Changing family patterns Flashcards
(35 cards)
1
Q
What are two changing patterns of divorce?
A
- since the 1960s there has been an increase in divorce
- about 65% of petitions for divorce come from women
2
Q
What are the 7 explanations for the increase in divorce?
A
- changes in the law
- decline in stigma and changing attitudes
- secularisation
- rising expectations of marriage
- women increased financial independence
- feminist explanations
- modernity & individualisation
3
Q
What have been the three kinds of changes to the law?
A
- equalising the grounds for divorce between sexes 1923 > led to a sharp rise in divorce petitions from women
- widening the grounds for divorce 1971> made divorce easier to obtain
- making divorce cheaper 1949 >introduction of legal aid for divorce cases
4
Q
How has declining stigma affected divorce rates?
A
- divorce has become more socially acceptable > couples become more willing to resort to divorce as a means of solving martial problems
- becomes normalised
5
Q
How has secularisation affected divorce rates?
A
- less influence of religion on society
- church attendances rates declining
- traditional opposition to divorce carries less weight in society
6
Q
How has the rising expectations of marriage affected divorce rates?
A
- Functionalist Fletcher > higher expectations make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
- ideology of romantic love > each individual has their Mr or Miss Right
- marriage not seen as binding contract but a relationship in which individuals seek personal fulfilment
7
Q
How do feminist critique Fletchers view on divorce?
A
- argue that his view is too rosy > ignore the oppression of women as the main cause of marital conflict & divorce
- assumes all individuals freely leave unsatisfactory marriages > women may feel pressured to stay due to societal or economic constraints
8
Q
How has women’s increase financial independence?
A
- improvements in women’s economic position has made them less financially dependent on their husbands
> women today more likely to be in paid work
> equal pay and anti-discrimination laws have helped narrow the pay gap
> girls better success in education helps them achieve better paid job
9
Q
How has feminism affected divorce rates?
A
- in the private sphere of the family > marriage still remains patriarchal with men benefiting from their wives ‘tiple shift’
- created a new source of conflict between husbands and wives
10
Q
How has modernity and individualisation affected divorce rates?
A
- Beck & Giddens argue that in modern society, traditional norms loses their hold over individuals
- each individual has become free to pursue their own self interest > individualisation thesis
- people remain unwilling to remain a relationship that fails to deliver personal fulfilment > seek a pure relationship based on satisfying each others need
- likely to pull spouses apart
11
Q
What are the different sociological perspectives views on the high rates of divorce?
A
- New right > see it as undesirable as it creates underclass of welfare dependent female lone parents who are a burden on the state
- Feminists > see it as desirable because it shows women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal NF
- Postmodernists > it shows that individuals have freedom to choose to end a relationship if they need > leads to family diversity
- functionalists> not a threat to marriage as a social institution, remarriage shows peoples continuing commitment
- PLP > family life can adapt to divorce without disintegrating
12
Q
What are two changing patterns of divorce?
A
- fewer people are marrying
- more remarriages > leading to a serial monogamy
13
Q
What are the 5 reasons for a fall in the number of marriages?
A
- secularisation
- declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage e.g. cohabitation
- changes in women position
- fear of divorce
14
Q
What is cohabitation?
A
- an unmarried couple who have a sexual relationship living together
15
Q
What are two changing patterns of cohabitation?
A
- 3.5 million cohabiting heterosexual couples in Britain
- about a fifth of all those cohabiting are serial cohabitants
16
Q
What are the reasons for increase in cohabitation?
A
- decline in stigma of sex outside of marriage
- changing position of women > less need of financial security of marriage
- secularisation
17
Q
What do most cohabiting couples see cohabitation as?
A
- a trial marriage
- cohabitation = temporary phase before marriage
18
Q
Other than a trial marriage what do other cohabitating couples see cohabitation as?
A
- some see as a permanent alternative to marriage
Beijn > represents a more conscious attempt from younger couples to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal marriage
19
Q
What is a changing pattern of same sex relationships?
A
- 5-7% of the adult population today have same-sex relationships
20
Q
What may explain the trend towards same-sex cohabitation & relationships that resemble same sex relationships?
A
- increased social acceptance
- Weeks sees lesbian and gay men as creating family based on the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’ > describes these as chosen families as they offer same security as heterosexual families
21
Q
What are the changing trends of one-person household?
A
- big rise in number of people living alone
- half of all one person household are over 65
22
Q
What are the reasons for trends of one-person households?
A
- increasing in separation and divorce > father likely to leave family home & children live with mother
- decline in numbers marring > people remaining single
23
Q
What did Duncan and Philips find about those not living with a partner?
A
- found for the BSA survey that about 1 in 10 adults are ‘living apart together’ > in a significant relationship but not married or cohabitating
24
Q
What are the changing trends of childbearing?
A
- nearly half of all children are born outside of marriage
- women are having children later
- women are having fewer children
25
What are the reasons for changes in child bearing patterns?
- decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation
- women have more options other than motherhood & want to establish themselves e.g. education
26
What are the changing trends of lone parent families?
- LPF make up 24% of all families with children
- about 90% of these families are headed by lone mothers
27
What are the reasons for changing trends in lone parent families?
- increase in divorce and separation
- increases in number of never married women having children
- decline in stigma to attached to births outside of marriage
28
What are the critiques of the New right view on LPF?
- welfare benefits are far from generous because:
> lack of affordable childcare prevents lone parents from working
> inadequate welfare benefits
> most lone parents are women who generally earn less than men
> failure of fathers to pay child support
29
What are the changing trends of stepfamilies?
- stepfamilies (aka reconstituted) account for over 10% of all families with children
- stepfamilies are at greater risk of poverty
- stepfamilies may face issues of divided loyalties & issues such a contact with non-resident parent can cause tensions
30
What are the reasons for the changing trends of stepfamilies?
- divorce and separation leads to increase in stepfamilies
- children more likely to remain with mother so more children in stepfamilies are from women's previous relationship
- greater risk of poverty because there are more children & father may have to support children from previous relationship as well
- tensions face may be due to lack of clear social norms about how individuals should behaving in SP
31
How has immigration changed family patterns?
- Migrants brought with them the family patterns of their countries origin
32
What are the family patterns of British South Asian families accoridng to Berthoud?
- had high rates of marriage and low rates of cohabitation & divorce
- arranged marriages common among Sikh & Muslims
- higher rate of three generational households
- high value places on 'izzat' especially related to daughters
- cultural traditions may explain the high extended family patterns amongst south Asians as these traditions emphasise loyalty to the wider group these families are more common due to collectivist values which differ from the individualism of mainstream British culture > help with childcare and economic burden
33
What are the family patterns of White British families?
- lower marriage & fertility rates, later marriage, small family sizes
34
What are the family patterns of Black British Caribbean families?
- lower marriage rates than other two groups and low fertility rates
- higher rates of lone parenthood
- high rates of intermarriage
- Berthoud argues that this is due the continuation of a family pattern in the Caribbeans where mother households are headed by a female who relies on the support of nearby female kin > they migrate her and have contributed to rise of welfare
-
- heavy emphasis on independence
Eval may be in LATS
35
Although the extended family may have declined, why has it not disappeared?
- Willmott argues it continues exists as a 'dispersed extended family' where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls
- Chamberlain study of Caribbean families in the UK that despite being geographically dispersed they continue to provide support > she describes them as multi nuclear families with close & frequent contact between sibling ]s uncle aunts and cousins
