As Sociology - Families And Households

Front 1

Name the functionalist who came up with the 2 marital roles & name them

Back 1

Talcott Parsons (1955)

Instrumental - The father - breadwinner role

Expressive - The mother - nurture/carer

Front 2

What does Parsons argue the gender division of labour is&does?

Back 2

- everyone benefits from this specialisation - it's functional for the family (efficiency), it's members (socialisation of young) and wider society.

- the division is biologically based - women are natural carers and men are naturally providers.

Front 3

What 2 theories agree with the idea of biology based gender division

Back 3

The New Right & Functionalists

Front 4

What does the 'march of progress' view argue?

Back 4

That post - industrial revolution Our society has become more integrated and from this has arisen the symmetrical family Where conjugal roles are more equally spread between the sexes

Front 5

Who identified the 2 types of conjugal roles? + what were they? + who gives support for them?

Back 5

Bott 1957

Segregated - sharp division of labour (like Parson's instrumental and expressive roles)

- husband and wife spend leisure separately

Support = Young & Willmott 1962 - found separated conjugal roles in working class extended families in the 1950s

Joint - couples share domestic tasks and leisure.

Front 6

Who support the Idea of the symmetrical family? + evidence

Back 6

Young & Willmott 1973 - See long - term trend towards joint conjugal roles:

- most women now go out to work

- 'The New Man' - men help with housework and child care

- couples spend their leisure time together - Men have become more home centered & the family more privitised

Front 7

List some reasons for the rise in the symmetrical family in the 20th century

Back 7

Social changes

+ higher living standards

+ labour-saving devices

+ better housing

+ emancipation of women (eg. women work)

Front 8

Which theory opposes the 'March of Progress View'? + give 2 names as evidence

Back 8

Feminism - still see the family as patriarchal.

+ Oakley (1974) - no evidence for symmetry - said Young & Willmotts study (72% of men helped with housework) was flawed

- although husbands said they 'helped' - their definition could include just ironing their own shirt once a week.

+ Boulton (1983)

- need to look at who is responsible for tasks not just who performs them.

-eg. Wife seen as responsible for childcare - less than 1 man took a major part in childcare

Front 9

Who counteracts the feminist arguments against the march of progress view?

Back 9

Sullivan (2000) {holds more weight - more recent than Oakley or Boulton}

-women now do less domestic work, men do more traditional 'womens' tasks + more couples have an equal division of labour

Front 10

Outline 'Dual burden'

Back 10

Feminist view

- women working hasn't led to greater equality

- women now take on the dual burden - paid work & domestic work

Front 11

2 names who support the feminist 'triple shift' theory

Back 11

Braun (2011) - most fathers = background fathers

- still held a 'provider ideology' (their role as breadwinner rather than carer)

Duncombe & Marsden (1995)

- expand on the dual shift theory:

Triple shift - emotion work, domestic labour, and paid work.

Front 12

What is the cultural ideological explanation for division of labour?

Back 12

Patriarchal cultural norms shape gender roles.

Women perform more domestic labour because that is what they were socialised to do.

Front 13

What does the ideological explanation of gender division of labour counteract?

Back 13

The functionalist theory of gender roles being biologically programed.

Front 14

What would an ideological solution be for equality of conjugal roles?

Back 14

equality will only be achieved when attitudes, values, expectations, role models and socialisation change.

Front 15

Who came up with 'gender scripts'? + explain.

Back 15

Dunne ' s (1999)

Study of 37 lesbian couples with children

Found a more equal division of labour

Gender scripts:

Heterosexuals - socialised into gender scripts - set out different masculine & feminine roles

Lesbians - didn't link household tasks to gender scripts - more equal

Front 16

Who found family resources were often dealt with unequally with the woman sacrificing the most?

Back 16

Kempson (1994)

Front 17

Who identified these 2 controls over family income? :

The allowance system &

Pooling

Back 17

Pahl & Vogler (1993)

Front 18

What did Edgell's (1980) Study into decision making among professional couples find?

Back 18

Very important decisions ( eg. Finances) = dealt with by the husband alone

Important decisions = dealt with jointly

Less important decisions (eg. Food purchase)= dealt with by the wife

Front 19

What are the 2 main explanations for inequalities in decision making?

Back 19

Material - men = breadwinners/ women = financially dependant therefore get less say.

Cultural - feminists argue patriarchal gender role socialisation = instils idea men are decision - makers

Front 20

What is the personal life perspective on money in the family? + 1 name to support.

Back 20

Focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money.

Nyman (2003) - different couples give money different meanings - this reflects the nature of their relationship.

