Topic 5 - Changing Family Patterns

Question 1

Has there been an increase in divorce rates?

Answer 1

since the 1960s there has been an increased.one reason for the increase in divorce is because less people are marrying, more people cohabitating.

Question 2

how many women apply for divorce petitions

Answer 2

about 65%

Question 3

How changes in laws affect divorce rates

Answer 3

made divorce easier to obtain and created a doubling in divorce rate

Question 4

how can unhappy marriages find a way out?

Answer 4

desertation- where one partner leaves the other but they still are legally married
legal separation -the court separates the financial and legal affairs , they remain married and are not allowed to re marry
Empty shell marriage - the couple remain married and live under the same roof, have the same name

Question 5

How declining stigma and changing attitudes effect divorce

Answer 5

divorce has a negative label attatched to it - churches choose to condem divorce and often chose to exclude divorcees from marriage cerimonies

Question 6

AS STIGMA DECLINES AND DIVORCE BECOMES SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE, COUPLES ARE LIKELY TO TURN TO DIVORCE RATHER THAN RESOLVE THE PROBLEM

Answer 6

DIVORCE NOWADAYS IS NOW SEEN TO BE MISFORTUNATE

Question 7

how does secularisation effect the increase in divorce?

Answer 7

secularisation- decline in religions influence in society
sociologists argue that society is becoming more secular
– eg: the number of people who attend church has declined, this means that less people are influenced by religion when thinking about marital matters

Question 8

how do rising expectations effect the increase in divorce?

Answer 8

come back to this

Question 9

Fletcher

Answer 9

people have high expectations of marriage, therefore, less people are likely to accept an unhappy marriage
THIS LEADS TO HIGH DIVORCE RATES

Question 10

How does womens independence effect the increase in

Answer 10

women have a better economic position , they are less financially dependant on their husband
this means that they do not have to bare with conflict and the lack of love w

Question 11

statistics on womens increased financial independence

Answer 11

girls greater success in education helps them achieve better paid jobs than previous years

Question 12

what are the feminist explanations on the increase of divorce

Answer 12

feminists believe that women have the dual burden and perform domestic labour , creating more conflict between a couple.
\feminists also argue that marriage remains patriarchal , with men benefitting from their wives triple shift/ dual burden

Question 13

What does Horschild say?

Answer 13

within the household, men don’t do a lot, which causes frustration
as both the genders go to work, they cannot complete emotion work which allows problems to surface.

Question 14

what does Rushton argue

Answer 14

she argues that mothers who have a dual burden of paid work and domestic work are more likely to divorce than non working mothers

Question 15

RADICAL FEMINST- Bernard

Answer 15

women are dissatisfied with patriarchal marriage

Question 16

how does modernity and individualisation effect the increase in divorce rate

Answer 16

because of the individualisation thesis, marriages become more delicate and they are less likely to stay iin the relationship , the relationship then satisfies each partners needs- for the sake of the children

Question 17

what is the individualisation thesis

Answer 17

when one wants to achieve their own interests

Question 18

what is a pu=e relationship

Answer 18

is one that focuses on each of the partners needs because of their children

Question 19

what do New Right critics say about divorce rates ?

Answer 19

high divorce rates are undesirable as it undermines marriage and the nuclear family

Question 20

what do Feminists say about the increasing divorce rates?

Answer 20

see a high divorce rate as desirable as women are breaking away from opression

Question 21

what do postmodernists think about a high reward rate

Answer 21

it shows us that people have freedom to choose to end a relationships

Question 22

what are the reasons of changing family patterns

Answer 22

the number of first marriages change 
declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage 
changes in the position of women 
remarriages
fear of divorce 
age of marriage

Question 23

cohabitation

Answer 23

unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
there are 69,000 same sex
couples

Question 24

why has cohabitation increased

Answer 24

young people are more likely to accept cohabitation
women are in less need of financial secuirity as they have jobs
unreligious people are more likely to cohabit

Question 25

cohabitation is increasing, marriage rates are decreasing

Answer 25

this might be because marriage is permanent whereas cohabitating is not people who cohabit are likely top have children
Shelton and john- people who cohabit are less likely to do more housework

Question 26

is cohabitation seen as a trial marriage

Answer 26

yes because people have plans on marrying if the relationship goes well.

Question 27

what year were male homosexual acts decriminalised

Answer 27

1967

Question 28

living apart together

Answer 28

people in a significant relationship without cohabitating or marrying
this may relate to less formal relationships

Question 29

child bearing stats

Answer 29

women are having children later ages

1971- 2012, the average age to have children is 28
more women are becoming childless

Question 30

what are the ethnic differences in family patterns

black families

Answer 30

black carribean and black African have higher rates of lone parenthood
this can be seen as evidence for family disorganisations it can be tracked back to slavery or to high rates of unemployment seen in black males

Question 31

what are the ethnic differences in family patterns

Asian families

Answer 31

Bangladeshi, Pakistani and indian families have higher rates of people in their households
this could be because there are more generations
Ballard- extended families support Asian families when migrating in the 1950s / 1960s

Question 32

outline facts about the extended family today

Answer 32

charle- three generation families are near extinction 
working class families - are frequent to contact and have more domestic help from mothers to daughters

Question 33

beanpole family

Answer 33

a type of extended family that is long and thin
it goes through more generations
it does not include aunts uncles etc

Question 34

finch and mason

Answer 34

90% of ypeople gave or received financial help from relatives, about half looked after a sick relative