the fam

• Syllabus Topic


  • Key Sociologists, Theories and Concepts
• Functionalism


  Murdock (1949) analysed 250 different societies and concluded family is universal
• Murdock's definition of the family

  • Common residence
  • Economic co-operation and reproduction
  • Adults of both genders - at least two who are married
  • One or more children
• Murdock's view on the nuclear family

  Nuclear family (parents + children) is the universal social unit and lies at the heart of the extended family
• Murdock's functional prerequisites of the family

  • Sexual control (faithfulness) provides stability
  • Reproduction provides new members to replace those who die
  • Socialisation provides children who grow up to be members of society with same values and norms
  • Economic provision ensures survival of the family and members of society who cannot work
• Parsons and Bales' view on the family


  • The family used to be multi-functional but gradually lost its functions as they were taken up by other social institutions (education, hospitals, etc)
  • Now there are 2 irreducible functions: 1) Primary socialisation - 'families are factories whose product is the development of human personalities' and 2) Stabilisation of adult personalities - fulfils physical, emotional and sexual needs and gives motivation to work
• Fletcher's view on the family


  Contemporary families perform 2 types of function: 1) Core functions - cannot be performed by others (childbearing, childrearing, children's primary socialisation and physical and psychological well-being) and 2) Peripheral functions - extra support around functions that are primarily taken over by other institutions (education, health care and recreation)
• Parsons' 'warm bath' theory

  The nuclear family is a place where adults can relax from the pressures of the external world
• Neo-Functionalism (Horwitz 2005)


  The family is a bridge connecting the micro world of the individual with the macro world of the wider economic society. Family is the best place for learning how to behave in the wider world: 1) Rules passed on by people with emotional commitment are more likely to be taught effectively, 2) Emotional closeness provides reasons to develop cooperative behaviour, and 3) Rule learning can be taught subconsciously, through modelling and children observing and copying adult behaviour
• Loss of Functions/Fit Thesis


  Traditional societies used to have extended families - now their functions have been taken over by other social institutions. In late 18th-19th centuries, industrialisation + urbanisation led to economic production going from land-based, rural, family-centred to capital-intensive, urban, factory-centred. Extended families were best suited to family-based subsistence farming, while nuclear families were best suited to the economic requirements of geographic mobility and labour flexibility
• Parsons (1959) and Goode (1963) put forward 'fit thesis' - that the type of family that dominates in a society is the one that fits its needs. Nuclear family fulfils functions for both society and individual
• Characteristics of extended families in pre-industrial times

  • Multi-functional (there was no universal welfare system, so elderly, infirm and sick were cared for by family)
  • Kinship-based (working together in craft trades, brewing and baking - family business) because agriculture was labour-intensive, requiring men, women and children, esp. during harvest
  • Economically productive - only means of survival (plus there was poor transport and communications so it was hard to move away even if you wanted to)
• Nuclear families rose due to geographic mobility (moving to cities) and decline of nepotism
• Arguments against the Fit Thesis


  • Finch (1989): 1) Wide range of household types in pre-industrial times (extended was not the norm), 2) Nuclear families existed first, then industrialism and urbanisation - they could respond to mobility and flexibility, so were a contributing cause of Industrialisation, 3) Industrialisation was helped by primogeniture (first-born son inherits home and wealth) so siblings had to move out and become factory workers while eldest could invest in industries
  • Anderson (1995): No single family or household structure was dominant during the Industrialisation. Reconstituted and lone-parent families existed due to high death rates. Industrialisation led to working class families becoming extended to care for sick, jobless, and children. Kinship network very important to survive
• Marxism


  The family supports capitalism in 5 ways: 1) Ideological state apparatus (ISA - Althusser), 2) Socialising children so they have unquestioning acceptance of ruling-class ideology as just and normal, 3) Economic reproduction and source of profit (consumerism), 4) Political stabilising force - privatised nuclear family makes them focus on private problems rather than wider social concerns (ie. inequality), 5) Frustrated men who are powerless in the workplace can exert power (economic, psychological & physical) over their families instead of directing their forces to real causes
• Neo-Marxism


  Middle & upper-class families provide the following to their children: 1) Cultural capital - non-economic resources like manners, tastes, interests, and knowledge of artistic aspects of a culture that give advantages to middle and upper-class kids, 2) Social capital - good connections (wealthy families support each other 'norms of reciprocity'), 3) Symbolic capital - personal characteristics like authority and charisma, honour, prestige, reputation
• Feminism


  Family is an oppressive structure locking women in narrow range of service roles (domestic labour & childcare). Men have economic power because women do free domestic labour
• Feminist perspectives


