Negative Views Of The Family

Negative Views Of The Family

In the 1960's Edmund Leach likened the family to an 'over loaded electrical circuit waiting to blow a fuse' his main argument was that we had become too privatised and isolated in our nuclear family settings and this was causing too much pressure on relationships. He advocates breaking out from these insular units and getting in touch with our fellow human beings.

Laing 1970 –

Parents and children are linked by a complex web of emotions and tensions.These can cause a ‘breakdown’ - a sort of identity crisis for certain individuals.As a result Laing advocated treating the ‘whole’ family.Hence family therapy sessions

Cooper 1972Working in the same field as Laing, Cooper attacks family life for curbing the freedom of children and suppressing their individuality. As a result subservience and obedience are promoted within society. Cooper is in tune with Marxists when he says that the family is 'an ideological conditioning device in an exploitive society'

Perspectives On The Family

Foucault 1975 – Critical theory Foucault maintained that agencies such as the law, social workers, welfare services, the tax system etc are controlling family life. The stereotypical nuclear family model of parents + kids is held up as the norm


Foucault 1975 - Themes of his work:- 1. Conventional motherhood is reinforcedMothers who want to work are restricted by difficulties arranging childcare.Working for women is portrayed as not ‘normal’Women experience guilt and stress as a result

2. Emphasis on discipline and conformity in modern societyConfession of inadequacies to ‘experts’eg doctors, counsellors, psychologists etc


Morgan 1980agrees with Foucault from a Marxist perspective in that the family is an institution under siege in the modern world. The supposedly private world of family life is kept in check via agencies of the state

Marriage & Marital breakdown

Fewer people are getting married than at any other time in the last 40 years.

However:1. People are delaying marriage

rather than rejecting it2. Most people still see marriage

as desirable


Types Of Marital Breakdown Divorce – legal ending of a marriage

freeing partners to marry againSeparation – live apartDesertion – where one partner doesn’t

know where the other has goneEmpty –shell -where marriage exists in

name only – ‘staying together for sake of children etc


Explanations for increasing divorce rate1. Divorce laws 1969 Divorce Reform Act (became law in 1971)

introduced ‘irretrievable breakdown’ as a no fault reason for divorce.

After 2 years separation if both agreed 5 years if only one agreedEssentially made divorce easier to obtain!


Explanations for increasing divorce rate1. Divorce laws cont1984 Act – allowed couples to get divorced

after 1 yr of marriage.1996 Act aimed at trying to introduce ‘no fault’

divorce (still not been adopted as of writing)


2. Less stigmaAs divorce became more common it

became more acceptable and part of every day life.


3. Changing role of women About 75% of petitions for divorce are

made by women.Women now are :-• Educated to higher levels.• Work more and have independent

finance.• Less likely to stay in an ‘empty shell’

marriage.


4. People Live Longer People spend more time together and

therefore have more chance of falling out

Plus people in unhappy relationships now feel there is time to leave and start again with someone else


5. Secularisation The decline in the religious

significance of marriageLess church weddingsPromises made ‘before God’ not seen

as binding


6. Privatisation Of Family Life Rather than a ‘haven in a heartless world’

some see the family as the source of discontents

Search for intimacy creates tensions within relationships

People expect too much from each other.Less pressures from wider kin to stay

together


7. The value of marriage Functionalists like Fletcher & Parsons

argue that people place a higher value on marriage now than in the past

People expect more from a partner and will no longer put up with second-rate relationships

Gibson 1994 says that the modern emphasis on individual achievement and consumerism has extended to relationships

Factors likely to cause divorce

AgeLower the age at marriage = HCD

(higher chance divorce)Teens more likely to grow apartEconomic pressures etc


Class MC have lower rates than WCHighest rates among unemployed


Social & Status Differences

The greater the differences between partners - class, age, ethnicity,, religion

= HCD


Ethnicity Divorce rates low amongst Asian

groups


Family History If your parents divorced - you have

a higher chance of divorce

Less opposition from parents when seeking a divorce


Duration HCD in first 5 years of marriage

Older people now divorce more 30+ yrs marrieds are 2x more likely to

divorce now than 10 yrs ago

Consequences Of Divorce

Recent studies suggest that kids from divorced backgrounds are more likely to

Get divorced themselvesUnderachieve at schoolBe unemployedSuffer poor healthBecome criminals

Exeter Study 1994 - Cockett & Tripp children in ‘reordered families’ (step)

suffered problems of adjustment until later in life.

