SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS

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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
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PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH METHODS
SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
FAMILY THEORIES INDUSTRIALISATION AND
URBANISATION FAMILY ROLES FAMILY
PATTERNS FAMILY AND STATE
FAMILY DIVERSITY CONCLUSIONS
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
Sociologists study the make-up of families and
the effects that the family unit has on
individuals, on society as a whole and on the
economy. There are varying theories about the
positive or negative effects of the family unit.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
The family and households are traditionally
ever-changing. What was considered necessary
to be a family a hundred years ago, is very
different today.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
What does the term family mean? There is no
one definition.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
Common characteristics of a family are that they
live in the same accommodation ( although not
always).
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
Families share their wealth and resources.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
They reproduce children.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
They socialise the children and prepare them for
later life by teaching them skills.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
A household, on the other hand is a group of
people who live under the same roof and share
certain actions, such as cooking together or
eating together but these people are not
necessarily related.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
There are many types of households, just as there
are different types of family, as we shall see
later. Households can be
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
One person households Childless couples Unmarried
couples with children Married couples with
children Remarried couples Remarried couples with
children from previous marriages Single-sex
couples
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
On a personal level, you will probably live in a
variety of family and household situations during
your life. How you have lived as a child will be
very different to how you live as a student, a
single person, an employee, a married
person. Economic influences and cultural
differences will lead you to live in varying
circumstances from your neighbour.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
What types of family exist today in our
society?. The nuclear family where parents live
with their children. The extended family where
other family members such as uncles, aunts and
grandparents live locally. The reconstituted
family where children from a previous
relationship become part of a new family. The
single-parent family where one parent is the
head of the family. The parent is usually, but
not always, the mother.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
These four categories of family appeal to
theorists but we must also remember that there
are many differences between families within one
of these categories Cultural and ethnic
differences may play a role in forming a family.
The social class that a family is representative
of is also important in the relationship that the
family has within society.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
Our family is usually the first place where we
develop and learn our culture, not to mention the
fact that our basic needs of food, shelter and
clothing are all attended to.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
By being part of a family, we learn to speak, to
integrate with others and even receive such a
basic thing as toilet training in other words,
we become social beings through our family. The
family is the first point in life where we begin
to learn.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
If you ask people what they would consider an
ideal family, you would receive many different
replies. A male and female parent living with a
child? A large extended family of grandparents,
uncles, aunts? One parent who was loving and
caring?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
Well, sociologists have the same problem they
cant agree on the term family either. Lets
look at the variety of definitions that
sociologists have put forward about families.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories
All sociologists agree that the family is an
important social institution. It performs
important functions and in many ways is the basis
of society.
Lets consider first the functionalist theory on
the family.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Functionalism
Functionalism puts forward the theory that our
culture is based on consensus shared
values. Socialisation is the means of
transmitting that culture to children. In other
words, your identity is formed from the effect
your family has on you.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Functionalism
For Functionalists, the family is viewed
positively because the family works for the good
of its own members and society as a whole.
The family assists with social stability.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Functionalism
Murdock, a Functionalist, put forward the theory
in 1949 that the family carried out the following
functions
Sexual functions provides and satisfies the sex
drive Reproductive functions reproduces the
next generation Economic functions provides
food and shelter Socialisation of children
function norms, values and culture are passed
on without this there would be no society
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Functionalism
Other Functionalists, such as Parsons, have
suggested
The modern nuclear family offers primary
socialisation of children i.e. they learn their
first lessons about the values of the society in
which they live. The family stabilises adult
personalities i.e. the family and the family
home is where we can all act naturally without
adopting the niceties of society. Its a place of
escape. (Dont we all behave a little - or even a
great deal differently - at home?)
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Marxism
Marxism puts forward the idea that the economy
influences the family and changes family
functions, structure and roles. Marxism also sees
the negative influence of the family maintaining
inequality of social class.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Marxism
In other words, the nuclear family is a product
of capitalism because it produces children who in
turn become the work force and those children are
taught to be obedient to their capitalist
employers. Women are seen as victims of
oppression, offering cheap childcare and only
being encouraged to work when the economy demands
it.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Marxism
Engels stressed the dominance of men. Marx felt
that the nuclear family fitted the system that
capitalists wanted for their society.
