Key Terms And Studies - Families Flashcards
What is the definition of a family?
Social institution consisting of a group of people who are related by kinship ties.
Kinship can include blood relations, marriage, civil partnerships, or adoption.
Define kinship.
Relations of blood, marriage/civil partnership or adoption.
What is a household?
A person living alone or a group of people living together at the same address.
What characterizes a nuclear family?
A family with two generations of parents and children living together in one household.
Define patriarchy.
Male dominance with men having power or authority.
What is primary socialization?
Socialization during the early years of childhood.
What is the expressive role in a family?
The nurturing, caring and emotional role.
What is the instrumental role in a family?
The provider/breadwinner role in the family.
Describe a classic extended family.
Several related nuclear families or family members live in the same house, street or area.
What is a privatized nuclear family?
Self-contained, self-reliant and home-centred family unit that is separated and isolated from extended kin, neighbours and local community life.
Define a modified extended family.
Related nuclear families, although living apart geographically, maintain regular contact and mutual support through visiting, phone, email, social networking and letters.
What does division of labour refer to?
Division of work into specialized jobs or tasks.
What is domestic labour?
Unpaid housework, including cooking, cleaning, childcare and looking after the sick and elderly.
What is meant by dependency culture?
Set of values and beliefs, and a way of life, centred on dependence on others, particularly the welfare state.
Who are considered part of the underclass?
Social group right at the bottom of the social class hierarchy, whose members are in some ways different from, and cut off or excluded from the rest of society.
Define monogamy.
Form of marriage in which a person can only be legally married to one partner at a time.
What is an ideological state apparatus?
Agencies which serve to spread the ideology and justify the power of the dominant social class.
What is a symmetrical family?
A family where the roles of the husband and wife or cohabiting partners have become more alike and equal.
Define family ideology.
The dominant set of beliefs, values and images about how families are and how they ought to be.
What is a stereotype?
Generalized, oversimplified view of an institution or social group.
What is a cereal packet family?
The stereotype of the ideal family found in the media and advertising, involving first-time married parents and their own natural children.
What does life course refer to?
The sequence of significant events individuals experience as they make their way through life.
Define individualization.
The process whereby traditional social relationships, roles and beliefs lose their influence over the lives of individuals.
What is confluent love?
An active and conditional love that involves building trust and emotional intimacy between two people.
What characterizes a pure relationship?
A relationship where a couple choose to stay together because it meets their emotional and sexual needs.
What is the divorce rate?
The number of divorces per 1,000 married people per year.
Define secularization.
The process whereby religious thinking, practice and institutions decline and lose influence in society.
What is the marriage rate?
The number of men or women marrying per 1,000 unmarried men or women aged 16 or over each year.
What is a moral panic?
A wave of public concern about some exaggerated or imaginary threat to society.
Describe a beanpole family.
A multi-generation extended family, which is long and thin, reflecting fewer children being born in each generation.
What is an arranged marriage?
One which is arranged by the parents of the marriage partners.
Define domestic division of labour.
The division of roles, responsibilities and work tasks within a household.
What are segregated conjugal roles?
A clear division and separation between the male and female roles.
What are joint conjugal roles?
Roles that show few divisions between male and female roles.
What does demography study?
The characteristics of human populations, such as their size and structure.
What is life expectancy?
An estimate of how long the average person can be expected to live.
Define birth rate.
Number of live births per 1,000 of the population each year.
What is the death rate?
Number of deaths per 1,000 of the population per year.
What is infant mortality rate (IMR)?
Number of deaths of babies in their first year of life per 1,000 live births per year.
What characterizes an ageing population?
One in which the average age is getting higher, with a greater proportion over retirement age.
Define dependency ratio.
The relationship between the proportion of the population who are working and those who are dependent.
What is the general fertility rate (GFR)?
Number of live births per 1,000 women of child bearing age (15-44) per year.
What does total fertility rate (TFR) refer to?
Average number of children women will have during their child bearing years.
What are joint conjugal roles?
Where the couple have shared responsibility for tasks such as housework and childcare and spend leisure time together.
What characterizes segregated conjugal roles?
Couples have separate roles (male breadwinner, female homemaker).
