As sociology families and households revision

parsons: instrumental and expressive roles

- husband has instrumental = providing for family financially and is breadwinner

- wife has an expressive role = primary socialisation of children

joint and segregated conjugal roles: bott

- segregated = couple have seperate roles

- conjugal = share tasks

- young and wilmott = bethnal green

symmetrical family

- young and wilmott = march of progress

- women now go to work

- men help with housework

- spend lesuire time together

due to

- changes in womens position

- geographical mobility

- new technology

- higher standards of living

feminist view

- little has changed

- oakley; only 15% of husbands helped with housework

- husbands more likley to share pleasurable aspects

- warde and hetherington; sex typing of tasks is strong

- young couples tend to do this less

domestic division of labour

march of progress

- women going to work is leading to a more equal division

- gershuny; women working did less domestic work

- sullivan; trend towards men doing more

- british social attitudes; fall in number of people who think its a mans job to earn money

feminist view

- women did 13 hours housework a week, men did 8 hours

- men spent 10 hours on care and women spent 23

- 60% of women felt division was unjust

taking responsibility for children

- ferri and smith = fathers took repsonsibility in less than 4% of families

- dex and ward = high level of participation in playing with children, 1% took responsibiltiy of sick child

- braun, vincent and ball = 3/70 families studied men was main carer

taking respnsibility for free time

- women have interrupted times from children

- men dont have interrupted times

- women have to plan out spending time together

- women work triple shift

are couples becoming more equal

barrett and McIntosh

- men gain more from womens domestic work

- financial support given to wives is unpredictable

- men usually make decisions about money

money managment

- allowance system; men give wives an allowance to spend on the family

- pooling; money into joint account for bills

decision making

- phal and volger; even when pooling men still make main decision

- very important decsions; husband alone or jointly

- important; jointly or by wife alone

- less important; wife alone

cultural vs mateiral

- cultural deifntion of men ingrained in mens brains

- through gender role socialisation

meaning of money

- have to look at this to see how decisions are made

personal life perspective

- smart; same sex coupls attatched no importance to who controlled the money

- weeks et al; typical pattern pooling for bills but had seperate accounts

resources and decision making

- domestic violence is far too widespread; womens aid federation = accounts for 1/6 of all recorded violent crime

- domestic violence does not occur randomly; follows social patterns

- walby and allen; women were more likley to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse

- ansara and hindin; women suffered more sever violence

- dar; can be difficult to seperate multiple incidents

offical statistics

- victims may be unwilling to report it; yearnshire = women suffer 35 assaults before reporting

- police and prosecutors may be reluctant; cheal = not prepared to be involved in family situations

- family is a private sphere, family is a good thing, individuals can leave

radical feminsit explanation

- millett and firestone; all socities have been founded on patriarchy

family and marriage are key institutions

preserves power of men over women

- elliot rejects this; not all men are agressive, fail to explain female violence

materialist explanation

- wilkinson and pickett; stress caused by social inequality

- worries about money cause family to become frayed

- lack of money and time restricts peoples social circle

+ show how social inequalities causes conflict

- do not explain why women are victims more

- ansley = 'women are takers of shit'

domestic violence

modern western notion

- childhood is a special time of life

- they are psychologically and physically immature

- pilcher = most important is seperatness

- through kaws, products, toys, foods, books and play areas

- seen as vulnerable and in need of protection

- different cultures construct childhood differently

cross cultural differences

- take responsibility at an early age; punch's = rural bolivia, once children are 5 they take part in work

- less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority; firth = among tikopia doing as you are told is regarded as a concession by the child

- childrens sexual behaviour is often viewed differenty; malinowski = adults took an attitude of 'tolerance and amusment'

globalisation of western childhood

- through international humanitarian and welfare agencies

- imposed western notions on other children

- e.g. campaigners against child labour

historical differences

- aries = middle ages childhood did not exist

- entred society as an adult as soon as they could

- shorter = high death rates encouraged this

modern cult of childhood

- schools specialised in education of the young

- growing distinction between adult and child clothing

- by 18th century books on child rearing was available

reasons for changes

- laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work (economic liability cant work)

- introduction of compulsory schooling (raising of school leaving age)

- child protection and welfare legislation (1889 prevention of crultey to children act)