Exploitation is at the core of the Marxist
theory. He also saw marriage as a means of women
becoming mens property by giving sex in return
for security. The female is therefore exploited
by the male.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Marxism
The family is seen as a tool for continuing
reproduction and therefore satisfying the
capitalist needs of producing people who have
been taught the values of hard work and obedience.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Marxism
Feeley explained that the values of hard work,
passivity, obedience were exactly the qualities
that the capitalists required. These values were
provided from families who were bringing up
obedient children at no cost to the capitalists.
The positive aspect of the family is that, here
again, it is seen as a place of retreat from hard
work.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Feminism
Feminists put forward the theory that men gain
the most from the family unit. Women experience
inequality within the family and in turn are
oppressed. There are different forms of
feminism
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Feminism
Radical feminists Marxist feminists Liberal
feminists
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PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH METHODS
SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Feminism
Radical feminists argue that men receive many
advantages from the oppression of women. In the
family, women receive no pay and low status.
They point out the ideology of patriarchy which
they believe to be a system of male power and
domination due to the idea that the male is the
head of the family and therefore is superior.
This can lead to violence or abuse towards women
and children.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Feminism
Marxist feminists point out that the oppression
of women is very much to the advantage of
capitalists so women are not only exploited by
men but also capitalists.
Bruegel demonstrates that by continuing the role
of women undertaking the domestic chores and
reproducing the labour force, the capitalist
system benefits at no cost to employers. Women
produce the workers and look after them.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories - Feminism
Liberal feminists argue that the oppression of
women can be overcome with change and reform,
such as the introduction of more rights for women
regarding equal pay and sex discrimination and a
greater public awareness of domestic violence
towards women.
Liberal feminists believe that a change in
attitude by males and females is necessary to
continue the changes that have already started to
improve the lives of women.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories New Right
New Right theorists put forward the theory that
the traditional patriarchal nuclear family is
the best kind of family to be self-reliant and
not dependant on the welfare state.
The husband is the breadwinner and the wife the
homemaker. This view which became popular
during and after the Thatcher' years has now
been widely condemned, as it criticised and
blamed people like lone mothers for increases in
social problems.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
We have considered differing theories of the
concept of the family.
It is obvious that some theories reflect positive
views about the family and others see negative
issues associated with the family unit. The
family unit has changed radically over the years.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
We have considered differing theories of the
concept of the family.
Many sociologists have pointed out that
industrialisation in our society has contributed
much to the development of a nuclear family that
is isolated from its extended family and even its
neighbours.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
Think about your own family.
Are they all geographically living near you?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
Think about your own neighbours.
Do you speak to them? Do you know their names? Do
you know what work they do?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
Think about the people that you know.
Do they live near their place of work?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
Has this always been the case?
Or do you think that geographical mobility i.e.
moving to another area for a new job is a fairly
recent trend?
Families of the working classes historically
mainly worked on the land with their extended
family.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family theories Historical changes
Lets now consider the changes to the family due
to the industrialisation and urbanisation.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
Society has undergone major changes due to
technology and scientific progress.
So, what influence does social and economic
change have on the family?
In pre-industrial Britain, the family was the
central unit of society.
The family had the father at its head and he was
the breadwinner.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
Laslett concluded in his studies that the family
in pre-industrial Britain was nuclear, not
extended.
Anderson, using information from the 1851 census,
noted that extended families emerged more in
times of industrialisation, when insecurity in
the employment market meant that families banded
together for help with housing, looking after the
old or sick.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
A nuclear family is useful for an industrialised
society.
Willmott and Young noted four historical stages
of family change.
It can be geographically mobile and socially
mobile. In other words, it can move area and
social class, if necessary.
The pre-industrial family The early industrial
family The symmetrical family The asymmetrical
family
Lets look at these individually.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
The pre-industrial family
The early industrial family
The symmetrical family
The asymmetrical family
The family worked together on the land.
