Post Modern Views On The Nuclear Family In Contemporary Soiety Flashcards
1
Q
What did Morgan (1996) say about family practices?
A
- Morgan argues we should focus on family practices rather than the family
- Individuals create families and other networks of intimate relationships by by their daily activities such as talking to one another and cooking meals together
- from this perspective we should be less concerned about how the family is structured or its functions, rather what it means to individuals and how they sustain the idea of a family
2
Q
What did Finch (2007) say about family displays?
A
- Finch has developed this further with the concept of family display
- she states that display is the process by which individuals and groups of individuals, convey to each other that by doing family things this confirms the relationship is a family relationship
- Finch sees rituals such as family meals as examples of family displays that reinforce peoples sense of togetherness and family identity
3
Q
What did Giddens (1992) say about family practices?
A
- Giddens argues that the modern world brought into being by the rise of industrialisation
- now in an era of late modernity traditional norms and structures that constrained individuals to fit into certain structures and role have started to dissolve
- this is seen as women roles have become less restrictive
- Giddens argues that life in late modernity is characterised by reflexivity, this means that individuals constantly question what they are doing in life an reflect on possible alternatives. The create their own life scripts rather that following a script laid down by society based on their gender, social class etc. This means that they have greater choice in life so the nuclear family is simply just another option.
- Giddens also sees intimate relationships as more fluid and open to change as people pass through their life course. he suggests that the idea of romantic love has been replaced by confluent love based on deep emotional intimacy with their partners.
- Giddens also argues that couples seek pure relationships so no longer stay together just for practical reasons but to support one another. this means that hen relationships work they are more fulfilling but if they are not fulfilling the members will leave to find fulfillment else where
- Giddens arguments help to explain the high rates of separation and divorce in the UK and the growth of family diversity.
4
Q
What did Beck (1992) say about risk society?
A
- Beck refers to the contemporary social world as high modernity
- Beck also argues that we now live in a risk society where social life is based on the construction of lifestyles and identities which are based on avoiding risks
- beck suggests this is why nuclear families are declining as people want to avoid the commitment of marriage or children so instead cohabit or stay single
- long term relationships allow you to avoid the risk of loneliness, loss of contact with children and the pain of a breakup
- beck also argues that in society we constantly have to make choices
5
Q
What did Beck and Beck Gernsheim say about individualisation?
A
- Beck and Beck Gernsheim argue that a process of individualisation is occurring i high modernity
- this means that individuals are no longer tied to fixed roles or identities
- this helps to explain the rise in family diversity and the fluid nature of contemporary life as individuals move in and out of families to find what suits them best
- this approach is more pessimistic as they acknowledge freedom and choice offered by high modernity but are concerned that families are becoming more fragmented as self absorbed individuals seek their own fulfillment
6
Q
What does Leotard (1984) say about family?
A
- leyotard argues hat today we are living under postmodernist condition
- this suggests we can no longer be certain what is true and what is false
- there is greater certainty on modernity but greater questioning of experts in post modernity as individuals have to work out their own truths
- postmodernist sociologists have applied this to family life pointing out that traditional forma of family life such as the nuclear family were seen by experts s ideal to bring up children and organise personal life
- in post modernity it is argued that there is less certainty abut how we should live our lives
7
Q
What does Bernardes (1997) say about family?
A
-Bernardes argues that we live in a contemporary society postmodern families have a number of characteristics like choice, freedom, diversity, ambivalence and fluidity
8
Q
What does Stacey (1996) say about the family?
A
-Stacey sees the diversity and fluidity of postmodern families as allowing individuals to develop lifestyles and relationships that suit their changing circumstances as they move through their life caurse
9
Q
What does Bauman (2003) say about the family?
A
-Bauman argues that contemporary family bonds have been weakened and there is a lack of certainty about roles and responsibilities in families, which is jeopardizing the family as an institution
10
Q
what is the postmodernist view on family life?
A
- postmodernists argue that the diversity of families and personal relationships in society today mean that we need to be talking about families and intimate relationships rather than just the family
- they also focus more on what families and intimate relationships offer to individuals and how these are worked out and negotiated in daily life, rather than seeing family roles and structures as based on the needs of industrial society or capitalism
11
Q
what are the evaluation points of postmodernism?
A
+changing social acceptance
- continuities in family life
- neglecting social structures
- ethnicity
- gender
12
Q
how is changing social acceptance a strength of postmodernism?
A
- the greater social acceptance of divirce families, cohabitation, same sex relationships and divorce seems to fit with the argument that something fundamental has changed in family life
- this has led sociologists to re-evaluate how they look at families with far less focus on the nuclear family alone and greater interest in new forms of families and relationships
- postmodernists in particular are far more cautious than conventional sociologists about making generalisations about family life such as all women are oppressed by patriarchy or the nuclear family is functional for society, and instead reveal how for different individuals family life may be lived and interpreted in very different ways
13
Q
how are continuities in family life a weakness of postmodernism?
A
- in emphasising changes in family life, postmodernists and individualisation theories have neglected the extent to which there are still continuities in family
- this makes the concept of postmodernity particularly problematic as it suggests a radical break with modernity and the kind of families people lived in the recent past
- for example, even though there is greater family diversity, two parent families remain the norm and appear to be what most people aspire towards
14
Q
how is neglecting social structures a weakness of postmodernism?
A
- Taylor (2007) in a study of working class lesbians found that not only sexuality bit also class affect the lives of her respondents
- for example, working class lesbian mothers often found it more difficult to negotiate with professionals such as doctors and teachers over their children and also found that the kinds of places working-class parents would take children were less welcoming to lesbian mothers
15
Q
how is ethnicity a weakness of postmodernism?
A
- chapman (2004) observes that south Asian families still tend to hold to traditional values concerning marriage and follow a much stricter segregation of marriage and follow a much stricter segregation of gender roles than most white families
- Khanum (2001) in a study of Bangladeshis in Manchester, found that many men who had migrated from Bangladesh had two wives but were unable to bring their second wife to the UK as the relationship was not recognised under UK law