- growth of the idea of childrens rights (parents have responsibilities not rights)

- declining family size and lower infant mortality (greater financial and emotional investment)

- childrens development subject of medical knowledge

- laws and policies that apply specifically to children (minimum age)

- industrialisation = modern society needs an educated workforce

childhood as a social construct

march of progres view

- position of children has imporved

- children today are protected from harm and exploitation

child centred family

- higher living standards and samller family sizes

- parents can afford for childrens needs

- socitey is child centred

- toxic childhood

conflict view

- inequalities among children = opportunities and risks

- inequalities between children and adults = greater control and oppression

children

- dont all share the same status

- hillman; boys are more likley to be able to go out unaccompanied

- bonke; girls did more domestic work

- asian parents were more strict

children and adults

- new forms of oppression

- protection from paid work is an inequality

- forcibly segregating children and adults

- adult control can be as severe as abuse and neglect

- control over children space ('no children'), control on time (daily routines), control over children bodies (how they sit, walk and run), control over access to resources (labour laws, child benefits)

age patriarchy

- violence against children and women

- hockey and james; children 'act up' or 'act down'

- some control is justified (liberationist view)

new sociology of childhood

- danger of seeing children as passive objects

- adults may see children as social projects for them to mould into adults

has the position of childhood improved

disappearance of childhood

- postman = trend towards children getting the same rights as adults

- due to television culture

information hierarchy

- childhood was seperate due to mass lieracy

- could keep things away from children

- television blurs this distinction

childhood in postmodernity

- relationships are unstable

- generates insecurity for parents

future of childhood

- murdock four fucntions; stable satisfaction of the sex drive, reproduction of next generation, socialisation of the young, meeting its members economic needs

criticisms

- four functions are found in all socities

- can be done by other institutions

- rose-tinted view

- feminists = family serves needs of men and oppress women

- marxists = meets the needs of capitalism

parsons functional fit

- two family structures; the nuclear family and extended family

- fit what society needs

- two types of society; modern industrial society and traditional pre-industrial society

- meets two essential needs

- geographically mobile workforce = easier for a nuclear family to move

- socially mobile workforce = requires skilled people

loss of functions

- loses functions when a nuclear family

- family becomes a unit of consumption

- nuclear families functions are primary socialisation of children and the stabalisation of adult personalities

functionalist perspective

- societies institutions maintain class inequality and capitalism

1. inheritance of property

- capitalist class that owns and controls production

- nuclear family is used for inheritance so money remains in the capitalist classes

2. ideological functions

- socialise children into believing that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable

- offers a haven from the harsh and exploitive world

3. unit of consumption

- advertisers urge families to keep up with everyone for the latest products

- the media target children who use pester powers

- children who dont have the latest things are mocked

criticisms of the marxist perspective

- tend to assume that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society

- feminsits = underestimate gender ineualities

- functionalists = ignore the benefits that the family provides

marxist perspective

1. liberal feminism

- womens oppression is gradually overcome through changing attitudes

- sex discrimination act 1975

- moving towards greater equality

- men are doing more domestic work

- criticised for ignoring underlying issues

2. marxist feminism

- cause of opression is capitalism

- women reproduce the labour force = unpaid domestic work

- women absorb anger = ansley women are 'takers of shit'

- women are a reserve army of cheap labour = taken on when extra workers are needed

3. radical feminism

- societies have been founded on patriarchy

- men are the enemy: source of womens oppression and exploitation

- the family and marriage are the key institutions

- patriarchal system needs to be overturned

- sommerville = fail to recognise that womens position is imporving

- heterosexual attraction makes it unlikley that seperatism would work

4. difference feminsim

- cannot generalise womens experiences

- all have very different experiences of the family

- black feminists view family positivly

feminist perspective

sociology of personal life

- bottom up approach

- emphasises on the meanings people hold of the family

beyond ties of blood and marriage

- relationships with friends

- fictive kin

- gay and lesbian chosen families

- relationships with dead relatives

- relationships with pets

donor concieved children

- its what makes a mother

- difficult feelings could come up

evaluation

- helps understand how people construct and define their relationships

- too broad a view

- ignore what is special about blood relationships

- reocgnises that relatedness is not always positive

personal life perspective