Relationships in Family And Household With Refrence To Social Change

Question 1

What are CONJUGAL ROLES?

Answer 1

Conjugal roles refer to the roles played by husbands and wives in marriage, especially in terms of housework, childcare, and paid work.

Question 2

What are instrumental and expressive roles according to Parsons?

Answer 2

Instrumental = male breadwinner; Expressive = female caregiver

Both functionally necessary in the nuclear family.

Question 3

What did Young & Willmott argue about conjugal roles?

Answer 3

They proposed the “symmetrical family” – joint roles, shared decision-making, more equality.

Question 4

How did Ann Oakley challenge the idea of symmetry in families?

Answer 4

Found only 15% of husbands helped significantly with housework – roles still unequal.

Question 5

What is Duncombe and Marsden’s concept of the “triple shift”?

Answer 5

Women do paid work, housework, and emotional work – showing ongoing gender inequality.

Question 6

What did Gershuny find about domestic labour and paid work?

Answer 6

Men do more domestic work when their wives work full-time – slow shift in gender roles.

Question 7

How were families before industrialisation?

Answer 7

Families were often extended and worked as units of production (e.g., farming, weaving).

Question 8

How were families post industrialisation?

Answer 8

Rise of the nuclear family – geographically and socially mobile, suited to the needs of the industrial economy (Parsons’ “functional fit” thesis).
Men worked in factories, women stayed at home.

Question 9

How did Parsons explain the rise of the nuclear family during industrialisation?

Answer 9

Nuclear families are geographically mobile and suit the needs of industrial society.

Question 10

What is the “functional fit” theory?

Answer 10

Parsons’ idea that family structure adapts to meet the needs of society (e.g., nuclear for industrial era).

Question 11

What is the problem with the elderly

Answer 11

The elderly are often marginalised and may face isolation due to smaller families, geographic mobility, and the nuclear structure.

Question 12

What is Brennen’s idea on “beanpole family”?

Answer 12

A multi-generational family with strong vertical ties and fewer horizontal ones – due to ageing and fewer siblings.

Question 13

What is ageism?

Answer 13

Discrimination or stereotyping based on age, often leading to elderly exclusion from family life.

Question 14

What role do grandparents increasingly play in family life?

Answer 14

They offer financial, emotional, and childcare support – especially as childcare costs rise.

Question 15

What role do grandparents increasingly play in family life?

Answer 15

They offer financial, emotional, and childcare support – especially as childcare costs rise.

Question 16

what does the term ageing population mean?

Answer 16

the way in which the average age of the UK population is rising, there are fewer younger people and more older people in the population.

Question 17

what are the effects of ageing population?

Answer 17

1. older people need more h&s care seevice
2. increases dependency ratio
3. beanpole families of 4 generations are now more likely as we live longer

Question 18

what did the study of Hirsch argue about the important changes that need to be considered to adapt to ageing population?

Answer 18

1. Housing policys to allow older people to encorage them to move to smaller homes
2. More positive attitude towards elderly
3. Train the elderly in work place skills to allow them to keep earning money

Question 19

what is a sandwich/ pivot generation?

Answer 19

There are more working age adults (40 year olds) with dual care responsibilities. ( 5 year old child, 80year old mother). this means there is a DOUBLE BURDEN of dependency, pivoting/ turning between caring for the child and mother.
FINCH & MASON- mostly women go through this

Question 20

What do Feminist Marxist believe about unpaid labour?

Answer 20

argue women provide billion of pounds worth of unpaid labour.

Question 21

what does marxist Philipson believe about the elderly?

Answer 21

The elderly are no longer productive

Question 22

What is childhood?

Answer 22

Sociologists see childhood as SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED, (something created and
defined by society). They argue that what people mean by childhood, and the position that
children occupy in society is not fixed but differs between different times, places and
cultures.

Question 23

What did James and Prout state about childhood?

Answer 23

Different societies and cultures define childhood in different ways. What counts as “normal” childhood in one culture may not exist in another.
1. Children are seen as different from adults – In modern Western society, children are viewed as innocent, dependent, and in need of protection. This is not true in all societies or historical periods.
2. Childhood is shaped by – Laws, education, media, and family all help to construct ideas about how children should behave and be treated.

Question 24

What does it mean by Childhood being the “GOLDEN AGE”?

Answer 24

Happiness and innocence.

However, this innocence means that children are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection from the
dangers of the adult world. Meaning childrens lives are around the family and education system where adults protect them from outside world.

Question 25

according to ARIES what was childhood before the 18th century?

Answer 25

“the idea of childhood did not exist”. -they would begin work from an early age, often in the household of another family. -Children wore the same clothes as adults -they were ‘mini adults’ with the same rights, duties and skills as adults. -Children could get married at an earlier age e.g. 10 years old, sometimes younger - punished in similar ways to adults.

Question 26

according to ARIES what was childhood after the 18th century?

Answer 26

children were kept innocent and pure. Children were formally educated and were given specific clothing.

Question 27

What was the difference in childhoods between Wc & Mc? According to Aries

Answer 27

Aries argued, however, that among the working classes, the child was expected to work and was an economic asset. Middle-class children, however, were largely protected from these processes, with boys being sent away to public schools to become ‘gentlemen’ whilst girls were taught to become good wives and mothers.

Question 28

what childhood policies were put in place in the 19th century?

Answer 28

Child Labour Acts: controlled hours worked by children, excluding them from the workplace 1870 Education Act: compulsory education that separated children from the adult world.

Question 29

what did Punch stare find about childhood?

Answer 29

Children take responsibility at an early age.he found that in Bolivia, once children were about 5 years old, they were expected to take on responsibilities both in the home and the community.

Question 30

Reasons for changes in childhood:

Answer 30

1. Laws controlling/ protecting children eg. age for alcohol/ age of consent 2. Children no longer expected to work 3. Children legally entitled to education 4. fewer children in families

Question 31

Why might childhood today not be a positive experience?

Answer 31

• Child abuse exists, however it is difficult to measure the extent as it generally goes on behind closed doors. • Bullying takes place in many schools. • Divorce has increased, and many sociologists; the New Right and Functionalists argue that this is harmful for children.

Question 32

What did the study of Pilcher state about childhood?

Answer 32

we live in CHILD CENTRED society

Question 33

What does POSTMAN mean by “childhood is disappearing”?

Answer 33

Postman argues that childhood is only possible if children can be separated and therefore protected from the adult world. In his words ‘without secrets there can be no such a thing as childhood’.

Question 34

What does Palmar mean by “ TOXIC CHILDHOOD”?

Answer 34

Palmer argues that wc children are vulnerable to damage through technology , junk food and Tv. He suggests that changes in childhood are having a negative impact on children. For example: • A decline in outdoor play, • Increased testing and assessment at a younger age, • Decline in Literacy and language skills of young children, linked to technology: TV, laptops, the internet, Nintendo and Wi gaming.

Question 35

What does NICK LEE mean by childhood is becoming AMBIGUOUS?

Answer 35

More and more children rely on parental help because they cannot afford to leave the family home, some leave and then they come back. According to Nick Lee childhood has not disappeared, it has become more complex and ambiguous. Children are dependent on their parents.

Question 36

what is a mass “children market”?

Answer 36

they make choices, they decide which products succeed and fail, though at the end of the day, they depend on their parents’ purchasing power. LEE suggests that children have “Pester Power”

Question 37

What is the main idea behind the interactionist view of childhood?

Answer 37

Childhood is shaped through everyday social interactions; it’s not fixed but negotiated in context.

Question 38

What did Mason and Tipper find about children’s views of family?

Answer 38

Children often define family more flexibly than adults, including friends and step-relatives as “family.”

Question 39

What did Smart argue about children and family change (e.g., divorce)?

Answer 39

Children were actively involved in trying to make the situation better for everyone e.g. acting as a mediator between both parents.

Question 40

How does Smart’s research support the interactionist view of childhood?

Answer 40

It shows that children interpret, adapt to, and influence their family circumstances, showing agency.

Question 41

What is the core belief of postmodernists about childhood?

Answer 41

Childhood is changing due to social instability, diversity, and the breakdown of traditional norms.

Question 42

What did Jenks argue about childhood in postmodern society?

Answer 42

Childhood is more protected and monitored due to greater anxiety over children’s safety in an unstable world.

Question 43

what is Jenk’s study about childhood?

Answer 43

Jenks believes childhood is not disappearing—it’s becoming more central and controlled.