family

• what are some changes in marriage over last 50 years?


  changes:

  1. marriage rates have declined
  2. remarriage and serial monogamy have been normalised
  3. same-sex marriage legalised in 2013
• changes in divorce?


  changes:

  1. divorces rates have increased (divorce reform act 1969)
  2. rates were at their lowest in 2018 since 1971
• other changes in the family:


  changes

  1. women having fewer children (less than 2 vs almost 3 in 1990)
  2. cohabitation has increased and is the fastest growing family type
  3. lone parent families more common
• what did young and willmott (functionalist) say about family relationships?


  they researched conjugal roles in the family in 1950 & 1970, they found roles were becoming joined, they called this the symmetrical family
• what did oakley (feminist) say about the symmetrical family?


  she said:

  • 1974, she found that women did the majority of domestic work & childcare
  • She came up with dual burden- where women do paid work and domestic work
  • She said Y&W exaggerated the symmetrical family because her research suggests only a very small amount of men in households did domestic work
• what is the functionalist view on the family?

  vital part of the 'organ analogy' of society and it helps socialise and integrate children into society's value consensus
• what did Murdock (functionalist) say about family?

  he said the family performs 4 functions: reproduction, satisfaction of sex drive, socialisation, economic function
• what does Parsons (functionalist) say about family?

  the family has 2 needed functions: primary socialisation of children, stablisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory)
• criticisms of functionalist view:

  • too positive, ignores dark side of family (abuse, divorce)
  • out of date, doesnt consider other family types
  • feminists are critical of parsons gender roles
• feminist view on family:


  the conventional nuclear family is a patriarchal structure, men exercise dominance through money management and decision making
• what did Delphy and Leonard (feminists) say about the family:

  women hold families together and contribute the most to families while men benefit the most
• criticisms of feminist view:

  • are women as oppressed as they used to be considering changes in last 50 years
• marxist view:


  families play a key role in the capitalist system and work in the interests of the bourgeoisie, they are also a unit of consumption
• what did Zaretsky (marxist) say about the family?

  families help to maintain capitalism in society- they provide the illusion of a safe haven away from exploitation at work, meaning workers feel safe at home where they have some control
• criticisms of the marxist view:

  • focuses too heavily on class, not all families support capitalism
  • ignores the positives of family
• new right view on the family:


  nuclear families are the key to a successful society

  critical of non-nuclear families and changes in family structures

  any other family type is inferior and dysfunctional
• what did Murray (new right) say about families?

  If nuclear families break down, so will society

  Lone parent families encourage a dependency culture (benefits) and leads to social underclass
• criticisms of the new right view:

  • many other families are functional and many nuclear families can be dysfunctional