Paper 1 B: Famillies And Households Flashcards
What is the nuclear family?
nuclear family refers to the stereotypical, household consistent of two parents {a mother and father} accompanied by one or more children.
Has nuclear families increased or decreased?
- The reduction of traditional nuclear families can be attributed to increasing divorce rates, and same sex marriage.
- with 44% of children not born into a nuclear family for childhood, this is compared to 1970, with only 21% not born into a nuclear family.
Functionalist perspective
Functionalists refer to nuclear families as:
Functional prerequisite
Integral
{RESS} ~ Parsons
Reproduction
Economy
Socialisation
Sexual satisfaction
Marxist perspective:
Forces submission and obedience to capitalists
‘Safety Valve’ to father dealing with injustices of capitalism , ie: makes father ‘Opium of the Masses’ as family make father complacent in capitalism.
Ideological control
Feminist perspective
Patriarchy detrimental to development
Prefers lone-families or same sex
^ encourages independence of men and freedom
Increases likelihood of domestic violence
Postmodernist perspective:
Fluid and a changing concept
Individualism
No longer one typical type of family :
Same sex, LAT, reconstituted, Lone parent
What is the extended family?
this includes relatives beyond the nuclear family this can be grandparents and cousins etc that are living in the same household.
Has extended families increased or decreased?
1.8 million vertically extended households and 20% of 25-34 year old still live with their parents compared to 16% in 1991. This statistic shows that extended/ multigenerational families are increasing and this could be due to many reasons.
Cost of living crisis
Rental crisis
What are lone parent families?
A lone parent family are families where at least one child lives with just one parent.
Have lone parent families increased or decreased?
The increased number of lone-parent families is one of the most significant social trends to have occurred over the last thirty years
Functionalist perspective
They believe that one parent is unable to uphold all the functions of a family being RESS
In particular the New Right back this view through the analogy that children brought up from a single parent household are more likely to deviate from societal norms due to the parents inability to properly socialise the child.
Marxist perspective
Marxists hold the view the nuclear family serves as primary socialisation to benefit the capitalist society.
However with research conducted concerning Afro-caribbean families Smith found there was a strong tradition of matrifocal families which they do not oppose as children brought up in woman dominated families will be less likely to conform to the bourgeoisie which will increase independence.
There is less place for conflict with unequal relations of power in lone parent families similar to inequality in society so children are socialised most likely not to accept it in later life.
Feminist perspective
Feminists view the lone parent family as beneficial as it removes patriarchal control.
Lone parent households allow space for an egalitarian environment where men do not dominate and shows women can also be independent, become the primary breadwinner and look after the children.
Radical feminists would especially agree with as they believe families would be better if there was no man in general.
What is a same sex family?
A same-sex family is a homosexual couple living together with children
Have same sex families increased or decreased?
Reasons for increase
Civil partnerships and same- sex families are becoming increasingly common. Reasons for this include legal changes, secularisation, changing social attitudes, the media, the gay rights movement and the ability for homosexual couples to have children through IVF, adoption or surrogacy.
