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Sociology unit 1 > Topic 2 Changing family patterns > Flashcards

Topic 2 Changing family patterns Flashcards

marriage, divorce

1
Q

define serial monogamy

A
  • series of successive relationships
  • one ends new one starts
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2
Q

why has the cost of marriage caused a change in patterns of marriage?

A
  • the average cost of marriage is 16-18k. Many are put off by this and would prefer to spend that money elsewhere.
  • this would impact he age people get married, as they may need to save up for awhile to afford it.
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3
Q

Why are changing attitudes causing the patterns of marriage to change?

A

there is less pressure to marry and more freedom for individuals. There’s now a widespread belief that quality of the relationships is much more important than its legal status.

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4
Q

Why is secularisation changing patterns of marriage?

A

Churches are in favour of marriage but as their influence declines people feel freer to choose not to marry. The church is against divorce which may cause people to reconsider if they want to get married.

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5
Q

Why has decline in stigma caused a change in the pattern of marriage?

A

cohabitation, staying single and having children outside of marriage are now all regarded as acceptable so pregnancy no longer automatically leads to a ‘shot gun’ wedding.

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6
Q

How are the changes in the positions of women causing a change in pattern of marriage?

A
  • better education and career prospectus means women are now less economically dependent on men. This gives them greater freedom not to marry.
  • Feminists may also influence these decisions with their view that marriage is an oppressive patriarchal institution.
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7
Q

how has a fear of divorce caused a change in patterns of marriage?

A
  • with the rates of divorce rising, some may be put off marrying as they see the increased likelihood of marriage ending in divorce.
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8
Q

why is the age at which couples are marrying rising?

A
  • because young people are postponing marriage in order to spend longer in full time education and establish a career first.
  • another reason is because people are choosing to cohabit for a period of time before they marry.
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9
Q

What was Sue Sharpe’s study of family patterns?

A
  • studied working class girls in the early 1970s
  • she found their main concerns were love, marriage, children, and jobs and careers came last
  • a third wanted be marriage by the age of 20
  • 3/4 by the age of 25
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10
Q

what did Sue Sharpe discover about women in the early 1990s (the second time she studied)

A
  • she found that the young girls priorities had changed to job, career and being able to support themselves.
  • “young people had witnessed adult relationships breaking up and reconstituted all around them”
  • only 4% wanted to be married by 20
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11
Q

how does Sue Sharpe’s discovery explain the decline in marriage?

A

girls ambitions have changed, marriage is no longer a priority.
Sue Sharpe also said that young girls had witnessed adult relationships breaking up and being reconstituted all around them and they are far warier of marriage.

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12
Q

how does Sue Sharpe’s discovery explain the later age of marriage?

A

girls wanted to stay in education and build a career for themselves before they get married.

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13
Q

definition of secularisation

A

decline of religion - process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions loose social significance

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14
Q

What is the feminist view of divorce?

A
  • support divorce
  • divorce shows women are breaking free of the patriarchal nuclear family which oppresses them
  • Liberal feminists would appreciate this trend as a positive development.
  • Radical argue more is needed and argue for an increase in political lesbianism and divorce
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15
Q

What is the new right view on divorce

A
  • they see higher divorces as a negative thing
  • divorce is undesirable because they undermine traditional family values and the nuclear family
  • divorce creates an underclass, who depend on benefits and cause crime
  • claim children aren’t properly socialised because they lack a male role model
  • argue divorce allows people to avoid commitment
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16
Q

reasons for increase in cohabitation

A
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17
Q

What are the feminist views of divorce?

A
  • divorce shows women are breaking free of the patriarchal nuclear family which oppresses them.
  • liberal feminists recognise it as a positive development.
  • radical feminists argue more is needed and they argue for an increase in divorce and political lesbianism.
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18
Q

What is the postmodernists view of divorce?

