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Sociology (Family & Households) > Perspectives of the family > Flashcards

Perspectives of the family Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is the nuclear family?

+ another name for this

A

A stereotypically “ideal” family designed and promoted by the media normally containing two parents of different sexes and their shared children.

+ “cereal packet family”

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2
Q

What things did George Murdock believe was required in order to be a nuclear family?

+ what did he call it?

A
  • common residence
  • economic co-operation
  • reproduction
  • adults of both sexes
  • one or more children
  • socially approved sexual relationship

+ “inevitable and universal”

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3
Q

What is polygamy?

+ what is polyandry?
+ what is polygyny?

A

The practice of having more than one husband or wife at the same time.

+ polyandry= multiple husbands
+ polygyny= multiple wives

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4
Q

Examples of nuclear family not being ‘universal’

A

Ick tribe
Mormons having multiple wives
Tahiti people

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5
Q

FUNCTIONALISM

Who were the 2 main Functionalist sociologists and what was their view on the family?

A

Murdock & Parsons

Suggested the family is the best organisational basis for society

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6
Q

What 4 essential functions did Murdock believe the family fulfills?

A

Reproductive
Economic
Sexual
Teaching/Socialisation

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7
Q

What is the Functionalist view on the family

A

See the family as the heart of society (human body analogy) and therefore the family is essential

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8
Q

What 2 essential functions did Parsons believe the family fulfills?

A
  • Primary Socialisation
  • Stabilisation of adult personalities (emotional support for adults through everyday life)
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9
Q

What is the Functional Fit Theory?

A

Parsons’ theory that the family structure changed over time so society runs smoothly.

  • pre-industrial families were more likely to be extended (people were economic assets for farming)
  • nuclear families came about due to industrialisation and the need to adapt and become smaller because of this
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10
Q

What 2 things did Parsons say were required of a post-industrial family?

A

Socially mobile (can move between stratas in society)
Geographically mobile (can move into cities where the new jobs are)

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11
Q

What evidence is there of the Functional Fit Theory today?

A

Society now is very diverse as highlighted by post-modernists. This aligns with the diversity of family types.

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12
Q

What is meant by a ‘privatised’ family’?

+ why did this emerge according to Functionalists?

A

A family which is:

  • socially isolated from extended kin
  • more reliant on welfare state
  • geographically separated from wider kin

The family is more self-contained now and home leisure such as TV have made it more centered.

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13
Q

What is the Warm Bath Theory?

A

The analogy used by Parsons to describe what a family provides for it members (comfort and relaxation).

This view is disagreed with by many including the poet Larkin.

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14
Q

What did Fletcher believe about the family?

+ examples

A

That’s it has become more specialised and many of its non-essential secondary functions are now carried out more effectively by support offered by the state

+ (e.g pre and postnatal care, teachers, social workers)

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15
Q

What 3 essential functions did Fletcher believe the family fulfills?

A

Stable satisfaction of sexuality
Reproduction
Rearing of children

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16
Q

Criticisms of Functionalist views on the family

A
  • Idealise the family
  • Ignore conflict and abuse within families
  • Ignore gender inequality within families
  • Ignore rising divorce rates
  • Ignore growing family diversity
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17
Q

MARXISM

Who was the main Marxist sociologist and what was his view on the family?

+ his book

A

Engels
- the family only came about with the invention of private property
- the family is patriarchal and designed to guarantee and perpetuate male power through property inheritance

+ “The Origin of the Family” (1884)

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18
Q

What are the 4 ways in which Marxists believe the family suits the economy?

A
  • Reproduces an obedient workforce and socialists children to accept capitalism and its hierarchy (false consciousness)
  • Family is a unit of consumption for good and services provided by capitalism
  • Women’s domestic work is unpaid
  • Acts as a safety valve for the stresses of working class men
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19
Q

Quote from Engels on the family

A

” The family acts as a comforter to the proletariat”

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20
Q

Who was Louis Althusser and how did he view the family?

A

Neo-Marxist who echoes the view of Engels

That it is part of the Ideological State Apparatus:
- tool used by the government to pass on the opinions and ideas so we accept capitalism

  • family teaches children to submit to the bourgeoisie and provides a submissive workforce
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21
Q

Who was Eli Zarestsky and how did he view the family?

A

Continues to follow Engels main ideas

  • society creates an ‘illusion’ that private life of the family is separate from the economy
  • main function is to cushion workers from brutal realities of capitalism (link to Parsons)
  • it is an institution very closely linked to the economy and capitalism’s perpetuation
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22
Q

Criticisms of Marxist views on the family

A

+ Nuclear family and capitalism didn’t emerge at the same time
+ Ignores family diversity
+ Sees NF as being determined by the economy when it serves other functions
+ ignores emotional support and marrying for love
+ many women work and don’t need to marry
+ feminists argue they emphasise capitalism and ignore patriarchy
+ men do some housework & women not a reserve army

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23
Q

Similarities & Differences between Functionalist & Marxist views on the family

A

+ ignore family diversity
+ agree major function is Socialisation of children
+ both link to reproduction of new workforce
+ both see family as an institution

  • F are positive about family and M are negative
  • M ignore emotional benefits unlike Parsons
  • F see society’s smooth running as benefiting everyone & M see it as benefiting capitalism
  • M recognize exploitation of women, child abuse and consumerism
24
Q

FEMINISM
What encourages certain behaviours in children?

