Revision PPT

• Families Revision Topics include Couples, Childhood, Theories of the Family, Demography, Changing Family Patterns, Family Diversity, Families and Social Policy, and Families Exam Questions A Level.
• Couples are a part of Families Revision Topics and include topics such as the division of labour, domestic violence, childhood as a social construct, the future of childhood, and the position of children.
• An ageing population may affect family structures in two ways: by increasing the number of single-person households and by changing the dynamics of multigenerational families.
• Feminist sociologists have contributed to our understanding of the family by highlighting gender inequality and challenging traditional family structures.
• The growth of family diversity has led to a decline in the nuclear family, according to some, as it has contributed to the breakdown of traditional family structures.
• The division of labour in couples is based on biological differences and is beneficial to men, women, children and wider society, according to New Right thinkers.
• The domestic division of labour benefits men only, according to Feminists.
• Bott: Joint and Segregated Conjugal Roles (1957) suggests segregated conjugal roles where the husband is the breadwinner and the wife is the homemaker, and joint conjugal roles where the couple share housework and childcare.
• Studies on roles by Young and Willmott (1973) show that in the 1950s, families in Bethnal Green, a working class area of East London, mostly followed segregated roles and extended families, with men spending most leisure time in pubs with workmates.
• The Symmetrical Family (1973) by Young and Willmott is a march of progress view that suggests family life is improving for all members over time, with a long term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and the symmetrical family.
• Rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children’s emotional, physical and intellectual development.
• UK youth are at or near the top of international league tables for obesity, self harm, drug abuse, violence, sexual experiences and teenage pregnancies.
• The inheritance of property is a key factor affecting the shape of all social institutions, with the mode of production being the driving force behind societal changes.
• The family offers the illusion of a haven from the frustrations of the capitalist workplace, but this does not meet the needs of the family members.
• Engels believed that the rise of the monogamous nuclear family brought women’s sexuality under male control and turned women into “mere instruments for the production of children”.
• The child’s point of view is important in understanding the theories of the family, with empowering methods such as unstructured interviews uncovering the many ‘childhoods’ from the point of view of individual children themselves.
• Marxists argue that women will only be free of patriarchal control with the overthrow of capitalism, with the means of production being owned collectively and society being classless.
• The conflict view suggests that society is based on conflict between different social groups, with power inequalities and control being central themes.
• The new sociology of childhood approach sees children as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhoods.
• UK is 21st of 25 for children’s well being.
• Toxic childhood – not better than ever!
• Studies on roles by Young and Willmott (1973) show that in the 1970s, families in Bethnal Green, a working class area of East London, mostly followed symmetrical families, with changes due to changes in women’s position, geographical mobility, and new technology.
• Giddens and Beck apply some postmodern ideas to understanding family life and explore the effects of increasing choice on families and relationships.
• Giddens argues that family and marriage have been transformed, giving more choice and gender equality.
• Births outside marriage are usually jointly registered.
• Stacey argues that postmodern families are diverse and can shape their family to suit their needs.
• The Rapoports argue that family diversity is key to understanding family life and that the nuclear family is no longer dominant.
• Hareven's life-course analysis focuses on individuals and how they make choices, emphasizing flexibility and variation in family life.
• Beck argues that we now live in a 'risk society' where making choices involves calculating risk/reward.
• Supporters of life-course analysis claim two major strengths: it focuses on what family members see as important and it takes notice of the meanings people give to events, choices, and decisions.
• Beck also argues that relationships are more at risk than ever before.
• Beck argues that the patriarchal family has been replaced by the 'negotiated family', where roles vary according to the wishes/needs of the members and individuals enter relationships on an equal basis.
• Chester's view is that family diversity increased recently and is not significant.
• The Rapoports identify five types of family diversity: cultural diversity, social class diversity, life-stage diversity, generational diversity, and organisational diversity.
• Most households are headed by a married couple, most adults marry and have children, most children are raised by two natural parents, most marriages last until death, divorcees usually remarry, cohabitees generally get married eventually, and children usually prompt cohabitees to marry.
• Feminists reject the march of progress view and argue that women are still unequal in the family, doing most of the housework and childcare.
• Studies on housework by Oakley (1974) show that there is evidence of husbands helping out at home, but no trend towards symmetry, with only 15% of couples having high level of participation in housework and childcare.
• In the 13th century, the modern notion of childhood starts to emerge from the influence of the church, with schools specialising in educating the young.
• Postman (1994) argues that childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed due to the rise and fall of print culture and then TV culture, leading to the disappearance of adulthood and childhood.
• The child-centred family is characterised by parents able to provide for the needs of smaller families better, a high financial and emotional investment from parents, and society as a whole seen as child-centred.