Topic 1 - Couples Flashcards
What is meant by the domestic division of labour ?
-Domestic division of labour refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework , childcare and paid work
-sociologists are interested in whether men and women share domestic tasks equally
How does Parsons display the clear division of labour between spouses (what are their role) ?
-the Husband has an instrumental role - geared towards achieving success at work so that he can provide for the family financially , he is the breadwinner
-the wife has an expressive role - geared towards primary socialisation of the children and meeting the family’s emotional needs , she is a homemaker , a full time housewife rather than a wage earner
What does Parsons argue the division of labour is based on and who is it beneficial to ?
-Parsons argues that this division of labour is based on biological differences , with women naturally suited to the nurturing role and men to that of the provider
-he claims that the division of labour is beneficial to both men and women , to their children and wider society
Evaluation of parsons - by Young and Willmott ?
-Young and Willmott argue that men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming wage earners
Evaluation of Parsons - by feminists ?
-Feminist sociologists reject Parson’s view that the division of labour is natural and argue that it only benefits men
What are the 2 types of conjugal roles that Bott distinguishes between which are roles within a marriage ?
-segregated conjugal roles - where the couple have separate roles , a male breadwinner and a female homemaker , their leisure activities also tend to be separate
-Joint conjugal roles - where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend their leisure time together
Young and Willmott study of symmetrical family - what is this and what kind of view do they take ?
-Young and Willmott take a march of progress view of the history of the family
-They see family life as gradually improving for all its members , becoming more equal and 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
What are some ways in which Young and Willmott see the roles of the husband and wives as although not identical are now more similar ?
By the symmetrical family they mean one in which the roles of husbands and wives , although not identical , are now more similar
-women now go out to work ,although this may be part time rather than full time
-men now help with housework and childcare
-couples now spend their leisure time together instead of separately with workmates or female relatives
In young and willmott’s study of symmetrical families who did they find were more likely to be a symmetrical family
-they found the symmetrical family was more common among younger couples , those who are geographically and socially isolated and the more affluent (better off)
What are the 4 social changes that Young and willmott note that have taken place in the last century which have led to the rise of the symmetrical family ?
-Changes in women’s position - including married women going out to work
-geographical mobility - more couples living away from the communities they grew up in
-new technology and labour saving devices
-higher standards of living
How do feminist sociologists reject the march of progress view such as that held of young and willmott ?
-they argue that little has changed ; men and women remain unequal within the family and women still do most of the housework
-they see this inequality as stemming from the fact that the family and society are male dominated or patriarchal
-women occupy a subordinate and dependent role within the family and wider society
How does Feminist Oakley criticise young and willmotts view that the family is now symmetrical (include what their study and her study found ) ?
-she argues that young and willmotts claims are exaggerated
-although young and willmott found that most of the husbands they interviewed helped their wives at least once a week , they could include simply taking the children for a walk or making breakfast on one occasion
-For Oakley ,this is hardly a convincing evidence of symmetry
-in her own research on housewives , Oakley found some evidence of husbands helping 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
What did Oakley find husbands were most likely to take part in ?
-husbands were more likely to share in childcare than in housework , but only its more pleasurable aspects
-most couples defined the fathers role as one of taking an interest
-a good father was one who would play with the children in the evenings and take them off her hands on Sunday mornings
-however , this could mean that mothers lost the rewards of childcare , such as playing with the children , and were simply left with more time for housework
How do Boultons research support Oakley’s findings ?
-Boulton found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare
-she argues that young and willmott exaggerates men’s contribution by looking at the tasks involved In childcare rather than the responsibilities
-a father may help with specific tasks , but its almost always the mother who was responsible for the child’s security and wellbeing
A feminist view of housework - what did Warde and Hetheringtons study show ?
-Warde and Hetherington found that sex typing of domestic tasks remained strong
-For example , Wives were 30 times more likely to be the last person to have done the washing , while husbands were four times more likely to be the last person to wash the car
-in general , Warde and Hetherington found that men would only carry out routine female tasks when their partners were not around to do them
-never less , they did find evidence of a slight change of attitude 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
March of progress view - what does Gershuny argue is leading to a more equal division of labour at home ?
