Sociology AQA 2 Families Workbook Answers PDF

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WORKBOOK ANSWERS AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 Families and households This Answers document provides suggestions for some of the possible answers that might be given for the questions asked in the workbook. They are not exhaustive and other answers may be acceptable, but they are intended as a guide to give teachers and students feedback.

Section 1 Functionalist and New Right views of the family 1 The term ‘organic analogy’ refers to the extended comparison made by functionalists between the human or other living body and society, with the organs of the body equivalent to institutions and structures in society. 2 The term ‘function’ is used by some sociologists for the role or purpose that a social institution has which contributes to the success or survival of the society as a whole. 3 Nuclear families fulfil the function of ensuring boys and girls understand the expected correct behaviour for their sex; they do this, for example, by the adults (parents) acting as role models. 4 One change that New Right thinkers would see as undermining the traditional nuclear family is the growth of cohabitation (living with a partner outside marriage) because the bond between the two adults is not as strong as it would be if they were married. A second change is the growth of lone parent families; they are seen by the New Right as less effective than the nuclear family in socialising children because the lone parent has to try to carry out both the instrumental and expressive roles. Finally, the New Right would see the increase in the number of mothers of young children in full-time work as threatening the nuclear family because they would doubt that these mothers could fulfil the expressive role well enough for the wellbeing of the children. Note: there are many possible answers, including: 

higher divorce and separation rates

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increasing number of births outside marriage

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number of children not being raised by their biological parents

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same-sex couples raising children

It is not necessary to explain your answers (because the question doesn’t tell you to do this) but to do so can help you to be sure that your answer is right and may convince an examiner that your arguments are tenable. Be careful though not to write too much — you have other questions to answer. 5 Functionalists argue that the nuclear family ‘fits’ modern industrial societies in ways that other types of family do not.

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

1

Section 1

Functionalist and New Right views of the family

One way is that modern industrial societies require a mobile labour force; that is, workers need to be able to move to take up employment opportunities. This is very difficult with, for example, an extended family living together as there are a lot of people and possessions to move. So functionalists argue that nuclear families give greater flexibility, with a family able to move so that one member, usually the father, can take up the job opportunity. A second way is that extended families in pre-industrial societies carried out functions that no longer need to be carried out by families in modern industrial society. For example, it has been argued that having a large extended family gave people sources of support in times of illness or hardship. This is said to be no longer necessary because of the range of support now available from the state and its institutions, so that nuclear families are now more appropriate. 6 The functionalist approach to studying families was the dominant theoretical perspective for much of the twentieth century. Functionalism suggests that the family can be seen as one essential part of society that contributes to the overall wellbeing of the whole, rather as different organs of the body work together to keep a person healthy (the ‘organic analogy’). Different functionalist writers have suggested different functions; for example, Talcott Parsons argued that the nuclear family in modern industrial society has two essential functions, primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities. Each society in this view will have the type of family best suited to it; in the medieval period, extended families were more common because they could fulfil functions such as caring for the sick and elderly which the state had not then taken on. One advantage of this approach is that it draws attention to the many positive aspects of family life, fitting in with many people’s experience and expectation of the family as a haven, where they are safe and cared for. There are, however, several problems with this approach. One is that it is very much focused on the conventional nuclear family, with its associated gender roles, as essential in modern industrial society. Sociology has since moved on, adapting to changes in society by focusing on families (a diverse range of families) rather than ‘the family’. The functionalist approach is also one that is based on structure — people seem to have to fit in to a set role in a set type of family. More recently, interactionist and other approaches have been more interested in the ways in which people actively create and negotiate their own roles and identities within families. Functionalism emphasised the positive aspects of nuclear families; from the 1960s onwards feminist and other approaches increasingly drew attention to the negative aspects or ‘dark side’ of the conventional nuclear family, domestic violence (researched by Dobash and Dobash), the ways that the ‘housewife’ role restricted women’s lives (Ann Oakley) and the ways in which tensions and emotions can build up when the family is privatised and isolated from neighbourhood and wider kin. Feminists particularly criticised the functionalist assumptions about the instrumental and expressive roles being necessary and being ideally suited to males and females respectively. Breaking free from these prescriptions enabled both men and women to live happier lives, without their families becoming dysfunctional, as functionalists would have it. The functionalist view now looks like an idealised view, taking the most common form of family in the USA in the mid-twentieth century as the best form by ignoring its negative aspects. It is still, however, useful as a corrective to other approaches; the nuclear family remains part of most people’s life course, is what many people aspire to, and is able to carry out important functions. 7 In your answer, keep your focus on views as to whether or not the nuclear family is essential in all societies. Points that could be made include: 

the functions of the family according to sociologists such as Murdock

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definitions of ‘nuclear family’ and its associated gender roles