+ examples

A

Toys

e.g tea party set - provide service/entertainment

nerf guns- fighting/aggression

25
Q

What did Parsons believe about gender roles within the family?

+ What do each of these roles mean/entail?

A

Males and females perform seperate roles within the family that they are naturally suited to (men= instrumental & women= expressive)

+ instrumental: dominant, decisive authority figure who installs discipline & often breadwinner

+ expressive: nurturing, caring , deals w emotional aspects & often childcare & chores

26
Q

What are the 4 types of feminism?

A

Liberal
Marxist
Radical
Difference

27
Q

What does each type of feminism believe about the family?

A

M- family and it’s exploitation of women serves capitalism

D- says generalisations cannot be made about women’s experiences of the family

R- gender equality is the most important and women are exploited through their child care role

L- increasing equality and justice through legal and social reforms

28
Q

What are the four waves of feminism?

+ dates of them

A

Wave 1 - suffragettes movement (1880-1914)
Wave 2 - liberation movement (1960s)
Wave 3 - girl power (1990s)
Wave 4 - #MeToo (2000s- now)

29
Q

What happened in the First Wave of feminism?

A
  • decades of protests (peaceful & violent)
  • women 30+ granted the vote in 1918 (UK)
  • famous feminists such as Emmeline Pankhurst made sacrifices such as hunger strikes
30
Q

What happened in the second wave of feminism?

A
  • pill and sexual revolution
  • motivation to abolish sexism
  • protests alongside civil rights and anti war protesters
  • 1970 Equal Pay Act
  • 1967 Abortion Act
  • 1969 Divorce Reform Act
31
Q

What happened in the Third Wave of feminism?

A
  • redefinition of women as assertive, powerful & sexually in control
  • 1997 Third Wave Foundation established
  • Disney created female heroines (Mulan)
  • much more inclusion of women of colour
32
Q

What happened in the Fourth Wave of feminism?

A
  • # MeToo set up
  • increasing awareness of sexual assaults and rapes
  • Harvey Weinstein investigation
  • condemnation to many powerful men including Trump
33
Q

Strengths of the Feminist view on the family

A

+ aims to promote equality within the family
+ achieved rights for women
+ provide healthy antidote to functionalists’ downplay of negative aspects of family life
+ sociologists have given a voice to some of the most vulnerable and oppressed in society

34
Q

Criticisms of the Feminist view on the family

A
  • fails to recognize positive aspects of the family
  • difference feminists criticize for ignoring different experiences
  • political lesbianism is unrealistic
  • Marxist focus too much on capitalism not patriarchy]
  • changes in law doesn’t mean changes in opinions
  • when the family was discouraged in communist countries it led to more problems
35
Q

NEW RIGHT
What did the New Right believe about the family?

A
  • the nuclear family is the only correct family type
  • the family is based on ‘biological differences between men & women
  • family diversity causes social problems (e.g increased crime)
  • it is important for children to have a stable home with a married mother & father
  • the welfare state has led to a ‘culture of dependency’
  • there is an underclass who are those on benefits & they cause lots of crime & disorder
36
Q

What does the New Right consider evidence to support their claims?

What have these caused?

A

+ lone parent families
+ fatherless families
+ divorce rates
+ cohabitation
+ gay & lesbian couples

the ‘nuclear family’ to steadily decrease in numbers

37
Q

What does the New Right consider to be the causes of these changes?

A
  • breakdown in traditional family values
  • over generous welfare benefits to single mothers
  • influence of feminism
  • increased sexual permissiveness
  • greater tolerance of lesbian & gay relationships
38
Q

What do the New Right believe a consequence is of the social changes?

+ what do they think this causes?

A

The creation of the ‘fragmented family’ which is no longer performing its functions correctly (e.g failing to provide adequate socialisation to children)

+ bad behaviour and underachievement at school & crime

39
Q

What do the New Right believe the 2 main solutions to the problems with the family are?

A

1) a return to traditional family values, lifelong marriage & recognition of duties of parenting

2) a change in government policies ( redirecting welfare benefits & social service provision)

40
Q

Who are the two key New Right sociologists and what do they believe about the family?