-Gershuny argues that women now working full time is leading to a more equal division of labour at the home
-using time studies , he found that these women did less domestic work than other women
March of progress view - what did Sullivans findings find about the trend towards women doing less domestic work ?
-Sullivans study through collecting nationally representative data collected in 1975 , 1987 and 1997 found a trend towards women doing a smaller share of domestic work and men doing more
-her analysis showed an increase in the number of couples with an equal division of labour and that men were participating more in traditional “women” tasks
What did feminists find from evidence of the British social attitude survey ?
-the survey found that in 2012 men on average did 8 hours of housework a week , whereas women did 13 hours , similarly men spent 10 hours on care for family members , whereas women spent 23 hours
-overall , therefore women did twice as much as men
-60% of women felt this division of labour was unjust because they were doing more than their fair share
-the survey also found that couples continue to divide household tasks along traditional gender stereotypes
-for example , women were much more likely to do the laundry , care for sick family members , shop for groceries , do the cleaning and prepare meals , while men were more likely to do small repairs around the house
What do critics argue is the problem with surveys such as the British social attitudes survey include Allan ?
-don’t measure qualitative differences such as Allan argues that women tasks such as washing and cleaning are less satisfying
-only focus on easily quantifiable tasks such as who performs which tasks or how much time they spend doing them , while useful this tells us nothing about who takes responsibility for ensuring that the tasks are done
What did Boulton find that supports the criticism of surveys such as British social attitudes survey ( about how only provide quantitative data ) ?
-Boulton points out that although fathers may help by performing specific tasks it is usually the mother who takes responsibility for the child’s security and wellbeing
How do Ferri and Smith support Boultons view ?
-Ferri and Smith found that fathers took responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4% of families
How do Dex and Ward support Boultons view ?
-Dex and Ward found that although fathers had high levels of involvement with their 3 year olds for example , 78% played with their children
-when it came to caring for a sick child , only 1% of fathers took the main responsibility
How do Braun , Vincent and Ball support Boultons view ?
-Braun , Vincent and Ball found that in only 3 families out of 70 studied was the father the main carer
-most were background fathers ; helping with childcare was more about their relationship with their partner than their responsibility towards their children
-most fathers held a “provider ideology” that their role was as breadwinners , while mothers saw themselves as the primary carers
What does Hochschild refer to as another aspect of taking responsibility for other family members and what is this ?
-Hochschild refers to “emotion work”
-feminists note that women often have to perform emotion work where they are responsible for managing the emotions and feelings of family members such as handing squabbles between sisters , ensuring everyone is happy and so on , while at the same time exercising control over their own emotions
What does Duncombe and Marsden argue women have to performance and what is this ?
-Duncombe and marsden argue that women have to perform a triple shift , of housework , paid work and emotional work
What is another responsibility that Southerton believes falls down to mothers ?
-another responsibility is that of coordinating , scheduling and managing the family’s quality time together - a responsibility that usually falls to mothers , according to Southerton
What did Southerton find about men and women’s leisure time ?
-Southerton also notes that although some studies show that men and women now have more or less equal amounts of leisure time , they have different experiences of it
-for example , men are more likely to experience blocks of uninterrupted leisure time, whereas women’s leisure is often punctuated by child care.
-women are also more likely to multi task than men , this indicates that women are carrying a dual burden in which they face an increased volume of activities to be managed
What are the 2 explanations that Crompton and Lyonette give for the unequal division of labour ?
-The cultural or ideological explanation of inequality
-the material or economic explanation of inequality
Explanation of unequal division of labour (Crompton and Lyonette ) - the cultural or ideological explanation of inequality ?
-the cultural or ideological explanation of inequality- in this view , the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape the gender roles in our culture
-women perform more domestic labour simply because it is what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do
Explanation of unequal division of labour (Crompton and Lyonette) - the material or economic explanation of inequality ?
-the material or economic explanation of inequality -in this view , the fact that women generally earn less than men means it’s economically rational for women to do more of the housework and childcare while men spend more of their time earning money
What does the cultural explanation of the unequal division of labour show will lead to equality ?
