perspectives on family diversity

• modernism vs postmodernism


  modernism

  - structural theories e.g. functionalism, NR

  - society has fixed, predictable structure; modern society influenced by industrialisation

  - family = structure that shapes behaviour and has functions, no real choice

  - nuclear family is best, diversity is harmful

  
  

  postmodernism

  - society has entered new historical period, influence of tradition = declining

  - individuals freer to choose dif lifestyles

  - families = more diverse but unstable
• modernist view of family diversity

  nuclear family is best, family diversity is harmful

  
  

  functionalists - parsons' functions of the family

  new right - nuclear family is natural based on biology

  
  

  benson: evidence

  - 2006: analysed data on parents of over 15,000 babies, found within first 3yrs of child's life cohabiting parents were more likely to split up than married ones (20% vs 6%)

  - 2010/11: couples are more stable when married as this requires a deliberate commitment

  
  

  NR solutions to family problems

  1) return to 'traditional values' e.g. value of marriage to prevent social disintegration and damage to children

  2) laws and policies e.g. easy access to divorce, gay marriage and widespread availability of welfare benefits as undermining conventional family. benson: policies need to support marriage and encourage couples to marry
• evaluation of the NR/modernist view

  oakley (1997): NR wrongly assumes husband and wives' roles = fixed by biology

  - cross cultural studies show variations in roles of men/women

  - NR is negative reaction to feminist campaign for equality

  
  

  feminists: NR views are based on patriarchal oppression, nuclear family prevents women from working + keeps them dependent on men

  
  

  little evidence of lone parent families creating dependency culture

  
  

  NR view that marriage = commitment and cohabitation doesn't is silly

  
  

  rate of cohabitation is higher among poorer social groups

  - smart (2011): poverty causes breakdown rather than decision not to marry
• chester (1985): neo-conventional family

  recognises increased family diversity but doesnt regard this as significant (or as neg), argues the only important change is a move from traditional nuclear family to the 'neo-conventional family'

  
  

  neo-conventional family = dual-earner family where both spouses go out to work, not just husband. main change = both in instrumental role

  - still sees nuclear family as dominant. diversity is exaggerated + little evidence of major change

  - argues most people arent choosing alternatives to nuclear family on long-term basis, nuclear = ideal most aspire to. many people arent in a nuclear family at any one time but this is largely due to life cycle

  -- many people in single person households e.g. elderly widows, divorcees or young unmarried people were either part of a nuclear family previously or will be in the future

  -- stats on household composition = misleading. snapshot of a single moment in time & dont show that most people will spend a major part of their life in a nuclear family
• evidence of the neo-conventional family

  - cohabitation has increased but mostly as a temporary phase before marriage. most couples marry if they have children

  - most people live in a household headed by a married couple

  - most adults marry and have kids, most kids reared by their 2 natural parents

  - most marriages last until death, increase in divorce but also increase in remarriage

  - increase in births outside of marriage, but most jointly registered - parents committed to bringing up child as a couple
• the rapoports (1982): five types of family diversity

  argue diversity = of central importance in understanding family life today

  - moved away from dominant nuclear family to diverse lifestyles + families in pluralist society

  - reflects greater choice and acceptance of more cultures

  - positive response to wishes of dif people

  
  

  1) organisational diversity

  - e.g. joint conjugal vs segregated conjugal roles

  
  

  2) cultural diversity

  - dif cultural, religious + ethnic groups have dif family structures e.g. more female headed lone parent families in african-caribbean households

  
  

  3) social class diversity

  - family structure partly result of income differences between classes, also class differences in child rearing

  
  

  4) life stage diversity

  - dif structures based on stage in life cycle e.g. young newlyweds, widows living alone, couples w/ dependent kids etc

  
  

  5) generational diversity

  - older/younger generations have dif attitudes + experiences e.g. views on morality of divorce
• postmodernist view of family diversity

  cheal (1993): live in fragmented postmodern world, so no one dominant stable family type

  
  

  characteristics of postmodernism:

  1) diversity and fragmentation

  - pick n mix identities

  2) rapid social change

  - new technology has dissolved old barriers of time and space and reshaped our habits (TSC)

