Changing Patterns and Family Diversity

Divorce

40% of marriages now end in divorce - six times than 50 years ago

Legal changes

In the 20th, legal changes made divorce easier

Less stigma

In the past, divorce was stigmatised. Since the 1960s the stigma has declined rapidly

However, social factors may be more important than legal ones

Made divorce more acceptable. So stigma was reduced

Secularisation

Decline in the influence of religion on society

This means churches' opposition to divorce carries less weight

Higher expectations of marriage

Higher expectations of marriage are leading to higher divorce rates. Marriage is now based purely in love, not on economic factors

Functionalists argue that the high rate of re-marriage shows divorcees haven't rejected marriage as such

However, Feminists argue that functionalists fail to explain why it's mainly women who seek divorce

Women's financial independence

More women are now in paid work and this makes them less economically dependent on their husbands

Feminist explanations

Women becoming wage-earners creates a new source of marital conflict

At home women are expected to perform a triple shift

The awareness of patriarchal oppression at hme may result in divorce

Modernity and individualisation

In late modernity traditional norms lose their hold

Individuals become free to pursue their own self-interest. This resuls in more divorce

Modernity encourages both sexes to pursue their career ambitions and adopt a free market

Partnerships

Marriage

There are fewer first marriages

CHANGING ATTITUDES

ALTERNATIVES

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

IMPACT OF FEMINISM

RISING DIVORCE RATES

More re-marriages/ later marriages/ fewer church weddings

COHABITATION. More people do it because they don't need the financial security of marriage

Trial marriage

An alternative to marriage

Gay marriage and same-sex relationships

There's now greater acceptance towards legal equality and policies treating all couples equally

Parenting

Lone-parent families

Numbers have tripled since the 1970s, due to increased divorce and decline in stigma of births outside marriage

However, the New Right blame welfare benefits for creating perverse incentives

However, this families are poor because fathers don't pay maintenace

Stepfamilies. Increasing due to the divorce and re-marriage. They are at a higher risk of poverty because they have more children

Ethnic differences

More black lone parents than white or Asian

Black women values independence more highly

Larger Asian households

Due to the cultural importance of the extended family and need for support when migrating

The extended family today

Functionalists argue that in modern society the nuclear family replaces the extended family

The "beanpole family" is extended through three generations. It's the result of increased life expectancy and smaller family sizes

Obligations to relatives

Many people still feel obligation to the wider extended kin

The extended family continues to perform important functions (financial and domestic help)

This is a very different version of Parson's classic extended family

Perspectives on family diversity

Modernism -Functionalism and New Right

Functionalism

PARSONS - sees the conventional nuclear family, with a division of labor based on biological differences, as uniquely suited to the needs of modern industrial society and of family members

New Right

It takes a conservative view of the family and opposes diversity

Sees the conventional nuclear family as the only "natural" one

Other family types as seen as unnatural and producing social problems (delinquency)

HOWEVER Feminists argue that gender roles are social constructs. They say the New Right justifies patriarchal oppression

Chester: the neo-conventional family

Neo-conventional family: both spouses work - dual earners

Cycle - Many of those not currently in a nuclear family either have been or will be

The Rapoports: 5 types of diversity

Against Chester. They see diversity as central to the family today and not an abnormal thing. Diversity meets people's needs

  1. ORGANISATIONAL - joint or segregated conjugal roles. Differences in the ways roles are organised
  1. CULTURAL - ethnic groups have different family structures. More Afro-Caribbean single moms / More Indian extended families
  1. CLASS - differences in family structures are the result of income differences
  1. LIFE CYCLE - structures differ from according to the stage in life
  1. GENERATIONAL - generations have different attitudes and experiences

Postmodernism and family diversity

High levels of family diversity come from greater individualism and choice

The individualisation thesis PLP

Today, the patriarchal family has been undermined by individualism. It has left us free choice of how we lead our lives

GIDDENS- argues that family and marriage have been transformed in recent decades due to greater choice and more equality between men and women

BECK - THE NEGOTIATED FAMILY. More emphasis on the needs of individuals, rather than those of the family, and individuals are free to leave if these aren't met

The conectedness thesis PLP

SMART proposes the conectedness theory as an alternative

Traditional patriarchal norms and structural inequalities still limit people's choices about relationships, identities and families

We aren't disembeded individuals. We make decisions about relationships within a social context

Parents who divorce remain linked by their children, often against their wishes

Other family types are dysfunctional

Lone mothers can't discipline their children properly

No male role models

More likely to be poor and be a burden to the welfare state and taxpayers

New Right claim that the cause of lone parent families is the collapse between cohabiting couples

BENSON - Marriage is more stable because it requires commitment, cohabiting allows thme to avoid commitment and responsibility

Wrongly assume that roles are fixed by biology

Most adults marry and have children. Even after divorces people remarry

Most people live or have lived in a household headed by a married couple

Like functionalists, he sees the nuclear family as dominant. However, he sees a shift to a neo conventional type

In postmodern society there no longer is a single structure (nuclear family)

Instead, family structures have become fragmented into different types and individuals now have more choice

Postmodernists argue that society has entered a chaotic, new, postmodern age

Advantages: Individuals have greater freedom to choose the kind of family and relationships that meet their needs

Disadvantages: More fredom of choice means greater risk of instability

STACEY - Postmodern families

Greater freedom and choice has benefitted women. It has made them able to free themselves from patriarchy and shape the family to their own needs

Interviews in Silicon Valley. Stacey found that women rather than men were agents of change in the family

Postmodernists argue against them saying that it is impossible to try make large-scale generalisations about the family

Class, gender and family have lost their influence on us

Contraception has allowed sex and intimacy rather than making reproduction the main reason of a relationship

Feminism has allowed women to gain independence

Pure relationship - Relationships nowadays are based on individual choice and equality, not traditional institutions

Relationships are no longer bound by traditional norms

Couples stay together beause of love and attraction rather than for the sake of the children or tradition

Giddens sees same sex relationships as leading the way towards new kinds of families and more equal relationships

Couples developed on choice rather than on traditional roles

The patriarchal family has been undermined by 2 factors

GREATER GENDER EQUALITY, because women now expect equality in marriage

GREATER INDIVIDUALISM, people's actions are influenced by calculations of self interest

CRITICISMS - Exaggerates how much choice people have about family relationships today. -Ignores social class and ethnicity -Wrongly sees people as "free-floating individuals", ignores the fact that decisions are made on a social context

Where lives have become embedded, it becomes impossible for relationships o simply end

MAY argues that structures aren't dissapearing, they're being re-shaped