Is The Nuclear Family Universal? Case Studies

Question 1

What are the 6 case studies?

Answer 1

The Nayar Tribe
The Oneida Community
The Russian Experiment 
Kibbutzim in Israel 
Polyandrous relationships in Nepal
Female - Care Core

Question 2

Nayar tribe

Where did they live?

Answer 2

South India prior to British rule in 1792

Question 3

Nayar tribe

Who studied it and when?

Answer 3

Kathleen Gough and 1959

Question 4

Nayar tribe

What they find about women?

Answer 4

One a female reached puberty, she would take a number of “sandbanham” husbands

Question 5

Nayar tribe

How many husbands would a woman take?

Answer 5

Typically 12 husbands

Question 6

Nayar tribe

Do the husbands take responsibility for any offspring?

Answer 6

No, any man within the community could claim to be the father and support the woman with the cost of the child

Question 7

Nayar tribe

Often, who will look after the woman?

Answer 7

The woman’s brother could help support with the child

Question 8

Nayar tribe

What does it say about Murdocks claim?

Answer 8

Gough beloved that it countered his claim as there was no ‘marriage’ nor was the biological parents an economic unit supporting the child

Question 9

The Oneida community

Who was it founded by?

Answer 9

John Humphrey Noyes

Question 10

The Oneida community

What would noyes do?

Answer 10

Partner young males with menopausal women to introduce them to sex without pregnancies

Question 11

The Oneida community

What hell ended to those who had passed before noyes’ committee?

Answer 11

Whey could breed with a person of the committees choosing

Question 12

The Oneida community

Does this go against Murdocks claim?

Answer 12

Yes because there was no reproduction done by a couple in a socially approved sexual relationships

Question 13

The Russian experiment

What was there an attempt to do?

Answer 13

There was a deliberate attempt to destroy the traditional nuclear family which was seen as a tool of capitalism

Question 14

The Russian experiment

What things were abolished?

Answer 14

Marriage and divorce and people could choose who they had relationships with

Question 15

The Russian experiment

What things were introduced to free women from domestic work?

Answer 15

Nurseries, laundrettes and canteens

Question 16

The Russian experiment

What happened to the children if a woman was at work?

Answer 16

They would be taken care of whilst the parents worked

Question 17

The Russian experiment

What happened to the children during the experiment?

Answer 17

They became psychologically disturbed by the instability of their environment as parents went through many partners

Question 18

The Russian experiment

What does this say about Murdocks claim?

Answer 18

Agree - in the absence of a nuclear family, social problems will be encountered
Disagree - not all forms of family include parents looking after children

Question 19

Kibbutzim in Israel

Who are they?

Answer 19

A collective community in Israel

Question 20

Kibbutzim in Israel

What % of the population live in the Kibbutzim?

Answer 20

4%

Question 21

Kibbutzim in Israel

What do the members do?

Answer 21

Work to help the community - this includes sharing childcare

Question 22

Kibbutzim in Israel

Until recently, what would the children do?

Answer 22

Live separate from their parents in children dormitories

Question 23

Kibbutzim in Israel

Nowadays, where do children live?

Answer 23

With their parent sin the kibbutzim though will spend some days apart from their parents

Question 24

Kibbutzim in Israel

What does this say about Murdocks claim?

Answer 24

Communal living and shared responsibility mean that the nuclear family might not be universal

Question 25

Polyandrous relationships in Nepal

What is polyandry and where is it practised?

Answer 25

It is when a woman has one than one husband and it is practised in countries with limited natural resources in order to limit the number of children born

Question 26

Polyandrous relationships in Nepal

Who is the father if a woman gives birth?

Answer 26

All the husbands a woman has are considered the father

Question 27

Polyandrous relationships in Nepal

What is the point in having more than one husband?

Answer 27

If a husband dies, the woman and child will be taken care of by the other husbands

Question 28

Polyandrous relationships in Nepal

What does it say about Murdocks claim?

Answer 28

It does not involve two adults of different genders engaging in a socially approved sexual relationship

Question 29

Female care core

Who is the founder?

Answer 29

Yasmin Sheeran

Question 30

Female care core

What did Sheeran argue about female care core?

Answer 30

It is the most common basic unit of the family

Question 31

Female care core

What is female care core?

Answer 31

Primary care within the family is usually female

Question 32

Female care core

What kind of societies is this found in?

Answer 32

Sheeran argued that it is typical in all societies whether that being contemporary or pre industrial society

Question 33

Female care core

Is the primary care always the mother?

Answer 33

No but it is typically a female relative such grandmother or a sister

Question 34

Female care core

What does Sheeran say about a mans role?

Answer 34

She doesn’t deny that men play an important role in the upbringing of a child but highlights that it is typically women

Question 35

What does Robert Chester think about the nuclear family?

Answer 35

He thinks that it is still dominant in British society

Question 36

What are the 2 pieces of information that support Chesters claim?

Answer 36

Nearly half of he population live in a nuclear family

Someone will be apart of a nuclear family at one point in their life

Question 37

What does Chester call the nuclear family?

Answer 37

The “neo-conventional family”

Question 38

What does a “neo-conventional family” mean?

Answer 38

That Chester recognises the growing number of women who work outside the home and that the male is no longer the breadwinner