  
  

  --> family therefore less stable but more choice. generalisations can no longer be made as they were by modernist sociologists e.g. parsons
• life course analysis


  allan and crow (2001): up until 1960s, fairly standard life course for most individuals based on age

  grow up --> education --> leave home --> get married --> start family --> empty nest

  
  

  since then, major changes in people's life course and personal relationships

  
  

  levin (2004): this life course was in effect 'compulsory' due to strong social norms, cereal packet family expected

  - (2001): individuals today have much greater freedom of choice in personal relationships as less regulated by externally imposed public moral code

  
  

  may (2001): families no longer at centre of many people's lives and relationships, much more diverse, personal life

  
  

  hareven (1978)

  - in-depth unstructured interviews exploring meanings people give to relationships and choices they make at certain points in life (qualitative)

  - family structure is result of rational choice

  - focuses on what family members themselves see as important

  - varies e.g. after having a baby, coming out etc

  
  

  morgan (1996, 2011): dif families have different practices depending on attitudes, beliefs and values individuals hold

  - pointless to make large scale generalisations, family is just whatever arrangements those involved choose to label
• strengths of life course analysis

  1) focuses on what family members themselves see as important

  - sociologists don't impose meanings

  
  

  2) suitable for studying families in postmodernism

  - more diversity and choice in relationships

  - family structures increasingly the result of choices made by their members
• stacey (1998): divorce extended families


  argues greater freedom of choice has benefitted women, enabling them to free themselves from patriarchal oppression and shape family arrangements to meet their needs

  
  

  used life history interviews to construct case studies of postmodern families in silicon valley, california: found that women had been main agents of changes in family

  - e.g. many women interviewed rejected traditional housewife-mother role, instead worked, returned to education, remarried => created families suited to their needs

  
  

  one type = divorce extended families

  - members connected by divorce, key family members usually female i.e. man's ex-wife, new partner and former in-laws

  - e.g. pam gamma: married young, divorced, cohabitated for years before remarrying another divorcee. formed DE family with shirley, the woman her ex-husband was living with. they helped e/o financially and domestically e.g. by exchanging lodgers

  
  

  shows how postmodern families are shaped by choice
• giddens and beck: individualisation thesis

  argue traditional social structures e.g. class, gender + family have lost much of their influence over us

  - peoples lives no longer in fixed roles over life course

  
  

  beck (1992): we are 'disembedded' from traditional roles, 'standard biography' of life course replaced with 'do-it-yourself biography'

  
  

  giddens: pure relationships

  beck: negotiated family, risk society
• giddens: pure relationship
• beck: risk society


  risk society: tradition less influential, more choice

  - wider variation of experiences, relationships etc; no longer set out by age

  - no relationships guaranteed to last

  
  

  patriarchal family undermined by:

  1) greater gender equality = women have higher expectations

  2) greater individualism = actions in self-interest instead of under sense of obligation

  
  

  beck and beck-gernsheim (1995): causes negotiated family

  - doesn't conform to tradition, vary based on wishes and expectations of members

  - decide what is best via negotiation, enter relationship as equals

  - individuals free to leave if needs not met

  
  

  zombie family: in today's uncertain risk society, people turn to family to try and find security

  - family can't do this as unstable in itself

  - appears to be alive but in reality is dead
• evaluation of the individualisation thesis

  exaggerates how much choice people have abt relationships

  - budgeon (2011): reflects neoliberal ideology that individuals have complete freedom of choice. in reality, still limited by traditional norms that haven't weakened as much as thesis claims

  - exaggerates extent of family decline, cereal packet still norm. not actually based on research

  
  

  wrongly sees people as disembedded, 'free-floating' independent individuals, ignores choices about personal relationships are made within a social context

  
  

  ignores importance of structural factors e.g. class inequalities, patriarchal gender norms -> limit and shape our choices

  
  

  may: giddens' and beck's view of the individual = idealised version of a white, MC man

  - ignore not everyone has same ability as this privileged group to exercise choice about relationships
• smart and may: the connectedness thesis