Diversity

• Modernism and the nuclear family - functionalism (Parsons)


  • NF provides geographically and socially mobile workforce
  • NF also socialises kids 'properly' and stabilises adults
  • Means other family types are considered as dysfunctional or abnormal, as they are less able to provide these
• Modernism and the nuclear family - the new right

  • Sees NF as natural and is the cornerstone of society
  • Decline in traditional NF causes problems:
  • Lone mothers can't discipline kids properly
  • Lack of father figure leads boys to deviance
  • Increases welfare dependency
• Modernism and the nuclear family - TNR and cohabitation vs marriage

  • Benson - couples are more stable when married as it requires a deliberate commitment to each other
  • Argues the government needs to encourage couples to marry by means of policies that support marriage (abolishing same sex legality)
• Modernism and the nuclear family - criticisms of TNR

  • Oakley - their ideology is based on biological assumptions
  • Feminists - purpose of their ideology is sexist and intends to keep women domesticated
  • No evidence that lone parent kids are more likely to delinquent than two parent kids of the same class
  • Smart - cohabitation is larger among WC couples, meaning it could be class causing social issues, not marriage rates
• Modernism and the nuclear family - the neo conventional family (Chester) 


  • Only major family change is that NCFs are duel-earner families
  • NF remains the ideal to which most people aspire
  • Those who live alone are either divorced or widows, meaning they were part of a NF at one point
  • Drastic increase in diversity is exaggerated
• Modernism and the nuclear family - 5 types (The Rapoports)

  • Organisational diversity - distribution of conjugal role and wage earner
  • Cultural diversity - more lone mothers in Caribbean homes
  • Social class diversity - income may effect family size
  • Life stage diversity - young newlyweds compared to widows
  • Generational diversity - different experiences shape attitudes
• Postmodernism and diversity - postmodern families (Stacey)


  • Greater freedom and choice has benefitted women
  • Interviewed families in California and found that women rather than men have been the main agents of changes in the family
  • They rejected traditional housewife-mother role in favour of a career and they created new family types to better suit their needs
  • Morgan - you can't generalise modern families as the idea of 'family' is shaped by individuals
• Postmodernism and diversity - the individualisation thesis (Giddens and Beck)


  • Argues that traditional social structures such as class, gender and family have lost much of their influences over us
  • In the past, people's lives were defined by fixed roles, giving the illusion everyone used to want to be in a traditional nuclear family
  • We have now become free and can choose our own life, creating the appearance of increased family diversity
• Postmodernism and diversity - choice and equality (Giddens)


  • Contraception has allowed sex and intimacy rather than reproduction to become the main reason for the relationship's existence
  • Women have gained independence as a result of feminism and because of greater opportunities in education and work
  • Has caused the basis and need for marriage to change
• Postmodernism and diversity - the pure relationship (Giddens)


  • Relationships aren't held together by law, religion, social norms or traditional institutions anymore
  • PR - relationship no longer bound by traditional norms
  • Only reason now is to satisfy each partner's needs
  • However, with more choice relationships are becoming less stable due to lack of definitive commitment
• Postmodernism and diversity - same sex couples as pioneers (Giddens)


  • Leading the way towards new family types because they are not influenced by tradition to the extent heterosexual relationships are
  • SSC negotiate personal relationships and actively create family structures that serve their own needs
• Postmodernism and diversity - the negotiated family (Beck)


  • We now live in a risk society where tradition has less influence and people have more choice, creating an enhanced awareness of risks
  • Patriarchal family undermined by:
  • Greater family equality - challenged male dominance
  • Greater individualism - actions influenced by our own calculations rather than obligation to others
  • NF - don't conform to trad family norms, but vary according to the wishes and expectations of their members
• Postmodernism and diversity - zombie family (Beck)


  • Family relationships are themselves now subject to greater risk and uncertainty than ever before
  • The family appears to be alive, but in reality it's dead
  • people want it to be a haven of security in an insecure world, but today's family cannot provide this because of it's own instability
• Postmodernism and diversity - criticisms of individualisation thesis

  • Budgeon - traditional norms have not weakened as much as the thesis claims and choice is exaggerated
  • Ignores the fact that our decisions and choices about personal relationships are made within a social context
  • Ignores role of social factors like social class inequality and the patriarchy
  • May - their view of an individual is shaped around being a white MC man
• Postmodernism and diversity - the connectedness thesis (Smart)


  • Counters pure relationships
  • We are fundamentally social beings whose choices are always made 'within a web of connectedness'
  • We live within networks of existing relationships and interwoven personal histories, which influence our options for relationships
• Postmodernism and diversity - connectedness thesis with class and gender


  • After a divorce, gender norms generally dictate that women should have custody of children and that men are freer to start new relationships
  • Men are generally better paid than women and this gives them greater freedoms and choice
  • Powerless of women means they are more likely to be trapped in abusive relationships
• Postmodernism and diversity - the power of structures 


  • May - social structures are not disappearing, they are being r-shaped
  • Rights in relation to voting, divorce, education and employment does not mean women now 'have it all'
  • Homosexuality is tolerated but heterosexuality is the norm, lesbians scared to come out
  • Means they do shape peoples choice and freedoms