Children wanted to stay with both natural parents even with the tensions involved

Norwegian Study 1994 - Moxnes Sees positive side of divorce

Creation of a new ‘bi-nuclear’ family with good relations between old and new partners and children

Could be seen as an over optimistic view!

Define The Following Terms

MonogamySerial Monogamy

Polygamy

Polyandry

Polygyny

Cohabitation

Coleman & Salt 1992 Suggest that the popularity of marriage

has declined because traditional assumptions have changed.

New ideas, the changing role of women and more reliable methods of birth control are all contributory factors

Cohabitation

Reasons For The Increase In Cohabitation

• Marriage is less fashionable.• Marriage is expensive.• Decline in religious beliefs.• Economic and employment insecurity.• High divorce rates make people wary of

commitment

Civil Partnerships

What is a Civil Partnership?The Civil Partnership Bill was passed on the 17th November 2004, becoming the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

It is official acknowledgement that same-sex relationships, with the requirements of commitment and recognition, exist.

Registered couples will have new legal status as "registered Civil Partners" and will be protected by a package of rights similar to those of married couples.

The Act gives registered gay couples the right to apply for joint state pensions, shared parental responsibility and recognition under inheritance laws.

This brings the UK into line with other European countries that recognise same sex couples, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden.

Family Diversity

The image of the ‘cereal packet family’ (Leach) is promoted as the basic family model

i.e. married adults plus kids. However others argue that a

plurality of forms now exist

Family Diversity

Ron & Rhona Rapoport 1982 Give 5 types of diversity 1. Organisational DiversityVariations in family structuree.g. single parentsReconstituted families etc

Family Diversity

2. Cultural Diversity There are differences based

on ethnic origins and religious beliefs

Family Diversity

3. Class Diversity There are many differences

between MC and WC families.

Higher divorce rates among WC

Family Diversity

4. Life-cycle Diversity Newly marrieds without

children have a different life style to those with children

Family Diversity

5. Cohort Diversity This refers to the periods at

which groups of families have lived through specific things together

e.g. war

Family Diversity

Eversley & Bonnerjea 1982 – Regional Diversity They argue that different areas of Britain

have different patterns of family organisation.

In rural areas extended kinship is important, inner cities have higher percentages of single parents and the southern ‘sun belt’ has more 2 parent upwardly mobile families.

Family Diversity

Weekes, Donovan & Heaphey 1999 – Homosexual Families

Say that Gay and Lesbian households have

become more common since the 1980’s. They describe such units as ‘chosen’ families –

they choose whom to include as ‘family’ members.

Family Diversity

New Reproductive Technologies Surrogacy provides the potential for a whole

new way of forming families.

Family Diversity

Modhood et al 1997 - Ethnicity Whites and Caribbean’s have highest rates of

divorce in UK Asians and Africans have highest marriage rates

and highest rates of children living with both natural parents – 90% (75% for whites, 50% Caribbean’s)

Caribbean’s have highest single parent rate in UK

Family Diversity

Single Person Households 25% of households are occupied by one person

and this proportion is rising.A significant number are elderly women and

divorced and separated. However more people, particularly young professionals, are choosing to live alone.

Ducan And Phillips 2008Simon Duncan and Miranda Phillips found that

1 in 10 adults are LATs – i.e. they are in a ‘significant relationship’ but do not actually live together

LATs

Why People Live Apart Together

• Choice – Gives couples a feeling of space still

• Circumstance – Sometimes separated/divorced couples with their own children do not want to upset their lifestyles

• Houses – couples do not want to give up their own homes

LATs

Single Parents

25% of families in the UK are single parents90% are female headed60% are ex married (divorced, separated or

widowed)

Single Parents

Consequences Murray 1993A New Right thinkerClaims single parenting has helped to

create an anti-social underclass

Single Parents

McIntosh 1996 Disagrees and says that Lone mothers

have been used as scapegoats for problems such as youth crime and unemployment

Single Parents

McLanahan & Booth 1991 Say children from single parents are more

likely to suffer poverty, become delinquent and abuse drugs.

But more a result of low income than lack of 2 parents

Single Parents

Cashmore 1985 Best for children to live with one caring

adult than 2 fighting ones.Women become more independent in

single parent units

Reasons For Increase In Single Parents

1. Divorce Since 1971 Divorce has been easier to

obtain


2 Social Acceptance Less stigma attached to being a single

parent todayLinks to secularisation – less religious

practice and thinkingMedia portrays single parents more

positively today


3. Welfare State Some like the New Right feel that it is

too easy to rely on benefits etcFeminists and others point to the

fact that women are no longer tied to a man financially and therefore can leave unhappy relationships.v


4. Increase In Never Marrieds 40% of single mums are in this categoryAverage age of a lone mum is 34

Why are 90% Of Single Parents Women?

