Industrialisation

• What classic sociological theory discusses the link between families and the economy?

  Talcott Parsons' theory
• What did Talcott Parsons argue about industrialisation's impact on the family?

  It led to the development of the nuclear family
• What contemporary economic change are sociologists interested in today?

  The impact of globalisation
• How did Parsons view the relationship between social change and family structure?

  Social change necessitates changes in family structure
• What does industrialisation refer to?

  Shift from agriculture to industry
• What was the time period of rapid industrialisation in the UK?

  18th and 19th centuries
• What is urbanisation?

  Movement from rural areas to cities
• How did industrialisation transform family structures according to Parsons?

  It created the nuclear family
• What analogy does Parsons use to describe the institutions in society?

  They work together like organs in a body
• What was the functional fit between extended families and the agrarian economy?

  More family members were economic assets
• What roles did older relatives provide in extended families?

  Childcare, education, and healthcare
• How did the separation of work and home affect family structures?

  Families needed to be geographically mobile
• What gender division of labor emerged in industrial families?

  Men worked, women stayed home
• What did Parsons argue about the functions of the family in industrial society?

  Families had fewer functions than before
• What are the reasons nuclear families have a functional fit with industrial society?

  • Geographical mobility
  • Social mobility or meritocracy
  • Specialised roles for men and women
• What does social mobility mean in the context of Parsons' theory?

  Achieving new status through hard work
• How does the nuclear family facilitate social mobility?

  It reduces inter-generational conflict
• What roles do men and women have in nuclear families according to Parsons?

  Men are instrumental leaders, women are expressive leaders
• What is a major criticism of Parsons' theory regarding historical accuracy?

  Historians disagree with his family changes
• What did Peter Laslett find about pre-industrial families?

  Nuclear families were the most common form
• What did Michael Anderson discover about households during industrialisation?

  Increase in households made of extended families
• Why did families move in with relatives during urbanisation?

  To help economically and socially
• What is a criticism of Parsons as a theorist?

  He is considered an armchair theorist
• What does the research suggest about family diversity compared to Parsons' theory?


  There has always been more family diversity
• What is a criticism of Parsons' view of the nuclear family?

  He presents it as an ideal form
• What will be discussed in more detail in the section on gender roles?

  Parsons' explanation of gender roles