Question 40

Paul and Vogler view on gender scripts and who controls the family

Answer 40

Pahl and Vogler argued that men usually control the family income and make important decisions because usually, men contribute more money to the household. They identify two main types of control over family income

Question 41

Define the term pooling

Answer 41

Pooling is where men give their wives an allowance out of the income

Question 42

What is an allowance system

Answer 42

Where men give their wives an allowance out of the income

Question 43

Paul and Vogler findings on pooling

Answer 43

Paul and Vogler found that pooling is increasing- 19% to 50%
They found that pooling was as more common among couples where both partners work full time, therefore they found that even then men usually make the major financial decisions

Question 44

What did Edgell (80) find on gender roles and making decisions

Answer 44

Found that very important decisions such as chnage of job, moving house, large finances were taken by the husband alone or jointly, with the husbands always having the final say

Less important decisions such as joke decor, childcare, clothing and food purchases were usually made by the wife

Question 45

What are the 2 main types of abuse and violence in the household

Answer 45

domestic violence

Child abuse

Question 46

Define child abuse

Answer 46

Violence and abuse perpetrated by adults against kids

Question 47

Define domestic violence

Answer 47

one adult partner against another domestic violence

Question 48

The home office definition of domestic violence

Answer 48

Any violence between current or former partners in an intimate relationship wherever and whenever it occurs. The violence may include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse

Question 49

Crime survey for England and Wales stats for domestic violence in 2014-5

Answer 49

Crime survey estimates figures on domestic violence and other forms of abuse in 2014-15 in the past 12 months in eng and wales estimated 261,000 victims of domestic violence

Question 50

Domestic violence stats in ‘81-96

Answer 50

Domestic violence rose between 1981-96 but has declined in most years since

Question 51

2009-10 survey on who is mostly affected by domestic violence

Answer 51

Women are 2x more likely to be domestic violence victims

Also found 7% of women aged 16-59 victims of domestic violence in previous years, compared to 4% of men

Question 52

Nazroo (’99) suggestion on how domestic violence affects men and women

Answer 52

Suggests domestic violence perpetrated by men against women tends to be more serious than the other way around
Women more likely to be fearful of violence than men

Question 53

Yearnshire (97) view on official statistics on domestic violence

Answer 53

She believes official statistics underestimate the true extent of the problem due to womens reluctance to report to the police. She estimates women suffer on average 35 adults before reporting it to the police.
Domestic violence is the least likely crime to be reported

Question 54

Cheal (‘91) reason as to why domestic violence isn’t reported much

Answer 54

Believes domestic isn’t reported much to the fact police and other agencies are reluctant to become involved with the family

This is a private sphere, so access by state agencies should be limited.
The family is a “good” thing so negative aspects tend to be ignored- people are considered to be free agents, therefore expected to leave easily which is not the case

Question 55

Dobash and dobash’s Scotland research on domestic violence

Answer 55

Found that more women are likely to be victims of dv
Men are likely to be the predator
1 in 8 women are repeatedly assaulted by partners
Base their findings on police and court records and interviewed women in refuges

Question 56

Dobash and Dobash’s examples of domestic violence from their Scotland study

Answer 56

They cite examples of wives being slapped, pushed about, beaten, raped or killed by their husbands.

Question 57

Dobash and dobash’s findings on how domestic violence incidents could be set off (Scotland research)

Answer 57

They found violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority, such as asking why he was late home for a meal!

Question 58

Radical feminist belief on men dominating in the family through domestic violence

Answer 58

Radical feminists interpret the findings of studies such as Dobash and Dobash as evidence of patriarch on the family
Men are the enemy, and are oppressors and exploiters of women
Radical feminists see the family as the main source of womens oppression, and argue men dominate women through domestic violence, or the threat of it.
Feminists attempt to explain why most domestic violence is against women - arguing that violence is a a form of maintaining patriarchy and power in the household

Question 59

Elliot (‘96) rejection of radical feminist view on domestic violence

Answer 59

Elliot rejects radical feminist view of domestic violence, stating that it ignore that a large majority of men do not commit domestic violence and are opposed to it. Radical feminists ignore this

Question 60

Radical feminist Pizzey (‘74) reason for domestic violence

Answer 60

Pizzey sees domestic violence as resulting from patriarchy. In a male- dominated or patriarchal society, men use violence or the threat of violence in order to control women. Pizzey also argues that domestic violence is widely tolerated and often not seen as a serious crime. Patriarchal
values lead to female partners being seen as essentially the property of their male partners, and therefore using violence to control them is seen as partially acceptable.

Question 61

Brookman (08) reason as to why domestic violence happens

Answer 61

Brookman (08) believes that the nature of masculinity is partly to blame for domestic violence. In our culture, masculinity values control over others, so men can resort to violence if they feel they are losing control over their female partner. Her research was based on in-depth interviewing with violent men.

Question 62

Problems with radical feminists reasons for domestic violence

Answer 62

A problem with this approach is that it does not explain the existence of domestic violence perpetrated by women against men. Social attitudes may also have changed since Pizzey’sresearch, with domestic violence now seen as less socially acceptable by the public, and ore likely to result in prosecution by the police.

Question 63

New right/neoliberal reason as to why domestic violence occurs (dysfunctional families)

Answer 63

Some conservative commentators associated with the views of the
New Right/Neoliberals believe that domestic violence takes place in
dysfunctional families. Their view is that violence results from the
instability of families caused by factors such as increasing
cohabitation and divorce, and the decline in moral standards in some
families, particularly those from lower social classes. This view suggests
that feminists exaggerate male violence and underestimate female
violence.

Question 64

Criticism of new right/ neoliberal/ conservative reasons for domestic violence (dysfunctional family)

Answer 64

This approach is criticised by feminists who believe that male violence
against women is both much more serious and much more common
than female violence against men.

Question 65

Giddens (06) reason for domestic violence (emotional intensity and family life)

Answer 65

Giddens (06) arques that it is the nature of family life that
makes domestic violence quite common. Family life is characterised by ‘emotional intensity and personal intimacy’, meaning that it is normally charged with strong emotions, often ‘mixing love and hate’. In these circumstances, even minor arguments can escalate into acts of violence. The increasing isolation of the nuclear family from extended kinship networks may be increasing
this intensity.

Question 66

Criticisms of Giddens reasons for domestic violence occurring (emotional intensity and family life)

Answer 66

A problem with this approach is that it doesn’t explain why violence is common in some families and not in others.

Question 67

Pizzey view on dv

Answer 67

Argues domestic violence is due to patriarchal values. In a patriarchal society, men can use violence or the threat of to control their wives. The threat of dv is accepted and often not viewed as a serious crime. Patriarchal values lead women to be seen as the object of the husband and therefore he can use measures to control her

Question 68

Criticism of pizzey dv

Answer 68

Pizzeys view does not explain dv on men by women. Social attitudes may have also changed since 1974 and dv is seen as less acceptable and more likely to be reported and taken seriously by police