A
  • think this shows individuals making individual choices to end relationships if they don’t meet their needs
  • it gives individual freedom
  • divorce proves their point that there’s no single explanation of the way things should be and people have a lot of choice
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19
Q

What is the personal life perspective of divorce?

A
  • they accept that divorce can cause problems such as financial difficulties (especially for children) and lack of daily contact between children and non-resident parents
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20
Q

why do feminists support cohabitation?

A

they believe the woman would still have freedom to escape and have a much more equal relationship
easier to leave

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21
Q

how was social policy improved the position of those who chose to cohabit?

A

there’s been a decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
young people are more accepting to change as they are more likely to accept cohabitation and a change in social standards
you can now adopt as a cohabitating couple
there’s more legal recognition

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22
Q

How many applications for divorce now come from women?

A

65%

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23
Q

How have the changes in the law brought about a change in divorce?

A

Three news have been introduced
- equalising the grounds of divorce between sexes (1923)
- making divorce cheaper (1949)
- widening grounds of divorce (1969)

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24
Q

How has the decline in stigma lead to an increase in divorce?

A
  • divorce has now become more socially acceptable
  • people feel less ashamed
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25
Q

How has secularisation lead to an increase in divorce?

A
  • divorce is no longer seen as sinful
  • people are no longer influenced by religion or the church
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26
Q

How has changes in the position of the women lead to an increase in divorce?

A
  • women are now in paid employment and more independent and no longer feel forced to rely on a man
  • welfare state has been introduced
  • women feel more valued at work
  • women feel frustrated that men don’t help with the housework
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27
Q

How has individualisation lead to an increase in divorce?

A
  • relationships are becoming more about personal fulfilment
  • when personal needs aren’t filled the relationship breaks down, Gideon’s refers to these as ‘pure relationships’
28
Q

How has the rising expectations of marriage lead to an increase in divorce?

A
  • People have high expectations from the media and movies, and when it doesn’t meet their expectations, they divorce
  • Fletcher (functionalist) argues that higher expectations are now placed on marriage
29
Q

What is the functionalist view of divorce?

A
  • the nuclear family is good for the family and benefits all members of society
  • they argue the increase in divorce does not mean the family is under threat
  • people have high expectations of marriage explains why people divorce and people’s continuation to remarry demonstrates a continued commitment to marriage within society
30
Q

What is the interactionist view of divorce?

A
  • David Morgan argues we can’t generalise about what divorce means because everyone’s interpretation is different
31
Q

In 1961, how many divorces were there?

A

27,000

32
Q

When was the divorce reform act?

A

1969

33
Q

When was the civil partnerships act?

A

2004

34
Q

How has the cost of marriage caused a decrease in marriage?

A
  • average cost of a wedding is 16-18k
  • this cost is putting people off
  • people prefer to spend it on travel/ housing
35
Q

How has the change in attitudes lead to a decrease in marriage?

A
  • less pressure to marry
  • more freedom to individuals
  • widespread belief that the quality of the relationship is more important than its legal status
36
Q

How has secularisation lead to a decrease in marriage?

A
  • churches are in favour of marriage but as their influence declines people feel freer to choose not to marry
37
Q

How has the declining stigma lead to a decrease in marriage?

A
  • cohabitation and having children outside of marriage are now all regarded as acceptable
  • so pregnancy no longer automatically leads to a ‘shotgun’ wedding
38
Q

How has the change in the position of women lead to a decrease in marriage?

A
  • women have better education and careers
  • women are now economically independent and less dependent on men
  • they no longer feel obliged to marry for the purpose of money
39
Q

How has the fear of divorce lead to a decrease in marriage?

A
  • the rise in divorce has put people off marriage as they see the increased likelihood of marriage ending in divorce?
40
Q

What are the 6 reasons for a decrease in a marriage?

A
  • the cost of marriage
  • changing attitudes
  • secularisation
  • declining stigma
  • changes in the position of women
  • fear of divorce
41
Q

Define creative singlehood?