-from the cultural explanation of inequality , equality will be achieved only when norms about gender roles change
-this would involve changes in men’s and women’s attitudes , values and expectations , role models and socialisation
Evidence for the cultural explanation of the unequal division of labour - Gershuny ?
-Gershuny found that couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves
-this suggests that parental role models are important
-he argues that social values are gradually adapting to the fact that women are now working full time , establishing a new norm that me should do more domestic work
Evidence for the cultural explanation of the unequal division of labour - Man Yee Kan ?
-Man Yee Kan found that younger men do more domestic work showing a generational shift in behaviour occurring
Evidence for the cultural explanation of the unequal division of labour - The British social attitudes survey ?
-The British social attitudes survey - found that less than 10% of under 35s agreed with a traditional division of labour , as against 30% of over 65s
-this indicates a long term change in norms , values and attitudes , reflecting changes in the gender roles socialisation of younger age groups in favour of more equal relationships
Evidnece for the cultural explanation of the unequal division of labour - Dunne ?
-Dunne found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of traditional heterosexual gender scripts , that is , norms that set out the different gender roles that men and women are expected to play
What does the material explanation of the unequal division of labour show will lead to equality ?
-from this perspective , if women join the labour force and earn as much as their partners , we should expect to see men and women doing a more equal share of domestic work
Evidence for the material explanation of the unequal division of labour - Kan ?
-Kan found that for every £10,000 a year more a women earns , she does 2 hours less housework per week
Evidence for the material explanation of the unequal division of labour - Arber and Ginn ?
-Arber and Ginn found that better paid , middle class women were more able to buy in commercially produced products and services , such as labour saving devices,ready meals , domestic help and childcare , rather than having to spend time carrying out labour intensive domestic tasks themselves
Evidence for the material explanation of the unequal division of labour - Ramos ?
-Ramos found that where the women is the full time breadwinner and the man is unemployed , he does as much domestic labour as she does
Evidence for the material explanation of the unequal division of labour - Sullivan ?
-Sullivan shows that working full time rather than part time makes the biggest difference in terms of how much domestic work each partner does
-Sullivan suggests that this may be because working full time brings women’s earnings much closer to those of their partners
Resources and decision making in households - what do Barrett and Mclntosh note ?
-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 is often unpredictable and comes with strings attached
-men usually make the decisions about the spending on important items
How does Kempons research show that family members do not share resources such as food and money equally ?
-Kempson found that among low income families , women denied their own needs , seldom going out , and ate smaller meals or skipped meals altogether in order to make ends meet
What are the 2 types of control over family income according to feminist sociologists Pahl and Vogler ?
-the allowance system
-pooling
Control over family income (pahl and Vogler) - what is the allowance system ?
-the allowance system - where men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet the family’s needs , with the men retaining any surplus income for himself
Control over family income (Pahl and Vogler) - what is pooling ?
-pooling - where both partners have access to the income and a joint responsibility for the expenditure , for example a joint bank account
-pooling is now on an increase and the most common money management system
Although pooling leads to more fairness compared to the allowance system what do Pahl and Vogler note still happens ?
-Pahl and Vogler found that even where there was pooling , the men usually made the major financial decisions
What did Edgells study of professional couples find about decision making ?
Edgell’s study of professional couples found that ;
-very important decisions - such as those involving finance , a change of job , moving house where either taken by the husband alone or jointly with the husband having the final say
-important decisions - such as those about their children’s education or where to go on holiday were usually taken jointly or by the wife alone
-less important decisions -such as the choice of home decor , children’s clothes or food purchases , were usually made by the wife alone
Evaluation - what did Gershuny find that shows a trend towards greater equality in financial decision making ?
-Gershuny found that in 1995 ,70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions
-however , they did find that women who were high earning , well qualified professionals were more likely to have an equal say
What is the cultural explanation of the inequalities between men and women in decision making ?
