Topic 6 - Couples

Question 1

What are the three key areas focused on in Topic 6 couples

Answer 1

1. Domestic division of labour
2. Resources and decision making in households
3. Domestic violence

Question 2

Provide a theorist who believes husbands and wives should be segregated.

Answer 2

Parsons - There should be a clear division of labour as male and female biology suits different roles

Question 3

What role should men play, and what would women play in a family, according to Parsons

Answer 3

Instrumental husbands’ role is to achieve success at work and be the provider

expressive The wife should meet the families emotional needs, socialising the children and doing domestic work

Question 4

Criticise Parsons view that there should be a clear division of labour between a couple. (Theorist)

Answer 4

Young and Willmott - argue men are taking a greater share of domestic labour and more wives are becoming wage earners.

Question 5

Use a theorist to discuss conjugal roles (roles within a marriage)

Answer 5

Bott 2 types of roles

Segregated conjugal roles - couple have separate roles the husbands instrumental and the wives expressive

Joint conjugal roles - the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare. They also spend leisure time together

Question 6

Give a theorist who studied conjugal roles in traditional working class families. What did they find?

Answer 6

Young and Willmott - most families had segregated conjugal roles

Where men had an instrumental role and women a expressive one

Question 7

Give a theorist who revisited a site to study conjugal roles in working class families. What did they find?

Answer 7

Young and willmott went back to their past site and studied the same families they explained that there was a long term trend away from segregated roles towards joint roles.

They call this a symmetrical family.

Question 8

What do Young and Willmott mean by symmetrical family?

Answer 8

Gender roles are more similar,

• women go to work
• men now help with housework
• couples now spend leisure time together

Question 9

Why do Young and Willmott believe symmetrical nuclear families are occurring (4 marks)

Answer 9

• changes in position of women - married women go out to work
• geographic mobility - more couples live away from the communities they grew up in
• New technology - labour saving devices
• Higher standard of living

Question 10

Criticise Young and Willmott view that there is a march of progress towards symmetrical families. (Theorist)

Answer 10

Oakley - relationships are still patrichal as only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework

Question 11

According to the March of Progress view is more women in paid work a positive? (Theorist)

Answer 11

They believe women going to work leads to a more equal division of labour.

Gershuny - found women who work full time also do less domestic labour

Question 12

According to the Feminsit view is more women in paid work a positive? (Theorist)

Answer 12

They feel women now face a dual burden

Dunscombe and Marsden argue women now take on a triple shift doing emotional, paid and domestic work

Question 13

What are the 2 different explanations for the unequal division of labour?

Answer 13

Cultural explanation - women perform domestic tasks because that’s what society expects. No change until gender roles are challenged

Material explanation - if women join the workforce doing as much as their partners, men and women should do equal domestic work

Question 14

Give evidence for the cultural explanation.

Answer 14

Gershuny - couples who had parents who shared domestic tasks are more likely to do the same

Question 15

Give evidence for the material explanation.

Answer 15

Kan - found for every £10,000 a women earns she does 2 hours less housework per week

Question 16

Paul and Vogler identified 2 main types of control over family income. What are they?

Answer 16

The allowance system - where the men give wives give an allowance which they budget to meet the families needs.

Pooling - where both partners have access to the income and a joint responsibility for expenditures

Question 17

In a couple who would make the important decisions? (Theorist)

Answer 17

Hardhill found important decisions were usually made by the man alone or jointly

Question 18

What are the 3 types of decisions a couple can make?

Answer 18

1. Very important decisions - like moving house (normally done by husband or jointly)
2. Important decisions - like children’s education (usually taken jointly or by the wife)
3. Less important decisions - like home decor (usually taken by wife)

Question 19

How can pooling income be unequal and seperation be equal? (Theorist)

Answer 19

Pahl it depends on who is contributing the most to who controls the money even if both partners have access.

Cohabitating couples are less likely to pool but more likely to share domestic work

Question 20

The meaning couples give to who controls the money varies. In one couple it could be a sign of inequality in another it may not. Give a theorist supporting this.

Answer 20

Smart - in same sex marriages, little importance is given to who controls the money as they don’t have historical baggage from past traditions.

Question 21

Define domestic violence

Answer 21

Any incident of physiological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional violence between intimate partners or family members

Question 22

Criticise the view that domestic violence is the behaviour of a few disturbed and sick individuals. (Provide 2 points and one theorist)

Answer 22

Domestic violence is too far spread to be the work of a few. 2 million people have reported being victims of domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse doesn’t occur randomly it follows particular social patterns like it’s done mostly by men.

Dobash and Dobash found marriage legitimises domestic violence against women and often occurred when husbands felt their authority was being challenged.

Question 23

Official statistics are often understate the true impact of domestic violence due to 2 reasons…

Answer 23

1. Victims are often unwilling to report their offence to the police as they believe its too trivial
2. Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to investigate or prosecute

cheal found police are often dealing with other matters and aren’t prepared to get involved in family life

Question 24

What are the two explanations offered by sociologists for domestic abuse?

Answer 24

1. The radical feminists believe it’s due to patriarchal society
2. The materialistic explanation says it’s due to financial stress

Question 25

Give a theorist for the radical feminists explanation for domestic abuse

Answer 25

Firestone and millet argue all of society is founded on the patriarchy. Men are the key oppressors of women.

Question 26

Give a theorist for the materialist explanation for domestic abuse

Answer 26

Pickett - see DV as a result of stress on family members caused by financial and social inequalities.

Question 27

Criticise the radical feminists explanation for domestic abuse (theorist)

Answer 27

Elliot reject radical feminists views that all men benefit from domestic abuse

• most men are opposed to DV
• Not all men are domestically violent
• don’t explain why not all women get abused
• fail to explain why women carry out domestic abuse

Question 28

Criticise the materialist explanation for domestic abuse

Answer 28

Unlike radical feminists they don’t explain why women rather than men receive the most domestic abuse