Paper 1 - Year 12 Mock Preparation

Question 1

Ethnicity has greatest influence on family diversity (24) (For)

Answer 1

• Ballard - South Asian migrants in 1950s UK brought traditions such as gender roles and pre-arranged marriages with them.
• Berthoud - Females of different ethnicities can be placed on scale from old fashioned values to individualism. E.G. African-Caribbean most individualist, South-Asian most traditional.
• Platt - South Asians have larger family sizes. White - 16% have 4+ members, Bangladeshi - 49% have 4+ members.

Question 2

Ethnicity has greatest influence on family diversity (24) (Against)

Answer 2

• Bourdieu - Parents possess cultural capital that help children do well in education in upper classes. Class more important.
• Giddens - People now have greater choice in which intimate relationships they want to pursue, leading to new family types. Sexuality most important.
• Weeks + Donovan + Heaply - Many homosexual people have chosen families as they are able to choose who is in their families.

Question 3

Nuclear family is most functional family type (24) (For)

Answer 3

• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (economic, education, social, reproductive).
• Parsons - Nuclear family ensures men and women serve their natural roles. Men = breadwinner, women = caregiver.
• Murray - Underclass exists due to overly generous government benefits leading to single parent families with inadequate norms and values

Question 4

Nuclear family is most functional family type (24) (Against)

Answer 4

• Benston - women raise future workforce and take care of men’s needs which benefits ruling class but not women.
• Giddens - People now more reflexive due to rise in confluent love. No best family type.
• Sommerville - Women now have much more choice about whether to marry and what type of family they want to be in. No best family type.

Question 5

Nuclear family is still strongest family type (24) (For)

Answer 5

• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (economic, education, social, reproductive).
• Parsons - Nuclear family ensures men and women serve their natural roles. Men = breadwinner, women = caregiver.
• Murray - Underclass exists due to overly generous government benefits leading to single parent families with inadequate norms and values

Question 6

Nuclear Family is still strongest family type (24) (Against)

Answer 6

• Benston - women raise future workforce and take care of men’s needs which benefits ruling class but not women.
• Giddens - People now more reflexive due to rise in confluent love. No best family type.
• Sommerville - Women now have much more choice about whether to marry and what type of family they want to be in. No best family type.

Question 7

Assess feminist views of the family (24) (For)

Answer 7

• Benston - Women raise future workforce and take care of men’s needs which benefits the capitalist system.
• Ansley - Women are takers of shit and act as a safety valve as they take men’s justified frustrations with exploitation at work.
• Hardill et al - most women still defer to their husbands on big financial decisions.

Question 8

Assess feminist views of the family (24) (Against)

Answer 8

• Parsons - Nuclear family ensures men and women serve their naturally suited roles of breadwinner and caregiver.
• Murray - Children raised outside of nuclear family taught inadequate norms and values due to lacking a strong male role model.
• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (sexual, reproductive, economic and educative).

Question 9

Asses the view that nuclear family benefits capitalism (24) (For)

Answer 9

• Engels - Nuclear family allows ruling class to pass on wealth and inheritance to their children to keep ruling class on top.
• Benston -Women benefit capitalism in 2 ways by looking after men’s needs and raising the future workforce.
• Zeretsky - Nuclear family benefits capitalism in 2 ways by raising the future workforce and acting as a unit of consumption.

Question 10

Assess view that Nuclear Family benefits capitalism (Against)

Answer 10

• Parsons - Nuclear family stablilises adult emotions and socialises children. Ensures men and women serve natural roles.
• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (social, reproductive, educative and economic)
• Murray - Overly generous benefits lead to children being raised outside of nuclear family which leads to lack of male role models to teach adequate norms and values.

Question 11

Assess view that nuclear family is no longer the norm (For)

Answer 11

• Giddens - Rise in confluent love has lead to greater acceptance of other family types such as same sex families.
• Beck + Beck Gernsheim - Risk based society has lead to less people marrying due it being seen as riskier than cohabitation.
• Hall et al - Many single people find freedom in being solo and choose to concentrate on careers rather than long term relationships.