-they argue that in a patriarchal society , the cultural definition of men as decision makers is deeply ingrained in both men and women and instilled through gender role socialisation
-until this definition is challenged , decision making is likely to remain unequal
-reflects the cultural explanation of gender inequality described by Crompton and Lyonette
What is the material explanation of the inequalities between men and women in decision making (although feminists do reject this idea ) ?
-feminists argue that the inequalities in decision making are not simply the result of the inequalities in earnings
How does Pahl explain that couples pooling their money doesn’t necessarily mean equality ?
-Pahl notes that we also need to know who controls the pooled money and whether each partner contributes equally despite any differences in their income
-for example , if the man earns twice as much as his wife , but both put the same into the joint account , does this count as equality ?
How does Vogler et al explain that not pooling income doesn’t always mean inequality ?
-Vogler et al found that cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money - perhaps due to a desire to maintain their independence
-yet evidence suggests that cohabiting couples are more likely than marred couples to share domestic tasks equally
-instead we need to look at the meanings that couples give to money
What is meant by the personal life perspective on money ?
-the personal life perspective focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money
-for example , we may assume that one couple controlling the money is a sign of inequality , but from this perspective for some couples it may not have this meaning
-look at the personal meanings of the actors involved in the situation
Personal life perspective on money - what did Smarts study show ?
-there is evidence that same sex couples often give a different meaning to the control of money in the relationship
-Smart found that some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were perfectly happy to leave it to their partners
-they didn’t see the control of money as earning either equality or inequality in the relationship
Personal life perspective on money - what reasons does Smart give for same sex couples view on money ?
-smart found that there is greater freedom for same sex couples to do what suits them as a couple
-smart suggests that this may be because , they don’t enter relationships with the same historical , gendered , heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings around money ,that see money as a source of power
What does the home office gives as a definition for domestic violence ?
-The home office defines domestic violence as ;
“Any incident or pattern of incidents controlling , coercive or threatening behaviour , violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality
-this can include psychological , physical , sexual , financial and emotional violence or abuse
What are 2 ways that sociologists have challenged the view that domestic violence is the behavior of a few disturbed or sick individuals and its causes are psychological rather than social ?
-Domestic violence is to widespread -to be simply the work of a few disturbed individuals
-Domestic violence doesn’t occur randomly - but follows particular social patterns and these patterns have social causes , the most striking pattern is that it is mainly violence by men against women
Evidence from the crime survey for England and Wales that shows domestic violence is too widespread ?
-the crime survey for England and Wales found that 2 million people reported having been victims of domestic abuse during the previous year
Evidence from Coleman et al that shows domestic violence doesn’t occur randomly (Mainly against women ) ?
-Coleman et al found that 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
Evidence from Coleman and Osborne that shows domestic violence doesn’t occur randomly (especially against women ) ?
-Coleman and Osborne state that 2 women a week or one third of all female homicides victims are killed by a partner or former partner
What did Walby and Allen find as evidence of domestic violence ?
-Walby and Allen found that women were much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and sexual violence
What did Ansara and Hindin find as evidence of domestic violence ?
-Ansara and Hindin found that women suffered more severe violence and control , with more serious psychological effects
-they also found that women were much more likely than men to be fearful of their partners
What did Dar find as evidence of domestic violence ?
-Dar points out that it can also be difficult to count separate domestic violence incidents because the abuse may be continuous , for example , living under constant threat , or may occur so often that the victim cannot reliably count the instances
What are the 2 main reasons that official statistics understate the extent of the problem of domestic violence ?
1.victims may be unwilling to report the domestic violence to the police
2.police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record , investigate or prosecute cases that are reported to them.
Why official statistics understate the true extent of domestic violence - victims unwilling to report , what evidence did Yearnshire find for this ?
-Yearnshire found that on average a women suffers 35 assaults before making a report
-domestic violence is the violent crime which is least likely to be reported
Why official statistics understate the true extent of domestic violence - victims unwilling to report , what evidence did Dar find for this ?
-Dar argues that victims of domestic violence are less likely than other forms of violence to report the offence because they believe that its not a matter for the police or that it is to trivial , or fear of reprisals
Why official statistics understate the true extent of domestic violence - police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record , investigate or prosecute the cases that are reported to them , what is evidence from Cheal and what are the 3 assumptions he notes the police make about family life ?
