Topic 1 couples

• what did talcott parsons 1955 functionalist model of the family suggest?

  there is clear division between spouses
• What’s the instrumental role?


  Husbands role as breadwinner geared towards achieving success at work
• What’s the expressive role?

  geared towards primary socialisation of children and meeting families emotional needs. She is a full time housewife not a wage earner
• What did parsons argue about the division of labour?

  it is based on biological differences as women are carergiveres men are breadwinners and this benefited both men and women as well as there children and society
• Why do young and willmott critique parsons?

  .they argue that men are taking greater share in domestic tasks and women are becoming wage earners
• What’s a segreagated conjungal role?

  couple have separate roles. Man is breadwinner women is house wife. They have separate leisure activities.
• Hats joint conjugal roles?

  men and women share domestic and childcare duties and spend leisure time together
• What’s the symmetrical family?

  where the roles of men and women are not necessary identical but are now more similar
• Young and willmott take a march of progress view of the history of the family. What does this mean?


  they see family life improving and becoming more democratic as there has been a long term trend away from segregated conjugal roles.
• What changes did willmott and young suggest lead to the rise of the symmetrical nuclear family? 3 reasons?

  Changes in women’s positions geographocal mobility new technology
• Why does Oakley criticise willmott and young?

  There claims about the family being symmetrical are exaggerated
• What evidence did Oakley find to show that husbands helped in the home but it is not symmetrical?

  25% of husbands had high levels of participation in childcare and only 15% had high levels of participation in housework
• Why are husbands more likely to have a higher share in childcare than housework?

  because it has more pleasurable aspects this means mothers loose the rewards if childcare such as playing with the children and were simply left more time for housework
• What is the march of progress view on paid work?

  Women going out to work means that there is a more equal division of domestic work. Men are becoming more involved in housework just as women are becoming more involved in paid work.
• What’s the feminist view on paid work?

  women carry out dual burden of paid work and domestic work. They argue that paid work has not lead to greater equality in the division of doemestic labour