Family Diversity

Rapoports - we have moved away from the nuclear family as dominant and towards a range of family types; views this as a positive change which shows adaption to UK's pluralistic society and greater freedom of choice

New Right - view family diversity as a negative change which threatens social stability - the heterosexual, married nuclear family with a biological division of labour (Functionalist roles) is the 'natural' and correct way to socialise children effectively (avoids anomie)

Chester- neo-conventional nuclear family - believes the extent of family diversity has been exaggerated by New Right; does not view it as a negative or significant change

Postmodernism - Family types and personal relationships so diverse that we can no longer use modernist theories to explain them (eg Functionalism) - NO DOMINANT STABLE FAMILY STRUCTURE


1. greater freedom of choice your life course
2. greater risk and instability as relationships more likely to break up (lack commitment that nuclear family and marriage provided)

Late modernism

Carol Smart - connectedness thesis - argues the Individualisation Thesis overexaggerates the extend of disembeddedness and choice people have

Murray

Increase in female-headed lone-parent families is a problem for society, threatening social stability


1. Inadequate socialisation - lack of discipline


2. Lack of adult male role models - (black) boys turning to gang members or rappers as role models - dangerous underclass - links to educational underachievement and crime


3. Burden on the welfare state - neoliberal economics and New Right believe individuals should take individual responsibility rather than rely on state to fund their lifestyle

Cohabitation is a key cause of lone-parent families and thus social instability because it encourages lack of commitment and unstable childhoods (Benson)


eg) divorce rate among married couples is less than that of the separation rate among cohabiting couples

Support policies which encourage a return to traditional values (eg marriage, nuclear family) and reject gay marriage, cohabitation, and welfare dependecy


eg) Section 28 - banned teaching of homosexuality in schools in 80s under Thatcher


eg) Marriage Tax Allowance - pay less taxes if you are a married couple rather than cohabiting

1. Radical Feminists - marriage and the family are 2 key patriarchal institutions in society and should not be encouraged - by promoting these policies the New Right is promoting the oppression of women - anti-feminist!! - LPs raise girls ambitions!! (link to education)


2. Cohabitation as a trial marriage or permanent commitment - cohabiting is a necessary stage in someone's life course as it allows them to test whether or not to get married - some also regard it as permanent and thus stable


3. Poverty is the root cause not family diversity - it is structural issues like poverty that cause social instability, rather than a diverse range of family types - Marxists would argue capitalism is at the root --> material deprivation - LONE MOTHERS = SCAPEGOATS

The only significant change in family structure is the movement from a traditional conventional nuclear family to a 'neo-nuclear family' - dual-earning with joint conjugal roles

Agrees with Functionalists that the nuclear family is the dominant and aspirational family type

Life cycles - argues that official statistics on household composition are misleading as they only show a snapshot of someone's lifecycle


People spend majority of their lives in a nuclear family and any variation in family structures tends to be temporary (eg single-person before nuclear, lone-parent then reconstituted nuclear)

Patterns supporting lack of family diversity


1. Most adults marry and raise their biological children


2. Although cohabitation has increased, this tends to be temporary before entering a nuclear family


3. Most births are jointly registered by a couple

Identified 5 types of family diversity


1. Cultural - ethnic or religious background influences family type (eg Asian families extended, afrocarribean families lone-parent)


2. Life-stage - where you are in your life cycle influences family type (eg cohabiting before marriage, single-person pensioner households, child in nuclear)


3. Organisational - changes to how family roles are organised (eg joint conjugal roles, dual-earners, female breadwinner)


4. Generational - older generations tend to have more traditional views and young people more liberal (old people less likely to get divorce/ cohabit, young people more likely to due to secular beliefs)


5. Social-class - WC and MC have different family structure (eg MC tend to be dual-earning and outsource childcare to paid nannies, differences in socialisation, WC likely to cohabit as marriage is expensive)

Stacey - divorce-extended family - Life history interviews (life course analysis) - greater freedom of choice of family structure/ roles has benefitted women

Postmodern society context


1. Diversity and fragmentation of lifestyle, culture, identities (more choice eg environmentalism)
2. Rapid social change (rapid technological advancements make life less predictable)

