Sociology of Family

Sociological Theories of the Family

• Wilmott and Young's symmetrical nuclear family: characterized by rising wages, welfare, smaller families, increased geographical mobility, and extended kinship, with increased entertainment within the home.

• Beck and Beck-Gernsheim's individualization: increased opportunities lead to more choices in life, affecting family structures.

Postmodernism and the Family

• Lyotard's incredulity towards metanarratives: a rejection of universal theories and grand narratives, instead focusing on diverse, individual experiences.

Diversity and Change in Family Structures

• Stacey's diverse, fluid, and unresolved families: families vary in structure, changing over time, with no set structure.
• Allan and Crow's separation of sex, marriage, and parenthood: rising divorce rates, decreased marriage rates, increase in step families, cohabitation, and single households.

Cultural and Ethnic Variations

• Bhatti's Asian families: emphasis on family loyalty.

Neo-Conventional Family

• Chester's neo-conventional family: a modern, flexible, and adaptive family structure.

Emotional Work and Dual Burden

• Duncombe and Marsden's triple shift: emotional work, dual burden, and the impact of paid work on family life.

Functions of the Family

• Murdock's 4 functions of the family: sexual, economic, educational, and reproductive.

Marxist and Feminist Perspectives

• Engles' controlling women's sexuality: paternity of children, ensuring belongings passed down the bloodline.
• Zaretsky's family as a prop to the capitalist system: housewives' unpaid labor, family consumption of commodities, and the bourgeoisie's profit.

Family Diversity and Cultural Context

• Rapaport and Rapoport's family diversity: influenced by cultural, class, organizational, and life cycle factors.

Childhood and Socialization

• Aries' childhood as a social construct: children died earlier, no chronological age gap between children and adults, children sent to work early.

Functionalism and the Family

• Parsons' warm bath theory: stabilization of adult personalities, primary socialization, and changes in family structure.

Marxist Theory and the Family

• Poulantzas' superstructure: the family as part of the ideological state apparatus, maintaining the capitalist system.