AQA A-level Sociology: Family and Households

• Adolescence


  A stage in the life course between childhood and adulthood which occurs during teenage years.
• Ageing population


  The phenomenon by which life expectancy continues to increase - people living longer
• Baby boom


  A sudden increase in the birth rate of a population
• Beanpole family


  A family that is vertically extended but not horizontally extended
• Birth rate


  The number of births per 1000 people per year
• Bourgeois


  Middle-class
• Childhood


  The state of a child between infancy and adolescence
• Cohabitation


  Living together without being married
• Conjugal roles


  The roles played by husband and wife - joint or separated
• Conjugal


  Relating to marriage or the relationship between a married couple
• Consensus


  General agreement
• Dark side of the family

  Family abuse and violence that is hidden behind closed doors
• Divorce


  The formal and legal procedure that ends a marriage
• Domestic division of labour


  The division of tasks, roles and duties within the household.
• Double burden


  When a woman takes on two roles within a relationship, usually unpaid work and caring for the children
• Dysfunctional family


  A family structure that fails to operate in accordance within societal norms and values
• Emotion work


  The roles performed in relation to the emotional needs of family members
• Empty nest household


  A type of family constructed when children have left the parental home
• Empty shell marriage


  A married couple in a loveless relationship who no longer wish to live together
• Extended family


  A household made up of several generations of family members
• Fatherhood


  The role of the man in the context of raising a child
• Feminism


  A female movement for gender equality.
• Feral children


  Children assumed to have been raised by animals, in the wilderness, isolated from humans
• Fertility


  Actual reproduction as opposed to fecundity
• Fertility rate

  The number of live births per 1000 women of childbearing age
• Functionalist


  The perspective in sociology according to which society consists of different by related parts each of which serves a particular purpose
• Globalisation


  The world becoming more connected
• Household


  A person or group of people living in the same residence
• Housewife


  A married woman who takes on the traditional feminine role of raising children and performing household chores
• Housework


  A set of chores performed within the home such as cleaning
• Instant gratification


  The desire to experience pleasure or fulfilment without delay or deferment
• Joint conjugal roles


  When a husband and wife both go out to work and do the housework
• Life course


  The stages of our life as we go from birth to death
• Life expectancy


  The number of years a person can expect to live
• Lone parent


  A family headed by one parent
• Lone parent family


  One parent is responsible for raising their child / children
• Marriage


  Where individuals enter a formal bind with one another
• Matrifocal family


  A family headed by the mother where she is not a co-resident with a male partner
• Marxism


  A perspective based on social class
• Monogamy

  A man and woman being faithful, staying together