What did Young and Willmott (1973) identify as the symmetrical family?
Men and women share roles within the family and have equal responsibility for earning, childcare, and housework.
What is the instrumental role according to Parsons (1955)?
The role carried out by the male, financially providing for the family.
What is the expressive role in family dynamics?
The role carried out by the female, acting as the caregiver and homemaker.
What is the ‘Triple Shift’ as defined by Duncombe & Marsden (1995)?
Women do paid work, unpaid work in the home, and manage the emotions and feelings of family members.
According to Boulton (1983), what percentage of husbands have a major role in housework?
Fewer than 20%.
What are the two explanations for the division of labor according to Crompton and Lyonette (2008)?
- Cultural or ideological explanation of inequality
- Material or economic explanation
What did Oakley (1974) argue about the idea of symmetry in family roles?
The idea of symmetry is over-exaggerated; the housewife role has become dominant for many married women.
What correlation did Gershuny (1994) find regarding women’s employment and domestic labor?
Women who work full-time carry out less domestic labor.
What is the duel burden as described by Ferri and Smith (1996)?
Paid employment has had little impact on the division of labor in the home.
What did Hochschild (1983) find about women’s roles in paid employment?
Women are more likely to carry out roles that involve emotional labor.
What are the two types of financial arrangements identified by Pharl and Vogler (1993)?
- Pooling system
- Allowance system
What did Gillian Dunne (1999) find about lesbian couples?
Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional heterosexual gender scripts.
What types of decision making are categorized by Edgell (1980)?
- Very important decisions - jointly made with the husband having the final say
- Important decisions - made jointly
- Less important decisions - made by the wife
What statistic did Mirrlees Black (1999) provide regarding domestic violence?
99% of assaults against women are committed by men.
What did Dobash and Dobash (1979) suggest triggers violent incidents?
What the man views to be a challenge to his authority.
What historical perspective on childhood did Aries (1960) provide?
From the 10-13th century, children were not seen as separate; childhood became a separate life stage in the middle ages.
What is the most important feature of modern childhood according to Pilcher (1995)?
Separateness; childhood is seen as a clear and distinct life stage.
What does Wagg (1992) argue about childhood?
Childhood is socially constructed and there is no single universal childhood experience.
What did Punch (2001) find about children in non-industrial societies?
Children take responsibility at a much earlier age.
What was Shorter’s (1975) observation regarding infant mortality?
High infant mortality led to indifference towards children in the past.
What did Hillman (1993) find about boys’ freedoms compared to girls?
Boys are more likely to be able to cross the road and play in wider areas.
What restrictions did Bhatti (1999) identify for girls in Asian families?
Izzat (family honour) can place restrictions on girls.
What did Holt (1974) argue about children’s oppression?
Children are oppressed by things put in place for their benefit.
What did Cunningham (2007) find about children’s play areas?
The area in which children are allowed to play has shrunk to 1/9th of its size 25 years ago.
What concept does Gittins (1998) introduce regarding parental control?
Age patriarchy; fathers have undue control over children.
What did Postman (1994) argue about the disappearance of childhood?
The lines between adults and children are becoming less clear due to mass media.
What did Opie and Opie (1993) find regarding childhood culture?
Childhood is not disappearing; there is a separate culture for children.
What is the concept of toxic childhood according to Palmer (2006)?
Technological advances have damaged children’s development.
What did Brannen (1994) find about gender differences in treatment at home?
Asian families put greater controls on girls than boys.
What did Howard (2001) find regarding material deprivation and childhood?
Different experiences of childhood, particularly in homes with high material deprivation.
What high rates did Margo and Dixon (2006) find among UK children?
Obesity, smoking, drinking, and drug taking.
What did Donzelot (1977) observe about child development theories?
They stressed that children need supervision and protection.
What are the four functions of the family according to Murdock (1949)?
- Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
- Reproduction of the next generation
- Socialisation of the young
- Meeting members’ economic needs
What are the two functions of the family identified by Parsons (1955)?
- Primary socialisation of children
- Stabilisation of adult personality
What does Engels (1891) say about monogamy in society?
It is essential in a capitalist society to keep private property within the family.
What role does Zaretsky (1976) attribute to the family in a capitalist society?
The family is a haven from capitalism’s harsh realities.
What did Ansley (1972) argue about wives in a patriarchal society?
Wives are the ‘takers of sh*t’ for men to vent their workplace frustrations.
What alternative family structure did Greer (2000) suggest?
Creation of matrilocal families.
What did Somerville (2000) conclude about women’s position over time?
Women’s position has changed but full equality has not been achieved.
What did McKeown (1972) attribute to the reduction in death rates?
Improved nutrition accounted for at least half of the reduction.
What demographic change did Hirsch (2005) observe?
The traditional age pyramid is disappearing in favor of more equal numbers in each age group.
What challenge does The Griffiths Report (1988) highlight?
Difficulties in meeting the needs of an ageing population.
What did Townsend (1981) argue about old age?
Old age is socially constructed, resulting in poor attitudes towards the elderly.
What inequalities did Pilcher (1995) identify in the old?
Inequalities such as class and gender arise from previous occupation and relationship to work.
What concept did Blaikie (1999) introduce regarding aging?
Positive ageing and society’s view of a fulfilling retirement.
What trend regarding divorce did Mitchell and Goody (1997) observe?
The stigma attached to divorce has rapidly declined.
What did Fletcher (1966) attribute to rising divorce rates?
High expectations of marriage that often go unmet.
What did Allan and Crow find regarding financial independence and divorce?
Couples are no longer financially dependent, making divorce easier to obtain.
What did Hochschild (1997) find about women’s value in the workplace versus home?
Women feel more valued in the workplace than at home.
What does Chester (1985) say about cohabitation?
Cohabitation is a steppingstone to marriage.
What percentage of the population is in same-sex relationships according to Stonewall (2008)?
5-7%.
What has increased social acceptance led to according to Weeks (1999)?
An increase in cohabitation.
What is ‘creative singlehood’ as described by Stein (1976)?
Choosing to live alone.
What did Murray (1984) argue about single-parent families?
They are a drain on the state and create a dependency culture.
What similarities did Smith (1998) find between step families and nuclear families?
Step families have many aspects that are the same as nuclear families.
What problems do step families experience according to Allan and Crow (2001)?
Divided loyalties.
What did Mirza (1997) find about lone parent families in the black community?
The high rate reflects the importance black women place on independence.
What is the concept of dispersed extended family as described by Willmott (1988)?
The family does not live in the same household but maintains close contact.
What statistic did Benson (2006) provide about single parents?
Of 15,000 babies born in 2000-01, 3,000 mothers became single parents within three months.
What risk do children from single-parent families face according to Amato (2000)?
Higher likelihood of poverty.
What does Chester (1985) define as the neo-conventional family?
A nuclear family with shared roles.
What types of family diversity did Rapoport and Rapoport (1982) identify?
- Organisational diversity
- Social class diversity
- Life-stage diversity
- Generational diversity
What does Hareven (1978) argue about family diversity?
Family diversity depends on choices made throughout life.
What did Cheal (1993) state about family choices in the postmodern era?
People have much more choice, so we refer to families rather than the family.
What did Giddens (1992) find transformative for family and marriage?
Contraception and the changing position of women.
What concept did Beck (1992) introduce regarding society?
‘Risk society’ where individualism leads to greater diversity.
What does Stacey (1998) mean by divorce extended family?
People related by divorce rather than marriage.
What increased acceptance does Weeks (2000) mention about family diversity?
Greater acceptance allows individuals to make choices that feel best for them.
What impact did the welfare state have on families according to Fletcher (1966)?
It helped families perform their functions more effectively.
What criticism did Murray (1984) make about the welfare state?
It offers perverse incentives for families not to work.
What does Land (1978) argue about social policies?
They assume the ideal family is a patriarchal nuclear family.
What did Leonard (1978) say about social policies and gender roles?
They reinforce gender stereotypes and control women.
What are traditional and individualistic gender regimes according to Drew (1995)?
- Traditional familistic gender regime
- Individualistic gender regime
What did Donzelot (1977) argue about the state’s role in family monitoring?
The state has ways of monitoring families, which could be seen as policing.