-Cheal argues the police’s reluctance to record , investigate and prosecute the cases reported to them is due to the fact that police and other state agencies aren’t prepared to become involved in the family
They make 3 assumptions about family life ;
1.that the family is a private sphere , so access to it by state agencies should be limited
2.that the family is a good thing and so agencies tend to neglect the darker side of family life
3.that individuals are free agents , so its assumed that if a women is experiencing abuse she is free to leave . However , this isn’t true , male violence is often couples with male economic power , abused women are often financially dependent on their husbands and so unable to leave
What are the 2 explanations of domestic violence ?
-the radical feminist explanation - this emphasises the role of patriarchal ideas , cultural values and institutions
-the materialist explanation - this emphasises economic factors such as lack of resources
The radical feminist explanation of domestic violence - Millet and Firestone ?
-Millet and Firestone argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy
-they see the key division in society as that between men and women , men are the enemy and they are the oppressors and exploiters of women
The radical feminist explanation of domestic violence - what do radical feminists see as the key institutions in a patriarchal society and what does this lead to ?
-radical feminists see the family and marriage as the key institutions in a patriarchal family and the main source of women’s oppression
-within the family , men dominate women through domestic violence or the threat of it
-for radical feminists , widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society and serves to preserve the power that all men have over women
-in their view this helps to explain why domestic violence is against women and by men
Evaluation of the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence - Elliot how does she reject their claim ?
-Elliot rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women
-not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence , radical feminists ignore this
Evaluation of the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence - how Does evidence from the crime survey for England Wales reject radical feminist views
-Radical feminists fail to explain female violence , including chid abuse by women and violence against male patterns and within lesbian relationships
-for example , the crime survey for England and wales found that 18% of men have experienced domestic violence since the age of 16
Evaluation of the radical feminist explanation of domestic violence - what do radical feminists forget when looking at victims and what evidence do the office for national statistics give ?
-radical feminists use the concept of patriarchy to explain why most victims of domestic violence are women , but wrongly assume that all women are at equal risk of domestic violence , fails to explain why women are most likely to be victims
-evidence from the office for national statistics 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 income or in financial difficulties
-those living in shared or rented accommodation
-those with high levels of alcohol consumption or using illegal drugs
-those with long term illness or disability
What does the materialist expiation of domestic violence focus on ?
-the materialist explanation of domestic violence focuses on economic and material factors such as inequalities in income and housing to explain why some groups are more at risk compared to others
Materialist explanation of domestic violence - what do Wilkinson and Pickett argue causes domestic violence ?
-Wilkinson and Pickett see domestic violence as the result of stress on family members cases by social inequality
-inequality means that some families have fewer resources than others
-those on low incomes or living in crowded accommodation are likely to experience higher levels of stress , this reduces their chance of maintain stable , caring relationships and increases the risk of conflict and violence , for example ;
-worries about money , jobs and housing may spill over into domestic conflict as tempers become frayed
-lack of money and time restricts peoples social circle and reduces social support for those under stress
Materialist explanation of domestic violence - evaluation - how is Wilkinsons and picketts approach useful when looking at domestic violence ?
-Wilkinson and Picketts approach is useful in showing how social inequality produces stress and triggers conflict and violence in families , as those in lower social classes face greater hardship and thus stress , this helps to explain the class differences in the statistics of domestic violence
Materialist explanation of domestic violence - evaluation - why is the material explanation put forward by Wilkinson and Pickett not as useful as the radical feminist explanation ?
-however , unlike the radical feminist approach , Wilkinson and Pickett don’t explain why women rather than men are the main victims of domestic violence
Materialist explanation of domestic violence - evaluation - what does Marxist feminist Ansley criticise this view through saying ?
-Ansley describes wives as takers of shit , she argues that domestic violence is the product of capitalism , male workers are exploited at work and they take out their frustration on their wives
-this helps to explain why domestic violence is male against women but fails to explain why not all male workers commit acts of violence against their partners and doesn’t account for cases of female domestic violence
