Topic 1 - Couples

Question 1

The Victorian Couple

Answer 1

In the 19th Century, the Victorian family was very patriarchal - the man was dominant and the head of the household

On marrying, a woman’s property became her husband’s
Grounds for divorce was unequal - a man could divorce his wife on the grounds of adultery (cheating) but women had to prove a man’s cruelty or another offence on top of adultery

Question 2

The domestic division of labour
Is defined as …

Answer 2

The roles that men and women perform in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.

Question 3

In the traditional nuclear family…
(Parsons)

Answer 3

The husband has an instrumental role!

The woman has an expressive role!

Question 4

Instrumental role

Answer 4

‘Breadwinner’
To achieve success at work.
To provide financial support for family.

Question 5

Expressive role

Answer 5

‘Home-maker’
Primary socialisation of the children.
Meeting the family’s emotional needs.

Question 6

Parsons instrumental and expressive role justification

Answer 6

Parsons argues that this division of labour is based on biological differences, with women ‘naturally’ suited to the nurturing role.
He claims that the division of labour is beneficial to both men and women.

Question 7

Evaluation of Parsons:

Answer 7

Parsons’ view is now outdated. Men are taking more of a share of the housework and women are going to work more.

Feminists: The domestic division of labour is not natural - it only benefits men. Explain futher

Question 8

Elizabeth Bott (1957)

Answer 8

Segregated conjugal & Joint conjugal roles

Question 9

Segregated conjugal roles –

Answer 9

where the couple have separate roles: a male breadwinner and a female homemaker/carer (as in Parsons’ roles). Their leisure activities also tend to be separate.

Question 10

Joint conjugal roles –

Answer 10

where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.

Question 11

Young and Willmott (Functionalists)

Answer 11

The ‘March of Progress’ View
family life is gradually improving for all its members and becoming more democratic. They argue that there has been a long term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and the symmetrical family

Question 12

symmetrical family:

Answer 12

the roles of husbands and wives, are now much more similar (women work, men help with housework, couples spend leisure time together).

Question 13

A shift in roles is occurring due to important changes in society
like:

Answer 13

Changes in women’s position in society
Geographical mobility
New technology
Higher standards of living

Question 14

The feminist view (Oakley):

Answer 14

Rejects ‘March of Progress’ view of W and Y.
Men and women remain unequal within the family and women do most of the housework.
The fact that men are seen as ‘helping’ women more does not prove symmetry. It shows that the responsibility of housework is still the woman’s.
Even though more women work, the housewife role is still the women’s primary role

Question 15

statistics on division of labour

Answer 15

Research findings

15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework

25% high level in childcare (but only in the more pleasurable aspects)

Men take on the more pleasurable/least taxing household tasks

Question 16

Man-Yee Kan (2001):

Answer 16

Income, age and education can have a positive or negative correlation with the amount of housework women do. For every £10,000 increase in salary, there is a two-hour reduction in housework.

higher salary = higher reduction of housework

Question 17

Crompton (1997):

Answer 17

suggests that until we have truly equal pay between the sexes, then the division of labour in the home will remain unequal.

Question 18

Dex and Ward (2007)

Answer 18

Although fathers had high levels of involvement with their children, when it came to caring for a sick child only 1% took responsibility

Question 19

Sullivan (2000)

Answer 19

Found a trend towards men completing more traditional ‘women’s roles’

Question 20

Southerton

Answer 20

Women responsible for coordinating family ‘quality’ time.

Question 21

Unemployed Fathers

Answer 21

Morris (1990): even when fathers are unemployed, they avoid the housework.
R W Connell calls this the ‘crisis of masculinity’.

Question 22

The Triple Shift Duncombe and Marsden (1995)

Answer 22

Hochschild (1983): suggests an even bleaker picture for mothers: paid work, followed by domestic work and supporting the family emotionally (e.g. caring for a sick child) - emotion work.

Question 23

Homosexual Cohabiting Families

Answer 23

Dunne (1999): thinks that inequality in heterosexual couples arises because of deeply ingrained masculine and feminine ‘gender scripts’ (essentially norms and values about expected gender roles).
In same-sex couples, tasks are not linked to ‘gender scripts’, making an equal relationship more likely

Question 24

What is meant by resources and decision making?

Answer 24

There is inequality between who does what in the home
There is inequality in who gets what in the home - in how the family’s resources are shared out between men and women.

Question 25

Decision Making - Edgell (1980)

Answer 25

Women had sole responsibility for decisions only in relatively unimportant areas, such as:
Home furnishing and decorating
Childrens clothes
Food
Other domestic spending

Question 26

Gershuny (2000)

Answer 26

By 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions.