  • Liberal feminism: Laws can help, and families deciding to be more equal, e.g. men doing more housework
  • Radical feminism: Patriarchy - dominance of women and children by men. Requires deeper changes to get rid of. Nuclear family supports men, not women. Men are responsible for what's wrong in the world (wars and environmental problems)
  • Marxist feminism: Men can work long hours cos women do unpaid domestic work. Women make capitalism possible, even though they are ignored and their work undervalued. Women are doubly exploited ('dual burden - double shift') in the workplace contributing to ruling-class profits and at home as unpaid workers benefiting men
  • Black feminism: Don't see all men as 'the enemy'. Feel white women and black women have different situation in society. Don't see family as source of oppression but a haven from racism
  • Difference feminism: Emphasise differences between men and women (and different groups of women) but both genders have the same moral status as persons. Disagree with liberal feminists that men and women can be equal. Feminine qualities and ethics should be valued in the public spheres
• Changing patterns of marriage

  • Declining worldwide
  • Age of marriage for both men & women rising. Women usually younger than husbands
  • People tend to marry someone from the same religion, caste or socio-economic group
  • Poorer people less likely to get married
  • Modern Western societies have more inter-ethnic marriages due to migration. Also have increase in serial monogamy (marriage, divorce and remarriage)
  • Most by consent but some still forced in parts of Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India
• Causes of changing marriage patterns

  • Increase in girls' education and economic power = many dual income families (and DINK - dual income, no kids - families in China)
  • Young women worldwide weigh up costs of marriage & children against career and economic independence. Result: many delaying marriage until their careers are established (esp in China)
  • Feminists - Declining rates in marriage are a sign people take it more seriously. Women are more careful in choice of partner and willing to make sacrifices to make it work. Institution of marriage has become stronger, not weaker
  • Less social pressure to get married, less social stigma to have children born outside marriage, less economic pressure to marry, more cohabitation. It's a 'lifestyle choice' with greater financial, career and personal independence
  • Less significance and meaning to marriage due to secularisation. People assessing risks and consequences - so want to avoid divorce with its emotional and economic consequences
• Remarriage


  40% of all marriages in USA and Europe are remarriages. Peaked in 1980s and now declining. More men than women remarry, possibly because women take charge of children
• Cohabitation


  Living together as if married. Increasingly popular family form worldwide
• Causes of increasing cohabitation

  • Reduced social pressure to marry
  • Lower levels of stigma
  • Wider availability of birth control and abortion
  • High cost of weddings (average cost $35,329 in 2016 for US)
  • Secularisation
  • Changing attitudes to marriage (no interest or not sure about partner)
  • Testing the partner
  • Don't want legal ties or think it's easier to get out of
  • Feminist philosophy that cohabitation leads to more equal relationships and greater freedom
• After 10 years of living together, 50% married each other, just under 40% had separated and just over 10% were still living together unmarried. Cohabitation is chosen by couples who want their future marriage to succeed
• Divorce


  Legal ending of a marriage. Exists in all countries except the Vatican City. Most countries do not require a reason for divorce ('irretrievable break-down of marriage' is enough) but some require a marital 'offence' by a partner, such as cruelty, desertion, adultery or impotence
• Separation


  Living apart. Often chosen by religious to avoid shame of divorce
• Empty-shell marriages


  Husband and wife stay together in name only - no longer any love or intimacy. May stay for the sake of children, religion, economic reasons, or shame
• Global divorce rate has increased 250% since 1960. Maldives has the highest rate - average Maldivian woman divorced 3 times by age of 30. Countries with lowest rate are the less industrialised ones with high religion
• Characteristics of divorce


  • Younger couples divorce more
  • 30% of marriages end in divorce in US and Europe. 60% by death of spouse
  • Divorce more likely if one or both partners have been married before
• Causes of increasing divorce

  • Changes in law make it easier
  • Secularisation
  • Women being more financially independent (so aren't trapped in abusive marriages just because of money)
  • Less influence by extended family & community
  • People value marriage more and have higher standards. They no longer put up with empty-shell marriages, expect more than just companionship (equality in decision-making, emotional and sexual compatibility) and are willing to go through several partners to find this
  • Feminists argue women expect far more from marriage than men now (most divorces in US and EU are initiated by women). They want more friendship & emotional gratification so leave men who don't live up to expectations
• Household


  People living together in a dwelling
• Family and household forms

  • Single-person household
  • Couple household without children (includes Living Apart Together LAT)
  • Shared household (unrelated - eg: students)
  • Nuclear family
  • Reconstituted family
  • Same-sex family
  • Lone-parent family
  • Extended family
  • Modified extended family
  • Matrifocal
  • Patrifocal
  • Families of choice
• Nuclear family


  • Family unit consisting of adult male + adult female (usually married) and dependent children. Two-generations living under same roof. Traditionally heterosexual, patriarchal, with segregated gender-roles, but now increasingly joint conjugal roles
• Reconstituted family


  • Break-up and reassembly (including children of different marriages)
• Same-sex family


  • Legal rights to marry since 2014 in UK
• Lone-parent family


  • By choice or by force of circumstances
• Extended family


  • Vertically (3+ generations), horizontally (branches within, like aunts/uncles)
• Modified extended family


  • Contemporary form where they stay in touch but don't live together
• Matrifocal


  • Centred around mother
• Patrifocal


  • Centred around father