AS SOCIOLOGY UNIT1 FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS

• Type of household:
• Nuclear Family - stability, not judged, expected in society and simple. However - Trapped
• Single - Bigger bond with parent living with. However - Finance problems, mixed emotions, no role model for person of gender who isn't living there
• Reconstituted Family - Lots of family. However - Don't get on
• Student Halls - Friends, individual, experience, money, social. However - Arguments, mess and noise
• Cohabiting - Test tun before marriage, money. However religious reasons

General trends in divorce, co habitation and marriage since the 1950s:

• 1972 highest ever number couples since WW11 got married
• Number of marriages reached all-tome low in 2005
• 3/4 Pakistani and Bangladeshi woman are married by 25
• 1/2 white women married by 25
• People delaying marriage rather than rejecting it

Cohabitation:

• Rise in # of cohabitating couples in last decade
• With or without children
• ONS data 1/3 teens in 2007 cohab rather than marry
• NR commentators say that cohabitation is less stable compared to marriage

Martial breakdown:

• Empty-shell marriages - stay together in name only, do for the children, religious reasons
• Seperation - used a lot in the past, agree to live apart, cheaper than divorce
• Divorce - legal ending of a marriage, 'irretrievable breakdown' 'quickie divorces' - costly, adultery, fault, guilt

• Britains divorce rate is higher compared to other European countries
• 1/2 as many divorces as marriages
• NR sociologists say children who exp divorce are more likely to suffer a range of problems
• Changes in divorce law make it easier
• Couples no longer do empty-shell marriages
• Most divorce petitions done by women
• Divorce is no longer seen as shame

Postmodern approches to divorce - Divorce increasing, less pressue for tradition, choices, conflict

Divorce trends implies that monogamy will become serial monogamy

• 40% of marriages will end in divorce
• 7/10 divorce petitions come from women
• Statistics might be worse as people may be living seperate or in empty shell marriages

Declining stigma and changing attitudes - stigma is a negative label, people see it as acceptable

Changes in the law - NEW RIGHT - women have been given more rights, more reasons, cheaper

Irretrievable breakdown:

• 1969 divorce if you didn't get on
• 1984 file for divorce after 1 year instead of 3
• 2004 civil partnerships were made equal with marriages
• 2007 couples were allowed 50:50 split of possesions

Rising expectations of marriage:

• Funtionalist sociologists think high exp are high course for divorce
• Love not only reason - money

Changes in position of women - FEMINST VIEW:

• Economic position of women has got better
• 2005 70% of women were in paid work

Secularisation - GENERAL SOCIETY:

• Decline in influence of religion
• Religious institutions are losing their influence

Family = social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction (New Right)

Says all good things v tradition based

Conservative ideology = todays idea e.g advert (family - KFC, fairy liquid)

Organic Analogy = society functions like a boduy

Consensus = Everyone working together

Pre industrial - agricultural economy, extended family, labour intensive productions, family as consumers (Pre 1750 - ascription)

Then: Industrialisation (expressive leader - women + instrumental leader - men) and Technological development lead to....

Industrial society - manufacturing economy, nuclear family, machine intensive, family as consumers (1900s - achievement)

Structural differentiation - many jobs to specialised jobs

Family functions = primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of the adult personality

Radical feminists:

• Saw problem as patriarchy - men ruled everything
• Patriarchy caused a problem everywhere
• Women = One class. Men = Another class
• Against domestic violence.

Socialist feminists (marxists) - Saw problems in society, worked with working class, worked with men

Liberal feminists:

• Legal changes to improve position of women e.g. sex discrimination act, equal pay act, employment protection act
• Blame the law - thought the law was the problem

3rd wave feminists = UK Feminista (moderner) - protest in todays society

Karl Marx (1818-1883) - argued bourgeoisie are the minority that benefit from the work of the proletariat. Proletariat = poor minority. Bourgeoisie keep all the profits and become richer - capitalism benefits B, but disads P

Inheritance of property - Marxs (capitalism) believe family made women just to produce children for man to inherit the wealth: 'A mere instrument for the production of children' Contrast funct think its a good thing, but marxs believe it takes independence away.

Ideological functions - Ideology = ideas. Family teaches children their place (hierarchy).

Unit of consumption - Family is a unit to buy things, therefore making profit for the economy - 'pester power' + 'keeping up with the Joneses'

Class diversity

• Rapoport et al (1982) suggest that there may be differences between middle-class and working-class families
• Difference in how children how socialised and disciplined
• Some sociologists argue that middle-class parents are more child-centred than working-class parents
• Evidence that extended kinship ties are important to the upper class

Sexual diversity

• NR concerned with increasing # of same - sex couples who are cohabitating
• Increasing trend with s-s couples are adopting
• NR say it is 'unnatural'
• Government giving same rights as hetrosexual married couples to homosexual married couples

Postmodernism and family diversity - Characterised by diversity, variation and instability

• Premarital sex, serial monogamy, single-sex relationships and childlessness are now acceptable alternative lifestyles
• Men roles are no longer clear cut
• 'Crisis of masculinity' has led to men redefining both their sexuality and family commitments
• Beck and Beck (1995) argue that such choice/diversity have led to renegotiation of family

Demography and diversity - some conclusions - Changes (fertility rate etc) have had effect on family structure in the modern UK

• Changes have undermined the tradionalist NR view of nuc family
• 2005 37% couples children
• 25 % couples with no children
• 40% live in non-traditional family

Peter Laslett 1972 - Thinks TP is wrong as only 10% in Pre-I times were extd families - used English parish records.

Michael Anderson 1971 - Disagress with TP. Studied indus town of Preston - put wages into helping

Young and Willmott 1973 - Also think TP was wrong about the speed of change.

Reproduction, Marriage and sexual relations, economic and education.

Murdock and Parsons theory is aimed a white middle class familes - problem as not always the case/work in todays society.

Childhood is a social construction that isn't biological stage (0-18), it is socially decided.

Time - Philippe Aries (1962) childhood like it is today didn't exist in medieval times

• Early industrialisation 1750 - Little distinction between children and adults.
• Victorian period Mid 19th century - Schools and games become popular and children became more important.
• Childhood in 20th century - Emergence of a child-centred society.

Place - Some countries treat children as child soliders/labourers

Space - Gender, Sexuality, Rural, Urban, and social class