Topic 1: Couples

Question 1

Parsons (DDL)

Answer 1

-The husband had the instrumental role, where he focused on achieving economic success so that he can provide for the family (Breadwinner)
-The woman had the expressive role, where she focused on the primary socialisation of the children and meeting the family’s emotional needs (homemaker and full-time housewife)

Question 2

Bott

Answer 2

2 types of conjugal roles: segregated and joint.
-Segregated conjugal roles are when the couple have separate roles, where the male is the breadwinner and the female is the homemaker/carer adding that their leisure activities also tend to be separate.
-Joint conjugal roles are when the couple shares the tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together.

Question 3

Wilmott and Young

Answer 3

-Taking a MoP view they see family life as gradually improving for all its members, becoming more equal.
-They argue that there has been a long-term trend away from the segregated conjugal roles and more towards a symmetrical family.
-.In this type of family,the roles of the husband and wife are more similar, although not identical.
-This includes women going out to work,men helping with the housework and couples spending their leisure time together.
-This is a result of the changing position of women, geographical mobility, new technology and higher standards of living.

Question 4

Oakley

Answer 4

-Criticises W&Y arguing that their claims are exaggerated.
-.Although they found that most husbands they interviewed ‘helped’ their wives at least once a week, this could simply be taking the children for a walk. This is hardly symmetry.
-In her own research there is evidence that husbands help in the home but no evidence of a trend towards symmetry.
-Only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework, and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare.
-Most couples described the father’s role as one of ‘taking responsibility’

Question 5

Boulton

Answer 5

-Found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare, arguing that W&Y exaggerate men’s contribution by looking at tasks involving childcare rather than the responsibilities.
-A father might help with a specific task, but it was almost always the mother who was responsible for the child’s security and wellbeing.

Question 6

Warde and Hetherington

Answer 6

-Found that sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong.
-For example, wives were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing,while husbands were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash the car.
-Found that men would only carry out ‘female tasks’ when their partners were not around to do them.
-Additionally, they found evidence of a slight change in attitudes among younger men.They no longer assumed that women should do the housework, and were more likely to think they were doing less than their fair share.

Question 7

Gershuny (MoP)

Answer 7

-Women working full-time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home.
-Using time-studies he found that these women did less domestic work than other women.

Question 8

BSA 2012

Answer 8

-men on average did 8 hours of housework a week,whereas women did 13 hours.
-men spent about 10 hours on care for family members, whereas women spent over 23 hours.
-couples continue to divide household tasks along traditional gender roles.For example, women were much more likely to do the laundry, care for sick and shop for groceries, while men were more likely to do small repairs around the house
-patterns were similar to those in 1994

Question 9

Ferri and Smith

Answer 9

-Fathers took responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4%
-Dual Burden of women

Question 10

Duncombe and Marsden

Answer 10

Women have to perform a ‘triple shift’ of housework, paid work and emotional work.

Question 11

Southerton

Answer 11

There is a responsibility that specifically falls to mothers.This is coordinating,scheduling and managing the family’s ‘quality time’ together.

Question 12

Crompton and Lyonette

Answer 12

2 different explanations for the unequal division of labour:

1. Cultural - division of labour determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape the gender roles in our culture.Women perform domestic roles because that is what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do.
   (Gershuny, BSA, Dunne , MYK)
2. Material or economic - the fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically okay for women to do more of the housework and childcare while men spend more of their time earning money.
   (MYK, Arber and Ginn)

Question 13

Gerhuny (Cultural Explanation)

Answer 13

Couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves, suggesting parental role models are important.

Question 14

BSA (Cultural Explanation)

Answer 14

While only 47% of the over 75s disagreed with traditional division of labour, this rose to 5% among the under 35s. This shows long-term change in norms,values and attitudes, reflecting change in gender role socialisation of younger age groups .

Question 15

Dunne (Cultural Explanation)

Answer 15

Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of traditional heterosexual roles and gender scripts

Question 16

Man Yee Kan (Cultural Explanation)

Answer 16

Younger men do much more domestic work, showing a generational shift in behaviour is occurring.

