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A-Level Sociology AQA (my version) > 1.3.5 Families and Households: Changing Patterns and Family Diversity > Flashcards

1.3.5 Families and Households: Changing Patterns and Family Diversity Flashcards

1
Q

The Extended Family Today

Cheal

A
  • Rules around obligation to assist : spouse, daughter, daughter in law, son, others.
  • Sons are rarely chosen for health support and daughters rarely chosen for financial support.
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2
Q

The Extended Family Today

Finch and Mason

A

Many people still feel a sense of obligation to help their extended family. 90% of people have given or recieved financial support and around half have exchanged support regarding health needs.

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3
Q

The Extended Family Today

Brannen

A
  • ‘beanpole’ family - extended vertically but not horizontally.
  • Emerged as a result of higher life expectancy and lower family sizes.
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4
Q

The Extended Family Today

Bell (1968)

A

Both working class and middle class families had emotional bonds with kin and relied on them for support.

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5
Q

The Extended Family Today

Chamberlain (1999)

A

Studied Caribbean families and found that despite being geographically dispersed, they continue to provide support. ‘Multiple nuclear families’.

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6
Q

The Extended Family Today

Willmott (1988)

A

Extended family continues to exsist as a ‘dispersed extended family’ where relatives are geographically seperated but maintain frequent contact.

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7
Q

The Extended Family Today

Charles (2008)

A

Studies families in Swansea and found that the multi generational family is ‘all but extinct’ except in the Bangledeshi community.

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8
Q

Divorce

Explanations for the increase in divorce

(7)

A
  1. Changes in the law
  2. Declining stigma and changing attitudes
  3. Secularisation
  4. Rising expectations of marriage
  5. Women’s increased financial independence
  6. Feminist explanations
  7. Modernity and Individualisation
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9
Q

Divorce

Smart (2011)

A
  • Personal life perspective
  • Divorce can become normalised and family life can adapt to it without disintigrating.
  • A transition rather than a problem.
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10
Q

Divorce

Morgan (1996)

A
  • Interractionalist
  • We cannot generalise around the meaning of divorce as it is different for everyone.
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11
Q

Divorce

‘Pure relationship’ definition and which theorists coined it?

A
  • Beck and Giddens - individualists
  • A relationship which seeks to satisfy the partner’s romantic needs, not under obligation from society / kids / norms
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12
Q

Divorce

Bernard (1976)

A
  • Radical feminist
  • Women are becoming more conscious of patriarchal oppression and more confident in rejecting it, leading to higher divorce rates.
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13
Q

Divorce

Cooke and Gash (2010)

(Criticise Sigle Rushton)

A

Found no evidence that working women are more likely to divorce because women working has become the norm.

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14
Q

Divorce

Hochschild (1997) which links to Sigle Rushton’s findings

A
  • Hochschild - Women feel more valued at work then they do at home. Men’s reluctance to do housework is a source of frustration.
  • Sigle Rushton - Mothers with a dual burden are more likely to divorce then those who do all, or none of the housework.
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15
Q

Divorce

Fletcher (1966)

A

Higher divorce rate is a result of the higher expectations which people place on marriage, leading to a couple being less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage

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16
Q

Divorce

Mitchell and Goody (1997)

A
  • The decline in stigma around divorce has led to significant increase.
  • Divorce has been normalised in society
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17
Q

Divorce

What date what the Divorce Law Reform Act and what did it change?

A
  • 1969
  • Made the ‘irrotrieval breakdown’ of marriage the sole ground for divorce.
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18
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Matrifocal definition

A

Female headed family

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19
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Reynolds (2010)

A

Argues that statistics are misleading and that many of the black women headed families classed as single are actually in supportive LAT relationships.

20
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Heidi Mirza (1997)

A

The high rate of lone parent families amongst blacks is not a result of disorganisation, but of the high value black women place on independence.

21
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Roger Ballard (1982)

A

Found that extended family ties provided an important source of support among asian families in 1950s and 1960s.

22
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Why is it more common for Asian families to be multi generational?

(3)

A
  1. Younger age profile of British Asians, since a higher proportion are of childbearing age in comparison to the population as a whole.
  2. High value places on extended family.
  3. Need for assistence when migrating.
23
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

Reasons for more black lone parents

(3)

A
  1. The legacy of slavery - couples were separated and the children went with the mother, establishing a matrifocal pattern.
  2. High male unemployment
  3. Black women valuing independence more highly.
24
Q

Ethnic Differences in Family Patterns

What percentage of Black families are lone parent?

A

49%

25
Q

Partnerships

What government policies are there for same sex?

A

Same Sex Couples act 2013 gave same sex couples the right to marry.