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Parsons’ view that the nuclear family now has only two essential functions

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

2

Section 1

Functionalist and New Right views of the family

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the loss of functions in the transition from traditional to modern societies

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discussion of whether the nuclear family is present in all societies

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comparison of family types in different societies

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the nuclear family as the most common and most approved type of family in the twentieth century, the idea of the ‘cereal packet family’

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greater diversity of family types and roles within families today and discussion of the extent to which these can be seen as different from or as variants of the nuclear family (e.g. cohabiting couples, symmetrical families)

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Marxist and feminist accounts of the role of the nuclear family in supporting and legitimising capitalism/patriarchy

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

3

Section 2

Alternative views of family

Section 2 Alternative views of family 1 The term ‘patriarchy’ means that the father/husband is the dominant figure, in a position of power and authority over his wife and children. Note: the suggested answer above is about the term ‘patriarchy’ as applied to families. An answer that defined patriarchy more generally, as a society or social institution in which men were in positions of power and authority, would also be acceptable. 2 Feminists argue that in nuclear families women are expected to take on a restrictive role, which involves tasks such as housework and childcare. These are not recognised as ‘real’ work and so women can be seen as being exploited. 3 The nuclear family supports the capitalist system by providing it with a reserve army of labour; for example, when more workers are needed, women who have been carrying out the traditional female role of housewife and mother can be recruited into the workforce. 4 One reason why it is difficult to measure the extent of domestic violence accurately is the problem of identifying victims (and perhaps offenders); it is known that many cases are not reported and so there is no sampling frame that would allow researchers to identify potential respondents. A second reason is that victims may be unwilling to take part in any research, either because they do not wish to talk about what has happened with a researcher or even possibly because they fear further violence if the offender finds out they have talked about what happened. A third reason is that victims may be unaware that they are victims; that is, they may think it is normal or acceptable to be treated as they have been. They would therefore not report the violence. 5 Feminist sociologists have contributed to our understanding of families by focusing on different issues and relationships and by introducing new areas of study, which had been thought unimportant or had not been noticed by earlier sociologists. One way in which feminists have contributed to our understanding of families is by drawing attention to the family as a place of work. Oakley showed how housework was real work, as real as paid work outside the home but undervalued and neglected. Housework and childcare, performed mainly by women in traditional nuclear families, meant that men had their meals cooked, houses kept clean and children looked after by women who worked hard for no reward. A second way is that Marxist feminists have drawn attention to the ways in which the family supported the capitalist economic system. The family is where the next generation of workers to be exploited by capitalists are raised, and where children are socialised into the dominant ideology of the society, so that they are prepared for lives of drudgery and boredom but are also trained to be punctual and obedient. The need to support the family weakens workers’ ability to go on strike and also gives male workers a ‘safety valve’ — they can take out their frustration at their lack of autonomy on their wives. 6 Postmodernists reject all earlier sociological theories as inadequate in explaining family life today. One reason for this is that earlier theories rely on ‘metanarratives’, which claim to explain the nature of, for example, ‘the family’. Postmodernists would argue that no one theory or idea can explain the range of families and households today because social life has become more fragmented. Individuals are no longer constrained by social structures and all make their own choices about how to live, including their

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

4

Section 2

Alternative views of family

family life. We therefore need to reject the metanarratives and not look for theories or explanations on a macro scale. A second reason is that postmodernists would argue that today there is a far greater range of types of families and living arrangements than is recognised by earlier theories. For example, rather than the nuclear family being the dominant family type, there are many reconstituted families, lone parent families, cohabiting couples and single-sex couples with and without children, as well as single person households and households of friends. There are also no longer always clear distinctions between types of families, power relationships are unclear (the father is no longer always head of the household) and there is a wide range of choices for dividing roles and responsibilities. 7 In your answer, keep your focus on views as to whether or not the main role of families is to maintain male dominance. Points that could be made include: 

feminist views of the family — including different types of feminism (liberal, socialist/Marxist and radical), and using concepts such as patriarchy, age patriarchy and the triple burden

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links between families and wider society (such as the economy), including Marxist/socialist feminist views

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the housewife role and the ways in which it ‘fitted’ capitalist work practices

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the dominance of men within families — power relationships, domestic division of labour, decision making within families, the ‘dark side’ of the family, age patriarchy — linked to the dominance of men in society

