Roles of couples in the family Flashcards
Functionalist
Why does Parsons say men and women in the family are equal but different
Parson:
men and women should have defined roles within the family which are separate but equal.
men=instrumental leader:responsible for providing for the family and acting as a breadwinner
women=expressive leader:providing for the family’s emotional and domestic needs
Men and women are biologically programmed to take on these different roles.Men have historically always been providers and women have a maternal instinct which makes them good as caregivers
-roles are of equal importance and both required for the family to function as normal
EVALUATION:
theory only looks at nuclear family and not other structures
Functionalism
Why does Bott say couples can adopt different approaches to their conjugal roles
conjugal:roles+responsibility’s performed by a married couple
BOTT:
-couples may share their responsibilities in different ways depending on personal preference and other responsibilities they have else where
Segregated conjugal roles:perform separate roles to one another.Men usually the breadwinner and women in household labour
Joint conjugal roles:share domestic chores around the house and both contribute financially.More likely to spend leisure time together as well
-main factor which influences couples distribution of conjugal roles is class background.In m/c families the women is likely to have pursued higher levels of education and gone on to pursue a career
by contrast w/c women are likely to of pursued motherhood at a younger age so happy to adopt segregated roles
EVALUATION:
-ignores in segregated couples, men have more power
What is the March of progress theory (Young+Willmot) on role of couples
YOUNG+WILLMOTT
-family today is symmetrical:male and female roles are becoming more similar EG-women in paid employment
-men are more hands on as parents.Known as ‘the new man’
1)geographical mobility:people are required to move around for work and education->people don’t live near extended families so depend more on one another
2)educational opportunities for women
-women are pursuing careers of their own>women don’t have all the time to do domestic care so they expect their partner to help out
3)higher standards if living
-people have a better quality if living EG-better housing,education,healthcare etc
-people expect material goods EG-holidays,nice car etc so need two breadwinners->men have to help around the house more
EVALUATION:
-ignores working class families may not experience the same symmetrical degree at m/c families
Feminism
Why does Oakley say Women still do most of the housework, even when they are in paid employment
Oakley:
-found that for housewives in the past was a full time job
-equality hasn’t translated into the family unit
BSA:challenges Young+Willmotts claim of ‘new man’ instead indicate that little has changed in the distributive of household labour
Warde+Hetherington:
-couples habe a tendency to sex type household chores.Women more likely to do washing and cleaning whereas men are more likely to do DIY jobs
Hoschschild:
dual burden:used to describe the situation women are in.Expected to contribute towards financial needs to the family as well as take care of majority of domestic care
EVALUATION
-some women prefer to do more of the housework
Feminism
Why do Ferri and smith say Women take on most responsibility for childcare
FERRI AND SMITH
-only 4% of families,fathers are the primary carers for their children.96% of women are main caregivers
-suggests little has changed in terms of expectation that women should be responsible for raising children
-mens involvement to childhood is very limited to the fun’s aspects
BRAUN ET AL:
-men continue to see themselves as the provider of the family.
-Research of 70 fathers, only 3 were primary caregivers.Others thought that their role with children was to help out when their partner wanted a break but is mainly their partners role
EVALUATION:
-women prefer to childcare due to bonding with child at pregnancy and child birth
cultural perspectives on the role of couples
-focus on social attitudes and behaviours ans whether these are changing
cultural study which show couples are moving towards greater equality:
Gershany:found that couples whore parents had more of an equal relationship were more likely themselves to be willing to share domestic labour
Study to show an inequality still exists:
Dünne:looked into lesbian couples and found they are more likely to be genuinely symmetrical than heterosexual couples
Materialistic perspectives on role of couples
-focus on relationship between earning power of men and women in the wider job market
Studies which demonstrate how material factors lead to greater equality at home
Kan:found that for every £10,000 more that a women earns per year ,she does 2hrs less of housework per week
Studies which demonstrate that domestic inequality continues to be a problem:
Ramos:found that couples where the women was the full time breadwinner and the man was unemployed, they still shared housework 50/50,despite the man having more time to do housework
Distribution of resources and decision making
Discuss Distribution of financial resources in the family
-source of inequality kn the family comes from the way finances are managed,particularly when children are involved
-mens earnings outstrips that of women
BARRETT AND MCINTOSH:
1)men earn more money than women so assume that they should take responsibility for deciding how money is spent.->gives them a degree of control as they can dictate what items the family can have
2)men have control over what personal financial sport the women is allowed.->men can be flexible with his own personal finances but can restrict women on what they spend their money on.
3)women contribute more to the family in terms of domestic labour they provide them their husbands contribute financially.Womens labour goes unrecognised+unrewarded
PAHL+VOLGER
-two ways couples divide of finances which impact women
1)allowance system:men is solo breadwinner but gives wife an allowance per week which she can spend on herself+family and keep majority of money for himself
2)Pooling:both partners are in paid employment and put their income into a shared bank account.Use the account to support the family’s needs financially.Critics argue that men still have more power in this system,women is essentially handing over her hard earned money
EVALUATION
-women might prefer for men to deal with finances as it is a weight of their shoulders
Resources and decisions making
Discuss Decision making in the role of couples
-studies show that men take on the responsibility for the important decisions which affect the household.
HARDILL:
studied 30 dual career couples and found that when couples were making important decisions EG-property and finance.Husbands career was always factored as priority
EXAMPLE:if the husband was to get s new job the decision to move house to accommodate this would be likely to be pushed through
EDGELL:
-identified something of a hierarchy when it comes to decisions in the family
Important decisions EG-financial investments tend to be discussed jointly but the husband has the final say
Medium level decisions EG-school to send children to were made together jointly
Mother would take responsibility for small decisions
-feminists argue that these inequalities in decisions are result of patriarchy.Men believe themselves to be the more important partner
EVALUATION:
-men making important decisions isn’t down to patriarchy but down to the fact that maybe women prefer for them to make that decision
Domestic violence
Discuss Radical feminism in role of couples
MILLETT+FIRESTONE:
-believe domestic violence is symptomatic of living in a patriarchal society
1)men have the potential to resort to violence as a means of controlling women->family is where women are most vulnerable
2)women are pressured by society’s values to see marriage as a desirable lifestyle choice->throwing their independence away,trapping themselves in a relationship in which they become property of men
3)justice system is patriarchal
-judges+police officers are more likely to be men so experiences of females aren’t taken seriously
-women are now afraid to come forward+men get away with it
EVALUATION
-exaggerate the extent to which men are violent, the majority of men will never be aggressive to women
Domestic violent
Discuss materialistic explanation for role of couples
WILKINSON AND PICKETT
-bigger problem in deprived families
1)families more likely to be worried about money+how much they have,if they can afford bills etc.-> leads to conflict and tension in the family which could lead to violence
2)families have little money to spend
-unable to see and spend time with other people,so end up stuck together for long periods of time
-left feeling unsupported as a result of the lack of social contact which they have with other people
-sense of isolation could lead to violence
EVALUATION:
-most domestic violence is committed by men against women which this theory can’t explain
Feminism
Why do Feminists say women get less quality time to themselves
-Don’t get a lot of time to themselves
-Expected to take a large responsibility for organising the family’s quality and leisure time
SOUTHERTON:
-Found that mothers tend to organise family events and father being more of an attendee
-inequality in free time as mens free time tended to be alone whereas mother involved this children such as play dates
-Women have less opportunities to be apart from children
EVALUATION
-Men may need more leisure time due to the nature of work they do
