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Theories of the Family - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Equal Pay Act (1963), Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Equality Act (2010) encourage women's employment
      - Abortion Act (1967) and Family Planning Act (1967) gives women control over their reproductive rights
      - Divorce Reform Act (1969) and exclusion of the Marital Rape Clause (1992) improves women's marital rights
    - - increased divorce rate
      - trend of women having children later
      - more women cohabiting- normalisation of sex outside marriage
      - normalisation of abortion
  - - - Greer (2000) all-female or 'matrilocal' households make women focal point of family and removes male dominance
      - Political Lesbianism heterosexual relationships are innately oppressive as they involve 'sleeping with the enemy' so same-sex relationships are the only way to remove male dominance
  - - - Mothers socialise children into capitalist ideologies
      - Wives provide an escape from the exploitative workplace
      - Women are a 'reserve army' of cheap labour
- - - - stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory) = family provides emotional security for adults as they can address worries at home so they can function normally in public; adults can gain a sense of fulfilment by indulging in their child-like tendencies and interacting with their children
        
        warm bath theory is when male breadwinner can ‘relax into’ his family like a ‘warm bath’ to remove work-related stress; this is functional for economic efficiency as it means he can meet the demands of the workplace
      - primary socialisation of children = learning values consensus; parents reinforce socially desirable behaviour while sanctioning undesirable behaviour so children can 'fit in' to wider society
        
        sex role theory is when family roles are divided into instrumental and expressive roles based on biological characteristics and gendered socialisation
        
        instrumental role performed by male breadwinner who provides economic support through paid work and maintains discipline in the household due to his physicality (eg stronger build, aggression)
        
        expressive role performed by female homemaker who provides emotional support due to her nurturing nature (eg showing empathy)
    - - socially mobile family = the nuclear family can move up the class system due to the meritocratic nature of society and status is not ascribed (fixed)
      - geographically mobile family = the nuclear family can move to find employment more easily than the extended family; jobs appear and disappear in different places which requires the workforce to move to the jobs
- - - - 1. memory = shared emotional memories - a bond is likely to be formed if these are meaningful events
        (eg births, deaths, trauma, joy, birthdays)
        2. biography = 'life history' or shared experiences - stronger relationships are formed with those who have the same experiences as you (particularly true for adolescents who strive for independence from blood relations)
        (eg travelling together, going to same school/ uni, working at same place)
        3. embeddedness = 'interconnected web' or your social circle - who you spend most time with determines how strong your relationship is
        (eg more time spent with friends > siblings who are away at uni and vice versa)
      - 4. imaginary = how each individual perceives that relationship
        (eg how much support can they give me? how important is this relationship?)
        5. relationality = how much you relate to someone - you may relate more strongly to those outside blood relations who share your norms and values (age can determine views so old family members may have outdated views)
        (eg LGBTQ+ who are rejected by traditional family, domestic abuse survivors who relate to other networks of survivors more than their partner)
- - - - Evaluation
        Sommerville (2000) argues Zaretsky ignores the 'dark side of the family' (eg domestic violence, child neglect, coercive control)
        Zaretsky exaggerates separatism- WC women did have jobs during early capitalism to support their family financially
      - modern capitalist society creates the illusion that work and family life are separate
      - therefore work separatism and abolition of the family are vital for socialism
      - the family is an escape from the harsh workplace, however ''it cannot meet the pressures of being the only refuge in a brutal society''
  - - - this mean we are alienated from our own emotions and our connections to others
      - eg) care workers are 'paid to love' - migrant nannies and the global transfer for women's emotional labour
        eg) surrogate mothers 'rent out their womb' emotionally detach from the baby and change their lifestyle for efficiency- shows the control of capitalism over bodies
  - - - Evaluation
        Feminists argue Engels ignores restrictions placed on women (eg housework and childcare) and concentrates too much on property ownership - heterosexual monogamous relationships as a way of controlling women (men could cheat but women must stay faithful to ensure paternity)
        However, Gough (2012) praises Engels for correctly identifying the direction of development of family life
        Engels cannot prove the existence of primitive communism and promiscuous hordes
      - Engels believed in what Marx calls primitive communism- earliest classless society with no private property
      - in primitive communism institutions like family and marriage did not exist and instead we lived in promiscuous hordes- no restrictions on sexual relationships
      - as the forces of production developed, private property property and the nuclear family emerged
      - monogamy became essential for the inheritance of private property as men must be certain of the paternity of their child to pass on property to them