Family & Households

The Domestic Division of Labour

The Domestic Division of Labour

What were the roles in Parson's functionalist model of the family?

Instrumental and expressive

What is the instrumental role?

husband achieving success at work so that he can provide for family financially

What is the expressive role?

The wife helps with socialisation of the children and meeting family's emotional needs

Criticism of Parsons

• Young and Willmott - Argue that men are now taking on a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives becoming wage earners.

• Feminists - Reject Parson's view that the division of labour is natural.

What are conjugal roles?

the separation of roles in the household based on their genders

Who defined joint and segregated conjugal roles within marriage?

Elizabeth Bott

Separated conjugal roles

couple has separate roles, male breadwinner and female homemaker. leisure activities also tend to be separate

Joint conjugal roles

couples share tasks such as housework and spend their leisure time together

What did Young and Willmott find when researching separated and joint conjugal roles?

a pattern of segregated roles in their study of traditional working class extended families

What is the symmetrical family and who came up with it

Willmott and Young. A family where the division of roles is equal. We are gradually moving towards this.

Examples of how society is moving toward the symmetrical family

Women going to work. Men now help with housework adn childcare.

What did Young and Willmott find in their study in London

Symmetrical family more common among younger couples, those who are geographically and socially isolated and the more better off. They see the rise of the symmetrical family as the result of social changes that have taken place during past century

What does Gershuny argue

Women working full time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home. His research found that these women did less domestic work than other women

What did Sullivan's analysis of nationally representative data find

a trend toward women doing less domestic work and men doing more

What do these trends reflect?

Changes in attitudes to the traditional division of labour. Eg, British Social Attitudes survey found a fall in the number of people who think its the mans job to earn money and the womens job to do housework

What did the British social attitudes survey find

2012 - women did twice as much housework as men.

Feminists views on the march of progress

rejected the view. little has changed

What did Ann Oakley say

criticise Willmott and Young because their claims are exaggerated. Their research found that men 'help' at least once a week but this could be something little.

What did Ann Oakley's research find

15% husbands had a high level of participation in housework

What did Mary Boulton find

fewer than 20% husbands had a major role in childcare

What did Warde and Hetherington find?

sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong. Eg. women 30 times more likely to do washing.

What did Ferri and Smith find?

fathers took responsibility for childcare in fewer than 4% of families

What is a 'triple shift' and who defined it

Duncombe and Mardsen. Women have to perform a 'triple shift' of housework, paid work and emotion work

What did Southerton say about quality time?

Mothers are usually responsible for the family's quality time. This is becoming more difficult due to the 24/7 flexible working patterns.

Who explains the gender division of labour and what were their two explanations

Crompton and Lyonette. The cultural/ideological explanation and The material or economic explanation of inequality.

What is the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality

division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape the gender roles in our culture.

What is the evidence for the cultural/ideological explanation

Gillian Dunne- Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships.

Man Yee Kan - younger men do more domestic work

What is the material/economic explanation of inequality

the fact that women generally earn less makes it more economically rational for women to do more domestic work

What is the evidence for the material/economic explanation

Kan- for every £10,000 a woman earns a year, she does 2 hours less housework.

Ramos - where the woman is the breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much domestic labour as she does

What did Barrett and McIntosh find on finances in the family

-Men gain more from women's domestic work than they give back financially

-The financial support men give women is often unpredictable and comes with strings attached.

-Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

What did Pahl and Volger identify on the two main types of control over family income

The allowance system: men give an allowance to wives which they have to budget to meet the family's needs. The men can keep the leftover for himself.

Pooling: where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for spending. This is increasing and is the most common money management system.

What did Hardill find on decision making

decisions were usually taken up by the man alone or jointly and that his career normally took priority when making decisions

What did Stephen Edgell find

Very important decisions: joint with husband making final say

Important decisions: (childs education etc) : jointly

Less important decisions: wife

What did Gershuny and Laurie find by 1995?

By 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions

What do feminists say about the inequality in decision making

Society is patriarchal and the idea that men should be decision makers id deeply ingrained in both men and women. It won't change until this is challenged

What is a 'personal life' perspective on money

The meaning that money may have in a relationship cannot be taken for granted. Eg, for some couples, one partner controlling the money might not been seen as unequal to them

What did Smart find on same-sex couples

There is greater freedom for same-sex couples to do what best suits them as a couple. There is no historical outdated views on it.

What view have sociologists challenged about domestic violence

That it is the behaviour of a few disturbed or 'sick' individuals and its causes are psychological rather than social

Why is domestic violence too widespread to be the work of a few sick individuals?

Women's aid federation- domestic violence accounts for between 1/6 to 1/4 of all recorded violent crime

What did Kathryn Coleman find about domestic violence

women were more likely to have experienced 'intimate violence'. two women a week are killed by a partner or former partner

What did Dobash's research find

violent incidents could be set off by what a husband saw as a challenge to his authority

Why do official statistics on domestic violence understate the true extent of the problem?

