increase in family diversity

Question 1

Functionalist perspective

Answer 1

Believe nuclear family is the only structure that has the ability to perform the two ‘irreducible functions’
-The primary socialisation of children
-The stabilisation of adult personaliti
So other family types are dysfunctional/abnormal or even deviant

Question 2

New Right perspective

Answer 2

-One correct family type = nuclear family, which is viewed as natural, and based on biological functions between men and women
-Diversity leads to social problems
e.g. growth of lone parent families is harmful to children
-Family diversity is a symptom of ‘broken Britain’ where moral decay is occurring
-The state should encourage greater individual responsibility and traditional nuclear family structures, roles and relationships
-Traditional family values are essential for the adequate socialisation of children

Question 3

Why do New Right sociologists believe lone-parent families are harmful to children?

Answer 3

-leave boys without an adult male role model which leads to educational failure and delinquency
-High crime rates
-Can’t get disciplined properly and poorer so a burden on welfare and taxpayers
-man and wife have clear roles

Question 4

Criticisms of the New Right Perspective

Answer 4

-OAKLEY: cross cultural studies show great variation in male and female role roles. e.g a culture chooses amounted to more emotional work and women do hunting SO ROLES NOT FIXED AT BIOLOGY
-feminists, believe that their conventional and nuclear family is based on the patriarchal oppression of women and a fundamental cause of gender inequality, which prevents them from working and leads to women being financially dependent on men and not having an equal say in decision-making
-no evidence that children in lone parent families are more likely to be delinquent
-New right believe in marriage secures commitment and cohabitation is just a temporary stage, but some people see cohabitation as a permanent alternative to marriage
-the rate of cohabitation is higher among poorer social groups . Carol Smart points out that it may be poverty that causes the breakdown of relationships rather than the decision not to marry.

Question 5

CHESTER

Answer 5

neo-conventional nuclear family
-believes, increasing family, diversity is not significant or negative for the society -> extent and importance of family diversity has been exaggerated
Only significant change = move from conventional nuclear family -> neo-conventional nuclear family
-Argues that people are not choosing to live in alternatives to the nuclear family (the dominant family)
-Other family types (e.g. those living in one-person households like elderly widows, divorced men or young people who have not yet married) have either been part of a nuclear family in the past, or will be in the future

Question 6

What is the Neo-conventional family?

Answer 6

a dual-earner family in which both spouses go out to work, and not just the husband

Question 7

Patterns Chester identifies to support his claims:

Answer 7

-most people live in a household headed by a married couple
-most adults marry and have children- most children are reared by their two natural parents
-most marriages continue until death. Divorce has increased by many divorcees remarry.

Question 8

RAPOPORTS

Answer 8

-believe family diversity is hugely important and essential in a ‘pluralistic society’
-nuclear family couldn’t cope with this diversity
-Five types of family diversity

Question 9

What is a pluralistic society?

Answer 9

One that has mixed cultures lifestyles, and is diverse

Question 10

5 types of family diversity

Answer 10

cultural diversity
Lifestage diversity
Organisational diversity
Generational diversity
Social-class diversity

Question 11

Cultural diversity

Answer 11

different cultural, religious and ethnic groups have different family structures
e.g African Caribbean have more female-headed lone-families and Asians have more extended families

Question 12

Life-stage diversity

Answer 12

Family structures differ according to the stage, reached in the life cycle
e.g newlyweds or retired couples
-An ageing population has led to a great number family types compared to the past

Question 13

organisational diversity

Answer 13

differences in the way family roles are organised
e.g. joint conjugal and two-wage earner vs. segregated conjugal and one-wage earner

Question 14

Generational diversity

Answer 14

different ideas about what is considered acceptable or desirable in family structures, roles and relationships are dependent on the age of the person
-old and young have different views on cohabitation

Question 15

Social class diversity

Answer 15

roles and relationships are dependent on economic position of different households
or
if there are class differences in child-rearing practices

Question 16

Feminist perspective

Answer 16

View the increase in family diversity as positive as it provides women with greater opportunities to seek alternatives to the nuclear family and the patriarchal ideology that goes with it

Question 17

SMART AND NEALE

Answer 17

argued that events in the family, such as divorce, remain gendered in the sense that men and women still have very different experiences of family life with women often still experiencing powerlessness

Question 18

Marxist perspective

Answer 18

assumes that the nuclear family is arranged to support the needs of capitalism. Therefore, an increase in family diversity reflects the changes in the economy.
e.g both parents working-> increasing cost of living
-may argue that families today are not more affluent, simply being exploited by the ruling classes in more sophisticated ways

Question 19

Postmodernist perspective

Answer 19

-view positively
-transition from modern society to post-modern society has led to increasing individualism, and at the same time, less pressure of individuals to conform to societal expectations
-Results in greater the family diversity BUT also greater instability and family structures

Question 20

WEEKS ET AL

Answer 20

a postmodernist
argues that greater individualism has led to the creation of choice, where relationships are created, including same-sex families

Question 21

STACEY

Answer 21

-believes diversity has had a positive impact
-Greater choice has benefited women and enables them to free themselves of patriarchal oppression
-Can shape family arrangements to meet their needs
-Family, structure, roles and relationships are characterised by diversity, choice and fluidity - no longer one dominant structure
-Use interviews to construct case studies of post modern families in Silicon Valley , CA

Question 22

GIDDENS

Answer 22

-family and marriage in recent decades, have been changed because of choice, freedom, equal relationships between men and women
-has happened because of:
-Contraception (has allowed sex and intimacy > reproduction become the main reason for the relationship’s existence)
-Women have gained independence- greater opportunities in education and work
*PURE RELATIONSHIP
-same-sex couples as pioneers

Question 23

What is a ‘pure relationship’?

Answer 23

relationships that are no longer bound to traditional norms and exist solely to satisfy each partners needs

Question 24

What does Giddens think of the pure relationship?

Answer 24

-negative as less stable- a rolling contract that can be ended more or less by either partner rather than a permanent commitment
-positive as produces greater family diversity, more freedom, and choice and couples can define relationships how they want, more equal relationships

Question 25

BECK

Answer 25

•’RISK SOCIETY’ AND NEGOTIATED FAMILY
-Believe all the extra choices require the individual to calculate the risks vs. rewards for each course of action in life
e.g purchasing first home, cohabiting, starting a family
-traditional families may have been oppressive, but was stable and predictable
-Patriarchal family has been undermined by two trends:
-greater gender equality and greater individualism = lead to a new family type -> the negotiated family
-THE ZOMBIE FAMILY

Question 26

What is the negotiated family?

Answer 26

do not conform to the traditional family norms, but vary, according to the wishes and expectations of their members to decide what is best for themselves by negotiation

Question 27

Life course analysis perspective

Answer 27

-focuses on the meaning given to the decisions made by individuals about the kind of family structures that they find themselves in rather than making generalisations
-Seeks to understand all aspects of family, through small-scale research
-there is a control over family structures, rather than then being mainly imposed and shaped by social forces