family

• what is a household?


  a group of people who live together
• what is a family?

  a group of people who live together + are related by blood or law
• what is secularisation?

  the idea that society is becoming less religious
• why are marxists critical of the nuclear family?

  • they believe that it is a part of the unfair system of capitalism
  • that the family is one of the key institutions through which social inequalities continue from one generation to the next
• what are the working class also known as?

  the proletariat
• name 5 communist countries

  • cuba
  • north korea
  • vietnam
  • china
  • laos
• what are the 3 main social classes?

  • upper class
  • middle class
  • lower class
• what class do some sociologists say emerged in recent years?


  the underclass
• what does charles murray believe about the underclass?


  that allegedly they are:

  • work shy
  • happy to live on benefits
  • involved in criminal activity
  • promiscuous
• what do critics say about charles murray's ideology?

  • that it labels the poor as undeserving
  • that the poor are in poverty due to the economy+ recession
• what is structural theory?


  assume that family + its members are passive puppies manipulated by the structure of society to perform certain functions
• what is an interactionist viewpoint?


  an argument that structural theories ignore the fact that we have some choice in creating our family relationships
• what is fictive kin?


  close friends who are treated as relatives
• what is a symmetrical family?


  a family that shares conjugal roles
• what is the personal life perspective?

  a perspective that sees a wider view of the family and suggests relationships are based on the meanings people give them as opposed to just blood/family ties
• weaknesses of the marxist view of the family


  they tend to assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type + ignores increased diversity of family today (e.g step families, single parent families)
• what did Young + Willmott believe about the family?


  argued that families had become symmetrical - men and women performed similar conjugal roles - and familes were becoming more equal
• what is intensive parenting?


  deeply involved parents in their children's lives
• define communism 


  a classless system in which the means of production are owned communally + private property is non existent or severely reduced
• define capitalism


  an economic + political system in which a country's trade + industry are controlled by private owners for profit
• what do marxists believe about the family?


  they are critical of the nuclear family + believe it is a part of the unfair system of capitalism
• what do marxists believe about the nuclear family (to do with inheritance)

  • that it allows the wealthy to keep their wealth, factories + land
  • the social class is maintained over time
• what do marxists believe about the nuclear family (to do with revolution)


  when capitalism is overthrown there will no longer be a need for the nuclear family as all property will be jointly owned + there will be nothing left to inherit~
• what does zaretsky argue about the family?


  that the family works in the interests of capitalism + that it cushions the frustration of the labour force by creating the illusion of a 'safe haven' where the proletariat can blow off steam
• what do marxists believe about families? (to do with consumption)


  that families are a 'unit for consumption' that play a major role in generating profit for capitalists
• what do advertisers urge families to do?


  'keep up with the joneses' by consuming the latest products
• criticisms of marxism:

  • they ignore the fact that there are many family structures in society e.g same sex couples
  • functionalists view family in a positive light + believe that it fulfils the needs of individuals + industrial society