Sociologists

Question 1

Murdock

Answer 1

Looked at 250 society’s in different cultures. Found some sort of nuclear family existed in all of them and argued they had four basic functions.

Question 2

Murdocks 4 functions

Answer 2

Sexual-provide a stable sexual relationship for adults and controls sexual relationships of its members
Reproductive-provides new babies (members of society)
Economic-family pools resources and provides for all members
Educational-teaches children norms and values of society

Question 3

Parsons argued the family has two main functions. What are they?

Answer 3

Primary socialisation-process children learn and accept norms and values of society
For adults it stabilises personalities through emotional relationships between parents.

Question 4

Why does Morgan disagree with Murdock

Answer 4

He makes no reference to alternative households or disharmony and problems in family relationships in family.

Question 5

Engles

Answer 5

Family has economic functions to keep wealth with bourgeoise by inheritance

Question 6

Zaretsky

Answer 6

Focus on how family helped capitalist economy. It’s the one place where a proletariat has power. Working man is in charge of household so they don’t feel as frustrated about their low status at work and accept oppression.

Question 7

Benton

Answer 7

If housework was paid at minus wage it would damage capitalist profits

Question 8

Delphy and Leonard

Answer 8

Radical feminists who see family as a patriarchal institution where women do the most work but men get the most benefit.

Question 9

Judith Stacey

Answer 9

Postmodernist-there is such a diversity in family types there won’t ever be one dominant type of family

Question 10

O’Brien and Jones

Answer 10

found their was less variety in family types as Stacey reported and people only experience one or two family types in their life

Question 11

Charles Murray

Answer 11

New Right-traditional families are under threat. Welfare benefits are to high and create a culture of dependency where it’s easier to rake benefits then work

Question 12

Benton

Answer 12

If housework was paid at minus wage it would damage capitalist profits

Question 13

Delphy and Leonard

Answer 13

Radical feminists who see family as a patriarchal institution where women do the most work but men get the most benefit.

Question 14

Judith Stacey

Answer 14

Postmodernist-there is such a diversity in family types there won’t ever be one dominant type of family

Question 15

O’Brien and Jones

Answer 15

found their was less variety in family types as Stacey reported and people only experience one or two family types in their life

Question 16

Charles Murray

Answer 16

New Right-traditional families are under threat. Welfare benefits are to high and create a culture of dependency where it’s easier to rake benefits then work

Question 17

Peter Laslett

Answer 17

Nuclear families has been he most common structure even before industrialisation. His evidence is from parish records

Question 18

Laslett Anderson

Answer 18

Extended family was significant during industrialisation he used the 1851 census for evidence

Question 19

Who did Willmott and young study

Answer 19

Two important studies looking at family between 1950s and 70s it tested the theory that nuclear family is the dominant form in modern society

Question 20

What did Willmott and young find?

Answer 20

British families have developed through three stages.

1. Pre-industrialisation Family works together as an economic production unit work and home are combined.
2. Early Industrial Extended family is broken up as individuals men work while women have extended kinship networks at home
3. Privatised NuclearFamily based on consumption not production nuclear family focuses on its personal relationships and lifestyles (Symetrical family husband and wife have joint roles)

Question 21

Helen Wilkinson

Answer 21

Increasing numbers of women are working because economy has moved away from male dominated industrialisation sector

Question 22

Why has Willmott and young been criticised with other Functionalists

Answer 22

Assuming family life has got better as structures adapts to modern society and they ignore the negatives such as domestic violence

Question 23

Donzelot

Answer 23

Social policy can be used by the state to control families

Question 24

Child support agency

Answer 24

1993 force absent parents to pay a fair amount for the upkeep of their children

Question 25

Children act

Answer 25

1989 outlined for the first time the rights of the child

Question 26

New Labour 1997

Answer 26

Middle ground between left and right wing politics they supported families and showed they preferred marriage was their preferred basis of family life.
2005 introduced civil partnership and allowed cohabiting couples to adopt

Question 27

Coalition government

Answer 27

2010 promoted marriage as a stabilising force in marriage 2014 legalised same sex marriage however during financial crisis of 2008 they capped housing benefits to £500 a week 2015 capped child benefits

Question 28

Oakley

Answer 28

Found it was unlikely for men to do much housework and women took on dual burden trading on paid jobs and looking after house and kids

Question 29

Gillian Dunne

Answer 29

Lesbian households distributed jobs equally

Question 30

Diane Bell

Answer 30

Economy of emotions within families that women own

Question 31

Dunce be and Marsden

Answer 31

Women had a triple shift and they were happier when husband took some of the emotional work

Question 32

Edgell

Answer 32

Interviewed middle class couples and found men had decision-making control over things both found important while women had control over minor decisions

Question 33

Pahl

Answer 33

Researched money management by 100 dual-income couples is the most common form of financial management was husband controlled pooling which is money being shared but husband has the dominant role in how it’s spent

Question 34

Weeks

Answer 34

Couples pool money in a joint account while they keep some in a personal account

Question 35

Carol smart

Answer 35

Same sex couples don’t link control over money with inequality in the relationship they do what’s best as a couple

Question 36

Rapoport and Rapoport

Answer 36

Identified five types of family diversity

Question 37

What are the five types of family diversity

Answer 37

Organisational diversity
Cultural diversity
Class diversity
Life-course diversity
Cohort diversity

Question 38

What’s organisational diversity?

Answer 38

Differences in the way family are structured eg nuclear extended reconstituted

Question 39

What’s Cultural Diversity?

Answer 39

Differences from different norms and values of a different culture

Question 40

What’s class diversity

Answer 40

Different views held by other parts of society concerning families eg rich parents are more likely to send their kids to private schools and will have a relationship with between parents and children

Question 41

Life course diversity

Answer 41

Caused by different stages people have reached in their lives eg family’s are different to newly weds and people with kids

Question 42

Cohort diversity

Answer 42

Differences created by historical periods the family has lived through

Question 43

Giddens

Answer 43

Individual choice decides family relationships

Question 44

How many marriages in England and Wales end in divorce?

Answer 44

40%