Sociology-Families and Households-Changing Patterns Flashcards
What are the different changing family patterns?
Divorce, partnerships, parents/children, ethnic differences and extended families
How is divorce changing?
Major increase since 1960s, and now 40% of marriages will end in divorce
Although divorce is increasing, why was there a slight decrease?
Less people are marrying and instead cohabitation
Who do most divorce applications come from?
Women (65%), compared to only 37% in 1946
What types of couples are more at risk for divorce?
Those who marry young, have a child before they marry or cohabit before marriage, and those where one or both partners have been married before
What are seven explanations for the increase in divorce?
Changes in law, declining stigma/changing attitudes, secularisation, rising expectations of marriage, women’s increased financial independence, feminist explanation, and modernity/individualisation
How have changes in the law increased the rate of divorce?
Equalising the grounds, widening the grounds and making divorce cheaper
What happened when the grounds were equalised?
In 1923 they were equalised for men and women, which was followed by a sharp rise in the number of divorce petitions from women
What happened when the grounds were widened?
In 1971 widening the grounds made divorce easier to obtain and produced a doubling of the divorce rate almost overnight
What happened when divorce was made cheaper?
Introduction of legal aid for divorce cases in 1949 lowered the cost of divorcing and so divorce rates increased
What are other solutions to the problem of an unhappy marriage apart from divorce?
Desertion, legal separation, and ‘empty shell’ marriages-though these solutions become less popular as divorce becomes easier
What is desertion?
Where one partner leaves the other but the couple remain legally married
What is legal separation?
Where a court separates the financial and legal affairs of the couple but they remain married and are not free to re-marry
What is an empty shell marriage?
Where the couple continue to live under the same roof but remain married in name only
What do the changes in law fail to explain?
They give people the freedom to divorce more easily but don’t explain why more people should chose to take advantage of this freedom. So to fully explain the rise in divorce rates we must look at other changes too, including changes in public attitude
What is stigma?
It refers to the negative label, social disapproval or shame attached to a person, action or relationship
How was divorce stigmatised?
For example, churches tended to condemn divorce and often refused to conduct marriage services involving divorcees
What do Mitchell and Goody 1997 note?
Note that an important change since the 1960s has been the rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce
What happens as stigma declines?
Divorce becomes more socially acceptable and so couples become more willing to resort to divorce as a means of solving their marital problems
What in turn happens when divorce becomes more common?
It begins to ‘normalise’ and so reduces more of the stigma attached to it, today it is seen as a misfortune, rather tan shameful
What does secularisation mean?
It refers to the decline in the influence of religion in society
What is an example of secularisation?
Church attendance rates continue to decline, which is a reason why many sociologists argue that religious institutions are losing their influence and society is becoming more secular
What happens as a result of secularisation?
The traditional opposition of the churches to divorce carries less weight in society and people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions about personal matters eg whether or not to file for divorce
How have changes in the church also contributed to rising divorce rates?
Many churches have begun to soften their views on divorce and divorcees, maybe as they fear losing credibility with large sections of the public and with their own members
What does Fletcher 1966 argue?
Argues that the higher expectations people place on marriage today are a major cause of rising divorce rates as higher expectations make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
What is the ideology of romantic love?
An idea that has become dominant over the last couple of centuries which is the belief that marriage should be based solely on love, and that for each individual there is a ‘Mr/Mrs Right’
How can the ideology of romantic love cause a higher divorce rate?
It follows the idea that if love dies, there is no longer any justification for remaining married and every reason to divorce so as to be able to renew the search for one’s true soulmate
What was marriage based on in the past?
Individuals often had little choice in who they married, and at a time when the family was also a unit of production, marriages were often contracted largely for economic reasons or out of duty to one’s family
What was a result of marriages for economic reasons?
Individuals were unlikely to have the high expectations about marriage as a romantic union of two souls that many couples have today, so entering with lower expectations means they were less likely to be dissatisfied by the absence of romance
What do Allan and Crow 2001 say?
‘Love, personal commitment and intrinsic satisfaction are now seen as the cornerstones of marriage. The absence of these feelings is itself justification for ending the relationship’
Despite todays higher divorce rates, wha do functionalists point out?
The continuing popularity of marriage. Most adults marry, and the high rate of re-marriage after divorce shows that although divorcees may have become dissatisfied with a particular partner, they have not rejected marriage as an institution
How do feminists criticise the functionalist view?