Question 17

Man Yee Kan (Economic Explanation)

Answer 17

For every £10,000 a year a woman earns, she does 2 hours less housework

Question 18

Arber and Ginn (Economic Explanation)

Answer 18

Middle class women could afford products to help with the domestic division of labour such as labour-saving devices, ready meals, domestic help and childcare, rather than having to spend time carrying out labour-intensive domestic tasks themselves

Question 19

Barrett and Mclntosh

Answer 19

Men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support.The financial support that husbands give to their wives often comes with ‘string’ attached (sexual needs).Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

Question 20

Kempson

Answer 20

Among low income families, women denied their own needs, seldom going out, and eating smaller proportions of food or skipping meals altogether in order to make ends meet.

Question 21

Pahl and Vogler (control)

Answer 21

Identify 2 main types of control over family income:
- The allowance system where men give their wives an allowance of which they have to budget to meet the family’s needs, with the man retaining any surplus income for himself
- The pooling where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure eg joint bank account

Question 22

Edgell

Answer 22

Study of professional couples
Found that:
- Very important decisions , such as those involving finance,moving house or change of job, were either taken by the husband alone or jointly but with the husband having the final say.
- Important decisions, such as those about children’s education or where to go on holiday, were usually taken jointly, or seldom by the wife alone
- Less important decisions, such as the choice of home decor or children’s clothes, were usually made by the wife

Question 23

Pahl

Answer 23

-Just pooling money doesn’t necessarily mean there is equality.
-We also need to know who controls the pooled money and whether each partner contributes equally (despite any differences in their incomes)

Question 24

Vogler et al

Answer 24

-Cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money, from desire to maintain independence.
-Yet evidence suggests that cohabiting couples are more likely to share domestic tasks equally

Question 25

Smart

Answer 25

-Some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were happy to leave this to their partners.
-There is greater freedom for same-sex couples to do what suits them as a couple.
-She suggests that this may be because they don’t enter relationships with the same ‘historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage’ that sees money as a source of power

Question 26

Weeks et al

Answer 26

The typical pattern was pooling some money for household spending, together with separate accounts for personal spending.This system shows ‘co-independence’.

Question 27

Coleman

Answer 27

Women were more likely than men to have experienced ‘intimate violence’ across all 4 types of abuse- partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assault and stalking

Question 28

Coleman and Osborne

Answer 28

2 women a week - ⅓ of all female homicide victims- are killed by a partner or former partner

Question 29

Dobash and Dobash

Answer 29

-Research in Scotland
-based on police and court records and interviews with women in women’s refuges
-They cite examples of wives being slapped, pushed about, beaten, raped or killed by their husbands.
-They found violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority, such as his wife asking why he was home late for a meal.
-They argue that marriage legitimates violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands.

Question 30

Crime Survey for England and Wales (2020)

Answer 30

Estimates that 7.3% of women (1.6 mil) had experienced domestic abuse in the previous year, compared with 3.6% of men (750K).

Question 31

Dar

Answer 31

Points out that it can also be difficult to count separate domestic violence incidents, because abuse may be continuous, or may occur so often that the victim cannot reliably count the instances

Question 32

Yearnshire

Answer 32

On average a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report.

Question 33

Millet and Forestone

Answer 33

-All societies have been founded on patriarchy.
-Men are the exploiters: they are the oppressors and exploiters of women.
-Within the family, men dominate women through domestic violence or the threat of it.
-They believe DV serves to preserve the power men have over women.
-male domination of state institutions helps to explain why courts and police are reluctant to record and prosecute.
-Men’s power is maintained through the patriarchal system which results in most domestic violence being committed by men.

Question 34

Elliot

Answer 34

Not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to DV.

Question 35

Crime Survey for England and Wales (2020)

Answer 35

Estimates that 13.8% of men (2.9 million) have experienced DV since the age of 16.

Question 36

Black

Answer 36

1/7 men are assaulted

Question 37

Wilkinson and Pickett

Answer 37

-See DV as a result of stress on family members caused by inequality.
-Those on lower incomes or living in overcrowded housing experience high levels of stress, this reduces the chance of maintaining a stable relationship and increases the risk of conflict
-Eg. Worries about housing, money, jobs, may spill over into domestic conflict.Lack of money and time restricts people’s social circle and reduces your support network.
-Therefore those with less income,status,wealth or power are often at greater risk.

Question 38

Ansley

Answer 38

Argues that DV is the product of capitalism: male workers are exploited at work and they take out their frustration on their wives.