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alternative views of the main role of families, such as functionalist views on the importance of primary socialisation and the stabilisation of adult personalities, and Marxist views on its role in maintaining capitalism and in perpetuating and legitimising class inequalities

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

5

Section 3

Families and social policies

Section 3 Families and social policies 1 The term ‘cereal packet family’ means the stereotype of the ideal nuclear family of mother, father and limited number of own children, conforming to gender roles and often seen in advertising and the media. 2 Social policies can make it easier or more desirable to live in a particular type of family. For example, a tax allowance could be given to married couples but not to cohabiting couples, thus encouraging people to get married. 3 One policy that can be seen as promoting the traditional nuclear family is the Child Support Agency’s role in making absent fathers contribute financially to their children’s upbringing, thus fulfilling part of the instrumental role even when not being physically present. Another policy is the setting of school opening hours that do not recognise that both parents may be working full time and are therefore unable to take their children to school or pick them up. A third policy is tax allowances, which make it financially advantageous for a couple to be married rather than unmarried. Note: for this question (and for question 4) your answers do not have to be current policies, and you do not need to know details (for example, how much the tax allowance might be), although these can be helpful in demonstrating your sociological knowledge. It might be tempting to add a sentence that makes an opposing point (e.g. for the second point, ‘However, more schools now offer breakfast clubs and after-school care… ’), but this does not help you answer the question and so will not gain you marks. 4 One policy is the laws enforcing gender equality at work (such as the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act); these have led to more women working and so fewer women take the traditional housewife role. A second policy is the extension of rights to paternity leave and the greater flexibility couples now have; this means that men have a greater opportunity to become involved in the bringing up of their baby. A third policy is the provision of free childcare and nursery education for 3- and 4-year-olds; as well as reducing the cost of childcare, this frees time for the parent (usually the mother) for other activities. 5 Moral panics are caused by media selection of news stories for exaggeration and sensationalised reporting, creating a sense that something needs to be done (for example, by the government). Sociologists point out that the initial news event often does not merit the media reaction. One moral panic that has affected social policies about families has been about lone mothers. News stories have alleged that some young women become pregnant in order to get access to council housing, when they are not capable of raising children. New Right thinkers argued that welfare benefits were too generous and this has led to welfare cuts and more stringent means testing. A second moral panic has been the idea that it has become easy for children and young teenagers to gain access to pornography and other adult material online. It is said that this makes children ‘grow up too fast’ and may encourage promiscuous behaviour. As a result, governments have tried to control access to pornography on the internet by putting pressure on internet service providers and have tried to ensure that school-children are taught in school about online risks.

AQA AS/A-level Sociology 2 © Jonathan Blundell

Families and households Philip Allan for Hodder Education

6

Section 3

Families and social policies

6 A wide range of policies and laws affect families in many different ways. They can be grouped into two broad types — those that are specifically about families and those that are about other aspects of society but have an effect on families. In the latter category are education, health, work and welfare policies. For example, the age at which children end their compulsory education has risen over the last few decades. Raising the schoolleaving age has had the effect of making the young people dependent on their families for longer, and as they cannot work it may restrict the families’ income. On the other hand, state subsidies for nursery education and the availability of childcare through before- and after-school provision has had the effect of freeing parents to work longer hours and increase family income, while more of the child’s socialisation happens outside home and family. Policies improving sanitation and water supplies, the introduction of a National Health Service and of child immunisations have reduced mortality and increased life expectancy, with the result that families are changed as people have smaller families. There are also policies specifically affecting families. For example, the Divorce Reform Act, which allowed ‘no fault’ divorces, resulted in an increase in the number of divorces and this led to more lone parent families and reconstituted families, and also to more people living alone. The availability of benefits to lone parents has been particularly contentious, with New Right thinkers like Charles Murray alleging that benefits encourage young women to have children when, without benefits, they would be unable to support them. Some policies, often from a New Right agenda, encourage the traditional nuclear family and its associated gender roles at the expense of other types of family. These have been opposed by, for example, radical feminists, who point out that the traditional nuclear family seems to be a family type that damages many members; for example, women and children can be victims of violence and abuse. It may be better for women to raise children alone, without an abusive male partner. Some other policies, such as civil partnerships and other measures introduced by Labour between 1997 and 2010, recognise and support a wider range of families and living arrangements. These can be seen as favouring a more postmodern view of the family, in which individuals and couples work out for themselves the living arrangements that best suit them, resulting in a wide div...