1: Victims may be unwilling to report it to the police. Research shows a woman suffers 35 assaults before making a report.

2: Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record, investigate or prosecute those cases that are reported to them.

What are the two explanations on domestic violence

Radical feminist explanation. Materialist Explanation

The Radical feminists explanations

Emphasises role of patriarchal ideas, cultural values and institutions. Millet and Firestone: all societies have been founded on patriarchy. Male domination of state institutions explains the reluctance of police and courts when dealing with domestic violence.

Evaluation - Faith Robertson Elliot

Rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women. Not all men are aggressive

Evaluation - Female violence

Radical feminists fail to explain female violence against men and children. Eg. Crime Survey for England and Wales: 18% men have experienced domestic violence since age of 16.

Evaluation - Types of women

Fails to look at which types of women are more likely to be subject to domestic violence. Eg, young women, low income and drug and alcohol abusers

The Materialist Explanation

Focuses on economic and material factors such as inequalities in income and housing to explain why some groups are more at risk than others. eg, Wilkinson and Pickett see domestic violence as the result of stress on family members caused by inequality

Evaluation on materialist explanation

Does not explain why women are more likely than men to be subject to domestic violene.

CHILDHOOD

CHILDHOOD

Who came up with 'separateness' and what does it mean

Jane Pilcher. Childhood is a clear and distinctive life stage which is different to adults. Eg. different laws

What is the 'golden age'

Childhood is a golden age of happiness and innocence. However, innocence means that children are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection. This means that they are protected and shielded from the outside world.

What did Stephen Wagg say about childhood

There is no single universal childhood experienced by all. So childhood isn't natural and should be distinguished merely by biological immaturity.

What are 3 ways that non-industrial societies are generally treated differently from their modern western counterparts (Benedict)

1.They take responsibility at an early age, eg Punch found 5 year olds are given responsibilities.

2.Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority (Firth)

3.Children's sexual behaviour is often viewed differently eg. Malinowski found adults took an attitude of 'tolerance and amused interest' towards children's sexual activity

The globalisation of western childhood

Some sociologists argue that western childhood is being globalised. International humanitarian and welfare agencies have imposed on the rest of the world. Childhood should be seperate

Example of the globalisation of western childhood

campaigns against child labour or concerns about 'street children' in developing countries.

Historical differences in childhood

Aries: In the Middle Ages, childhood did not exist. Children were mini adults with the same rights and duties as adults.

Modern notions of childhood gradually began to emerge from the 13th Century onward (Aries)

Schools specialised in education of the young. Growing distinction between children's and adult's closing. 18th century - handbooks on childbearing were widely available

Criticisms of Aries

Pollock argues it is more accurate to say that in the middle ages society simply had a different notion of childhood from today

Reasons for change in the position of childhood

1.Laws restricting child labour

2.Introduction of compulsory schooling (1880)

3.Child protection and welfare legislation

4.Declining family size and lower infant mortality rate

The future of childhood - the disappearance of childhood

Neil Postman: childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed. eg. children's clothing becoming more like adults, cases of children committing adult crimes. This is due to rise in television culture.

Evaluation on the disappearance of childhood

Opie argues it's not disappearing, based with research on children's unsupervised games, songs etc there is strong evidence

Childhood in postmodernity

Christopher Jenks argues that childhood is changing. Modern society, adults relationships were more table but postmodern society, divorce increases. Adults may not be together, but will always be a child's parent which makes them more protecting of children. This strengthens the view that children are vulnerable

Evaluation of Jenks

His research is over-generalised. His research comes from small, unrepresentative studies

Has the position of childhood improved - march of progress view

march of progress argues that over the past few centuries the position of childhood in western societies has been steadily improving. Aries and Shorter - today's children are more valued and better protected and educated.

The child centred family

higher living standards and smaller family sizes mean that parents can afford more for children. March of progress sociologists argue that the family has become child centred. They are the focal part of the family.

Toxic childhood

Sue Palmer - rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children's physical, emotional and intellectual development. ej, junk food, computer games etc

The conflict view

opposes march of progress. Argue that society is based on conflict between different social groups such as social classes or genders. Some groups have mroe power, status or wealth than others.

What are the two ways that the conflict view criticises the march o progress view

-There are inequalities among children in terms of the opportunities and risks they face

-The inequalities between children and adults are greater than ever: children today experience greater control, oppression and dependency, not greater care and protection.

Inequalities among children:

Different nationalities: different experiences of childhood and different chances in life.

Gender differences: Mayer Hillman- boys are likely to be more independent and girls are likely to do domestic work

Ethnic differences: Julia Brannen: Asian parents more strict.

Social class: poor mothers are more likely to have low birth weight babies which in turn is linked to delayed physical and intellectual development

Inequalities between children and adults

Neglect and abuse: adult control can lead to neglect. 2013, 43,000 children subject to child protection plans because they were at risk

Controls over children's space: told where and where not to play

Controls over children's time: when to eat, sleep, go to school

Control over children's bodies: how they sit, walk, run, what to wear. At the same time, adults restrict the ways that children may touch their own bodies.