The family no longer worked together.
The family is home-centred and in isolation.
This was only emerging in the 1970s. Work
dominated mens lives.
With the industrial revolution, they became wage
earners and the extended family supported in
difficult times.
Spouses share decisions and institutions take on
the roles of the extended family.
It was a unit of production, working together.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Up to about 1750
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
The pre-industrial family
These families would often be not be literate.
The father took the decisions about the family.
The family was a unit of production who worked
together.
The pre-industrial family was a unit of economic
production.
Many of their occupations would be to work on the
land or offer a service to the local community
e.g. blacksmith, baker.
Stage 1
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
From about 1750 to 1900
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
The early industrial family
Increasingly people did not live near their work.
Industrial accidents also took their toll on male
mortality statistics.
Most working class families in industrial areas
were extended families.
The mother of the family provided support in
difficult times. Due to war and disease, some
women had to take on the role of head of the
family if their husbands died.
Geographical mobility led to a weakening of
kinship ties as families moved away from their
extended family.
Stage 2
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
From about 1900
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
The symmetrical family
Symmetrical nuclear families are more prevalent.
Pearson puts forward the argument that the
extended family is not so necessary as
institutions are fulfilling family roles e.g.
hospitals and schools.
There is now much less need for the extended
family as standards of living begin to improve.
Gender roles begin slowly to move towards more
equality between males and females in the family
as more women go to work.
Stage 3
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
From about 1970
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
The asymmetrical family
Work was beginning to dominate family life with
people working longer hours and childcare
becoming more of an issue as both parents worked.
Social and gender roles continued to change after
this time with the woman in some families
becoming the main 'breadwinner.
Life for the family during the 1970s was not
studied in detail as this study took place at the
beginning of the 70s.
Stage 4
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
In all of these categories, the functions of the
family are paramount, in other words how the
family addresses the needs of society.
The familys functions include
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family, industrialisation and urbanisation
Controlling sexuality - children born with a
father who is responsible for them Socialization
children trained to be obedient and in turn
become obedient workers Economic family
produces workers family consumes products Care
children are looked after at no cost to
employers Emotional women provide support and
affection
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family roles
The role of couples, as well as the role of
children in the family, are both areas that
sociologists have researched.
The division of labour Traditionally, the husband
went to work and the wife stayed at home. This
pattern has very much changed, particularly in
the last century.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family roles
The division of labour Joint conjugal roles
(husband and wife share tasks in the home, salary
acquisition and decisions) were seen by Willmott
and Young to be more common amongst wealthier
couples.
The role of couples, as well as the role of
children in the family, are both areas that
sociologists have researched.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family roles
Arber and Ginn discovered in their research that
women are now undertaking paid and unpaid
work. Boulton revealed that men thought that they
were doing more around the house but in fact they
were choosing only the tasks that they preferred.
In the 1970s Oakleys study into the Sociology
of Housework showed that although more married
women were going out to work, they still mainly
took on the responsibility of childcare and
housework.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family roles
In the 1980s when unemployment rates were high,
there was little impact on the division of tasks
in the home if the male became unemployed.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family roles
By the 1990s studies showed that where women
were in work and their husband unemployed, men
had begun to take on responsibility for household
chores. Wheelock found that working class
families still preferred in the 90s a
traditional division of labour in the home.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Changes in gender roles
Family roles
How resources are distributed in the family is
another feature of the power exerted in a
family. Men often control financial resources
but women may manage those resources. Piachaud
revealed that in poorer families, women would
rather sacrifice resources to others if this
improved the living quality of others in the
family group.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Decision-making
Family roles
Important decisions
Trivial decisions
Edgell discovered that very important decisions
were either taken by the husband or jointly by
husband and wife.
Wives were able to take the trivial decisions on
their own.
Edgell argued that the power differences were due
to the earning power differences between husband
and wife.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Domestic violence
Family roles
Dobash and Dobash
Feminists views
Their studies revealed that most domestic
violence took place within marriage. They
suggested that marriage encouraged the man to
adopt power over the woman, whereas the woman
feels dependant on the man.
