Family: Trends And Diversity Flashcards
Why the nuclear family could still be seen as dominant?
In 2006 76% of children were living in a couple headed household. As compared to 24% who were living in a lone parent household
Universal - Murdock saw nuclear family as universal whereby it could be found in all countries
Parsons regarded nuclear family as best fit for needs of an industrialised society
Chester - most people will at some point in their life live in a nuclear family structure
Rapport and rapport:
Argue that only a minority of families resemble the nuclear family ideal
Argue family life in the UK is characterised by diversity because people live in range of different family types with diverse internal set ups
Family structure someone lives in is not the only way of looking at the nature of family life - people may live in a similar nuclear structure but this does not take account of differences both within and outside that family
Rapport and rapport conducted a study on family diversity in the 1980s and identified 5 elements of difference:
Organisational diversity - different structures and how roles divided in house
Cultural diversity - nature of family and relationships vary between different ethnic and cultural groups
Class diversity - differences may be based on class
Stage in the lifecycle diversity - nature of the family can change over the life
Cohort diversity - individuals born at the same time may have similar experiences because of wider social and historical events
Eversley and Bonnerjea added a sixth form of diversity to rapport and rapports study:
Regional diversity - suggest that local influences produce different life experiences and so diversity
Willmott’s forms of extended family:
Extended family of residence - where members of family live in same household
Local extended family - where 2 or 3 nuclear families live separately but in close proximity in see each other often
Dispersed extended family - nuclear families who see each other reasonably frequently but live further apart
Attenuated extended family - contact between nuclear families is less frequent
Cultural diversity:
Refers to the way groups in society have different lifestyles based upon their ethnic or religious background
Consider 4 things when explaining changes in the family:
Legal
Ideological
Social
Technological
Legal changes:
Refer to changes in law and government policy
Divorce reform Act (1969/71)
Before this act needed to be proof that one partner was the ‘guilty party’ and had committed one of 3 ‘matrimonial offences’: cruelty, adultery and desertion - act removed need for this
Matrimonial family proceedings Act (1984) and Family Law Act (1996):
Act reduced length of time that a couple needed to be married before filing for divorce down from 3 years to 1 year
Equality Act (2010):
Act brought together key anti discrimination policy to protect people against discrimination in the workplace
Children Act (2004):
Act aims to make living in UK, as a child, as safe as possible by protecting their welfare and rights
Act allows state to intervene in a family should the welfare of a child be questioned
Child Maintenance service (2012):
Requires absent parents to pay maintenance for children they do not live with
Service is used when parents cannot agree on a family based arrangement
Civil partnership Act (2004):
Gave legal recognition to the relationships of same sex couples who enter a civil partnership, involving similar arrangements to a legal marriage
Marriage (same sex couples) act 2013:
Allows same sex couples to marry on the same basis as opposite sex couples
Ideological changes can be defined as:
Increased individualism and an emphasis on personal fulfilment
Increased materialism and a pursuit of wealth
Ideological changes:
Individualism
Increased individualism and an emphasis on personal fulfilment (Beck and Beck)
Increased materialism and a pursuit of wealth
Ideological changes:
Cohabitation as the norm
Idea of living together without being married is no longer widely regarded as ‘living in sin’ but as the norm
Ideological changes:
Changing norms of love
Primary reason given for modern marriage is ‘love’ - Giddens argues people seek confluent love
Less social stigma attached to divorce
Ideological changes:
Changing attitudes toward single parent families
Less social stigma toward lone parenthood
Ideological changes:
Secularisation
Decline in religious values, has led to influence of religious ideas about ‘till death do us part’ weakened, fewer weddings in church’s and living together and not be married no longer viewed as living in sin
Ideological changes:
Increased aspirations of women
Sue sharpe - women’s aspirations have changed between the 1970s and 1990s, with more focus on careers rather than marriage
Social issues:
Demographic change
Demographics are the statistical data about a population
Social issues:
Life expectancy
Average period that a person may expect to live
Social issues:
Brith rate
Number of live births per thousand of population per year
Social issues:
Death rate
Ratio of deaths to the population of a particular area or during a particular period of time
Social issues:
Globalisation
Has had a significant impact on migration patterns in the UK
Social issues:
Migration
Refers to movement of people from place to place - could be within a society or internationally
Social issues:
Emigration
When someone moves to another country and this new country becomes their destination of usual residence
Social issues:
Immigration
When someone leaves a country and moves to a new country
Social issues:
Assimilation
Aim is for immigrants to adopt the language, value and customs of the host culture to make them ‘like us’
Social issues:
Multiculturalism
Accepts that migrants may wish to retain a separate cultural identity however the acceptance may only be superficial
Technological factors:
Contraception
Influenced family as meant that there were less risks involved when having sex such as possibility of always conceiving a child
Provided more freedom to women
Technological issues:
IVF
Medical advances with IVF have enabled couples who may be unable to conceive to have the chance to have a child
Technological issues:
Abortion
May have influenced family as medical advancements make it safer for women to have an abortion and therefore reduces family sizes