They argue it is too rosy a view and that the oppression of women within the family is the main cause of marital conflict and divorce, but functionalists ignore this-although they offer an explanation, they fail to explain why women are the ones that seek divorce more often
What is a reason for why women have an increased willingness to seek divorce?
Improvements in their economic position have made them less financially dependent on their husband and therefore freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage
What are examples of women’s increased financial independence?
Much more likely to be in paid work (53% in 1971, then 67% in 2013), women still earn less but equal pay and anti discrimination laws narrow the pay gap, girls have greater success in education which helps, and the availability of welfare benefits mean women no longer have to remain financially dependent on husbands
What do all these developments for women mean?
Women are able to support themselves after divorce which means it is a viable option for them
What view do Allan and Crow put forward?
Argue that marriage is less embedded within the economic system now-fewer family firms and family is no longer a unit of production, so spouses are not so dependent on each other economically now
What is the feminist explanation to higher divorce rates?
Married women today have a dual burden of paid work and domestic work, which has created a new source of conflict between husbands and wives, leading to higher divorce rates
What does Hochschild 1997 argue?
Argues that for many women, the home compares unfavourable to work as at work they feel valued, but at home, men’s continuing resistance to relieve the dual burden/triple shift is a source of frustration that makes the marriage unstable
What does Wendy Sigle-Rushtion 2007 argue?
Mothers who have a dual burden of paid work and domestic work are more likely to divorce than non-working mothers in marriages with a traditional division of labour
How do Cooke and Gash 2010 counteract Wendy Sigle-Rushton?
They found no evidence that working women are more likely to divorce, and argue this is because working has now become the accepted norm for married women
What does Bernard 1976 (radical feminist) observe?
-Many women feel a growing dissatisfaction with patriarchal marriage and so the rising divorce rate and the fact that most petitions come from women, is evidence of their growing acceptance of feminist ideas (more conscious of patriarchal oppression/more confident to reject it)
What do Beck and Giddens 1992 argue?
In modern society, traditional norms, such as the duty to remain with the dame partner for life, lose their hold over individuals
What happens as a result of less values on traditional norms?
Each individual becomes free to pursue their own self interest-this is the individualisation thesis
What happens as a result of the individualisation thesis?
Relationships are more fragile as individuals are less willing to remain with the same partner if the relationship fails to bring personal fulfilment
What does Giddens say that people seek today?
The pure relationship, which is one that exists solely to satisfy each partners’ needs and not out of a sense of duty, tradition or for the sake of children-this results in higher divorce rates
What happens at the same time as rising divorce rates normalise divorce?
It further strengthens the belief that marriage exists solely to provide personal fulfilment
How else does modern society encourage individualism?
Eg women as well as men are now expected to work and are encouraged to pursue their own individual career ambitions. This can cause conflicts of interest between spouses and contribute to marital breakdown
What do some sociologists also argue that modernity encourages?
People to adopt a neoliberal, consumerist identity based on the idea of freedom to follow one’s own self interest. This pursuit of self-interest is likely to pull spouses apart
How does the new right see high divorce rates?
Undesirable as it undermines marriage and traditional nuclear family that is vital to social stability. It creates a growing underclass of welfare-dependent female lone parents who are a burden on the state and leaves boys without adult male role model they need. This also results in poorer health and educational outcomes for children
How do feminists see high divorce rates?
As desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family
How do postmodernists and the individualisation thesis see high divorce rates?
As showing that individuals now have freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs-a major cause of greater family diversity
How do functionalists see high divorce rates?
It isn’t necessarily a threat to marriage as a social institution, it is the result of people’s higher expectations of marriage today. The high rate of re-marriage shows people’s continuing commitment to the idea of marriage
How do interactionists see high divorce rates?
They aim to understand what divorce means to the individual eg Morgan 1996 argues that we can’t generalise about the meaning of divorce, because every individual’s interpretation of it is different
How do the personal life perspective see high divorce rates?
They accept that divorce can cause problems, such as financial difficulties and lack of daily contact between children and non-resident parents, however (Smart 2011) divorce is normalised and family life can adapt to it rather than disintegrating, divorce is a transition amongst others in the life course rather than a major social problem
What are some of the important changes in the pattern of marriage in recent years?
Marriage rates at lowest since 1920s (2012 had less than half the marriages of 1970), more re-marriages (in 2012, 1/3 marriages were re-marriages for both partners), people are marrying later (average age of first marriage rose by 7 years from 1971 and 2012) and couples are less likely to marry in a church (in 1981, 60% were religious ceremonies but in 2012 it was 30%
