Family and Households - Family Diversity Flashcards
(35 cards)
Rank the 5 studied perspectives in this booklet of the family from the most to least traditional
1) The New Right
2) Functionalism
3) Neo-conventional family
4) Rapoports
5) Postmoderism
What do functionalists argue the family relies upon?
The clear division of gender roles
What happened in 2011 leading to the proposed ‘Broken Britain’ by David Cameron?
The 2011 London Riots
What were the reasons given for the 2011 London Riots?
- Lack of discipline in schools
- ‘Troubled families’
- Children without fathers
- Inadequate parenting
What do The New Right argue about lone-parent families?
- They can’t discipline their children effectively
- Lack of male role models leads to educational failure, delinquency, and social instability
- They tend to be poorer, putting pressure on the welfare state
What do The New Right think about cohabitation?
It’s bad as it leads to more lone parent families
What did Harry Benson (2006) find about cohabiting vs marriage?
- He analysed 15,000 parents with babies
- In the first 3 years, 20% family breakdown for cohabiting couples, 6% in married couples
- Cohabiting couples are less stable
What is are some criticisms of Harry Benson’s study?
The marries could be empty-shell, numerical data doesn’t give the full picture
What are some criticisms of The New Right?
- Their assumptions are very politically charged and can cause controversy
- Feminists argue the traditional family structure is based upon the patriarchal oppression of women
- There is no evidence to suggest that lone parents raise unruly children
- Most cohabiting couples go on to get married
- Cohabitation is higher in working-class families, therefore breakdown may be caused by poverty
What does Robert Chester (1985) say about neo-conventional families?
- There is a now a neo-conventional family with shared gender roles
- A dual-earner dynamic where both spouses go to work
What does Robert Chester say about nuclear families?
They are still the most prevalent in modern society and most people gravitate towards them
What family patterns are still the most common in society?
- Most adults have children
- Most cohabiting couples get married
- Most marriages continue until death
- Most people are in nuclear families
- Most children born outside of marriage are joint registered
What is Rapoport’s view of family diversity?
It is a positive thing and celebrates the pluralistic society
What are the 5 types of family diversity accord to Rapoport’s study
- Cultural diversity
- Life-stage diversity
- Organisational diversity
- Generational diversity
- Social class diversity
What is Cultural diversity?
- Different cultural, religious, and ethnic groups have differing family structures
- For example, there are a higher proportion of female lone-parent families in African-Caribbean households
What is Life-stage diversity?
- Family structures differ according to life stages
- For example, a young couple with dependent children is much different from a retired couple with adult children
What is Organisational diversity?
- Differences in how family roles are organised
- For example, couples with joint vs segregated conjugal roles
What is Generational diversity?
- Different generations have different attitudes and experiences, such as views on divorce and cohabitation
What is Social class diversity?
- Income differences
- Class differences
What is postmodernism?
How we now (post 1970s) actively construct who we are through what we consume
What issues do huge amounts of diversity create?
- Individuals are no longer strongly bound by the same set of social norms and values
- It creates instability within society
How does postmodernism affect relationships?
People can now choose their family structures and the meaning of relationships
What did Judith Stacey’s (1998) study find to support the postmodernist perspective?
- Found the creation of divorce-extended families where the members were connected by divorce (former in-laws, ex’s new partners, etc…)
- Women are the main agents of change in the family
- Women rejected traditional roles, focused on their education, got divorced and remarried
What do Giddens and Beck say that increasing diversity leads to?
A more unstable society with greater risks