Example


Pam Gamma - Silicon Valley

  • married first husband young and has children
  • divorced
  • cohabits then remarries with husband two (who is also remarrying)
  • formed divorce-extended family with Shirley (cohabits with first husband)
    e.g. helped each other financially, emotionally, domestically

Women are the main agents of change within a family and free themselves from the patriarchal control of the nuclear family by choosing family structures which meet their personal needs, such as the divorce-extended family
e.g. women instigating divorces, rejecting housewife role, deciding to remarry, returning to education

Divorce-extended family = network of formerly married and cohabiting couples who support each other financially, emotionally, and domestically (eg childcare)

Therefore, we cannot make generalisations about 'the family' and there are too many varieties in family structure and no dominant one (eg nuclear) - we go through differnt types at different stages of our life course

The individualisation thesis = the idea that we have become more individualised and disembedded from traditional structures (eg class, gender, ethnicity, family) - therefore greater freedom of choice in our life course/ family structure (DIY biography!)

Giddens - there is more choice and equality in late modern relationships

Modern society


1. Romantic love = idea that love solves all problems; idealised/ soulmate/ ''Til death do us part''/ long lasting (explains low divorce rate); lifelong fulfilment


2. External factors (structures) hold relationship together (eg stigma around divorce, duty to children to keep the relationship alive, religious teaching on family, inaccessible divorce laws

Late modern society


1. Confluent love/ pure relationship = relationship that only exists for as long as it benefits both individuals; transactional; leads to SERIAL MONOGAMY


2. Internal factors (personal choice) hold relationship together


3. Reflexivity = ability to reflect on what makes you truly fulfilled/ desires; leads to compartmentalisation of parts of life to improve; realisation that romantic love is not all-fulfilling --> ROMANTIC LOVE DILUTED


4. Plastic sexuality = separation of sex and childbearing; allows individuals to explore fluid sexual identities; fulfilment!


HOWEVER, we are in late modern society not postmodern society, so social pressures/ structures still influence the longevity of relationships (eg pressure to keep the love alive)

Beck - risk society - greater gender equality and individualisation has created the 'negotiated family' - more critical than Giddens

Negotiated family = family that does not conform to traditional norms, instead changing to meet the needs of its members (eg negotiating roles) - LESS STABLE


  • More equal gender roles and self-fulfilment of needs (eg women seek out dual-earning structure/ childless)


  • Self-interest - members can choose to leave if their needs are not being met by the family


  • May lead to a zombie family, where members seek the security/ stability from the 'risk society' that traditional family provided but cannot get this as other members are less committed and free to leave at any time

Traditional nuclear family = predetermined fixed roles and more predictable/ stable family structure- STABLE


  • Unequal and oppressive to women BUT stable - structures/ laws/ norms did not allow members to leave if unfulfilled


  • Collective-interest - obligation to stay together and 'keep the relationship alive' (links to romantic love)

We live in a risk society, characterised by increased risk, individualisation, and greater freedom of choice - this is due to breakdown in traditional structures which made society stable

Same-sex couples as pioneers - greater equality and not restricted to traditional role because these are based on biological gender roles - more choice (eg chosen families) - set the example

We exist in 'interconnected webs' rather than as isolated free-floating individuals - eg at university

Ethnicity
1.Arranged marriages in Indian families - no choice of partner


2. Extended families and respect for elders - caring for older relatives and obligation (Japanese culture)


3. Pressure to go to university - maintaining asexual pathologized pupil identity for Asian students - please family - no plastic sexuality

Gender


1. Women get children after a divroce - choice of relationship based around child


2. Abusive relationships - no freedom to leave


3. WC women may see motherhood as their only viable stable option (Biggart) - cannot negotiate roles

The individual is modelled as the ''idealised MC white man'' - most groups in society do not have this much priviledge or freedom of choice within relationships


STRUCTURES/ EXTERNAL PRESSURES STILL HAVE INFLUENCE OVER CHOICES WE MAKE

Traditional structures are not breaking down, but rather being transformed - eg American Dream still rings true at its core - house, family, car, job - women can also purse masculine goals, but these goals tend to be that of traditional male ones just with a female pursuer