Rappoport & Rappoport

• Rappoport & Rappoport suggested 5 ways in which the modern family was now (then?) diverse

  1983
• 5 ways the modern family is diverse


  • Organisational diversity
  • Cultural diversity
  • Social class diversity
  • Life stage diversity
  • Generational diversity
• Organisational diversity


  • Families are organised in a range of ways in terms of the roles people perform and the structures they take
• Cultural diversity


  • African-Caribbean families are more likely to be matrifocal
  • Some Asian households are more likely to include extended family members
• A more culturally diverse society


  Leads to a diversity of family types
• Social class diversity


  Family structure and child-rearing practices are influenced by social class
• Statistics show that divorce is more common among those on lower incomes (for a variety of reasons)
• Life stage diversity


  • People living in a range of different family forms throughout their lives. They might be born into a nuclear family, live on their own, share with housemates, become a cohabiting couple, become a nuclear family, get divorced, form a reconstituted family, etc.
• Generational diversity


  Different generations have different attitudes to family life. For example, older generations might be more traditional, preferring the nuclear family