Age patriarchy

Diana Gittens - age patriarchy of adult domination and child dependency. Children are oppressed as women. eg. Hockley and James 'acting up', children act like adults eg, swear, smoking, drinking . and 'acting down', behaviour that is expected of younger childen.

Criticisms of age patriarchy

Some adult control over children's lives is justified on the grounds that children cannot make rational decisions.

The new sociology of childhood

This sees children as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhoods.

The child's point of view

Smart- the new approach aims to include the views and experiences of children themselves. eg. Mason and Tipper show how children actively create their own definitions of who is family. It is an approach favoured by child liberationists who campaign in favour of children's rights and priorities

THEORIES OF THE FAMILY

THEORIES OF THE FAMILY

Functionalists

See the family as a particularly important sub-system in society. Murdock argues that the family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of society

What are Murdock's 4 essential functions

1.Stable satisfaction of the sex drive

2.Reproduction of the next generation

3.Socialisation of the young

4.Economic production

Criticisms of Murdock

Marxists and feminists reject his 'rose tinted' harmonious consensus view that the family meets the needs of both wider society and all the different members of the family.

Parsons functional fit theory

The functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found. He distinguishes between two kinds of family structure:

-Nuclear family

-Extended family

Two basic types of society:

-Modern, industrial society (nuclear)

-Traditional, pre-industrial society (extended)

What are the two essential needs of industrial society?

A geographically mobile workforce and A socially mobile workforce

Geographically mobile workforce

Modern society - industry always changing - people have to move to where jobs are. Parsons argue easier for Nuclear family to move, therefore nuclear family more suited to modern industry

Socially mobile workforce

Modern soc- science and tech always evolving - requires skilled workers - people gain status through own effort not ascribed by social and family background and makes social mobility possible. Parsons argues NF better equipped to meet needs of industrial society

Loss of functions

Pre-industrial family was a multi-functional unit. Eg. family work together on farm. Industrial society has lost its functions. Parsons says modern nuclear family has two essential functions:

1.The primary socialisation of children: equip with basic skills and society's values.

2.The stabilisation of adult personalities: family is a place where adults can relax and release tensions, enabling them to return to the workforce refreshed and ready to meet its demands

Marxist perspective on the family

Marxists see capitalists society as based on unequal conflict between two classes. The functions of the family are performed purely for the benefit of the capitalist system.

Inheritance of property

Engels argue that in the primitive communison, there was no private property and there was no restrictions on sexual relationship which was called a promiscuous horde. As the capitalist system developed, father needed their legitimate heirs to pass down their wealth and their private property which have created the monogamous nuclear family.

Ideological functions

The family performs ideological functions for capitalism. Eg. socialising children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable. Parental power over children accustoms them to the idea that there will always be someone in charge. Zaretsky - family is a haven from exploitative world

A unit of consumption

•Capitalism exploits workers by profiting from the goods they have made.

•These profits come from the family, as they are the ones who will buy these goods.

-Advertisers encourage families to 'keep up with the Jones'

-Media target children who use 'pester power'

-Children who lack the latest items are stigmatised by their peers

Criticisms of the Marxist perspective

-functionalists argue that marxists ignore the real benefits that family provides for its members.

Feminists argue that gender inequalities are more fundamental than class inequalities

Feminist perspective on the family

The family oppresses women.

Liberal feminism

-Women's oppression is gradually overcome.

-We are moving toward greater equality.

-Some studies suggest that men are doing more domestic labour and girls and boys are being socialised more equally

Marxist feminism

Women's oppression performs several functions for capitalism:

1.Women reproduce the labour force through their unpaid domestic labour.

2.Women absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Ansley describes women as 'takers of shit'

2.Women absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Ansley describes women as 'takers of shit'

Radical feminism

Societies have been founded on patriarchy. Key division is between men and women

-Men are the enemy

-The family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society. Men benefit from women's unpaid, domestic labour.

They see the family as the root of women's oppression and it must be abolished. They want women to live separate to men.

Greer argues for the creation of all female households as an alternative to the heterosexual family

Difference feminism

We cannot generalise women's experiences, life as a woman is different for everyone. This is dependant on sexuality, race and class. eg. black feminists view the black family positively.

The personal life perspective

Argues that all previous perspectives suffer from 2 weaknesses:

1.Assumes that traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type.

2.They are all structural theories.

The sociology of personal life

'Bottom up' approach, it emphasises the meaning that individual family members hold and how these shape their action and relationships e.g meaning they give to relationships.

Beyond ties of blood and marriage

The personal life perspective draws attention to a range of other personal or intimate relationships that are more important than family. eg

-Friends

-Fictive kin (close friends treated as family, eg. your mum's friend that you call auntie)

-Gay families

-Relationships with dead relatives who live on in memories and shape identities

-Relationships with pets

Donor conceived children

Nordqvist and Smart found that the issue of blood and genes raised a range of feelings. Some parents emphasised the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bond.