G.Roles, DDOL, power R.ships, dark side Flashcards
What was the family before industrialisation?
Unit of production - greater equality between genders
Why does Parsons argue that there is a DDOL in Rships?
Functionalist Roles of husband + wife = separate + distinct Best meets needs of S Husband = instrumental (financial needs) Wife = expressive (emotional needs) W = 'naturally' suited to these roles (biological difference) DDOL benefits individuals + S (New Right agree)
What did Bott find about GR/ DDOL?
Social network of friends = most influential factor in determining whether couple has joint/ serrate roles
Tight knit, regular contact, separate GR
Social network acted as social control
Ensures couples didn’t differ from traditional GR (by teasing)
Loose knit, less constraints, more likely to have shared conjugal roles
Using Bott’s ideas, what could be predicted?
As geographical + social mobility continues in contemporary S, social network will continue to weaken
Couples = have more reliance on each partners
Leading to ROLE INTEGRATION
3 criticisms of Bott’s work/ study?
- Only in 1 area, can’t generalise
- Likely to all be same social class
- Only 20 families, can’t generalise
What is a strength to Bott’s work/ study?
Based on empirical evidence :)
Describe Willmott + Young’s study
Structured telephone interviews
wc nuclear families, Bethnal Green
1950s: traditional separate conjugal roles
M: breadwinner, leisure time = with friends, played little part in home life
W = full-time housewives
1970s: MOP, family grad = more egalitarian
Roles of husband + wife = NOT identical but more similar (symmetrical family - social change)
ID 5 characteristics of symmetrical family
‘Emergence of the new man’
72% of husbands now ‘helped in the house’
What are the 3 characteristics of a symmetrical family that Willmott + Young ID?
- Nuclear instead of classically extended
- Home-centred (leisure time spent together)
- Based on going conjugal roles (share domestic work/ childcare)
What % of husbands does Willmott and Young now claim ‘help in the house’?
72%
Describe Willmott + Young’s concept of the ‘emergence of a new man’?
Result of greater equality within family
Increasing number of females as breadwinners (trad male) + men doing housework (trad female)
Men also more in touch with emotions + family life
Led to rise in SYMMETRICAL FAMILIES
What do Willmott + Young see as the cause of the increasing number os symmetrical families?
Major social changes which have occurred in the least century
SOCIAL POLICIES
Why do Silver + Schor argue that families are becoming more equal?
New technology + labour-saving devices COMMERCIALISATION OF HOUSEWORK Housework takes less time + = easier More men = likely to do it BUT despite the increase in ease, W still do majority of tasks
How can the standards of living have led to families becoming more equal?
= higher standards of living
Need 2 incomes to reach it
What are 3 criticisms of Willmott + Young’s work?
- Sample - generalise?
- Telephone interviews - empirical evidence?
- Even though men do more housework, = still gendered (W = cleaning, M = DIY, gardening
- Oakley - dual burden
Why does Oakley criticise Willmott + Young?
Carried out a study on housework
Argues that 72% of men claiming to do housework ISN’T evidence of symmetry within the family
W still do most of housework + childcare
Wives = acquired DUAL BURDEN
Family remains patriarchal - men benefit from women wages + unpaid domestic work
Describe Oakley’s study on housework
Interviewed 40 women from London
Aged 20-30, all had 1 child under age 5
FEMINIST METHODOLOGY
15% husbands = ‘high level’ participation in housework
25% husbands = ‘high level’ participation in childcare
Criticisms of Oakley’s study
- Small sample
- 1 area
- Culture bias?
- Only asked women
- ‘High level’ = subjective, how do you operationalise it?
Why do Dunscombe + Marsden (1995) argue that the family isn’t symmetrical?
Discuss impact of W’s emotional work
- manage own + others emotions
Usually seen as a labour of love
Dual burden + emotional work = TRIPLE SHIFT
What did Gershuny find?
How does this support the ides tat there has been a MOP within the family?
