Roles and relationships within the family

Question 1

Bott (1957) I identified two ways household family jobs can be shared:

Answer 1

• segregated roles
• joint roles

Question 2

what are segregated roles to Bott?

Answer 2

• husband and wife lead separate lives
• distinct responsibilities in the family
  -man goes to work and does DIY
• women looks after the kids and provides emotional support

Question 3

What are joint roles to Bott?

Answer 3

• husband and wife roles are more flexible and shared
• shared responsibility on decision making
• shared leisure time
• less defined tasks

Question 4

Willmott and young (1973) on joint conjugal roles in the family

Answer 4

• studied family changing from extended to nuclear
• increase in nuclear family= joint conjugal roles would develop
• equal and shared responsibilities would be future norm for families
• idea of widespread equality in families was criticised as soon as it was published

Question 5

Oakley (1974) on joint cojugal roles in the family

Answer 5

• said willmott and youngs study on required men to do things around the house
• methodology overlooked the time spent on housework
• 10 mins washing up= the rest of the housework
• oakleys research found its rare for men to do a lot of the housework

Question 6

equal share of paid employment hasn’t led to equal share of domestic labour: research

Answer 6

• Edgell (1980) found none of willmott and youngs sample families had joint conjugal roles for housework but increased for childcare
• oakley(1974) found women took on the dual burden: paid jobs+housework
• Gillian and Dunne (1999) studied lesbian households and found distribution tended to be equal between partners

Question 7

How do women take emotional responsibility for a household? - research

Answer 7

• Bell (1990) ‘ economy of emotion’ that women are responsible for running
• she says managing family emotions is a bit like ‘book keeping’= balance the families emotional budget
• Duncombe and Marsden (1995)- found ‘TRIPLE SHIFT’= childcare, paid employment and emotional work
• found married women are happier when emotional responsibility is shared but they have the burden of most of it

Question 8

How industrialisation led to the creation of a housewife?

Answer 8

• oakley thinks this role is socially constructed by industrialisation
• married women aren’t allowed to work in factories, so this role was created
• middle class had servants but working class had wives
• cultural values were so strong that housework seemed ‘biologically’ women’s responsibility

Question 9

how is power shared in the home: research by Edgell (1980)

Answer 9

• interviewed middle-class couples
• men had decision making control over things both husband and wife found important
• women had control over minor decisions
• because men have higher earnings

Question 10

how is power shared in the home: research by Pahl (1989-93)

Answer 10

• researched money management by 100 dual earning couples
• most common financial management was ‘husband control pooling’
• money is shared but husband had dominant control over how it is spent

Question 11

What is the personal life perspective?

Answer 11

• look at meaning couples attach to control over money
  -about convenience over power
• don’t use traditional family norms and ideals to judge participants

Question 12

Personal life perspective research: research weeks et al. (2001)

Answer 12

• couples that tend to pool money in a joint account
• keep money back in a personal account
• sole control over their personal spending money

Question 13

Personal life perspective research: research Smart (2007)

Answer 13

• same-sex couples don’t link control over money with inequality
• organise money for what’s best for them as a couple
• don’t have the same ideas about gender and inequality and money that heterosexual couples traditionally had

Question 14

Functionalists theory on power in society:

Answer 14

• men and women still largely perform different tasks and roles within the family
• most effective way to keep society running smoothly

Question 15

Marxist theory on power in society:

Answer 15

-different roles is due to the power of capitalism to control family life
- different roles because capitalism works best that way
- capitalist class needs to promote women being naturally more caring and nurturing
- this is maintained ideologically through the media

Question 16

Feminist theory on power in society:

Answer 16

• inequality in household roles shows inequality in power
• patrichal society produces unequal conjugal roles bc societys systems and values will inevitably benefit me at the extent of women

Question 17

sociologists see child abuse In terms of power

Answer 17

• parent/ career able to abuse a child by manipulating the responsibilities and trust they have
• families are private and seperate, so child abuse Is less likely to be reported

Question 18

social policies put in place to protect children

Answer 18

• The children act 1989 can intervene in families if social workers are concerned about childrens safety
• child protection plan: allows social workers to monitor families to protect children from neglect and abuse

Question 19

How domestic violence affects families in the UK

Answer 19

• women is killed due to domestic violence every 3 days
• 570 000 cases of domestic violence reported every year
• domestic violence occurs every 6-20 seconds

Question 20

How radical feminists see domestic violence: research

Answer 20

• violence against women is treated differently to any other violent crime
• Dobash and Dobash (1979) police didn’t usually record violent crimes from husbands against wives
• created police domestic unit but conviction rate is still low
• before 1991, law said a husband was entitled to have sex with his wife against her will, after this a rape law was created
• radical feminists believe the laws and policies were to control women

Question 21

Radical feminists beliefs on domestic violence

Answer 21

• violence against women seen as power and control
• social climate helps: makes women feel ashamed if they talk about violence, due to ideology of patriarchy that women should stay in their place
• tendency to blame the victim
• Dobash and Dobash: violent partners returned due to fear of being stigmatised and financial dependence

Question 22

Criticism of radical feminists: overemphasizing the power of men

Answer 22

• functionalists argue most families operate harmoniously
• postmodern theories argue that people have enough choice and control to leave or reshape their families
• men= all powered but women= powerless
• Phillips (2003) women abuse men too and male victims are ignored
• groups like ‘ families need fathers’ for men to have equal right in family and child law