family diversity

Question 1

functionalist perspective of family

Answer 1

• according to functionalists, the family has moved away from being extended and is now nuclear, they argue that the networks that were once relied on by family members and no longer necessary as there are many institutions that now fulfil those rules once performed by the extended kin (in other words the family has become privatised)
• this is often referred to as the serial packet family which functionalist argue is the most functional for society as it fulfils the necessary functions outlined by Parsons and Murdock

Question 2

neo-functionalist perspective of the family

Answer 2

• Chester agrees that there has been an increase in family diversity but does not consider it to be significant
• argued that the biggest shift has been from the nuclear family to the neo conventional family which is still nuclear structure, but is a dual earner family where conjugal roles are joint (symmetrical family)

Question 3

evaluation of functionalism: the extended family

Answer 3

• McGlone challenges the idea that the nuclear family has taken over the extended family
• argues the extended family remains an important source of help and support
• acknowledges that this may be more prevalent in the working class compared to the middle class due to issues of unemployment and poverty
  identified 3 types of extended families
• local extended family: the traditional extended family where members live with each other
• dispersed extended family: wider kin may live far away but links are maintained through technology (eg phones and social media)
• attenuated extended family: single people might move away from their kin

Question 4

reasons for an increase in single parent families

Answer 4

• decline in social stigma: less religious people = less negative judgement from society, people do not feel pressured to stay married
• changes in women’s positions: women no longer financially dependent on men as majority have their own jobs = not stuck in the relationship and can support themselves
• changes in divorce law: divorce now legal, women can file for a divorce, people who are unhappy take the opportunity, easy to access

Question 5

new right perspective on single parent families

Answer 5

• critical of single parent families because they believe that these lead to a breakdown of traditional values and increased reliance on state benefits
• Murray: argues that non-traditional family types are to blame for a range of social problems such as educational failure, high crime rates, unemployment, health problems and the dependency culture, therefore claiming that single parents are the most important social problem of our time

Question 6

criticism of the new right perspective on single parent families

Answer 6

• Oakley: negative view, no evidence of loan dependency, women are earning and aren’t dependent

Question 7

types of family diversity

Answer 7

• Rapport and Rapport argue that only a minority of families resemble the ideal nuclear family, identified five types of family diversity in modern Britain
• Cultural diversity: different patterns based on religion or ethnicity
• Life stage diversity: throughout our lives, we will live in different types of family structures
• Organisational diversity: different patterns of domestic and paid work, conjugal roles / dual earners
• Generational diversity: different family patterns between generations
• Social class diversity: different patterns of conjugal roles / child rearing practices between WC and MC

Question 8

ethnic differences in family patterns (asian families)

Answer 8

• Anwar: found evidence of strong tight-knit extended family structure in the Pakistani community, more likely to have children compared to other ethnic groups
• Ballard: studied south Asian families, found they had a much broader network of familial relations than a typical white British family, focused on maintaining family honour (izzat) which meant no divorce, no adultery, no sex before marriage, and have to take care of the elderly, evidence of a multigenerational extended family

Question 9

black families

Answer 9

• UK Census shows 18.9% of all black families are single parents with dependent children, but figures were low for white and Asian families
• Reynolds studied black families and found that loan parent females may be in visiting relationships while they have a male partner who lives outside of the family but provides support and takes an active part in family life when present (eg better job opportunities abroad due to discrimination in UK so may find jobs elsewhere)

Question 10

reasons for an increase in reconstituted / step families

Answer 10

• secularisation: people becoming less religious = less religious influence on couples divorcing and remarrying, less influenced to get married at all
• changes in women’s positions: women no longer financially dependent on men as majority have their own jobs = not stuck in the relationship and can support themselves
• changes in divorce law: divorce now legal, women can file for a divorce, people who are unhappy take the opportunity, easy to access

Question 11

post modernist views on family diversity

Answer 11

• Cheal: fragmentation of family life, family life is no longer predictable or has fixed identities, society has entered a new chaotic postmodern stage where families are more diverse with greater choice on lifestyle
• Haraven: family is not fixed but changes over a course of a person‘s life, diversity through our lives is inevitable
• Morgan: blurring family identities, no point in making large scale generalisation about the family as if it was a single thing, we decide on the rules we play within the family and what each identity looks like in the family
• Stacey: interviews with women in California, divorced extended family where members are connected via divorce rather than marriage

Question 12

late modern views of family diversity

Answer 12

• Giddens: the individuation thesis, argues that the family and marriage have been transformed by greater choice and equality, relationships are free to exist based on sex and intimacy rather than procreation due to contraception and changes in women’s positions, describes this as a pure relationship (relationship only exists to meet the needs of each partner, less stable, can be ended by either partner at any time
• Beck: risk society and the negotiated family, tradition has less influence and there is more choice, makes us more aware of risks, negotiated families vary according to the wishes on expectations of the members, they enter the relationship on an equal basis

Question 13

personal life perspective

Answer 13

• individualisation thesis: people are free floating and independent, more choice over the relationships, can walk away at any time
• Connectedness thesis: people are fundamentally social beings, individual choices are influenced by social networks / existing relationships, an alternative to individual thesis