Radical feminists reject the view that changes in
the law and in attitudes have brought about more
equality for women. They argue that the threat of
violence or violence itself is the male means to
power over the woman.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Children
Family roles
Change in viewpoint
Differences
Sociologists accept that children differ
biologically from adults but they believe that
social differences between adults and children
are socially and culturally defined.
Children have been viewed as being on the rather
passive receiving end of socialisation. This view
has changed in recent years and sociologists now
view children as people who do have active
choices.
Childhood is a social construction
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Children
Family roles
A social construction is decided on by society
and the culture into which the child is born and
brought up. In different societies and cultures,
childhood varies.
In early industrial Britain, children were an
asset economically as they could soon work and
earn wages. Nowadays, children are the centre of
family life but are thought of as an expense
rather than an economic asset.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Children
Family roles
Class and ethnicity can influence a child. Gender
is also a major influence on childhood. Depending
on where a child is brought up, laws will vary
about what children can and cannot do legally.
Other influences, such as the mass media, will
change our perception of childhood and break down
the division between adult and child so that
children have a similar access to information
that adults can access.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Children
Family roles
Studies have been criticised for assuming the
children all experience a similar
childhood. Apart from the social class, culture
and ethnicity issues, sadly some children
experience violence and abuse.
Changes in marriage, cohabitation and divorce
have all had an effect on children, as we shall
see in the next section.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Here, in Britain, the decline in marriage and the
increase in divorce is widely held to be
contributory to the change in the structure of
the family.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Since the 1960s fewer couples have
married. Co-habiting has increased. Many couples
live together before marriage. About a third of
all births are outside marriage.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
There are increasing numbers of marital
breakdowns resulting in divorce (legal
termination) or formal separation (spouses living
apart) or 'empty shell marriages where couples
remain living together but in name only. This has
brought about the decrease in the number of
nuclear households.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Families are now reconstituted (where one or more
parents have been married before so bring
children to the marriage), stepfamilies,
single-parent families or one-person households.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
About 40 of marriages now end in divorce. The
reasons for the increase are debatable but the
following reasons are seen to have contributed
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Legal changes in 1969, making divorce proceedings
easier Changes in womens economic situation
more earning power and availability of welfare
benefits Decline in religion Less stigma attached
to divorce as more people undergo the process
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
There is also the debate that women are still
expected to run the home as well as to work
full-time, placing enormous pressure on them.
This dual burden of work and home still exists
for many women.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
The trend in patterns of divorcing in Britain
indicate that the unskilled and unemployed have a
higher rate of divorce, perhaps indicating that
the material hardship that they undergo has an
effect on their marriage.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Age has also appeared to be a factor in divorce.
The younger the age that people marry, the higher
the chances of them divorcing.
In Britain from 1985 to 1989, the divorce rate
amongst teenagers who had married was
approximately twice as high as those people who
had married over the age of 45.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Reasons have been put forward for this
Many teenagers are not earning high salaries so
there may be pressure on them materially.
Teenage marriages can take place so that a baby
can be born into marriage rather than into a
single parent family.
Teenagers may not have the worldly experience to
make a good decision about their choice of
partner and experience may lead them to change
their minds after time has passed.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
In addition, statistics show that marriages have
a better chance of success if both partners come
from the same social background.
So, why do so many marriages fail?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
People have higher expectations today than they
did traditionally. Previously marriages were
arranged for economic reasons today most people
marry for love. If marriage does not meet their
emotional needs, they may abandon it.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Family disorganisation is the term given to the
breakdown of the family.
It is felt that the breakdown has led to an
increase in welfare dependence. There is also
much debate on the effect that divorce has on
children.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
Changing family patterns reflect the changing
position of women.
In general, women are having fewer children and
an increasing number of women have taken the
decision not to have any children at all and to
pursue a career instead. People are also marrying
later in life and parenting children later.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family patterns
However, having said all this about marriage, it
is also important to look at the positive
statistics of marriage.
