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Families and Households - Coggle Diagram
Families and Households
Childhood
social construct - sociologists see childhood as socially constructed (something created and defined by society)
modern western - childhood is special, children fundamentally different from adults, physically and psychologically immature. seen as vulnerable and innocent - separate laws in place to protect.
cross-cultural differences - Benedict argues 3 ways non-industrial societies are different: take responsibility from an early age, less value is placed on children showing obedience to authority, children sexual behaviour is viewed differently
globalisation of western childhood - campaigns against child labour or concerns about 'street children' reflect western views of how childhood should be
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evolution of childhood
Aries - in the middle ages, childhood didn't exist. chambers - In industrial society, views towards children change, factory acts excluded children from working in factories and mines and living conditions improved.
reasons for changes in the position of children.
- compulsory schooling
- child protection and welfare
- the growth of the idea of children's rights
- declining in family size and lower infant mortality rate
- medical knowledge
- specific children laws and policies
Couples
division of labour
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Young and Willmott - change in distribution, men are now doing more domestic tasks and women are becoming wage earners
'march of progress' view - family life is gradually improving for all it's members. symmetrical family - roles of husbands and wives a lot more similar. rise of symmetrical family due to: -changes in women's position, geographical mobility, new tech, higher standards of living
segregated conjugal roles = couple has separate roles. Joint conjugal roles = couple share housework and childcare and spend leisure time together
feminist view - argue little has changed. Oakley found husbands helped wives once a week and no evidence of symmetry.
decision making
Edgell - very important decisions - involving finance are made by the man
- important decisions - e.g children's education or holiday are made by wife
- less important decisions - made by wife
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explanations:
- cultural - patriarchal norms and values shape gender roles. Dunne - lesbian couple have more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of gender scripts.
- women generally earn less than men so it's rational for them to do more housework
summary: - functionalists believe in the necessity for segregated conjugal roles based on biological differences
- 'march of progress' sociologists argue family is becoming more symmetrical
- feminists disagree - women now have a dual burden or triple shift including emotion work
- personal life perspective argues we need to understand the different meanings money can have in relationships
-couples remain unequal in terms of decision making
- radical feminists argue domestic violence is an extreme form of patriarchal power over women
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Demography
Births
fertility rate (no. of women at childbearing age and how many children they have) has risen in uk, but still lower than before.
decline in birthrate:
- changes in women's positions
- decline in infant mortality rate
- children are economic liability
effects of fertility rate - smaller families, reduce of 'burden of dependency' on working class, ageing population
Ageing population
increased life expectancy, decline in infant mortality rate, declining fertility.
effects:
- increased expenditure on public health services
- increased one-person pensioner households
-increases dependency ratio
modernity - life in structured in a fixed series of stages, age allocates roles - old are excluded so become dependent and powerless
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postmodernist - centrality of the media and emphasise on surface features are a part of postmodern society that undermines old age
Migration
emigration - push factors - economic recession, pull factors - higher wages
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impact of migration
- population size growing
- age structure - lowers average age
- dependency - lowers it because they're more likely to be of working age. increases it because they're younger so have more children, but the longer a group is settled in uk, the fertility rate comes to the national average so it reduces the impact
Globalisation
migration rate has sped up - between 200 and 2013, migration increased by 33%
politicisation
- assimilation - encouraged immigrants to adopt customs of 'hosts' culture
- multi-culturalism - accepts migrants may want to retain separate cultural identity. - creates shallow and deep diversity
- divided working class - assimilationist ideas may encourage workers to blame migrants for social problems
differentiation - permanent settlers, temporary workers, spouses and forced migrants e.g refugees or asylum seekers
migrant identities
- transnational = more diverse migration patterns means migrants are more likely to develop 'neither/nor' identities
Deaths
decline in death rate:
- improved nutrition
- medical improvements
- smoking and diet
- public health measures
- other social changes e.g smaller families and dangerous occupations
Changing family patterns
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Partnership
marriage
marriage rate declining, people marrying later, , more remarriages.
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cohabitation - increase in cohabitation due to: career opportunities, secularisation, decline in premarital sex stigma
Beajuoan and Ni Bhrolchain - research found cohabitation usually leads to marriage and is a popular option to test out relationships before marriage
reconstituted families
lone-parent families: biggest category of households in the UK. increased divorce, women's financial independence.
children may find themselves pulled to 2 directions, strained relationships between step-parents and children, step-parent may resent children from previous relationship as they represent a relationship with another person
Ethnic differences
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Asian families: larger families - need for assistance while migrating,
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