Sociology - Families & Households Flashcards
PARSONS - Gender roles
Expressive role - Women = Homemaker (involves cooking, cleaning and looking after children)
Instrumental role - Men = Breadwinner (involves paid work, earning the income for the family)
BOTT - Division of labour
Segregated conjugal roles - Division of labour between men and women, couple spends leisure time separately
Joint conjugal roles - couples share domestic tasks and leisure time.
WILLMOTT AND YOUNG
There are now more symmetrical families as a result of increased joint conjugal roles
ARE COUPLES MORE EQUAL? - MARCH OF PROGRESS
The ‘new man’ means couples have an equal share of housework and childcare.
ARE COUPLES MORE EQUAL? - DUAL BURDEN
Women now do paid work and domestic work (Feri and Smith)
ARE COUPLES MORE EQUAL? - TRIPLE SHIFT
Women not only carry the dual burden of paid and domestic work, but also have to do the emotional work (Duncombe and Marsden).
DECISION MAKING - MATERIAL EXPLANATION
Men have more power in decision making because they earn more.
DECISION MAKING - CULTURAL EXPLANATION
Gender role socialisation instils the view that men are the primary decision makers.
DOMESTIC ABUSE - DOBASH AND DOBASH
Marriage and the nuclear family is the key institution of patriarchy, and the main source of women’s oppression. Domestic violence is inevitable because it serves to preserve the power men have over women
DOMESTIC ABUSE - ANSLEY
Domestic violence is the product of capitalism: males workers are exploited at work and take their frustration out on their wives.
DOMESTIC ABUSE - WILKINSON
Domestic violence is the result of stress on the family caused by social inequality.
CHANGES TO CHILDHOOD OVER TIME - ARIES
In the middle ages, the idea of childhood did not exist. Children had the same responsibilities, rights and skills as adults - in turn, they were considered economic assets. However, as the modern notion of childhood began to emerge, there became a profound distinction between children in adults in terms of clothing, rights and responsibilities.
CHANGES TO CHILDHOOD OVER TIME - POSTMAN
In modern society, childhood is ‘disappearing’. Children and adults have some of the same rights, children’s unsupervised traditional games are disappearing, children are committing ‘adult’ crimes. The printed word created a hierarchy between adults, who can read, and children, who cannot - this gave adults the power to keep ‘adult matters’ private. However, TV blurs the distinction and information hierarchy; TV does not require special skills to access it.
CHANGES TO CHILDHOOD OVER TIME - SHORTER
In the middle ages, the high death rate of children encouraged indifference and neglect. For example, parents referred to their child as “it” or gave the child a name of a recently dead sibling.
HAS CHILDHOOD IMPROVED? - THE MARCH OF PROGRESS VIEW
Childhood has improved significantly
How children are now perceived as vulnerable people who need taking care of.
Introduction of laws which improve the experience of childhood (Eg. laws banning child labour).
HAS CHILDHOOD IMPROVED? - PALMER
‘Toxic childhood’ - Rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. This is the result of intensive marketing to children, parents working long hours and testing in education.
HAS CHILDHOOD IMPROVED? - GITTINS
‘Age patriarchy’ - There is an age patriarchy of adult domination and child dependency. This may assert itself in the form of violence against children.
THE ORGANIC ANALOGY
The human body is made up of different parts that function together to meet its needs and maintain it. Functionalists believe society does the same, in which it is made up of interdependent parts (eg. the education system, the government, religion etc) that work together to maintain the social system as a whole.
MURDOCK
The nuclear family performs four essential functions:
>Socialisation of the young
>Satisfaction of the member’s economic needs
>Reproduction of the next generation
>Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
PARSONS - THE FUNCTIONAL FIT
The functions that the family perform depend on the type of society in which they are found:
>Pre-industrial society - extended family - had the function of production and consumption
>Modern society - nuclear family - have the function of social and geographical mobility
The nuclear family has two irreducible functions:
> Primary socialisation of the young - equipping the next generation with basic skills and society’s values.
Stabilisation of adult personalities - enabling adults to relax so they can return to the workplace and perform their roles effectively.
ENGELS
The family exists so men can pass their private property onto their biological offspring, notably a son.