A

people choosing to be single

42
Q

Define cohabitation?

A
  • an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
  • it is the fastest growing family type in the UK and is becoming the norm
43
Q

What does the increase in cohabitation reflect?

A

Increased cohabitation reflects the decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage, young people are more likely to accept cohabitation. Increased career opportunities for women may mean they have less need for financial security of marriage

44
Q

What does Chester argue about cohabitation?

A

Chester argues cohabitation is a step in the process of marriage - a ‘try before you buy approach’

45
Q

Why would feminists support the idea of cohabitation over marriage?

A

they believe cohabitation still gives the woman the freedom to escape, it is a much more equal relationship and it is easier to leave. Cohabitation means women do not have to enter a patriarchal marriage

46
Q

How has social policy improved the position of those who chose to cohabit?

A
  • you can now adopt as a cohabitating couple
  • more legal recognition towards cohabitation
47
Q

What does Stonewall estimate how much of the adult population have same sex relationships?

A

5-7%

48
Q

How many one person households were there in 2006?

A

in 2006, almost 3 in 10 households contained only one person

49
Q

True or false, pensioner one person households have doubled since 1961?

A

true

50
Q

What are the trends of childbearing?

A
  • over 1 in 10 are now born outside marriage - 5 times more than 1971
  • average age of women at the birth of first child is 27.3 years
  • more women remaining childless pr having fewer children
51
Q

What are the reasons for the patterns in childbearing?

A
  • a decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation
  • increase in births to cohabitating couples
  • women have more options than just motherhood, eg career
52
Q

What are the trends of step families?

A
  • step families now account for over 10% of all families
53
Q

What are the reasons for the pattern in step families?

A
  • step families are formed when lone parents form new relationships as such as increase in divorce is a reason for the growth of this type of family
  • children are more likely to live with the mother when families break up
  • tensions may be faced due to a lack of clear social norms about how you should behave in these families
54
Q

What are the trends of lone parent families?

A
  • 1 child in 4 lives in a love parent family
  • over 90% of these families are headed by a woman
  • lone parent families now make up 24% of all families
  • a child living with a lone parent is twice as likely to be in poverty
55
Q

What are the reasons for the patterns of lone parent families?

A
  • increased due to the number of divorces and separation
  • lone parent families tend to be female headed because of the widespread believe that women are better at the expressive role
  • murray argues the growth of lone parent families is a result of an over-generous welfare state
56
Q

What does Mitza argue about black families?

A

Mitza argues that the higher rate of lone parent families among black people is not the result of disorganisation, but rather reflects the high value that black women place on independence

57
Q

True or false, Black Caribbean and Black African people have a higher proportion of lone parent households?

A

true

58
Q

What are the trends of Asian families?

A
  • Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to be larger than those of other ethnic groups
  • Such households sometimes contain three generations, but most are in fact nuclear rather than extended
  • Larger Asian household sizes are partly a result of the younger age profile of British Asians
  • They reflect the value placed on the extended family in Asian cultures - tend to be traditional against divorce, divorce would bring shame to the family
59
Q

What is the extended family?

A

According to parsons, the extended family was dominant in pre-industrial society and has been replaced by the nuclear family in today’s society

60
Q

What is the dispersed extended family?

A

where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls

61
Q

What is the beanpole family?

A
  • a particular type of extended family that is long and thin
  • extended vertically - three or more generations
  • doesn’t involve aunts, uncles, cousins
  • occurs as a result of increased life expectancy and smaller family sizes
62
Q

Why does the beanpole family occur?

A

occurs as a result of increased life expectancy and smaller family sizes

63
Q

Why might the ‘pure relationship’ lead to more divorce?

A

people want more individual fulfilment, selfishness and want to meet their own personal needs

64
Q

What proportion of marriages are re-marriages?

A

4 out of 10

65
Q
A

Sociology unit 1 (12 decks)

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