Couples

• Evaluating Murdock- Kathleen Gough

  The Nayar people

  -After puberty girls married

  -Husband and wife had no obligations towards one another

  -Female 'visiting husbands' (up to 12)

  -Female brothers= responsible for sisters offspring

  So the family as Murdock describes, it is not found in all societies. However functionalists would point out that this sort of example is very rare.
• The warm bath theory

  family maintains our mental stability- after work, the family help to relieve stress and anxiety (a problem shared is a problem halved)
• The family and mental illness

  Leach- the anthropological view

  Pre industrial society- traditional extended family- close knit communities offering practical and psychological support

  Industrial society- isolated and privatised nuclear family- isolated and inward looking- intensifying emotional stress.
• Psychological explanations for schizophrenia

  1. Chemical imbalance in the brain- dopamine

  Solutions= drug therapy, electro convulsive therapy, lobotomy

  2. Result of traumatic experience

  Solution= psychotherapy
• Laing & Esterson - schizophrenogenic

  The family is often responsible for creating illness like schizophrenia

  -Used a number of case studies of families in which one member was suffering from schizophrenia. This person was commonly an only child, usually a daughter

  -This showed how the overcontrolling and confusing behaviour of the parents helped ti create abnormal behaviour in their children which is then labelled as schizophrenia.
• The double blind theory


  In a double blind situation, a person is given mutually contradictory signals by another person

  This places them in an impossible situation, causing internal conflict.

  Schizophrenic symptoms represent an attempt to escape from double blind.
• Radical feminists perspective


  1. All societies are founded on patriarchy- including communist ones

  2. Men are the enemy- the sources of women's oppression and exploitation

  3. The family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal societies- men benefit from women's unpaid labour and from their sexual services, and they dominate women through domestic and sexual violence or threat of it.
• Domestic violence- A gendered crime

  Most is violence by men against women. Coleman 2007- found that women were more likely to have experienced intimate violence across all 4 types of abuse, family and partner abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

  Ansara and Hindin 2011- found that women suffered more severe violence and control with more serious psychological effects.
• Radical feminists criticism of liberal feminists

  Progressive gains can be reversed

  Liberal feminists 'march of progress' theorists fail to acknowledge that things can move backwards as well as forward.

  Trump Administration change what is meant by domestic abuse - this causes a lot of cases to go un noticed- reduction in rights by 50 years.
• Radical feminist solutions


  The family should be abolished through separatism where women organise themselves to live separately from men. Some radical feminists support 'political lesbianism' as heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive and involve 'sleeping with the enemy'

  Greer 2000 proposes all female or 'matriarchal households' as an alternative to the heterosexual family.
• Criticisms of radical feminists

  Sommerville also argues that heterosexual attraction makes political lesbianism and separatism impossible to work

  They ignore how women's position has improved: divorce, job opportunities and fertility control
• 3rd wave feminism- 1990s

  Difference feminists- they belive that all other feminist approaches assume that most women live in conventionally nuclear families and share similar experiences.

  They are essentialists- beliveing that there is something essential about being a woman that all women have in common.

  They argue that we cannot generalise about womens experience- lesbian and straight women etc have had very different experiences from one another
• The personal life perspective

  They heavily critical of the functionalist, Marxist and feminist view.

  Roles are not fixed in society, they develop through interaction- interested in what relationships mean to individuals compared to what they do for society.

  Takes a wider view of relationships than just a traditional family relationships based on blood and marriage.

  They argue that personal relationships now take on such diverse forms and that it is more appropriate to study the sociology of personal life rather than family.

  The family as an institution is no longer the centre of many peoples lives and relationships.
• The personal life view

  Relationships with friends- They may be like sisters or brothers to you

  Dead relatives- Live on in memory and continue to shape identity and actions

  Fictive Kin- close friends of parents treated as relatives

  Pets- seen as part of the family

  Gay and Lesbian chosen families- network of close friends and ex partners ( other due to rejection by biological families)
• Nordqvist and Smart (2014)

  PERSONAL LIFE PERSPECTIVE

  DONOR CONCEIVED children for same sex couples (lesbian) - no genetic link to one parent, but still has strong bond.

  
  

  but....

  ~Expensive

  ~One woman endures pregnancy, the other doesn't

  ~Problems with anonymity

  found that the issues of blood and genes raised a range of feelings- who counts as family- biological or social.
• Personal life perspective- strengths vs weaknesses

  Strengths- It helps us to understand how people themselves construct and define their relationship as family rather than imposing traditional sociological definitions of the family based on blood or genes e.g. from the outside

  Weakness- Too broad/ inclusive, if we include a wide range of personal relationships into the umbrella of 'family' then we ignore what is special about blood or marriage.
• Parsons- clear division of labour

  Instrumental role: The husband breadwinner

  Expressive role: The wife homemaker
• Evaluation of Parsons division of labour theory

  Supported by the New right:

  -rise of lone parent families- inadequate socialisation

  -led to poor educational standards, crime and welfare dependency

  Criticised by Feminists:

  -The division of labour is not natural

  - It only benefits men

  Criticised by Willmott and Young (1962)

  -Men are now taking on a grater share of domestic tasks

  -Wives are becoming wage earners
• Bott- Joint and Conjugal roles

  Segregated conjugal roles:

  -Couples have separated roles (male breadwinner+ female carer) e.g. separate leisure activities

  Joint conjugal roles: Couples have joint roles (share paid work and responsibilities+ leisure time)
• Willmott and Young 1973- the family and kinship in east London

  Study of Bethnal green in the 1950s:

  -WC extended family still dominant

  -Most men still worked on the docks

  -segregated conjugal roles

  -home and leisure time spent apart

  -men did little to no housework/ childcare

  -most of their time was spent with male workmates in the pub, working men's club or at the football

  -collectivist mentality

  -wives spend most of their time on housework and childcare with other female relatives.
• Willmott and Young (1973)

  -Families moved to Greenleigh- a new council estate in Essex

  -Families became more privatised- home based and more nuclear

  -Wives lost regular contact with their mothers- more depended on their husbands for companionship and support.

  -Husbands cut off from social contacts e.g. visiting the pub with mates

  - Home-centred leisure activities such as gardening and watching TV- replaced the extended family
• Stratified Diffusion


  Ideas of family life started by the higher classes have gradually filtered down to the lower classes e.g.

  -Privatised nuclear families

  -Money spent on the home

  -More focus on children

  "What the MC do today the WC will do tomorrow"
• Embourgeoisement


  The process of becoming more MC
• Proletarianization


  The process of becoming more WC
• March of progress- the four stages of the family

  1. the pre industrial family

  -The family is most nuclear, a unit of production working together in agriculture or cottage industries

  2. The early industrial family

  -Men move into industrial employment

  -They work long hours and have little time to spend with family

  -women are home centred (segregated conjugal roles)

  -poverty is widespread (low wages)

  -Extended Kinship network provides mutual support

  3. Symmetrical family

  -Family mainly nuclear

  -home centred and privatised

  -symmetrical partners share tasks- more joint conjugal roles

  4. Asymmetrical family

  -Family almost totally nuclear

  -Segregated conjugal roles continue

  -Husband more home centred

  -Based on assumptions that stratified diffusion continues from surveying managing directors.
• Financial control- who gets what?

  Kempson 1994- Mums go last

  Poor mums denied their own needs

  Seldom went out

  Never bought clothes for themselves

  Ate smaller portions or skipped meals

  
  

  Graham 1984-Better off on benefits

  Over half the women living on benefits after leaving their husband said they were better off. (Even when the husbands earnings were not low)​

  Benefits were a more reliable source of income​

  ​So even in households not deemed to be in poverty the women may actually be poor!​
• Pahl and Vogler 2007 have identified 2 types of control over family income.

  Allowance​:

  ​The man gives his partner an allowance and she has to budget with this.​

  He keeps the rest for himself

  Pooling​:

  The partners pool their resources together. Both have access and share the responsibility. This is on the increase and now most common!
• Who has the power over decision making?

  -Pahl and Vogler 2007​:

  ​Even where there was pooling, men usually made the major financial decisions

  
  

  -Hardhill 1997​:

  ​30 dual-career professional couples​

  The most important decisions taken either by the man alone or jointly and that his career took priority when deciding whether to move house or for a new job

  
  

  -Laurie and Gurshuny 2000​:

  ​Evidence of a limited move to more equality​

  70% of couples have an equal say​

  High earning female professionals more likely to have an equal say!

  
  

  -Edgell 1980:

  Very important decisions (Finance, job, moving house) Husband alone or jointly with husband having final say​

  Important decisions​

  (Education, holidays) ​

  Jointly but seldom by wife alone​

  Less important decisions​

  (Decorating, kids clothes, food)​

  Usually by wife​
• Explaining more male power within the family and making decisions: Material, cultural and personal life perspective

  Material explanation​:

  ​Men earn more so have the economic power to make the decisions​

  Supported by Laurie and Gershuny's findings

  
  

  Cultural explanation​:

  (Feminist)​

  ​In patriarchal societies the cultural definition of men as decision makers is heavily ingrained and instilled through gender role socialisation.

  
  

  The personal life perspective - the meaning of money​:

  ​

  The meanings that money has in relationships cannot be taken for granted (eg one person controlling the money may not mean 'inequality' to the partners!)​

  Smart 2007 (Gay couples) some attached no importance to who controlled the money!​

  Weeks 2001 Typical pattern is 'co-independence' pooling for household spending with own accounts
• Home office definition of domestic violence 2013

  Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality​

  ​

  Can include psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional abuse or violence
• Common views of domestic violence

  A common view of DV is that it is the behaviour of a few disturbed 'sick' individuals and that its causes are psychological rather than social. Sociologists challenge this view.

