Couples

• Parsons


  Husband has instrumental role of providing financially

  Wife has expressive role of socialising the young
• Critism of Parsons

  Willmott and Young - men now share domestic tasks and more women earning
• Bott


  Joint and segregated conjugal roles

  Segregated - separate roles male breadwinner, female domestic

  Joint - couples share tasks and spend leisure time together
• Willmott and Young


  Symmetrical family (similar roles)

  Women paid work, men help with housework
• Why is the symmetrical family more common in younger couples?


  Changes in women's positions, geographical mobility, new technology, higher standards of living
• Critism of Willmott and young symmetrical family


  Ann Oakley - dual burden

  Evidence of husbands helping in home but not symmetrically

  Men more likely to share childcare than housework as more 'pleasurable
• Gershuny


  Women who work full time do less housework than other women
• Crompton and Lyonette


  Cultural explanation of inequality - women preform more domestic labour tasks because society expects them to

  Material explanation - women earn less
• 2 main types of control over family income according to Pahl and Volger

  Allowance system - men give wives allowance

  Pooling - both have access to income eg joint bank account
• Edgell


  Very important decisions = male

  Important decisions = joint

  Less important decisions = female
• According to Edgell why do men have more say in decisions?


  Earn more
• Smart


  Same sex couples place no importance of who controlled money - do not see money as source of power
• Radical feminist explanation for domestic violence


  Domestic violence serves to preserve power of men - patriarchal
• Why can domestic violence not be put down to behaviour of a few, disturbed, 'sick' individuals?


  Too widespread

  Does not occur randomly - follows social patterns eg men violating women
• Dobash and Dobash


  Violent incidents set off by what husband saw as challenge to power - marriage legitimises violence
• Why are the official statistics of domestic violence not reliable?


  Victims not willing to report

  Police reluctant to record and prosecute - individuals are free to leave and family is private, the state should not access it