family diversity

• types of family - NF - parsons and new right


  married couple with 2 kids

  husband goes to work

  wife looks after domestic duties with clear segregated roles
• types of family - symmetrical family - willmott and young


  more joint roles = family becoming more symmetrical

  more women going to work

  more men doing housework
• types of family - NF with the 'new man'

  woman is the breadwinner

  man does most of the domestic work

  exists mostly in a post modern society
• types of family - vertical extended family

  multiple generations living together

  eg. grandparents, great grandparents
• types of family - horizontal extended family

  family extended horizontally across the same generation

  eg. aunts, uncles, cousins
• types of family - beanpole family

  multigenerational extended family but is characterised by each generation having few siblings
• types of family - lone parent family

  family headed by one parent

  • new right unhappy as they believe only having one parent can cause deviant behaviour and socialise children with deviant familes = creates an underclass
• types of family - reconstituted (blended) family

  2 NFs have split up and merged to form a new family
• types of family - same sex couple families

  homosexual couples with children (adopted or from one of the parents)
• types of family - cohabitation

  unmarried couple living together
• types of family - empty nest family

  a couple who had children but they have now left the family home
• types of family - boomerang family

  children who have left the family home and have come back
• causes of family diversity

  divorce reform act
• causes of family diversity

  same sex couples
• causes of family diversity

  globalisation of industries in employment
• causes of family diversity

  secularisation - less religious pressure
• causes of family diversity

  women in work - service sector created
• causes of family diversity

  overgenerous welfare state
• causes of family diversity

  abortion reform act
• causes of family diversity

  rise of feminism and greater gender equality
• modernist perspective of family diversity

  tend to reject family diversity

  believe NF is the most ideal type
• post modernist view of family diversity

  accept family diversity

  believe they should all be treated equally by society
• modernism on functionalism

  NF is ideal as it provides basic functions:

  1. primary socialisation
  2. stabilisation of adult personalities by teaching the sexual division of labour (men - breadwinners, women - housewifes)
  3. economic cooperation

  X ignores development of women by reducing them to traditional roles

  X ignores that key functions are not only specific to NF and have been transferred to other institutions

  TICK most NFs still carry out gender varied roles
• modernism on the new right

  conservative approach that opposes family diversity

  supports traditional values and institutions
• modernism on the new right

  NF is important in maintaining social stability and common culture

  • society is fixed, structured and predictable
• modernism on the new right

  lone parents are 'unnatural' and harmful to society by producing a dependency state and delinquency - murray

  • argue the welfare state undermines family responsibility and encourages single women to have children out of wedlock
• modernism on the new right

  family diversity erodes structures of society and key values
• modernism on the new right

  NF is most ideal as its based on biological differences between males and females
• modernism on the new right

  X ignores the dark side of family life

  X ethnocentric - forces western ideas onto minority cultures

  X ignores that some people can't work and need to rely on the welfare state

  X patriarchal views

  X based on little research and doesnt represent true family life

  X reproduces gender inequalities with 'biologically suited' roles
• chester

  NF is the most dominant family type despite the increase of family diversity

  • doesn't see the new changes as very significant
• chester - NF is most ideal and most people aspire to become one


  evident in patterns of:

  • most marriages still continue until death
  • cohabitation has increased, but it is mostly a temporary phase before marriage
  • ethnic groups are very likely to live in NF households
  • most children are still looked after by their 2 natural parents
• chester

  most significant change is families going from the conventional NF (instrumental and expressive roles) to the neo conventional family (both spouses work and are dual earners)
• chester

  basically argues that statistics on households don't reflect changes in people's life cycles as most people that are currently not in a NF either have been or will be at some point in life
• evaluation for chester

  TICK NF remains the most dominant family type - statistics show that chester's theory is still applicable

  X ignores the rise in alternative families

  X stacy - chester ignores the increase in divorce which has led to divorce extended families, rather than neo conventional families

  • divorce has brought women together to form extended families which offer support and evolve to suit people's needs
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  believe family diversity meets the needs of different people, rather than causing problems for society
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  1-organisational diversity

  • how family roles are organised

  eg. joint/segregated conjugal roles
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  2 - cultural diversity

  • different cultures, religions and ethnic groups have different family structures

  eg asian households - extended

  black households - lone parent
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  3 - class

  • different classes = different family structures, roles and practices

  eg. m/c children more likely to take part in extracurricular activities
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  4 - life cycles

  • family structures can change accordingly to the stagr reached in a person's life cycle

  eg. widows, pensioner couples, NF
• rapoport and rapoport - 5 types of diversity

  5 - generational

  • older and younger generations have different experiences of family structures

  eg older generations - more nuclear

  younger generations - more symmetrical