Changing patterns (marriage...) Flashcards
What are the 3 forms of a marriage breakdown?
- Divorce (legally terminates)
- Seperation (Live apart, remain legally married)
- Empty-shell marriages (no love/ intimacy, together in name only)
What did the Divorce Law Reform Act 1969 allow couples to do?
Marriages could be ended on the terms of ‘irretrievable breakdown’ without a martial offence being committed
Caused divorce rate to almost double
(74,437 in 1971)
What does Lewis (2001) suggest that we shock study instead of just families?
Individuals have greater freedom of choice over personal lives
Should therefore study changes to personal life + Rships rather than just families
In 2012, in England + Wales, how many divorces were there per hour?
13
What is the most common age to get divorced?
40-44
Majority of divorces = initiated by W (65%)
What % of marriages end in divorce?
42%
Divorce rate = 10.8 per 1,000 married population in 2012
Has the divorce rate increased or decreased over the past 10 years?
Decreased
Give 5 reasons for the increase in divorces?
- Changes in laws (easier, cheaper, M+W= equal rights)
- Declining stigma (Giddens, individual choice, not confined by social attitudes)
- Secularisation (churches ‘softer’ attitudes towards divorce, SOME allow divorced to remarry in church)
- Rising expectations of marriage (Fletcher, couples less likely to tolerate :( marriage)
- Changing position of W (no longer rely on husband)
What does Fletcher argue is a cause for an increase in divorce?
High expectations people place on marriage today
Makes couples less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage
What do feminists argue about divorce?
Married W suffer dual burden
Created new source on conflict between husband + wife, contributing to higher divorce rates
+ve changes in private sphere have been slow, marriage remains patriarchal
Rise in divorce rates shows rise in opportunities for W
Hochschild (1997)
Home compares unfavourable with work
W feel valued at work
At home, M’s resistance to do housework = sure of frustration
Making marriage less stable
Why do Beck + Giddens argue that there has been an increase in divorce rates in modern S?
Modern S, traditional norms (marry 1 person for life) lose hold over individuals
= individuals feel free to pursue own interests
Known as INDIVIDUALISATION THESIS
Rships = more fragile, less likely to stay with partner if Rship begins to break down
What does Functionalist, Fletcher, argue the rising divorce rate means?
Higher divorce rates may not indicate decline in value of marriage but higher standards people have of marriage
Marriage as social institution = NOT under threat
What do the New Right see the rising divorce rates?
High divorce rates undermines the TNF
Believe divorce = too easy
People = not as committed to family + marriage as once were
How do Postmodernists see the rising divorce?
Gives individuals freedom to choose to end a Rship that no longer meets their needs
See it as the main cause of family diversity
What do Interactionists aim to understand about divorce?
What it means to the individual
Morgan (1996): cannot generalise meaning of divorce; each interpretation of it = different
What were the 2 major changes to the family structure at the start of the 21st cent?
- Decline in marriage
2. Growth of living together before/ outside of marriage
Give 5 reasons for the changes in marriage rates
- Changing attitudes to marriage - less pressure to marry, no longer feel obliged
- Secularisation - feel freer not to marry
- Declining stigma - cohabitation, remarrying, single, children out of wedlock = more acceptable
- Position of W changing - less £ dependant; ed + career, feminists
- Fear of divorce - rising divorce rates, put people off
In 2004, how many marriages were re-marriages?
out of 10
4 out of every 10 marriages were re-marriages
What is cohabitation?
Unmarried couple living together without legal responsibilities of being married
What is the fastest growing family type in the UK?
What were the stats in the 1960s vs 2010?
Cohabitation
Early 1960s = 1 in 100 vs 2010 = 1 in 6
What does Chester argue cohabitation is for most people?
= trial marriage
About 80% of marriages have been preceded by period of cohabitation
Give 5 reasons why people cohabit instead of getting married
similar to reasons for change in marriage/ divorce
- Changing role of W - career, less likely accept demands of housewife/ mother role, £ independent, cohabitation = more equal
- Reduced social stigma (more likely young people)
- Secularisation (2001 census: young non-rel people = more likely to cohabit)
- Rising divorce rate (deterrent)
- Reducing risk - Beck (92), risk S, risk of divorce, cohabit avoids risk associated with long term commitment marriage entails
Give 3 reasons for the increase in same sex Rships
- Marriage legalised in 2014
- Civil Partnership Act 2004
- More social acceptance (secularisation?)