Found wives that moved from part-time work to full-time did less domestic work + partners did bit more
Claims = evidence of SOME progress
BUT process = slow, become more equal over time
Men will adapt to changes more slowly
- LAGGED ADAPTATION
BUT M take responsibility of masculine tasks (DIY, gardening)
What do the findings of the ‘Future Foundation’ study support?
Describe the study
Supports there = change in attitudes towards housework + childcare amongst young men
Study of 1,000 adults
Found 60% of M claimed to do MORE housework than fathers
75% W do LESS than mothers
How did Dunne define gender scripts?
= the expectations/ norms that set out the gender roles M + W in heterosexual couples are expected to play
Describe Dunne’s study
37 cohabiting lesbian couples with dependent children
Found evidence of symmetry; household tasks = not linked to a particular gender scripts
Allowed lean couples to create more equal Rships
Supports radical fem idea that heterosexual Rships = inevitably patriarchal
W can only achieve equality in same sex Rships
How can Dunne’s study be used to support radical feminists?
Supports the idea that heterosexual Rships = inevitably patriarchal
W can only achieve equality in same sex Rships
Describe Postmodern views on DDOL
Postmodernism = created more flexibility in home
Couples can negotiate + pick n mix roles
No. of ‘house husbands’ has trebles in past 15 yrs
Estimated that 62,000 men in Britain = economically inactive + say that they solely care for their family/ home
What is the estimated amount of men in Britain that are economically inactive?
62,000
How would feminists criticise Postmodernists view on the DDOL?
Feminists would argue that W still do most of the housework + therefore isn’t equal
Give 2 examples of how globalisation has had an impact on the DDOL
- Caribbean families - most likely matrifocal, W take greater responsibility for fam + DL
- South Asian families = most likely to adopt traditional GR
Is the DDOL the only factor affecting the level of equality within families?
NO, also affected by: - Decision-making - Control (of finances etc) - Darker side of the family These all affect the power Rships
What did Edgell suggest about Rships?
Men = more likely to make important decisions; they earn more
W = £ dependent
W make less important decisions e.g. food purchases
Which sociologists criticise Edgell’s view on Rships?
What did they find?
Laurie + Gershung (2000)
By 1995, 70% couples said: had an equal say in decision making
BUT = W who = high earning, well qualified professional who were more likely to have an equal say
What are the 2 types of control over the family income suggested by Pahl + Vogler?
- Allowance - M give wife an allowance, budget to meet family needs while the man majority of income for himself
- Pooling - Both parents have access to income + joint responsibility for expenditure e.g. joint account
More common today
What are 3 criticisms of Pahl Volger’s work?
- Even with pooling, M still have most power
- Separate bank account doesn’t mean inequality, could want independence
- Pahl: pooling doesn’t mean equality; if M puts 2x as much into joint account does this mean ints equal?
What do Dobash + Dobash argue about marriage?
Legitimates violence against W through the imbalance of power in the Rship
How many W experience DV?
How many M experience DV?
W = 1/4 M = 1/6
Domestic violence accounts for _____ of all violent crimes
1/6
What % of W report DV?
What % of M report DV?
W = 7.3% M = 5%
What is wrong with the stats on DV?
Stats underestimate extent to which it’s occurring
Majority of the time sit goes unreported
Only 6.5% of reported crimes end in a conviction
What % of reported crimes end in a conviction?
6.5%
On average, how many times is a W assaulted before she 1t calls the police?
35
What is the estimated number of domestic abuse in England and Wales according to the BCS of 2001/2?
What % of these were W?
What % of these were M?
635,000
W = 81% M = 19%
How would radical feminists explain DV?
Live in patriarchal S
M being dominant = seen as a norm
Marriage = patriarchal
What is the materialistic explanation of DV?
Families who live in poverty = more likely to experience DV; of the stress + conflict of not being able to afford the materialistic thing which are desire by wider S
What type of feminist is Ansley?
MARXIST
How would Ansley explain DV?
W = ‘takers of shit’
M take out frustration towards C on their wives
What theory is responsible for raising awareness of DV?
FEMINISM
