Families and Households Topic 6 - couples Flashcards
(27 cards)
The domestic division of labour (one theorist)
Parsons (1955), a functionalist believes that husbands and wives roles should be segregated - a clear division of labour
Instrumental: the husband’s role that is geared towards achieving success at work and as such is the breadwinner/provider
Expressive: meeting the family’s emotional needs. The wife is the homemaker, the housewife and the primary socialisation of the children
Why does Parson believe there should be a clear division of labour?
He says this is because there are biological differences between the sexes, with women ‘naturally suited’ to the nurturing role and men to that of the provider. He says that the division provides the best fit for society.
Conjugal roles (one theorist)
Bott (1957) discusses two types of conjugal roles within a marriage:
- Segregated conjugal roles -> where the couple have separate roles, a male breadwinner and a female homemaker, separate leisure activities
- Joint conjugal roles -> where the couple share tasks such as housework and childcare, and also spend their leisure time together
1950s study in Bethnal Green, London (two theorists)
Young & Wilmott found in their study of traditional working class families, that most households had segregated roles:
- Men were the breadwinners
- They played little parts in the home life and spent their leisure time in the pub
- Women were full time housewives with the sole responsibility for housework and childcare
The symmetrical family (two theorists)
Young & Wilmott (1973) went back to Bethnal Green in 1970s (longitudinal study) and found that family life was improving over time. They argue there has been a long term trend away from segregated roles to joint conjugal roles, a family with joint roles they call a ‘symmetrical family’:
- Women now go out to work
- Men can now help with housework
- Couples now spend leisure time together
Four social changes resulting in symmetrical families:
- Changes in the position of women, including married women going out to work
- Geographical mobility, more couples live away from the communities they grew up in
- New technology
- Higher standards of living
Feminists rejecting the ‘March of Progress’ view (one theorist)
- Men and women remain unequal within the family as women still do most of the housework
- Argue inequality stems from the fact that family and society are male dominated/patriarchal
- Oakley (1974) criticises Young & Wilmott as she says their claims are exaggerated, instead she found:
-> 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework
-> 25% had a high level of participation in childcare
Sex typing of domestic tasks (two theorists)
Warde & Hetherington (1993) - found that sex typing of domestic tasks remained high. E.g. women are 30x more likely to wash up, while men are 3x more likely to wash the car. Generally they found that men would only carry out ‘female’ tasks when their partner was not around.
- They did suggest a ‘New Man’ in younger men particularly if they came from a home where joint conjugal roles were present
March of Progress Views on divisions of labour (four theorists)
- Women going out to work is leading to a more equal division of labour at home
- Gershuny (1994) found that women who work full time do less domestic work than other women
- Sullivan (2000) collected data in 1975, 1987 and 1997 and found a trend towards more equality in terms of who does domestic work
- Schor and Silver (1993) argue that the housewife has died as housework has been commercialised
The Feminists view on divisions of labour (six theorists)
- British Attitudes Survey 2013 found that overall women did twice as much domestic work as men, 60% of women felt this was unjust
- Dex & Ward (2007) 78% of fathers had high involvement with their 3 yr olds, however only 1% of fathers looked after them when they were sick
- Hoschschild (2013) says taking responsibility for family members is called ‘emotional work’
- Dunscombe & Marsden (1995) argue women now have to undertake the triple shift of paid work, domestic work and emotional work
- Southerton (2011) claims that mothers also coordinate and schedule the family’s quality time
Explaining the gender division of labour (two theorists)
It is clear to see that there are still significant differences between men and women in the roles they play relating to housework and childcare.
Crompton & Lyonette (2008) says there are two different explanations for this:
- Cultural
- Material
The cultural explanation for the division of labour (three theorists)
The view that the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles. Women perform domestic tasks because this is what society expects
Gershuny (1994) found couples who had parents that shared domestic tasks were themselves more likely to share housework
Man Yee Kan (2001) found younger men do more domestic work, this suggests a generational shift is taking place
Dunne (1999) found lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because there was the absence of traditional heterosexual ‘gender scripts’
The material explanation for the division of labour (three theorists)
This view states that if women join the labour force and earn as much as their partners then we should expect to see the men and women doing more equal amounts of domestic work
Kan found that for every £10,000 a year a women earns, she does two hours less housework per week
Ramos (2003) found that where the woman is the main breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much domestic work as she does
Sullivan (2000) found that working full time had a bigger impact on domestic work than if a women worked part time
AO3 for the Material Explanation for the division of labour (one theorist)
Crompton (1997) states that women still earn less than men, in 7/8 households, men earn more. So there is no immediate prospect of a more equal division of labour
The two types of control over the family’s income (two theorists)
Pahl & Vogler (1993) identifies that there are two main types of control over a family income:
The allowance system -> where men give their wives an allowance of which they budget to meet the family’s needs
Pooling -> where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure e.g. a joint bank account
Three types of decision making within a family (one theorist)
Edgell (1980) found that three types of decisions were made:
- Very important decisions - involve finances e.g. moving house and usually taken by the husband or joint/with the husband taking the final say
- Important decisions - e.g. children’s education, holidays.. usually taken jointly or by the wife alone
- Less important decisions - e.g home decor, clothes and food, usually made by the wife
Why do men tend to make the decisions? (one theorist)
Hardhill (1997) found that when studying professional couples that the important decisions were usually taken by the man or jointly.
The reason why men tend to make the decisions is they earn more.
‘Personal life’ perspective on money (one theorist)
Focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls money, for example in one relationship one partner controlling the money may be a sign of inequality
Smart (2007) found that in same sex couples the control of money is often given a different meaning. In a gay and lesbian relationship little importance is attached to who controlled the money, she argues that there is greater freedom for same sex couples to do what suits them.
The definition of domestic violence according to The Home Office (2013)
‘Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality’
- This can include psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional violence/abuse
‘Domestic violence is too widespread’ (one stat)
The Crime Survey (2013) found that 2 million people reported having been victims of domestic abuse (1.2 million women, 800,000 men)
‘Domestic violence does not occur randomly’ (one stat)
It instead follows a particular social pattern and these patterns have social causes. The most striking pattern is that is is mainly violence by men against women.
1 in 4 women experience domestic violence at some point, two women are killed each week by a former/current partner
Dobash and Dobash (2007) views on marriage
They found that marriage legitimises domestic violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives. Violence often occurred when husbands felt their authority was being challenged.
Official statistics often understate the true extent of domestic violence based on two reasons (one theorist) ->
- Victims are often unwilling to report the offence to the police, a woman on average suffers 35 assaults before making a report
- Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to investigate or prosecute.
Cheal (1991) states that often the police and other state agencies are not prepared to get involved with family life because: the family is a private sphere, the family is a good thing and agencies tend to neglect the darker side, individuals are free agents so they assume women would leave if it was that bad
Radical feminist explanations for domestic violence (two theorists)
- Firestone & Millet (1970) argue all societies are founded on patriarchy, all key divisions in society are between men and women - men are the enemies as they’re the exploiters and oppressors of women.
- Marriage is the key institute that promotes and maintains a patriarchal society and is the key oppressor of women.
- They also blame the male dominated state institutions for the reluctance of the police and courts to deal effectively with domestic violence cases
- The Office of National Statistics (2014) suggests that women from some social groups face a greater risk: young women, those in low social classes, low incomes, living in rented accommodations, drug and alcohol uses and long term illness/disability
