The Role of Couples in the Family Flashcards
Which functionalist believe men and women are equal but different?
Parsons (1955)
What did Parsons mean by saying men and women are equal but different?
Men and women have clearly defined roles. The man is the instrumental leader, meaning he provides for his family by acting as a breadwinner. The women is the expressive leader, meaning she is responsible for providing the families domestic and emotional needs.
Why do men and women have different roles in the eyes of Parsons?
Men and women are biologically programmed to take on roles.
How are men biologically prepared for his role?
Men are historically the providers
How are women biologically prepared for her role?
Women have maternal instincts making them better suited for care giving.
Evaluation of Parsons and the functionalist perspective on the roles of couples?
- presumptuous that all families are nuclear families, there are more single parent and same sex families
- the idea men and women perform different roles is outdated, men and women swap roles more frequently now
Which sociologist believed couples can adopt different approaches to their conjugal roles?
Bott (1957)
What are the two different types of conjugal roles according?
- joint
- segregated
Explain couples that perform segregated conjugal roles?
Couples see their roles to be completely separate - similar to Parsons.
Explain couples that perform join conjugal roles?
Couples share jobs. This can include domestic chores and support financially. Women are likely to be in paid employment and men are likely to perform jobs around the house. More likely to spend their leisure time together too.
What type of conjugal roles were performed by working class families?
Segregated conjugal roles
Evaluation of the joint and segregated conjugal roles theory?
- feminists disagree, they believe that joint conjugal roles don’t exist, instead women have a dual burden
- fails to consider the man his more power in segregated roles
Which sociologist theorised the March of Progress view about the role of couples?
Young and Willmott (1973)
What do Young and Willmott describe the family as today (March of Progress)?
Symmetrical
Men that are more hands on as parents are described as what (March of Progress)?
The new man
What 4 reasons do Young and Willmott give for a more symmetrical family (March of Progress view on couples)?
- geographical mobility
- educational opportunities for women
- higher standards of living
- household technologies
How has geographical mobility made the family more symmetrical (March of Progress view on couples)?
Families need to travel further and further for work. This means that families now do not live as close to family relatives as they did. This means the couple is more dependent on one another for support.
How has educational opportunities for women made the family more symmetrical (March of Progress view on couples)?
With a higher education for women, women are pursuing careers of their own. Therefore men have to help out more with housework and childcare.
How has a higher standard of living made the family more symmetrical (March of Progress view on couples)?
Families want to spend more money on luxury goods such as; cars, houses, technology and material goods. For families to afford this, they need two sources of income meaning both the man and women will be in paid employment
How has household technology made the family more symmetrical (March of Progress view on couples )?
Technology has made domestic labour quicker and more efficient. Before, labour required a specific skill set which men didn’t have. Now, with technology, both the man and the women can perform domestic labour jobs easily
Evaluation of the March of Progress Theory view on couples?
- only refers to the nuclear family, doesn’t explain how non nuclear families split up domestic labour
- ignores the working class
- feminists argue that the women still does the majority of the house work, dual burden
What 3 areas do feminists believe about the roles of couples in the family?
- women still do most of the housework
- women still do most of the childcare
- women get less leisure time to themselves.
What does Oakley (1974) believe about women still doing most of the housework?
Despite change since the 1980s, women still see domestic labour as a full time job which is time consuming and somewhat demeaning
What did the British Social Attitudes Study (2012) tell us about women still doing most of the housework?
Challenged the theory of the “new man”. Even with both adults in full time employment, men did 8 hours of housework, and women did 13 hours of housework on average.