family diversity

• modernism

  see modern society as having fairly fixed, clear-cut and predictable structure

  
  

  e.g functionalists and new right
• parsons

  functional fit theory

  nuclear family fits the needs for a geographically and socially mobile force
• new right

  agree with functionalist views

  see nuclear family as 'natural' and based on biological differences between men and women
• benston

  new right theorist

  argues couples are more stable when they are married- requires deliberate commitment to each other
• Oakley

  disagree with new right

  cross-cultural studies show great variation in the roles men and women perform within the family
• chester

  Neo-conventional family

  argues new type of family

  dual-earner family in which both spouses go out to work, not just the husband
• Rapoports

  five types of family diversity

  organisational

  cultural

  social class

  life-stage

  generational
• organisational diversity

  differences in the ways family roles are organised
• cultural diversity

  different cultural, religious and ethnic groups have different family structures
• social class diversity

  income differences between households show different family structures
• life-stage diversity

  family structures differ according to the stage reached in the life cycle
• generational diversity

  Older and younger generations have different attitudes and experiences that reflect the historical periods in which they have lived
• postmodernism

  argue we no longer live in modern society, have fragmented family structures
• stacey

  • divorce-extended family
  • families where the relatives are connected by divorce, rather than marriage.
  • ex-in-laws, or the new partners of a former couple.
  • argues that greater freedom and choice has benefitted women- free them from patriarchal oppression
• Giddens and beck

  Individualisation thesis

  argues that we now have more freedom to choose how we lead our lives
• hareven

  Life course analysis

  - explores meanings that individual family members give to the relationships they have and the choices they make at various points in their lives
• giddens

  Confluent love

  argues family has transformed by greater choice

  couples are now free to define their relationship themselves
• parson - 2 irreducible functions

  1. primary socialisation
  2. stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory)