Sociology Family xoxo

• Family


  Group of 2 or more persons associated by birth, cohabitation, marriage or adoption.
• Household


  All the people living together within a house (could be a family, but doesn't have to be)
• Nuclear Family ("Cereal Packet Family")


  Family group = consists of mother, father and their biological, dependent children
• Single Parent Family


  Family group consisting of dependent children & only one parent (statistically usually the mother)
• Step/Reconstituted Family


  Family group consisting of two parents, one from previous relationship/marriage with biological children of one or both partners
• Extended Family


  Family composed of the nuclear family & other relatives living in same house/nearby

  (can be vertically extended or horizontally)
• Modified Extended Family


  Modern family type where extended family members can maintain contact and/or support despite living far apart- made possible by technology
• Same-Sex Family


  Family group comprised of two same-sex parents who are civil partners, married or cohabiting with their child(ren)
• Neo-Conventional Family


  New family where traditional gender roles have changed (e.g: females may be bread-winners & males house husbands)
• Empty Nest Family


  Family where the children have grown up & left home, leaving parents to live together
• Symmetrical Family


  Family where conjugal roles are shared equally (e.g: men doing more housework, equal decision making = authority relations have become more equal)
• Bean-Pole Family


  Vertically extended, multi-generational family unit i.e: people living longer = more generations alive at same time. Linked to families having fewer children.
• Breadwinner


  Is the main income earner in household
• Commune


  Small community whose members share in the ownership of property & the division of labour
• Dependent Child


  Person living in household who's under 16/aged 16 - 18 but in full time education
• Life Course Family Diversity

  How a person may experience different forms of families/households during a lifetime (e.g: if person's born into nuclear family, but becomes part of single-parent family when separation occurs)
• Functionalist View of Families

  The nuclear family is best for society because it performs:

  • Primary Socialisation

  • Reproduction

  • Emotional Support

  • Economic Support

  They claim other family types = dysfunctional
• Criticisms of the Functionalist View

  • It ignores numerous other family types & sees them as inferior

  • It doesn't explore sexist relationships

  • It ignores the dark side of the family

  • It's outdated & doesn't recognise how families have become more diverse
• The New Rights View of Families

  Claims nuclear family with traditional gender roles is best for society. Very critical of family breakdown & introduced policies to promote nuclear family:

  • Lower taxes for the married

  • Reduced benefits for single parents

  • C.S.A (Child Support Agency), forcing absent fathers to pay for children
• Criticisms of The New Rights View

  • It has a narrow view & discriminates against other family types
• Marxist View of Families

  • conflict theory = claims the family benefits the ruling class in capitalist society

  • its role = maintain power of the wealthy & allow for social class reproduction. It does this by:

  • Producing the next generation working class, ready to be exploited

  • Socialising working class children to accept inequality & low status jobs- brainwashed by

  ideology & put into false consciousness

  • It is exploited as a unit of consumption

  • The wealthy can pass on their wealth in inheritance
• Feminist View of Families

  •Conflict theory = claims the family is patriarchal.

  •Within family = traditional gender roles are segregated

  •where males have more authority

  •women are exploited to do the triple shift.

  •Family reproduces gender inequality through gender role socialisation.
• The difference between the Liberal Feminist view & Radical Feminist view

  Liberal Feminists claim females now more equal within the family e.g. the symmetrical family
• Young and Willmott (1973)


  • Found evidence that the symmetrical family was

  becoming more typical in Britain
• Reasons for an increase in symmetrical families

  • Changing social attitudes

  • Increased female employment

  • Labour saving devices
• Definition of family becoming more child centred

  Now, parents spend more time with their children- who are involved more in decision making. Often, child welfare is the top priority of parents, who make significant sacrifices for children.
• Reasons for more child centred families


  • Smaller family sizes with less children

  • Children now have more rights & families are monitored more (e.g: social services)

  • There is more support from services (e.g: NHS)

  • More leisure time is spent with the family

  • Compulsory education means children are more dependent on parents

  • More information available
• Average Number of Children in 1870

  6
• Average Number of Children Now

  1.8
• Explanations for smaller family sizes

  • The cost of children has increased (£230,000 in a lifetime)

  • Contraception has become more available

  • Female independence

  • They do not need as many children for source of

  income

  • Increased availability of abortions
• Percentage of Single-Parent Families in the UK

  27% (the number has tripled since 1970)
• Percentage of single-parent families headed by the mother

  90%
• Some explanations for more single-parent families

  • Higher divorce rates

  • Greater financial independence for women

  • Less social stigma attached to being a single-mother

  • Children are less likely to be taken away from single parents
• Divorce


  The legal dissolution of a marriage
• Number of divorces in 1951

  29,000
• Number of divorces in 2002

  148,000
• This has happened to divorce rate over the last 10 years

  Stabilisation
• Britain's divorce rate


  43% (of marriages end in this)
• This is when divorce is most likely


  In the first five years of marriage
• Explanations for increased divorce

  • Law Changes(i.e: divorces have become easier & cheaper to obtain, the Divorce Reform Act 1969)

  • Secularisation

  • Less Stigma

  • Changing Female Attitudes

  • High Expectations

  • Isolated Nuclear Family