Couples

• Instrumental and expressive roles - Parsons (Functionalism)

  • Instrumental - held by the husband, role is to be the breadwinner at work.
  • Expressive - held by the wife, role is to raise kids, work on the house and families' emotional needs.
  • Believes genders are naturally suited to their role.

  Counter - Young and Willmott

  • Men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives becoming wage earners.
• The symmetrical family - Young and Willmott (Functionalism)

  • 'March of progress' view as they see family life gradually improving for all members.
  • Moving away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles.
  • Evidence: women now work, men more involved with housework, couples now spend their leisure time together.

  Counter - Oakley (Feminist)

  • Only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework and only 25% in childcare.
• Ideological explanation for the gender division of labour - Crompton and Lyonette

  • Women perform more domestic labour simply because that is what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do.
  • Gershuny - Couples who's parents had more equal relationship will mirror this themselves.
  • Dunne - Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional heterosexual 'gender scripts'.
• Economic explanation for the gender division of labour - Crompton and Lyonette

  • The fact that women generally earn less than men means it is economically rational for women to do more housework while men spend more time earning money.
  • Kan - for every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week.
  • Ramos - When its the woman that's the breadwinner, the man does as much domestic work as she does.
• Explanations for domestic violence - Millett and Firestone (Radical feminists)

  • Men are the enemy and the oppressors and exploiters of women.
  • Widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of a patriarchal society and preserves men's power.
  • Male dominance of justice systems explains reluctance to effectively deal with such cases.

  Counter - Elliot

  • Radical feminists ignore that not all men are violent.
  • They fail to explain female violence.
  • Assume all women are at equal risk and doesn't specify which women are more likely to be victims.
• Explanations for domestic violence - Wilkinson and Pickett (Materialists)

  • Those on low incomes or living in overcrowded accommodation are more likely to be stressed.
  • Worries about money may spill over into domestic conflict as tempers become frayed.
  • lack of money and time restricts people's social circle and reduces social support for those under stress.

  Counter - Ansley (Marxist)

  • Materialists fail to mention why women rather than men are the victims.
  • Women are the 'takers of shit' as male workers are exploited by capitalism at work and take out their frustrations on their wives.
• Inequality in financial decision-making

  • Hardill - in duel earner households, men are still most likely to influence financial decision-making.
  • Pahl - growth of separate finances for men and women compared with earlier research that suggested male-dominated pooling was most common.
  • Counter - Individual finances provides more negotiations on finances, women are less likely to face reductions due to childcare responsibilities.
• Equality in child-rearing - Treas and Tao

  • Decisions on children are more likely to be joint.
  • 75% of couples made joint decisions on brining up children.
  • Women are more likely to reduce employment to fit in with demands of childcare and this reinforces the decision-making process.
  • Counter - Gatrell, women's financial power educed after having children due to taking time off work makes the decision making unequal.