causes of family diversity

• Causes of family diversity

  • Learnt through socialisation
  • Changing cultural education, media, religion, family values
• Prior to 1900s, people acted out of duty and obligation to a set of invisible rules (cultural norms)
• Detraditionalisation

  Losing tradition
• Detraditionalisation

  • Marriage (50% less than 1970s)
• Confluent love


  Commitment in return for needs to be met
• Romantic love

  Love for their needs to be met
• Externally imposed public moral code leads to everyone being controlled by an outside force
• Where we learn what is deemed right and wrong
• Prior to 2001, only married couples could adopt children
• After 2001, single people and same-sex couples could also adopt
• Decline in religious customs: christenings, church attendance, religious marriages</b>
• Increase in secular customs: nativity plays
• Laws passed in recent times contradicting traditional Christian values: abortion, cohabitation, same-sex marriage
• Decline in religion, increase in family diversity, more socially acceptable
• Agents of socialisation


  • Family
  • Religion
  • School
  • Media
• Media has become much more important a century ago, however has declined due to the overall decline of religion
• Segregated conjugal roles

  Husbands as breadwinners, wives as housewives and mothers, domesticated, submissive role
• CROW (change in the role of women) and the impact of feminism