Family

• Age patriarchy


  When society is ruled by older men, usually fathers
• Ageism


  The negative stereotyping of people on the basis of their age e.g. Older people are seen as vulnerable
• Alienation


  Where an individual or group feels socially isolated and estranged
• Birth rate


  The number of live births per thousand of the population per year
• Bourgeoisie


  A Marxist term for the Middle class
• Childhood


  A socially defined age-status.
• Civil partnership


  Same-sex couples have the same legal rights as married couples but it remains separate from traditional marriage
• Conjugal roles


  Segregated - separate

  Conjugated - together
• Culture


  All things learnt and shared by a society, it is transmitted from generation to generation
• Death rate


  The number of deaths per thousand of the population per year
• Demography


  The study of population, including birth, death, fertility and infant mortality rates, immigration/emigration, age structure and the reason that these change
• Dependency culture


  Where people assume that the state will support them, rather than relying in themselves and taking responsibility for their family
• Dependency ratio


  The relationship between the size of the working population and the non-working population/dependent
• Domestic labour


  Work performed in the home, such as childcare, cooking and cleaning
• Dual burden


  When a person is responsible for 2 jobs, usually applied to women who work and are responsible for domestic labour
• Emotional work


  The work involved with meeting the emotional needs of other people
• Empty shell marriage


  A marriage in name only, where a couple continues to live under the same roof but are separate individuals.
• Exchange theory


  The idea that people can create, maintain or break off relationships depending on the costs and benefits of doing so
• Exploitation


  Paying workers less than the value of their labour. According the Marxist, it is the process whereby the bourgeoisie demand high labour for little pay of the proletariat
• Expressive role


  The caring, nurturing, 'homemaker' role of the family. Functionalist argue that women are biologically suited to this role
• Extended family


  And group of kin extended beyond the nuclear family. The family may be extended vertically (grandparents) or horizontally (cousins)
• Kin


  Relatives by blood, marriage or adoption
• Family diversity


  The idea that there is a range of different family types rather than a single dominant one. It's associated with the postmodern theory
• Family practices


  The routine actions through we we create our sense of 'being a family member', e.g. Doing the food shopping
• Family structure


  The composition of a group of people who live together as a family unit
• Fertility rate


  The average number of children women will have during their fertile years (15-44)
• Feminism


  A sociological perspective and political movement that focuses on women being oppressed by men. There are different strands of feminism, e.g. Marxist, radical, liberal
• Fordism


  A type of industrial production based on a detailed division of labour, using closely supervised, low-skilled workers and assembly-line technology to mass produce standard goods
• Function


  The contribution that a part of society makes to the stability or well-being of a society as a whole.
• Functional fit


  'Parsons' theory that with industrialisation, the structure of the family becomes nuclear to fit the needs of industrial society for geographically and socially mobile labour force
• Functionalism


  A consensus perspective in sociology that sees society as based upon shared values into which members are socialised. Each part of the society performs a function to maintain the system as a whole
• Gender


  The social and cultural characteristics of men and women. Unlike sex differences, which are biological and inborn, gender differs due to the way in which we have been socialised
• Hierarchy


  An organisation or social structure based on a 'pyramid' of senior and junior positions
• Household


  An individual or group of people who live together and share things (e.g. Meals, bills), they can be related or not
• Identity


  The individual's sense of self, influenced by socialisation and interactions with others, a sense of belonging to a community
• Ideology


  Originally a Marxist idea, meaning a set of beliefs that serve the interests of a dominant social group by justifying their privileged position
• Industrialisation


  The shift from an agricultural economy to one based on factory production. In Britain this occurred in the late 18th and the mid 19th centuries
• Individualism


  The belief that the individual is more important than the group or community.
• Infant mortality rate


  The number of infants who die before their first birthday per thousand live births per year
• Instrumental role


  The breadwinner or provider in the family