THEORIES OF FAMILY DIVERSITY

Question 1

Discuss the functionalist perspective of family diversity

Answer 1

-aagainst family diversity
-nuclear family is the only family which contributes effectively towards the maintenance of wider society as well as benefiting all members of the family
MURDOCK:
4 functions-socialisation,reproduction,sexual,economic
-cannot be archived by a non nuclear family
PARSONS
-2 functions-stabilisations of adult personalities and primary socialisation
-other types of families are dysfunctional and do more harm than good for society

Question 2

evaluation of functionalists

Answer 2

-nucelar family sometimes oppresses women as they are controlled by the man

Question 3

Discuss the new right perspective of family diversity

Answer 3

MURRAY:
critical of family diversity
-critca of lone parent families as damaging to society
-claims women get pregnant on purpose to receive benefits
-welfare state offers people perverse incentives:life fined by the government
-absence of father figure leads to bad behaviour, especially in boys
-cohabitation is far less stable than marriage->leads to the children involved more likely to end up in lone parent families later in life

-policies like divorce reform act and same sex marriage are wrongly trying to normalise family diversity which will damage society further

Question 4

evaluation of new right

Answer 4

-limited evidence to suggest that people deliberately become lone parents to access benefits

Question 5

Discuss how Neo conventional families has affected family diversity

Answer 5

-more people are moving away from the notion of the nuclear family
-diversity isn’t a norm yet, some point in peoples lives they will live in a nuclear family
Neo conventional family:couples which are like NF but with changes,two parents both working as a dual career family
-each have key role in providing for the family just in different ways compared to the past
-little has changed about the family in terms if structure and experience
-most people still live in a household with a married couple, most adults choose to marry and have children

Question 6

Evaluation of Neo conventional families

Answer 6

-ignores other family structures, eg same sex couples

Question 7

Discuss the rapports perspective on family diversity

Answer 7

-diversity is very common today
5 types of diversity:
1)organisational diversity:diversity in the way men and women organise domestic division of labour.In the past men and women were the breadwinners whilst women stayed at home and looked after the children.Nowadays there are more dual career families
2)cultural diversity:different experiences of the family across different ethnic or religious groups.EG- asian families more likely to adopt traditional gender roles or have closer connections to extended kin, black families more likely to be lone parents
3)Class diversity:differences in family experience across socio-economic groups.May be differences between m/c and w/c families in terms of the relationship between husband and wife and the way children are socialised and disciplined
4)Lifestage diversity:recognises families and households are not static system
EG- younger married couple may have children in the future whilst an older married couple may be in an ‘empty nest family’ from departure of their children
5)generational diversity:considers time period in which a person was born will shape their experiences and attitudes towards the family
EG- older generation probably had more conventional experiences of family life compared to current generations who focus on equality

Question 8

evaluation of the rapports

Answer 8

the nuclear family is still dominant in all of the above cases