Significantly found that women who were high earning, well qualified professionals were even more likely to have equal say.

Question 27

Hardhill (1997) studied 30 dual career professional couples and found:

Answer 27

Important decisions were usually taken by the man alone or jointly

The mans career usually took priority when deciding whether to move house for a new job

Question 28

Pahl and Vogler (1993) identify two main models of control over family income:

Answer 28

The allowance system

Pooling

Question 29

The allowance system

Answer 29

Men give their wives an allowance, from which they have to provide for the household

Men keep back any surplus income for themselves

Follow the ‘traditional’ model of the family, in line with instrumental and expressive roles

Question 30

Pooling

Answer 30

Both partners have an individual income

Joint responsibility for expenses

Follows a ‘contemporary’ model of the family, in line with Willmott and Young’s symmetrical family

Question 31

Material or economic explanation of inequality:

Answer 31

Women generally earn less than men, therefore it is economically rational for women to do more of the housework and childcare, while men spend time earning the money.

Gershuny and Laurie (2000):
Conducted research which supports the material explanation for gender inequality in decision making. However, they found that by 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions. Though high earning, well qualified women were more likely to have an equal say.

Question 32

Cultural or ideological explanation of inequality:

Answer 32

The division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values, which typically shape gender roles in our culture. Women perform more domestic labour due to societal expectations and socialisation.

Feminists argue:
Inequalities in decision making are not simply the result of inequality in earnings, but due to a patriarchal society, with the norm of men as decision makers being ingrained in society.

Question 33

Barrett & McIntosh (1991)
Marxist Feminists

Answer 33

Men gain more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support

The financial support that husbands give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached.

Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

Question 34

Inequality between family members: Food & Money

Answer 34

Kempson (1994):
Found that women from low income families were more likely to deny their own needs, eating smaller amounts and rarely going out to save on spending.

Question 35

Evaluation: Personal Life Perspective

Answer 35

The personal life perspective focuses on the meaning couples give to the control of money.

Carol Smart (2007) studied same-sex couples and found that gay men and lesbians did not attach the same importance to money management, not viewing the control of money as meaning either equality or inequality. This difference may be due to not being resigned to the same historical, gendered view of money - money as a source of power.

Question 36

What word can be used to describe studies focusing only on straight couples?

Answer 36

Heteronormative

Question 37

Rebecca and Russell Dobash (1997; 2007)
Domestic Violence

Answer 37

They found that incidents could be set off by what a husband saw a challenge to his authority e.g. the wife asking why he was home late

They argue that marriage legitimates (makes seem fair) DV by giving power and authority
to husbands and dependence on wives

Question 38

Walby and Allen (2004)
Domestic Violence

Answer 38

Women are much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and sexual violence

Question 39

Dar (2013)
Domestic VIolence

Answer 39

It can be difficult to count separate incidents of DV because abuse may be continuous or may be so frequent that the victim cannot reliably keep count

also

victims of domestic violence are less likely than victims of other forms of violence to report the offence because they believe that it is not a matter for the police or because of fear of retaliation

Question 40

Official statistics on domestic violence underestimate the true extent of the problem for two main reasons:

Answer 40

1) Victims may be unwilling to report it to the police. Yearnshire (1997) found that on average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report.

2) Police may be reluctant to record these crimes or prosecute. Cheal (1991) says the police make assumptions about family life:
The family is a private sphere, so access to it should be limited
The family is a good thing and so usually neglect the ‘darker side’ of the family
Individuals are free agents, so if a woman is experiencing abuse she is free to leave.

Question 41

men domestic violence victims

Answer 41

18% of men have experienced domestic violence since the age of 16 (Crime Survey for England and Wales, 2013)

Question 42

Impact of coronavirus on Domestic Abuse

Answer 42

cases rose perhaps

perpetrators may be under more stress to provide for family and with furlough, stress rises, anger taken out on victims

Question 43

Who is more at risk

Answer 43

Evidence from the Office for National Statistics (2014) suggests that women from some social groups face a greater risk of domestic violence. These include:

Young women
Those in the lowest social classes and those living in the most deprived areas
Those on low incomes or in financial difficulties
Those living in shared and rented accommodation
Those with high levels of alcohol consumption or using illegal drugs
Those with long term illness or disability

Question 44

explanations of domestic violence:

Answer 44

Radical feminist (cultural) explanation - emphasising the role of patriarchal ideas, cultural ideas and institutions

Material explanation - emphasising economic factors such as a lack of resources

Question 45

domestic violence hetronormative

Answer 45

lack of research into dv for LGBTQ couples