Sociology Familes & Households: Changing Family Patterns And Family Diversity Flashcards
Sociology: changing family patterns
Divorce
-change in law
-divorce reform act(1971)
-‘irretrievable breakdown’ made it easier to obtain
-legal aid for divorce made divorce cheaper
Sociology: changing family patterns
Divorce
-declining stigma
-in the past divorce was stigmatised
-e.g churches tended to condemn divorce
-become more common reduces stigma it’s now regarded as misfortunate
Sociology: changing family patterns
Divorce
-rising expectations of marriage
Fletcher
-marriage is largely linked to romantic idea of love so if they’re is no love no reason to be married
-some had no choice in the past and therefore had low expectations
Sociology: changing family patterns
Divorce
-women’s independence
-women doing better in education
-more likely to be in paid work
-welfare benefits mean they don’t have to be dependent on men
Sociology: changing family patterns
Reasons changing patterns Marriage
-declining stigma to marriage alternatives
-age of marriages are rising
-changes in position of women
Sociology: changing family patterns
Reasons for increasing cohabitation
-the young are more likely to accept cohabitation
-secularisation
-more opportunities for women
Sociology: changing family patterns
One-person households
-lots of pensioners live alone
-but now due to divorce huge increase in non pensioners
Sociology: changing family patterns
Childbearing
-47% of children are born outside of marriage
-women are having children later
-fewer children or even childless
Sociology: changing family patterns
Lone parent families
-one in four children lives in a parent only household
-due to increase divorce rate
Sociology: changing family patterns
Why woman are most likely to be lone parent
-wide spread belief that women are more nurturing
-the fact divorce courts usually give custody to mothers
Sociology: changing family patterns
Lone parents and the welfare state
Murray
-providing benefits to unmarried mothers and their children
-rewards irresponsible behaviour and creates dependency culture
-he said abolish walfare state
Sociology: changing family patterns
Black family’s
-higher proportion rate on lone-parent households
-due to unemployment men cannot provide for their family leading to desertation
Sociology: changing family patterns
Asian families
-nuclear
-due to Asian culture
-live nearby relatives
Family diversity:
Rapoports:
Generational
Older and younger generations have different views, values and experiences that determines family structure
Family diversity:
Rapoports:
Life stage
Difference in family structure due to stage in life cycle
Family diversity:
Rapoports:
Social class
Difference in family structure due to income
Family diversity:
Rapoports:
Organisational
Refers to the way family’s are organised e.g duel earners
Family diversity:
Rapoports:
Cultural
Different cultures have different family structures e.g more Asian households are extended family’s
Family diversity:
Neo-conventional
Chester
-dual earner family
-stats on house hold composition are a snap shot most people have spray their lives in a nuclear family (same beliefs as functionalism)
Family diversity:
Functionalism
Parsons
-nuclear family is the only suitable structure
-others cannot perform functions required
Family diversity:
New Right
-see only nuclear as functional
-breadwinner husband and homemaker wife
-lone parent family’s are harmful to children
Family diversity:
New right critique
Oakley
-wrongly assume husbands and wives roles are fixed by biology
-study’s show a variation is best
Family diversity:
Postmodern families
Stacey
-greater freedom has benefited women
-as women where the main reasons for changes in the family
-her interviews showed many women had rejected the traditional housewife role
-carrer then remarried
Family diversity:
Choice and equality
Giddens
-family and Marriage has changed due to choice
-contraception has allowed sex not just for reproduction
-women’s independence
Family diversity:
Pure relationship
Giddens
-relationships are no longer bound by traditional norms
-soles exists for each others needs
-free to enter and leave as they please
-however, less stable more like a rolling contract
Family diversity:
Individualisation thesis
-traditional social structures like class,gender and family have lost influence
-less fixed roles
Family diversity:
Individualisation thesis critique
-exaggerates how much choice people have about family relationships
-ignores factors like social class inequality and patriarchy in limiting choices