Front 21

What could Smart ' s argument: -" It is essential to start from the personal meanings of the actors involved in the situation" - evaluate?

Back 21

The material & cultural explanations for inequality in decision making between couples.

Front 22

What are the 2 explanations for police statistics under-estimating the extent of domestic violence.

Back 22

Under-reporting - Yernshire - on average a woman suffers 35 assults before reporting DV.

Under-recording - Police are often unwilling to report/investigate DV - because they don't want to get involved in the 'private family sphere'

Front 23

Radical feminist view of domestic violence

Back 23

Family = male oppression mechanism

+men benefit from womens unpaid labour & sexual services

Domestic V enables men to control women

Men also dominate the state - explains why police courts fail to take domestic violence seriously.

Front 24

Dobash & Dobash found supporting evidence for..... as they found.......

Back 24

... radical feminist explanation for domestic violence

....Findings:

+ violence triggered when husbands felt their authority was being challenged

+ conclusion - Marriage legitimises violence by giving power to (biologically patriarchal) men.

Front 25

Marxist feminist view of domestic violence (1 name)

Back 25

Inequality produces domestic violence.

+ Ansley (1972)

Male workers exploited at work take out their frustration on their wives

Women = 'Takers of ****'

Front 26

Give an example of a direct and indirect policy that affects the family

Back 26

Direct = 1988 divorce reform act or child protection or contraception

Indirect = compulsory schooling - provides childcare for working parents But also keeps kids financially dependant for longer

Front 27

Give the functionalist view of government policy's affect on the family

Back 27

+ Society is based on value concensus

+ policies help the family to perform it's functions - socialising children, caring for the welfare of its members etc.

+ March of progress view = policies are slowly improving family life eg. Welfare state - access to NHS

Front 28

Give the new right view of government policy's effect in the family

Back 28

+ conservative political perspective

+ opposes state intervention

+ The family will be self-reliant, able to socialise children effectively & care for its members

IF it is a nuclear family and the parents perform their biological gender roles properly.

Front 29

Define neo-conventional family

Back 29

The New labour's favoured alternative to the nuclear family

It's a dual-earner family structure.

Front 30

What 2 criticisms would the new right give for welfare policies?

Back 30

1) results in a dependency culture

2) Murray (1984) sees benefits as 'perverse incentives' in rewarding irresponsible behaviour

(eg. Easier for Fathers leave families because the state can provide benefits)

Front 31

Where did New labour & New right see eye to eye?

Back 31

They both saw married heterosexual couples ad the best environment for bringing up children

Front 32

Give the feminist view of government policy's effect in the family

Back 32

+ conflict perspective ( sees society as based upon a conflict of interests between men and women )

+ Social policies shape and define family life to benefit men & maintain patriarchy.

+ Land (1978) - policies assume the patriarchal family to be the norm.

- as a result policies act as a self fulfilling prophesy - reproducing sex inequality

Eg. Maternity leave is longer than paternity leave - reinforcing women's responsibility for child care.

Front 33

Who came up with the 2 gender regimes? + what are they & examples

Back 33

Drew (1995) - gender regimes describes how social policies in different countries can either encourage/discourage gender equality in the family.

Familistic gender regimes

- assume traditional gender division

E.g Greece - little state welfare = women have to rely on support form extended kin.

Individualistic gender regimes

- treat husbands and wives the same

Eg. Sweden - equal opportunities policies + parental leave + good welfare services = women are independent

Front 34

Since global recession began 2008 cut backs on gov spending have lead to ....

Back 34

Pressure on women to take more responsibility for caring for family members

Front 35

Since 2008 there has been a trend towards .... policies

Back 35

....Neo - liberal welfare policies

In which individuals are encouraged to use the market rather than the state to meet their needs.

Front 36

Who theorised the neo-conventional family? + who also said ' although there is some increased diversity, the nuclear family remains dominant' ?

Back 36

Chester 1985

Front 37

Rapoport and Rapoport (1982)

Back 37

+ opposed Chester ' s comment 'the nuclear family remains dominant'

+ see diversity as central to family today

+ unlike New Right they see diversity as meeting people's needs, not causing family decline

+ '5 types of diversity'

Front 38

What are Rapoports' five types of diversity? (Only Cute Couples Like Games)

Back 38

Organisational - eg. Joint/segregated conjugal roles

Cultural - eg. Ethnic groups have different family structures

Class - eg. differences in child rearing practices

Life cycle differences - eg. Pensioner couples, parents with young children.

Generational differences - eg. In attitudes to cohabitation