According to the trends in the 1990s, 60 of
people are likely to remain married until they
die. Thats good news for marriage.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Families are influenced by laws that impact
directly on them. Government policies concerning
health, education, taxation and welfare
assistance will all impact directly on the family.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
In Britain, the family life has traditionally
been regarded as peoples personal business and
not an area that the state should interfere
in. However, with the increase of child
protection laws and the welfare state, the state
is having an increasing role to play within the
family.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
In other countries, the state has taken a firmer
view of how it should control family life. In
China, for example, at the end of the last
century, overpopulation was a problem for the
state. Couples were encouraged to have only one
child.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
In Britain in recent years there have been
changes to the law that impact on the family. In
1993, the Child Support Agency was set up to
ensure that fathers who were absent from their
children did pay maintenance for them so that
this burden did not just fall on the welfare
state.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Government felt that this was a way of not only
saving money but also maintaining a stance about
parental responsibility and moral values. Some
gaps in the law have been addressed in other
areas so that now married women can claim Invalid
Care Allowance.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Should the state control family life?
Child benefit, places for young children in
pre-school classes and stricter controls on child
care providers have all promoted changes in
family welfare.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Should the state control family life?
Opinions on the effect of social policy varies,
depending on the theorists concerned.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Should the state control family life?
Functionalists approve of the support of the
state and see the states role as offering help
and progress to the family.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
New Right theorists who are related to the
policies of Margaret Thatcher's government,
stress that people should be reliant on
themselves and expect to have to work. New Right
thinkers advocate that welfare benefits should
not be on offer so freely and that a culture of
self-reliance should be promoted.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Feminists advocate that social policies are
created with the idea that the man in the
household is the main breadwinner. Social
policies work against women, in their view, and
promote tax benefits and social security in
favour of men.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
Donzelot is of the opinion that the state does
control families through its social
policies. Problem families are identified by
the police and social services and are then
allocated social workers to control their
behaviour through supervision and support.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
The family and state policies
Family and State
The answer to the question of should the state
control family life is not obvious. The state has
to make laws and regulations that society lives
by. Morally, should it? Thats a question for you
to decide depending on your viewpoint.
Should the state control family life?
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Organisational refers to the different
set-ups of work within the home and paid work.
Cultural
In other words, this could be a family where the
male is the breadwinner and the woman stays at
home.
Social class
It could be a dual-income family where husband
and wife work, or both partners.
Life stage
Or, a single-parent family.
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Cultural refers to the differences based on
ethnicity or religion.
Cultural
In other words, Asian extended families
Social class
Or Afro-Caribbean families
Life stage
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Social class refers to the roles that spouses
or partners adopt based on their social class.
Cultural
In other words, joint roles that are more equal
in middle class couples.
Social class
Less equal roles in working class
couples. (Remember too that these are
generalisations and will not apply to all
couples.)
Life stage
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Cultural
Life stage refers to different stages of life
newly married couples, couples with children,
couples who are now of retirement age.
Social class
Life stage
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Cultural
Cohort refers to the differences between the
generations.
Social class
What might be acceptable to one generation may
well not be to another.
Life stage
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Family diversity
Five models of family have been identified by
Rapoport and Rapoport
Organisational
Although this model might be useful to identify
the different types of models of family, there
has been criticism that it is too prescriptive
and there are more models in our now so diverse
society. Post-modernists, for example, maintain
that this is definitely the case.
Cultural
Social class
Life stage
Cohort
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Conclusions
In more recent times, it has become more and more
difficult to define the term family.
Perhaps they should be defined by the people who
believe they are living together as families.
Included could also be gay and lesbian couples.
The composition of families has changed radically
just in the last three hundred years and
continues to change. Sociologists have carried
out much research to demonstrate how the family
functions.
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SOCIOLOGY FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS
Conclusions
Any discussion about how the family should or
should not conduct itself also involves the state
and politics.
After considering all the theorists and thinkers
on this subject, there is one fact that remains
unquestionable.
We all are influenced by family life. As children
ourselves and then when we move on to form our
own family, we have an impact to bear on the
individuals who make up our family.
THE END
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