Family
- Created by: Megan657
- Created on: 11-01-19 09:32
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- Unit 1: Theories of the family
- Are men and equal equal in the family in the UK today?
- Over years men and women have become more equal, however there is still a difference
- Are children all treated the same around the world?
- No not all children are treated the same, in England we have rights to:
- Education until 18
- Healthcare free until 19 years old
- Specific consumer market for children
- Government have powers to protect children
- No not all children are treated the same, in England we have rights to:
- Family types:
- Extended: living with aunt, uncle, grandparents, cousins
- Nuclear family: basic family
- Blended or family: Remarried
- Marriage types:
- Monogamy-two individuals
- Serial monogamy - a series of monogamous marriages
- Arranged monogamy: Arranged by parents to match their children
- Civil partnership-legal recognition to the relationships of same sex marriage, became legal in 2014
- Polygamy-marriage to more than one partner at once
- Polygyny- One husband and two or more wives
- Polyandry-One wife and two or more husbands
- Beanpole Family Brannen (2003)
- A multi generational extended family, which is long and thin - less aunts and uncles as people are having less children.
- More common due to the ageing population and couples deciding to have fewer children
- This could be three, four, five generation families.
- What are the key functions of a family?
- To create a safe environment to socialise the children
- To reproduce the next generation
- To provide warmth and comfort for the children
- Sexual - within the family sexuality can be expressed in an approved way ( within a relationship )
- Murdock (1949) suggests that the family has 4 main function:
- Reproduction - the family provides stability for the production and rearing of children
- Socialisation - agents of primary socialisation, children learn acceptable behaviour and the culture of the wider society. This helps embed value consensus and a set of shared beliefs - central to maintaining a stable society
- Economic - the family supports the members, looking after their basic needs e.g. food and shelter
- Parsons (1951)
- Parsons saw primary socialisation as the internalisation of societies culture.
- Parsons saw the family as factories which produce human personalities
- Children learn the customs, traditions,history and values of a society.
- Consensus
- Consensus theories argue that the changes that have occured in society are positive
- These theorists also claim that society is in broad agreement, in other words, people share a sense of what is right and wrong as well as individuals having a strong sense of belonging to society
- Consensus theories are often said to have an optimistic view, it is often claimed that consensus theories are in danger of overlooking serious problems in society.
- Roles in the family
- Male-instrumental role, breadwinner, leads to stress and anxiety and leads to a risk of destabilization of his personality
- Females- expressive role, provide warmth, security, provides the emotional support and they prevent destabilization through love
- The class system:
- Upper class -“Rich people” - inherited titles or wealth, education at elite private school, end up in jobs like government, top accountant, top lawyer etc
- Middle class - University education - lawyer, accountant, doctor
- Conflict
- Conflict theories regard society as being unequal, resulting in the oppression of a particular group or groups. These theories focus on the power that some groups have over other groups.
- Conflict theorists argue that the solution to these inequalities is large-scale social change. Because conflict theorists argue that society is inherently unfair, they are often criticised for failing to acknowledge the positive aspects of society.
- Marxist
- The bourgeoisie own the means of production e.g. factories and they exploit the proletariat who only own their ability to work
- The ruling class use the working class to produce goods and services and keep the profits for themselves
- Capitalism encourages the private ownership of profit so all individuals are working to achieve this goal
- This system creates inequalities between the social classes.
- Based on the works of Karl Marx (1818-1883)
- Marx suggested that there were two classes under a capitalist society, the ruling class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat)
- Marx said that the working class accepted their inequality and their oppressed position, he calls this false class consciousness – the idea that people are not aware of the true extent of their exploitation.
- Rich get richer, poor get poorer
- Socialisation
- Marxists argue that individuals learn capitalist ideology through socialisation, a process of internalising norms and values throughout life.
- This process is vitally important in maintaining and encouraging capitalism, as it prevents people from questioning their position and makes sure that they continue to work hard.
- Marxism and the family
- Early Marxists like Engels (1820-95) believed that the monogamous nuclear family was necessary to pass on wealth and property to heirs
- This idea of monogamy was ideal as it meant fathers were sure of the paternity of their children so their wealth was passed on to the right people
- Private ownership is central to capitalism
- Althusser (1971) argued that the family was an ideological state apparatus.
- By socialising this ideology though the family, the ruling class keep control and the working class accept their dominant norms and values.
- The nuclear family performs several important functions
- The bourgeoisie can make a profit and the family is fixated on the latest consumer goods so the inequalities of capitalism go unchallenged.
- Families also support capitalism by providing unpaid labour and socialising the next generation of workers
- women provide emotional support for workers to help them to deal with the exploitation they may experience at work
- Women act like a sponge, soaking up men’s worries so they go back to work refreshed and ready to work.
- Are men and equal equal in the family in the UK today?
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