  Too widespread​:

  ​

  To be the work of a few disturbed individuals. Infact it accounts for approximately 1/5 of all recorded violent crime.​

  The CSEW 2013 found 2 million people reported being a victim of DV in the previous year

  
  

  Does not occur randomly​:

  ​

  But follows particular social patterns which have social causes. The most striking of which is that it is mainly violence by men against women​

  The CSEW 2013 - 1.2 million women v 0.8 million men
• Qualitative differences in victimhood

  Does not occur randomly​

  ​

  But follows particular social patterns which have social causes. The most striking of which is that it is mainly violence by men against women​

  The CSEW 2013 - 1.2 million women v 0.8 million men

  
  

  Walby and Allen 2004​:

  ​

  Women much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and of sexual violence

  
  

  Ansara and Hindin 2011​:

  ​

  Women suffered more severe violence and control with more serious psychological effects and were more likely than men to be fearful of their partners
• Convictions are the tip of the iceberg. DV

  Lack of action by police and prosecutors means cases successfully prosecuted are just the tip of the iceberg. Eg in 2006-7 conviction rates stood at a mere 6.5% of incidents reported!!
• ​The radical Feminist / cultural explanation of Domestic violence

  Dobash and Dobash 1979 (Study of 109 female victims using informal interviews) see DV linked to patriarchy - as essentially about the exercise of power by men over women to maintain their dominance.) (Radical feminists argue that although not all men are violent all men benefit as violence serves to preserve the power all men have over all women)​

  Point to the historical acceptance of violence against wives both culturally and institutionally​

  Found that violent incidents can be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority (eg a wife asking why he was late home) or when his wife was not 'servicing his needs' or performing her role adequately enough. (
• Evaluation- The radical Feminist / cultural explanation

  Faith Robertson Elliot 1996 rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women. Most men are opposed to DV!​

  Radical feminists fail to explain violence by women and in lesbian relationships!​

  Radical feminists wrongly assume that all women are equally at risk of violence when in reality some groups are at a much higher risk - those in the lowest social groups or living in the most deprived areas for example
• Materialist explanation of domestic violence

  This view focuses on economic and material factors such as inequalities in income and housing to explain why some groups are more at risk​

  Wilkinson and Picket 2010 see DV as the result of stress on family members caused by inequality. ​

  Worries about money, jobs and housing may spill over into DV as tempers are frayed​

  Lack of money restricts peoples social circle and reduces social support for those under stress
• Evaluation of the materialist explanation of domestic violence

  Helps to explain the class differences in the statistics on DV.​

  Unlike the Radical feminist approach does not explain why women are the main victims​

  Supported by Marxist feminists like Fran Ansley 1972 - DV is a product of capitalism where male workers exploited at work take out their frustration on their wives (Takers of shit) ​

  This explains why DV is male violence but doesn't explain why not all male workers are violent and doesn't account for female DV
• Why is divorce rate increasing

  1. Changes in the law

  1969 Divorce law reform Act:

  •Changed the grounds from a 'matrimonial offence' to irretrievable breakdown.

  Irretrievable breakdown

  Established by proving unreasonable behaviour, adultery, desertion or separation

  Available after 2 years (5 if one partner disagrees)

  2.Secularisation

  The decline in the influence of religion

  
  

  Religion no longer influences behaviour (eg Divorce, contraception, abortion)

  
  

  Churches are also secularizing ie softening their opposition to divorce (eg re-marrying in church)

  
  

  3.Changed attitudes and the decline of stigma

  Rather than being seen as shameful, today divorce is more likely to be seen as misfortune.

  
  

  4. Ronald Fletcher - Rising Expectations

  Pre Industrial Family

  
  

  Little choice in who you married

  
  

  Marriages were largely for economic reasons or out of duty to one's family

  
  

  Low expectations

  
  

  Modern Family

  
  

  You have free choice

  
  

  Marriages based on the ideology of Romantic Love

  
  

  Belief that there is Mr or Mrs Right out there. If love dies there is every reason to divorce to renew the search for your true soul mate

  
  

  5. Women's increased financial independence

  •Women's paid employment

  •Existence of welfare benefits

  •

  •Gives women the independence to leave

  
  

  Nicky Hart 1976 - A Marxist feminist position

  Women, paid work and marital conflict.

  6. Feminist expectations

  -Advertising in capitalism raises material aspirations

  -These can only be met if both partners work

  -Women have a triple shift - conjugal roles are still unequal. This causes Marital Conflict (women are unhappy - responsible for 70% of divorce petitions)

  7. Post modernity, choice and individualism

  -Colin Gibson 1994

  -Uses Marcuse's concept of False Needs

  -Postmodern , Thatcherite capitalism is based around a free market culture of individualism and choice

  -Consumer capitalism makes us feel unsatisfied with our lot and encourages us to constantly chase happiness through consuming
• Eversley and Bonnerjea- regional diversity

  1. The sun belt= The affluent south- more likely to be in a nuclear family

  2. The inner cities- poverty= single parent families- EM are more often

  3. The geriatric ward- by the sea= old people in costal areas
• The new right- Charles Murray

  The new right have a conservative and anti-feminist perspective and are firmly opposed to family diversity. They agree that there is increased diversity- this is is a bad thing however.