A

Dennis & Erdos

+ children born outside of marriage and raised by single mothers are at a disadvantage (poorer health & school results)

+ concern for boys as they grow up without the expectation that adulthood has responsibility for a wife & children

+ families without fathers aren’t adequate and lead to boys displaying anti social behaviour & immaturity

41
Q

What did Charles Murray believe about the family?

A
  • work must be the centre of life for young men
  • young men must learn disciplines of work & how to be ‘real fathers’
  • socialisation and role models are required to develop these attitudes (often lacking in female-headed , low income families)
42
Q

What are the criticisms of the New Right’s view on the family?

A

+ blames victims
+ value judgement
+ idealised view of the past
+ reduce freedoms
+ exaggerate decline of nuclear family
+ ignore how traditional gender roles are oppressive to women
+ without divorce many women would be trapped in abusive relationships
+ most single parents aren’t welfare scroungers
+ exaggerate the extent of cohabitating and single-parent families

43
Q

POSTMODERNISM

What do postmodernists believe about the family?

A
  • Families are no longer clear entities
  • There is family diversity, changing gender roles & changing relationships
  • It is not possible to make general statements about ‘the family’
  • People create the families they want
  • People have much more choice regarding families now
  • Globalisation means that families are spread across the world and relationships can be maintained with family members of choice through communication
44
Q

How do postmodernists see change , choice and diversity as affecting family life?

A

+ People are rejecting traditional ideas about the family
+ Consumer choice is reflected in the disintegration of the traditional family & diversity
+ Individuals “pick n mix” relationships as it suits them
+ There have been changes in family life e.g decline in family size, rising divorce rate, marriage rates etc

45
Q

According to Giddens:

1) what characterises ‘late modernity’?

2) What choices do families have today that were once limited?

3) What is confluent love? + what may this lead to?

A

Choice & change

Greater freedoms to construct their own domestic arrangements

Deep, emotional intimacy in which partners reveal their needs and concerns for each other + serial monogamy

46
Q

How is Giddens criticised for his views on the family?

A

He exaggerates people’s freedom to choose their family arrangements. Some religions and cultures simply don’t allow certain choices (e.g divorce as a ‘sin’, illegal homosexual marriage, arranged marriages)

He also ignores the inability to divorce due to finances

47
Q

What are Stacey’s views on the family?

+ quote

A
  • sees diversity as a reflection of PM society
  • there is no family to which everyone aspires
  • possibility of more equal & democratic relationships as seen in many gay and lesbian families
  • people can develop family forms which suit their particular needs and situations

“contemporary family arrangements are diverse, fluid and unresolved”

48
Q

What study did Stacey do to investigate the family?

How can this be criticised?

A

Focused on two working class extended kin networks in Silicon Valley and how the two women had to adapt their family life to changing circumstances.

Not very representative of society in general

49
Q

What did Foucalt believe about the family?

+ What do Functionalists, Marxists & Feminists think of this?

A

That people (especially mothers) perform self-surveillance and police their own behaviour. They observe, talk to and criticised themselves and each other and create self-imposed parenting expectations. This leads to guilt and often lies in order to appear like the ‘perfect parents’

+ Func= ensures social stability
M & Fem= repressive and exploitative

50
Q

3 statistics supporting postmodernist views on the family

A

1 in 10 opposite sex families is a step or blended family

3 in 10 same sex families is a step or blended family

Lone parent families made up 11.1% of households

51
Q

Strengths & Weaknesses of the Postmodernist perspective on the family

A

+ acknowledges diversity in family types
+ recognizes that reality is often distorted

  • overemphasizes choice that people have
  • ignores oppression
  • Focault ignores beneficial impact of major institutions
52
Q

PERSONAL LIFE

What does the Personal Life perspective say about the family?

What does the Personal Life view prioritise about the family?

A

That it is not in decline it is just very different and more complex and diverse than before

  • bonds between people
  • the significance of emotions (P&N)
    -how family secrets work & change over time
    -the importance of memory & cultural heritage
  • underestimated importance of things (e.g shared possessions of homes)
53
Q

What are Carol Smart’s views on the family?

A
  • Has two main criticisms of traditional perspectives on the family:

+ they assume traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type
+ assume families & their members are simply passive puppets

  • also critical of more modern Individualisation Theory as it assumes the decline of family life
54
Q

What are the 6 non-familial relationships which the Personal Life perspective consider significant to people?

A

+ relationships with friends
+ fictive kin
+ gay & lesbian ‘chosen families’
+ relationships with dead relatives
+ relationships with pets
+ relationship with God

55
Q

Positives about the Personal Life perspective on the family

A

+ helps us to understand how people themselves construct & define their relationships as ‘family’
+ recognises that relatedness is not always good

56
Q

Negatives about the Personal Life perspective on the family

A
  • may take too broad of a view
  • may ignore what is special about blood or marriage relationships
  • rejects top down view taken by other perspectives

Sociology (Family & Households) (4 decks)

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