ZARETZKY
There is an ideological function of the family called the ‘cult of private life’ - this is the belief that we can only gain fulfilment from family life, which distracts attention from exploitation.
POULANTZAS
Nuclear families are brainwashed into thinking capitalism is fair, which teaches lower generations how to conform and co-operate with the capitalist system.
LIBERAL FEMINISTS
Liberal feminists take a march of progress view in suggesting gender inequality is gradually being overcome through reform and policy change, which changes people’s attitudes towards socialisation and challenges stereotypes. For example, the new man is becoming more widespread.
MARXIST FEMINISTS
Capitalism is the main form of women’s oppression in the family and this performs several functions for capitalism:
>Reproducing the labour force - women socialise the next generation of workers.
>Absorbing men’s anger - wives soak up their husband’s frustration from being exploited at work.
>A reserve army of cheap labour - when not needed, women workers can return to their domestic role.
RADICAL FEMINISTS
> The family and marriage are the key institutions in a patriarchal society
Men benefit from the women’s unpaid domestic labour and sexual services, dominate them through violence or the threat of it.
Believe the patriarchal system needs to be overturned, and the only way to achieve this is through separatism, meaning women need to organise themselves to live independently to men.
DIFFERENCE FEMINISTS
Not all women share the same experience of oppression; women of different ethnicities, class, age etc may have different experiences of the family.
NEW RIGHT
A biologically-based division of labour - the division of labour between a male breadwinner and a female homemaker is natural and biologically determined.
Families should be self-reliant - reliance on state welfare leads to a dependency culture and undermines traditional gender roles. It produces a family breakdown and an increase of lone-parent families, which results in social problems due to poor socialisation.
PERSONAL LIFE PERSPECTIVE - SMART
Looks at relationships that individuals see as significant and gives a sense of identity, belonging and relatedness (pets, friends etc.). Interactionists believe that structural approaches assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant type of family. This ignores the increased diversity of families today.
BIRTHS
Birth rate - the number of live births per year per 1000. Trends: a long-term decline in birth rate. However, there were 3 ‘baby booms’ after WW1, WW2 and during the 1960’s.
REASONS FOR THE DECLINE IN BIRTH RATE
- Changes in the position of women
- Fall in infant mortality rate
- Children as an economic liability
- Child centredness
IMPACT OF A DECLINING BIRTH RATE
> The dependency ratio increases - the relationship between the size of the working population and the non-working (dependent) population.
The working population’s earnings support the dependent population through tax.
Women are having fewer children because this reduces the ‘burden of dependency’.
Public services - fewer schools, child health services etc.
DEATH
Death rate - The number of deaths per 1000 per year. Trends: declining. With the exception of fluctuations in WW1, WW2 and the 1918 flu epidemic.
REASONS FOR A DECLINE IN DEATH RATE
> Improved nutrition
Medical improvements (vaccinations, antibiotics, NHS)
Public health improvements (better housing, clean water, clean air)
Social change (decline in manual labour, greater knowledge of disease)
REASONS FOR AN AGEING POPULATION
The average age in the UK is increasing because of:
>Increased life expectancy
>Low infant mortality rate
>Declining fertility
IMPACT OF AN AGEING POPULATION
> Increased strain on public services
More one-person households
The rising dependency ratio
Ageism
PHILLIPSON (MARXIST): AGEING POPULATION
The old are of no use to capitalism because they are no longer productive and an economically dependent group, adding to the dependency ratio.
HUNT (POSTMODERNIST): AGEING POPULATION
We can choose our identity no matter what our age is: our age no longer determines who we are. As a result of this, the elderly become a market for body maintenance and rejuvenation services and goods, such as cosmetic surgery, gym membership and anti-ageing products.
IMMIGRATION
Movement into a society
EMIGRATION
Movement put of a society
REASONS FOR MIGRATION
> Push factors - unemployment and economic recession
Pull factors - higher wages and better opportunities
INCREASING DIVORCE RATES - REASONS
> Legal changes - divorce has become easier to access
Less stigma
Secularisation
Higher expectations of marriage - the rising expectation of marriage based upon unrealistic scenarios shown in movies has led to the dissatisfaction amongst many couples (Fletcher).
