Sociology - families and households

• Murdock (Functionalist): functions of family


  Family performs four major functions:

  1) Satisfaction of sex-drive

  2) Reproduction of next generation

  3) Socialisation of young

  4) Meeting economic needs of its members
• Parsons (Functionalist): functions of family


  Modern family functions:

  1) Primary socialisation of children

  2) Stabilisation of adult personalities
• Parsons (functionalist)


  Need for:

  1) Geographically mobile workforce

  -Compact nuclear family ideal for moving around for work.

  2) Socially mobile workforce

  -Nuclear family prevents conflicts at home.
• Criticisms of Funtionalism


  Marxists and feminists: harmonious, consensus view of family is "rose-tinted".

  Ignores dark side of family- male dominance, child abuse, conflict.

  Ignores diversity of family types.
• Marxists: functions of family


  1) Inheritance of property

  2) Ideological functions

  3) Family is a unit of consumption
• Inheritance of property- Engels


  During primitive communism, humans were a "promiscuous horde".

  Private property developed after forces of production- need for patriarchal monogamous family.

  Fathers needed son to pass on inheritance.
• Ideological functions- Zaretsky


  Home acts as a safe haven from exploitation.

  Children socialised into hierarchy, leads them to believe submission to power is natural.

  Practice for living under capitalism.
• Family is a unit of consumption


  Capitalism exploits labour of workers.

  -Advertisers urge families to compete via consumption.

  -Media target children who peter parents (pester-power)

  -Children who lack latest gadgets are stigmatised by peers.
• Criticisms of Marxism


  Marxists assume nuclear family dominant in capitalist society.

  Feminists: focus on social class and capitalism, ignores gender inequalities.

  Functionalists: marxists ignores benefits family provides.
• Liberal Feminists


  Campaign against sex discrimination and for equal rights.

  - Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Equal Pay Act 1970

  Take "March of progress" view
• Radical Feminism


  All societies are patriarchal

  Family must be abolished, advocate separatism and political lesbianism.
• Marxist Feminism


  Main source of women's oppression capitalism.

  Women produce labour force through unpaid domestic labour.

  Ansley: emotional support from wives acts as safety valve for husband's frustration at capitalist system.

  Feeley: family is authoritarian unit dominated by husband.
• Purdey (1997)


  Women disadvantaged by having children- long term commitment.

  Women should have "baby-strike" so men take demands for equality seriously.
• Bott (1957): Types of conjugal roles


  1) Segregated conjugal roles

  -Traditional nuclear family.

  2) Joint conjugal roles

  - Couples share tasks and spend leisure time together.
• Domestic division of labour

  Instrumental vs expressive role.

  Parsons: division of labour rooted in biology.
• Young and Wilmott: Symmetrical family


  W/C families in East End are traditional but signs of change.

  Women working more, men doing more housework, couples become more "privatised".

  Resulted in women's change in position, geographical mobility, new technology, higher standards of living.
• Criticisms of Young and Wilmott: Oakley (1974)


  Criticised march of progress view held by Young and Wilmott.

  Interviewed husbands- helped once a week.

  Felt they were good fathers- played with children.

  -Frees time for wives to do more work.
• Criticisms of Young and Wilmott: Oakley (1974)


  Domestic labour heavily sex-typed- men do DIY, women cook.

  Women continue to do more housework than men.

  Domestic labour of men involves more rewarding aspect of childhood.

  Men get half-an-hour more free time than women.
• Ferri and Smith: Dual burden


  Feminists say little evidence for "new man".

  women carry dual burden- paid work and housework.

  Morris: unemployed men avoid housework.
• Duncome and Marsden: Triple shift


  Women undertake majority of emotional work.

  Triple shift: paid work, house work, emotional labour.
• Dunne


  Division of labour continues in straight couples due to ingrained gender scripts.

  Does not exist in homosexual couples.
• Weeks


  Same-sex relationships offer more opportunities to negotiate roles.
• Barrett and McIntosh


  Men get more from women's labour than they give in financial support.

  Support comes with strings attached.
• Kempson


  In W/C families, women deny own needs.
• Graham


  Women often set no money aside for themselves.

  -See spending money on themselves as denying money for family/children.
• Pahl and Vogler


  Pooling: joint responsibility for expenditure.

  Allowance: husband earns, pays wife allowance for shopping (etc), keeps rest for self.

  Increase in pooling, decrease in allowance systems.

  Pooling more common in dual earner households, but men still make major financial decisions.
• Hardill


  Men's careers take priority.
• Finch


  Women's lives shaped around husband's career.
• Edgell: decision making


  "Very important"- financial, taken by husband

  "Important"- children/holidays, jointly taken

  "Less important"- decor/clothes/food, taken by wives
• Domestic violence


  Home Office: ~1.2M women suffered domestic abuse.

  -400,000 women sexually assaulted.

  British Crime Survey: domestic violence accounts for 1/6th of all violent crime.
• Dobash and Dobash:


  Wives being slapped, pushed, raped, etc by husbands.

  Violent incidents set off by "challenge to authority"

  Marriage legitimates violence by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives.
• Domestic violence: male victims

  The Independent (2013): "As a man, its very difficult to say I've been beaten up".

  1/3rd victims of domestic abuse are male.

  In North Ireland and Scotland, no male refuges.
• Problems with studying domestic violence


  Difficult to obtain valid information on subject.

  Police statistics rely on reports received by people.

  People may refuse to answer interviews/questionnaires.

  Difficult to define domestic violence.
• Wilkinson and Pickett


  Domestic violence result of stress on family members cause by social inequality.
• Pitcher


  Distinct separateness of childhood.

  A life stage
• Ponch


  5yr olds take work responsibilities at home and local community without hesitation.
• Holmes


  In Samoa, no concept of "too young".

  Children use dangerous tools, carry heavy loads.

  Parents let them do things if children think they can.
• Firth


  Children in Tikopia do not do what adults say, decide to listen.
• Malinowski


  In Tobriand Islands, adults do not view sexual activities of youth and children with disdain, but tolerate experimentation.
• Aries (1960): Childhood


  In Middle Ages, idea of childhood didn't exist.

  Children not seen as having different needs from adults.

  Children=mini adults (same rights, duties, skills)