26
Q

Partnerships

Duncan and Phillips for the British Social Attitudes survey (2013) - LATs

A
  • 1 in 10 adults are in LATs (which is half the number classified as single).
  • ‘too early’ to cohabit, wanted to keep own home, past relationship trauma
27
Q

Partnerships

Same sex
Weston (1992)

A
  • describes same sex cohabitation as ‘quasi-marriage’
  • Cohabiting contrasts gay lifestyle of casual relationships in the past.
28
Q

Partnerships

Same sex
Weeks (1992)

A

Social acceptance explains the increase in same sex cohabitation and stable relationships.

29
Q

Partnerships

Same sex
Allan and Crow

A

Same sex partners have had to negotiate commitment and responsibilities leading to more flexible and less stable relationships.

30
Q

Partnerships

Same Sex
Stonewall (2012)

A
  • 5 to 7% of the adult population are in same sex relationships.
  • Cannot judge whether this is an increase or decrease due to past stigmas and laws.
31
Q

Partnerships

Cohabitation
Bejin (1985)

A

Cohabitation amoungst young people represents a conscious choice to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship then patriarchal marriage.

32
Q

Partnerships

Cohabitation
Chester
Coast (2006)

(Relating theorists)

A

Chester
* Cohabiting can be seen as a ‘trial marriage’ which is part of the process of getting married.

Coast
* - 75% of cohabting couples say they intend to marry each other.

33
Q

Partnerships

Cohabiting statistics

(2)

A
  • 1 in 8 couples are cohabiting
  • Estimated 2.9 million cohabiting couples in Britain
34
Q

Family Diversity

Rapoport’s five types of diversity (CLOGS)

A
  1. Cultural - e.g ethnic groups have different family structures
  2. Life cycle differences - e.g pensioner couples, newlyweds, young couple with kids
  3. Organisational - e.g joint or conjugal roles
  4. Generational differences - e.g in attitudes towards cohabitation
  5. Social class - e.g differences based on resources
35
Q

Family Diversity

Chester

A
  • Although there is some increased diversity, the nuclear family remains dominant.
  • Neo-conventional family - where both families work (like the symmetrical family)
  • The nuclear family remains the norm that people aspire to and many of those not in a nuclear family have been or will.
36
Q

Family Diversity

Benson

(the new right)

A
  • Found that over the first three years of a babys life, the rate of family breakdown was much higher amongst cohabiting couples.
  • 20% breakdown in comparison with only 6% among married couples.
37
Q

Family Diversity

The New Right

(3)

A
  • Sees the patriarchal nuclear family as the only normal one and all other as abnormal / problematic.
  • Believe in intrumental and expressive roles based on biology.
  • Believe lone parents are problematic as they cannot discipline children, don’t provide a male father figure, and are poor so a burden on the welfare state.
38
Q

Family Diversity

Parsons
functionalist

(functional fit and irreducible functions)

A
  • ‘functional fit’ between modern society and nuclear family.
  • Nuclear family allows for a gepgraphically and socially mobile workforce.
  • two ‘irreducible functions’ - the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities.
39
Q

Family Diversity

Which perspectives are considered modernist?

(2)

A
  • Functionalism
  • The New Right
40
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Explain the ‘connectedness thesis’ and name the theorist.

A
  • Smart
  • Argues decisions are made within a “web of connectedness”
  • Argues that personal histories and relationships all strongly influence our current relationships and obligations.
41
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

What are the criticisms of the individualisation thesis?

(3)

A
  • Exaggerates how much choice people really have
  • Ignores that our decisions are made in a social context
  • Ignores the importance of social structures (class inequalities, gender norms) in influencing relationships.
42
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Beck

A

Argues that we now live in a
‘risk society’
where people calculate the risks and rewards before making decisions
The ‘negotiated family’ is not fixed but varies according to its members, making it less stable

43
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Describe the ‘pure relationship’ and who theorised it?

A
  • Giddens
  • The ‘pure relationship’ is one that exists in postmodern society purely to satisfy the partner’s needs, not under obligation.
  • Only survives as long as it brings satisfaction to each partner
44
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Describe the individualisation thesis and the sociologists that came up with it.

A
  • Giddens and Beck
  • The individualisation thesis argues that traditional social structures, such as class, gender, and family, have lost their influence over society. This gives individuals more choice over their relationships.
45
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Stacey

A
  • Argues that more freedom and choice has benefited women as they have freed themselves from patriarchal oppression.
  • Found women in California were working, improving their education. improving job prospects, divorced.
  • Identified the ‘divorce extended family’ in which family members are connected by divorce.
46
Q

Postmodernism and family diversity

Explain postmodern society

A

A society past the ‘modern’ society with its orderly structures (e.g. nuclear family), into a chaotic postmodern society with no dominant family type, but choice in relationship style.

A-Level Sociology AQA (my version) (26 decks)

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