Question 12

Assess view that nuclear family is no longer the norm (Against)

Answer 12

• Delphy + Leonard - Nuclear family still exists as form of patriarchal control which restricts women to domestic sphere.
• Benston - Nuclear family exists to benefit capitalism by looking after men’s needs and raising future workforce.
• Oakley - Men and women still learn different roles through gender role socialisation which leads to few men being seriously involved in domestic work.

Question 13

Assess view that there is a dark side to all families (For)

Answer 13

• Benston - Nuclear family exists to benefit capitalism by forcing women to look after men’s needs and raise future workforce.
• Ansley - women are takers of shit and act as a safety valve as men take out their justified frustrations on their wives.
• Oakley - Nuclear family enforces gender role socialisation which leads to few men being seriously involved with domestic work.

Question 14

Assess view that there is a dark side to all families (Against)

Answer 14

• Parsons - Nuclear family stabilises adult emotions and socialises children. Ensures men and women serve their natural roles.
• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (Social, reproductive, economic and educative).
• Murray - Nuclear family ensures children have strong male role models to teach them adequate norms and values.

Question 15

Evaluate view that roles between partners are changing (16)

Answer 15

• Giddens - Confluent Love
• Sue Sharpe
• Parsons - Differing gender roles

Question 16

Evaluate view that individuals are increasingly living alone (16)

Answer 16

• Beck + Beck Gernshiem
• Sue Sharpe
• Parsons - No Benefit to living alone

Question 17

Evaluate view that childhood has changed (16)

Answer 17

• Dermott - Families more child centered as 25/25 fathers want to have closer relationship with their children than they did with their own fathers.
• Palmer - Toxic childhoods have emerged as children now eat more junk food and spend more time on devices due to having more power.
• Laws around childhood have stayed same for decades. e.g. school compulsory since 1880.

Question 18

Evaluate the view that children have more power than parents (16)

Answer 18

• Palmer - Toxic childhoods have emerged as children now eat more junk food and spend more time on devices due to having more power.
• Dermott - Families more child centered as 25/25 fathers want to have closer relationship with their children than they did with their own fathers.
• Radford et al - 1/5 of 6000 children experienced severe maltreatment and 1/20 been SAd.

Question 19

Evaluate view that reconstituted families challenge nuclear family norm (16)

Answer 19

• Murray - Non nuclear families more likely to be part of the underclass.
• Morgan - Government needs to give more financial and public support to marriage such as tax incentives.
• Parsons - Nuclear family remains the best due to ideal gender roles.

Question 20

Evaluate view that same sex families challenge traditional ideas of family (16)

Answer 20

• Murdock - Nuclear family is universal and serves 4 functions (economic, education, social, reproductive).
• Parsons - Nuclear family ensures men and women serve their natural roles. Men = breadwinner, women = caregiver.
• Chester - same sex families can still follow many norms associated with nuclear families such as 2 parents with children. (neo-conventional)

Question 21

Two reasons for increase in reconstituted families

Answer 21

• Giddens - confluent love
• Beck + Beck Gernsheim - Risk based society

Question 22

Two reasons why individuals delay having children

Answer 22

• Sue Sharpe
• Beck + Beck Gernsheim

Question 23

Two reasons for increase in cohabitation

Answer 23

• Changing social attitudes - Park et al - only 42% of people in 2012 thought people need to be married to have children.
• Decline in family values - Morgan argues government has failed to given sufficient financial and public support to marriage in recent years.

Question 24

Two reasons why families have become more child-centered

Answer 24

• Dermott - 25/25 fathers interviewed said they want to have a closer relationship with their children than they did with their own fathers.
• Changes in legal rights - In 1878, children under 10 banned from work due to Factories Act and in 2004, children got greater divorce hearing rights.