Sociology

• 1949 George Murdock - family: ‘ the family is a social group that is characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction 
• 1982 - Edholm said ‘the unnatural family believes that the nuclear 

  family is not universal,natural or normal 

  Socially constructed based on culture and biology 
• Value consensus: a set of shared norms and values 

  Family is a sub system in which primary socialisation occurs 
• Feminism: see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women 
• 2 kinds of family units/structures 

  Nuclear - industrial society 

  Extended - pre industrial society 
• Geographically mobile workforce 

  • Move where the work is 
  • Relocate for efficiency and responsibility 
  • More suited to a nuclear family (industrial) 
• Marxist sociologists argue that the family serves the interests of capitalist societies by producing workers who will work hard and be obedient to their employers. They also argue that the family helps maintain inequality by passing wealth down from one generation to another through inheritance.
• Functionalists believe that families are important because they perform functions such as socialising children into society, providing emotional support to members and maintaining sexual relationships between adults.
• The family has been described as an institution because it performs important functions for society such as reproduction, socialising children into society's norms and values, providing emotional support and caring for elderly members. It is also seen as a key site for the transmission of cultural heritage and traditions across generations.
• Socially mobile workforce 

  • Constantly evolving technology and science 
  • Remain in the workplace to be humble 
  • Status achieved by own efforts 
• Primary stabilisation children: 

  Children learn shared norms and values of society. Without it there would be no consensus 

  Social life wouldn't be possible 
•  Parson’ Warm bath theory: family provide emotional support to its members 
• 1. Young and Willmott (1973) found contradictory evidence that suggests that the nuclear family was pre-industrial. The hardship of the early industrial period gave rise to mum centred working and class extended family.
• 1. Another weakness comes from Laslett (1972) also found evidence against Parsons ‘functional fit theory - suggesting that it was initially nuclear and late childbearing and short life spans played a part in grandparents not meeting grandchildren. Families were almost always nuclear in 1564-1821.
• 1. Exchange theory - harsh conditions like illness, poverty , absence of welfare state meant that the benefits if maintained extended family outweigh the costs. 
• Bourgeoisie -, capitalist, the owners if the means of production and industries, wealthy, exploit proletariat 
• Proletariat - working class, capitalist society, own no means of production, sell labour to bourgeoisie, exploited, poor wages
• deology - originally a marxist idea meaning a set of beliefs that serve the interests of a dominant social group by justifying their privileged position, maintain ‘false class consciousness’ 
• False class consciousness - when workers believe they are better off than other classes because they have more money or possessions but don't realise how much power the ruling class has over them
• Marxists argue that the media is controlled by the bourgeoise who use it as an ideological tool to control the masses and prevent revolution. They do this through ownership, content and language used.
• Marxism - Marx believed that there is an inherent conflict between two main groups in society; the bourgeoise who control wealth and resources and the proletariat who work for them. This leads to inequality and oppression which can only be resolved through revolution
• Marxists see all society’s institutions as helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism 
• 4 types of feminism: liberal,marxist,radical,difference 
• A micro/bottom up theory 

  Focus on the meaning of familial relationships

  Looking at functions is useless

   Heavily focused on interactionalist theory
• Domestic division of labour: the roles that men and women have in relation to housework,childcare and paid work
• Young and Willmott 1962 argue that men are now taking a greater share of domestic duties
• Study suggested that symmetrical families were more common among the geographically isolated, young or affluent 
• Rise of symmetrical nuclear family 

  • Changes in women's position 
  • Geographical mobility 
  • New technology 
  • Higher standards of living 
• The rise of symmetrical nuclear family has led to an increase in divorce rates as couples find it difficult to cope with the stresses of modern life
• Feminists criticised Young and Wilmotts research because they only interviewed married people so their sample was not representative of society as a whole.
• • 1974 evidence from Oakely = 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in the housework, 25% in childcare 
• • Boulton 1983 evidence = fewer that 20% of husbands had a role in childcare, mother always responsible for emotional needs,security and wellbeing 
• • Sex typing is when your gender determines your role/duties as well as your values and attributes you adhere to 
• • Warde and Hetherington: men carried out traditional roles when the woman wasn’t present out of necessity, change is seen in younger men in terms of morals and values in a relationship