Family - Sociology

Sociological approaches to family: 

Functionalists: See family as positive for society. They believe that the nuclear family is beneficial to society as it provides functions such as reproduction, primary socialisation and economic support. 

New Right: See the family as negative for society, if not nuclear. They say children from Nuclear families do better at school, get better jobs and do not turn to crime. 

Marxism: See the family as negative. Marxists believe society is based upon conflict between classes. They believe the family helps to maintain class differences in society as the rich can give children better start than poor. They believe the family socialises the working class to accept it is fair that classes are unequal. 

Feminists: See the family as negative, they believe the family is bad for women as family teaches patriarchal values through the teaching of gender roles during socialisation.

Changes in families in modern societies: 

1. More people living together without being married: Religion isn't so influential nowadays so it isn't considered a sin any more to have children without being married. Divorce rates are rising and nowadays many people decide not to remarry with their new partner. Same sex couples were unable to marry until very recently and people are likely to trial living together before marriage. These are all factors influencing these changes. Feminists say this is a good thing as marriage is a patriarchal institution. Functionalists and New Right disagree as they believe nuclear family is the only family type that can do the job properly. 
2. More single parent families: The divorce act in 1960's made it easier to get a divorce. There are more teenage pregnancies than in the past. The availability of in vitro fertilisation are all factors behind these families. Functionalists are completely against these families, they do not think a single parent can perform all the important functions of the family. 
3. More same sex families: More socially acceptable due to campaigns by gay right groups. Gay couples are now allowed to adopt. 

Roles within the family: 

• Segregated conjugal roles: When Husband and Wife do not share household responsibilities and childcare. They do not partake in the same leisure activities. 
• Integrated conjugal roles: Partners share common friends, leisure activity and decision making as well as household jobs. 

Domestic division of labour: The amount of housework carried out by men and women is referred to as domestic labour. Traditionally women were responsibly for housework and the man was the bread winner however it is argued that times have changed and the division of labour is symmetrical. 

Young and Willmott: argued men and women are sharing housework and childcare more equally. The symmetrical family according to the two is...

• nuclear
• privatised
• equal

Ann Oakley; a feminist, criticised Young and Willmotts findings arguing they were exaggerated. She believed there is no equality when it comes to conjugal roles and that females work much harder. 

Monogamy: When someone is married to one person at a time (Main form of marriage)
Polygamy: When someone is married to more than one person.
Polygyny: When a man has several wives.
Polyandry: When a female has several husbands.

Why are families more child centred? 

• Smaller families mean more care and attention can be devoted to child
• parents work shorter hours therefore have more time to spend with children
• welfare benefits
• parents concerned of safety of children. 

Functions of the family: 

1. Emotional support 
2. Economic support
3. physical care
4. reproduction
5. socialisation
6. social control

To what extent is there equality of roles in the family between males and females? 

Yes: joint conjugal roles

joint decision making

equal involvement in childcare/housework

No: Segregated conjugal roles

women at home

domestic violence and abuse

EXAM QUESTION: Is the family in decline? 

Yes it is: 

• Around 40% of marriage in the early 2000's will end in divorce
• In Britain today, about a quarter of families with dependent children just one one parent.
• About 40% of births are outside marriage, and the proportion in growing every year. 
• There are well over a million cohabiting couples (couple living together when they aren't married) who have refused to get married. 
• Rising rates of divorce, cohabitation, lone parent and reconstituted families show a picture that family is in decline. This has been blamed for a wide range of social problems such as social disorder and crime. 

No it's not: 

• The rising divorce rate is caused by easier divorce laws, more sympathetic public attitudes, rather than marriage breakdowns.
• Lone parenthood arises from a variety of reasons and lone parents are able to provide care and security for children as two-parent families.
• Despite the record number of children being born outside of marriage, nearly 80% of those births are registered jointly by parents with the same address. 
• Many of those who cohabit eventually marry - about 60% of first time cohabitations turn into marriages. 
• The causes of these social problems all too often are blamed on the family. Those whole blame the family are often looking for a simple solution. 

Different family types

1. Single parent families: One parent and there dependent children. 
2. Nuclear: Two parents and their dependent children. 
3. Extended: Nuclear family with additional family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. 
4. Blended/Reconstituted: Families with step parents and children. 
5. Empty nest: Two parents living together - child left home. 
6. Households: Group of people living together in the same place.