roles and relationships within the family Flashcards
what has the rise of the nuclear family led to?
joint conjugal roles
what are conjugal roles?
the roles of husband and wife within the family
what are the 2 ways household jobs can be shared identified by Bott (1957)?
segregated roles and joint roles
what are segregated roles?
husband and wives lead seperate lives with clear and distinct responsibilities within the family. the man goes out to work and the woman stays and home and looks after the kids and provides emotional support
what are joint roles?
husband and wife roles are more flexible and shared with less defined tasks for each. leisure time and responsibility for making decisions is shared
what did Willmott and Young (1973) study?
the changing structure of the British family from extended to nuclear
what did Willmott and Young (1973) find?
men and women’s attitudes towards the distribution of labour in the home had undergone radical changes and conjugal roles were being shared in m/c and w/c households
what are 3 ways Willmott and Young (1973) argue roles are more similar?
- women now go out to work, although this may be part-time rather than full-time
- men now help with housework and childcare
- couples now spend leisure time together instead of separately with workmates or female relatives. they are now more privatised or home-centred
how did Oakley (1974) criticise Willmott and Young?
Willmott and Young’s study only required men to do a few things around the house to qualify as having joint roles. their methodology overlooked the amount of time spent on housework
what does Gershuny argue?
women working full-time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home
what did Gershuny (1994) find?
wives who worked full-time did less domestic work. the longer the wife had been in paid work, the more housework her husband was likely to do
what do feminist sociologists argue the division of labour does?
benefits men and oppresses women
what do liberal feminists believe the key to change is?
equal gender socialisation
what do radical feminists argue women have acquired?
a dual burden of paid work and unpaid housework
what is the triple-shift identified by radical feminists?
females take primary responsibility for paid work, domestic work and emotion work
what do Duncombe and Marsden (1995) argue emotin work is seen as?
a ‘labour of love’ because it involves caring for other family members
what does emotion work involve?
liasing between family members, offering advice, listening to and supporting family members
what % more of women than men are doing unpaid chores at homes
40%
how many hours do men compared to women help out at home?
16 hours compared to 26 hours, with those on maternity leave doing the most
what was the female employment rate in 2018?
71%
how many men did Vileda (2009) find still think household chores are a woman’s job?
4 out of 10
what were traditional relationships formed on?
the basis of reproductive and economic factors resulting in patriarchal power and dominance
what are contemporary relationships formed on?
the basis of confluent love
4 characteristics of confluent love
- not forever if relationship isn’t working
- stay together out of choice not obligation
- reltionship is negotiated, open, equal, mutual satisfaction
- same for all sexualities
4 characteristics of traditional parent child relationships
- children seen as a source of income - they were workers and didn’t go to education, no child labour laws
- gender socialisation more definined - boys work, girls stay home (ascribed status)
- high infant mortality rate
- children spend most of their childhood and adult life in the family
4 characteristics of contemporary parent child relationships
- children go to school aged 5-18, financially dependent on parents for longer
- children have a lot more legal rights
- infant and child mortality rates are low
- people have children because they want to rather than convenience or as it’s expected
why do men take a greater share of the family’s resources?
they usually contribute more money, due to their higher earnings
what did Edgell (1980) find very important decisions were done by?
taken by the husband or taken jointly but with the husband having the final say e.g., finance
what did Edgell (1980) find important decisions were done by?
usually taken jointly and rarely by the wife alone e.g., children’s education
what did Edgell (1980) find less important decisions were done by?
usually made by the wife e.g., home decor
what did Barret find about how family resources are shared?
men gain more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
what are 2 types of control over family income identified by Pahl (2002)?
pooling and allowance system
what is pooling?
where both partners have access to income and joint responsibilty for expenditure
what is allowance system?
where men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet the family’s needs, with the man retaining any surplus income for himself
what is a criticism of decision-making identified by the personal life view?
you need to look at the meanings couples give to who controls money and makes decisions
what is the ‘dark side of the family’
the idea that some people are harmed by family life
what is domestic violence?
threatening behaviour, violence or abuse committed by a family member against another
according to the British Crime Survey (2007) what % of domestic violence does violent crime account for?
a sixth
5 examples of domestic violence
- sexual abuse
- physical abuse
- verbal abuse
- emotional abuse
- manipulation
what gender are most dv victims?
women
what % of all incidents against women are committed by men?
89%
how many women have been assaulted by a partner?
1 in 4
how many males will experience domestic violence?
1 in 6
how many police recorded domestic abuse incidents were there in 2013-14 in England and Wales
887,000
how many women are murdered each week on average?
2
how many men are murdered each year on average?
30
what did Dobash and Dobash (1992) carry out a study using?
police and court records
how many women did Dobash and Dobash (1992) interview in their study?
109 women in women’s refuges who were subjected to assaults by their husbands
what do they cite examples of?
wives being slapped, pushed about, beaten, raped or killed by their husbands
what did Dobash and Dobash (1992) find incidents could be set off by?
what a husbands saw as a challenge to their authority such as his wife asking why he was late home
what are the 3 cases of domestic violence Dobash and Dobash (1992) found?
- historical
- cultural
- specific factors
what are historic factors?
in the past violence by husbands was culturally acceptable
what are cultural factors?
in British family life the husband is dominant and the use of coercion acceptable if the wife fails to perform her ‘duties’ adequately
what are specific factors?
such as disputes over money can spark off violence
what did Dobash and Dobash (1992) conclude how marriage legitimises violence against women?
conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives
what do radical feminists interpret the findings of Dobash and Dobash (1992) as?
evidence of patriarchy
who argues that the root cause of domestic violence is patriarchy?
Millet (1970) and Firestone (1970)
how do they patriarchy as the root cause of domestic violence?
it justifies male dominance and justifies the oppression and exploitation of women
what do they see widespread domestic violence as?
an inevitable feature of patriarchal society
what do they think widespread domestic violence serves the needs of?
preserves the power that all men have over women
what do radical feminists explains the reluctance of the police and courts to deal effectively with cases of domestic violence?
male domination of state institutions
how does Elliot (1996) criticise the radical feminist view?
not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence. radical feminists ignore this and the growing number of male victims means patriarchy cannot be the sole factor
what does Luckhurst (2003) argue about male victims?
they are largely invisible and worry the police will not take them seriously or think they started the violence
how many children on average are killed each week, usually by a parent?
1 in 10
what % of women and men in same-sex relationships experienes abuse identified by Donovan (2002)
40% and 35%
when does ‘honour’ based violence occur?
in communities where families can be shamed if a member disobeys their family
who might ‘honour’ based violence carried out by?
several family members
what % of elderly abuse happens in the home?
38%
what is sibling abuse?
the physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse of one sibling by another
what is female genital mutilation (FGM)
the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons
what reasons are sometimes given for FGM?
religious, social or cultural reasons, however it is child abuse
