Topic 1: Couples

  • The domestic division of labour
  • The impact of paid work
  • Resources and decision-making in households
  • Domestic violence
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  • Created by: E456
  • Created on: 12-01-18 12:44
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  • Topic 1: Couples
    • The domestic division of labour
      • Parsons
        • instrumental role
          • husband's role to provide for the family (breadwinner)
            • this division of labour is based on biological differences, with women naturally suited to the nurturing role and men to that of provider
        • expressive role
          • wife's role to care for the primary socialisation of the family (homemaker)
            • this division of labour is based on biological differences, with women naturally suited to the nurturing role and men to that of provider
        • Criticisms
          • Young and Willmott argue men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks, more wives are becoming wage earners
          • feminists reject his view that division of labour is natural - it only benefits men
      • Bott
        • segregated conjugal roles: couple have separate roles
        • joint conjugal roles: couple share tasks
      • the symmetrical family
        • Young and Willmott define this as one which the roles are similar
          • more common in younger families
          • rise due to (1) changes in women's position (2) geographical mobility (3) new technology (4) higher standards of living
      • feminist view of housework
        • little has changed: women still do most of the housework
        • Ann Oakley
          • critics Young and Willmott: the housewife role has become the dominant role for married women
          • the housewife role is socially constructed rather than being 'natural'
          • even though the 20th century saw an increase in the number of married women working, the housewife role is still women's primary role
    • The impact of paid work
      • Jonathan Gershuny
        • the trend towards equality
          • wives who work full-time do less domestic work
          • social values are gradually adapting to the fact that women are now working full-time
      • Rosemary Crompton
        • accepts Gershuny's evidence but explains it in terms or economic factors rather than changing values or role models
        • as women's earnings power increases relative to men's, so men do more in the home
      • Silver and Schor
        • housework has become 'commercialised'
        • women work - they can buy goods and services
          • the burden of housework has decreased
            • housework has become 'commercialised'
        • Criticisms
          • for many poorer girls, buying in expensive goods and services is not an option
          • even if commercialisation has reduced the amount of housework to be done, it doesn't prove that couples are sharing the remaining chores equally
      • dual burden
        • feminists argue there is little evidence of a 'new man' who does an equal share of domestic work
        • women have simply acquired a dual burden of paid work and unpaid housework
      • emotion work
        • women are expected to work a triple shift that includes emotion work
      • Gender scripts
        • Dunne
          • gender scripts do not operate to the same extent within lesbian coples
            • (1) their relationship is equal (2) equal importance is given to both partner's careers (3) childcare is viewed positively
          • supports radical feminist view
    • Resources and decision-making in households
      • Barrett and McIntosh
        • men gain more from women's domestic work than they give back in financial support
        • the financial support that husbands give to their wives is often unpredictable and comes with 'string' attached
        • men usually make the decisions about spending on important items
      • decision-making and paid work
        • men often take a greater share of the family resources is because they usually contribute more money
        • Pahl and Volger
          • two main types of control over family income
            • (1) pooling - where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure (e.g joint bank account)
              • is increasing amongst couples where both partners work full-time
            • (2) allowance system - where men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet the family's needs
        • Stephen Edgell
          • Very important decisions (e.g. moving house) mainly made by husband
          • Important decisions (e.g. going on holiday) made jointly
          • Less important decisions (e.g. children's clothes) usually made by wife
    • Domestic violence
      • summary
        • definition: physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family-type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour
        • doesn't occur randomly but follows particular social patterns and these patterns have social causes
        • women more likely to experience abuse
        • Dobash and Dobash
          • violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority
          • marriage legitimates violence against women by conferring power and authority on husbands and dependency on wives
      • official stats
        • victims mays be unwilling to report the abuse to police
        • police may be reluctant to record, prosecute or investigate those reported cases
        • David Cheal - three assumptions about family life made by police
          • (1) family is a private sphere
          • (2) family is a good thing
          • (3) people are free agents
      • radical feminist explanation
        • widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society and serves to preserve the power that all men have over all women
        • male domination of state institutions helps to explain the reluctance of the police and courts to deal effectively with cases of domestic violence
        • give a sociological explanation by linking patterns of domestic violence to dominant social norms about marriage
        • criticisms
          • Elliot
            • not all men are aggressive and most are opposed to domestic violence
          • fail to explain female violence
      • Wilinson
        • domestic violence is a result of stress on family members caused social inequality
        • those with less power, status, wealth or income are often at greater risk
        • criticisms
          • does not explain why women rather than men are the main victims

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