Women’s financial independence
DECREASING MARRIAGE RATES - REASONS
> Changing attitudes - less pressure to marry
Alternatives to marriage (such as cohabitation) are less stigmatised
Women’s economic independence
Impact of feminism - some women now see marriage as a patriarchal institution
Rising divorce rates - this may put women off marrying
Other trends in marriage:
>Rise in serial monogamy - many people re-marry
>Later marriages - the young spend longer in education and cohabit before marrying
>Fewer church weddings - due to secularisation
PARTNERSHIPS
> More people are living together without being married (secularisation, stigma and cost)
Increase in same-sex partnerships (secularisation and stigma)
More people living alone (life expectancy and stigma)
CHILDBEARING & CHILDREARING
> More children are born outside marriage
Women are having children later
Radical feminists are still unhappy with women being the main caregivers
PARSONS (FUNCTIONALISM) - FAMILY DIVERSITY
Parsons states that family diversity has increased, and there as been a shift away from the traditional nuclear family. Nowadays, it is more common for reconstituted, lone-parent and cohabiting families to exist. However, functionalists and the new right reject this in arguing the nuclear family is the only family type functional for society.
THE NEW RIGHT - FAMILY DIVERSITY
The New Right believe that the nuclear family as the only ‘natural’ family type. Other family types produce social problems (Eg. lone parent families lead to a dependency culture). Generous welfare benefits have encouraged such deviant family types.
THE RAPOPORTS - FAMILY DIVERSITY
The Rapoports believe we have moved away from the nuclear family into a range of different family types. Unlike New Right, Rapports see diversity as a positive response to people’s needs and wishes. Their 5 types of family diversity include: organisational diversity, cultural diversity, social class diversity, life-stage diversity, generational diversity.
CHESTER- FAMILY DIVERSITY
Chester states that although diversity has increased, the nuclear family remains dominant. There has been an important change from the conventional family (segregated conjugal roles) to the neo-conventional family, which adopts a symmetrical family structure.
POSTMODERNISM - FAMILY DIVERSITY
Giddens believes that Society has become ‘disembedded’ from traditional family structures, leaving us free to choose how we live our lives. This has led to the ‘pure relationship’ - one that exists solely to satisfy each partner’s needs. Beck states that Equality and individualism have created the ‘negotiated family’ which varied according to the members wants.
PERSONAL LIFE PERSPECTIVE - FAMILY DIVERSITY
Smart believes that we are not disembedded individuals, but we make decisions about relationships within a ‘web of connectedness’.
FLETCHER (FUNCTIONALISM) - FAMILY & SOCIAL POLICY
Fletcher states that the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of the welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively (eg. the introduction of the NHS means that families can take better care of sick members when they are ill).
DONZELOT - FAMILY & SOCIAL POLICY
Donzelot theorised ‘The policing of families’: social workers, doctors and health visitors use their knowledge to control and gain families. Surveillance is not targeted equally on all social classes; ‘poor’ families are more likely to be seen as ‘problem’ families and the cause of all crime and anti-social behaviour. Donzelot rejects the functionalist view and in turn, argues that social policy is a form of state control of the family.
MURRAY (NEW RIGHT) - FAMILY & SOCIAL POLICY
Murray argues that the state is providing overly generous welfare benefits. This is because these policies offer ‘perverse incentives’, meaning that the state rewards people for irresponsible or antisocial behaviour.
FAMILISTIC GENDER REGIMES
Policies that are based on the traditional gender divisions between males and females (for example, in Greece, there is minimal state funding for childcare)
LEONARD (FEMINISM) - FAMILY & SOCIAL POLICY
Leonard argues that even where policies seem to support women (eg. childcare so the woman can go to work), they still reinforce the patriarchal family and act as a form of social control over women. For example, although maternity leave policies benefit women, it reinforces patriarchy, because the terms of paternity leave are less generous, implying that women are the natural carers.
INDIVIDUALISTIC GENDER REGIMES
Policies are based on the belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same. Wives are not dependent on the husband, therefore each partner has a separate entitlement to state benefits. (for example, in Sweden, policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for breadwinning and domestic tasks)