When couples divorce women are more likely to be given custody of the children by the courts – much to the disappointment of many father support groups.

Men are more likely to have better paid jobs/careers and don’t want to interrupt these to take on childcare full time.

Some men feel that their masculinity is threatened if they become child carers.

It is more socially acceptable still for mothers to be single parents than men – despite many mothers and toddler groups becoming ‘parents and toddlers’ there are not many men joining in up and down the country.

Effects• Children often find themselves pulled in

2 directions• feelings of disloyalty to one parent• Sometimes tensions with step parent• Complications arise when the new

couple have their own children

Reconstituted Families

Family Diversity?

The above evidence is taken by many to suggest that there is a plurality of family forms in the UK today. Post Modernists say that there is diversification, variation and instability.

Others argue that the diversity angle is

exaggerated, most children live with their natural parents, most people do get married and while 4 in 10 marriages end in divorce 6 in 10 do not.

Family Diversity? Chester 1985 – The Neo- Conventional Nuclear Family

Says that changes in family life have been minor

• If one looks at the % of people rather than households1/2 the population of UK live in nuclear families

• Many who aren’t will form nuclear families in the future

• The only big change is that many more women now work

• Most people do get married• Most divorcees remarry

Family Diversity?

However since Chester’s writing there has been a slow but steady drift away from nuclear families in the UK.

Nuclear families are still very common but other family types (particularly single parents and reconstituted families) are becoming more common.

Choice And Equality – Giddens 1992

Anthony Giddens has argued that family and marriage have been transformed since the war by choice and equality:

Contraception has allowed sex and intimacy to become more important than reproduction in a relationship

Women have gained greater equality and independence in the last 50 years

Giddens talks about ‘pure relationships’ being created couples get together for’love’ rather than a sense of duty

Giddens concedes that this means a less stable relationship is formed.

Beck 1992 - Risk Society and Negotiated Families

Ulrich Beck has made much of the concept of a ‘risk society’ He argues that in earlier times roles were more fixed and we had few choices – e.g. where we lived, worked, played and married.

Today such ‘fixed things’ are rare and we are faced with more choices – and consequently more risks!

We now have ‘negotiated families’ i.e. where members decide for themselves what they want. Such families may have broken away from the inequality and patriarchy of the past but are now more unstable

Beck 1992 - Risk Society and Negotiated Families

Ulrich Beck has made much of the concept of a ‘risk society’ He argues that in earlier times roles were more fixed and we had few choices – e.g. where we lived, worked, played and married.

Today such ‘fixed things’ are rare and we are faced with more choices – and consequently more risks!

We now have ‘negotiated families’ i.e. where members decide for themselves what they want. Such families may have broken away from the inequality and patriarchy of the past but are now more unstable

Postmodernism

Beck (as a postmodernist himself) illustrates the effect of 2 key postmodernist concepts

1 Diversity/Fragmentaion – A pick’n’mix of family types2 Rapid Social Change – new technology, new inventions, new

work patterns have all added to the feeling of uncertainty for people.

Postmodernism

Beck (as a postmodernist himself) illustrates the effect of 2 key postmodernist concepts

1 Diversity/Fragmentaion – A pick’n’mix of family types2 Rapid Social Change – new technology, new inventions, new

work patterns have all added to the feeling of uncertainty for people.

Judith Stacey in research in California has found that the increase in divorce has led to an increase in ‘divorced extended families’

Stacey used life history interviewsMany women had divorced and remarried

but stayed in touch with the children’s grandparents and made relationships with new step grandparents.

Help was often given financially and domestically

Divorced Extended Family – Stacey 1998Divorced Extended Family – Stacey 1998

For Diversity Against Diversity

Postmodernists, and FeministsDiversity = choiceNo one family form should be held up as a superior modelVariety = liberty

For Diversity Against Diversity

Postmodernists, and FeministsDiversity = choiceNo one family form should be held up as a superior modelVariety = liberty

Functionalists and The New RightNuclear Family is the best unitIt best meets the need of societyA key socialising unit for the youngOther family forms are seen as dysfunctional

Negative Views Of The Family

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