...Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of the nature and extent of family diversity today (24 marks) On Most Advertisements, the nuclear family is represented as the ideal family . The Nuclear family is a family which entails of a Mother a Father and two children which is portrayed in various different ways to be the most suitable family structure. The idea of the Nuclear Family being the ideal family was studied and expressed in 1967 by Edmund Leach. However the question in which must be taken into consideration is that is the nuclear family still considered a norm in the society of today despite the fact that family diversity is on the rise. From the perspective of Rapoport and Fogarty, they believe that nuclear families are not the norm anymore for the reason that family diversity has increased and will most likely continue to increase. There were five particular categories of family diversity which were recognised in Britain. One form is organisational diversity which is when division of labour is established within the family and the contrasts in the way differences in the ways family roles are organised. Diversity can be perceived in many ways for instance Cultural diversity which is the religious and ethnic effects. Social class diversity- there are differences between working and middle classes in terms of adult relationships, the socialisation of children etc. Life course diversity, as different stages in the life cycle will...
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...creates citizens who follow capitalistic ideals. Within Kipnis’ essay she only focuses on romantic relationships and believes that adultery is the key to initiating new modes of thinking. In order to create social change, I do not believe committing adultery is the right solution because adultery is an excuse to run away from problems. Taking a closer look at the author’s argument, one can see that the author is not against love. Nowhere in the text does she protest against a mother’s love for her child or the love we have for our friends. Instead, the author challenges ideals about romantic love and the glorification of romantic love within American capitalism. I noticed that Kipnis limits her analysis of...
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...the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks) Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society: the sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions. However, the numbers of nuclear families have fallen due to a rise in family diversity such...
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...Family Values in Australia Today Introduction When family values are invoked, several questions are raised. Does it belong to the right or to the left, in political terms? What is its history? Christian fundamentalists draw on a very particular reading of the Bible and cultural tradition in the West to display their concept of the 'natural family.' Feminist philosophers analyze the symbolic order of Western metaphysics to explain the society’s conception of the family, and the values and expectations the society places on femininity accordingly. Sociologists and other theorists account for the family with reference to social structures and data constantly under review and revision in the West. This paper outlines the current perception of family values. The analysis takes up the question of what the family may (and may not) be today in advanced capitalist countries like Australia, and what might be the political effects of rhetoric of family values. The Current State of Family Values The 21st century has dawned with evolutions and revolutions in the positions of the family in the society. For a long time, the family has been the basic unit of the society. Through the family, empires, and clans have been established with their presence experienced globally. However, the contemporary generation has mixed views on the position of the family. This is as a result of the ambiguity existing in the definition of family resulting to fight...
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...Introduction We all have our own views on what we believe to be family, whether it be the traditional mother, father and children form or the contrasting; two parents of the same sex and adopted children, we all probably would agree that a family consists of people that love each other and adults that rear and prepare children ready for adult life within society. As members of society we have our own individual views as to what constitutes as family, so do sociologists. In this report I will assess the functionalist's sociological theories of the family and introduce other perspectives on the family and show how they differ from the Functionalist perspective, I will concentrate on the conflicting theories of Feminists, Marxists and Postmodernists. Functionalist Perspective Functionalism theory suggests that there is a specific pattern of family organisation corresponding to different types of society. Therefore suggesting there is a particular family form that best suits the conditions of industrial society. Functionalist's believe that the nuclear family replaced the extended families because of industrialisation. Parson claim's the nuclear family is crucial in relation to the socialisation of the young and stabilisation of adult personalities. G P Murdock says: “The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship...
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...the wife’s job in the family, social and emotional support. Instrumental role is men’s role as disciplinary and bread winner for the family. 3) Generational diversity, life stage diversity, social class diversity. Family diversity is the varying types of family’s in society, this is has increased massively in the last 50 years, and sociologist have disagreed if this is having good or bad effects on society. The nuclear family structure has typically been the most popular in modern society, but is now under threat due to the demand of other family structures. Contacts with wider kin (aunts and cousins, for example) are usually infrequent and more likely to involve ‘impersonal contacts’ such as texting, telephone, facebook or email. For this reason, this family structure is sometimes called an “isolated nuclear” (reflecting its isolation from wider kin or conjugal family. This is a unitary family unit, self-contained unit and they are independent, economically and psychologically. A variation of the nuclear family is the cereal packet family, this is considered the ideal family by functionalists, refers to the image most people hold of the family. It is also the picture of the family that the media tends to present, especially in adverts. The cereal packet family comprises of: Parents Children The woman is a housewife and full time mother and the man is the 'breadwinner' i.e. he is the one who has to go to work to earn money. Extend family has two types: Vertically...
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...to come to a mutual agreement relating to property interests, the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) aims to provide the means by which to reach a ‘just and equitable’ financial outcome. Despite this clearly identified aim set out by the legislation, the Family Law Act has to a certain extent been unsuccessful in achieving this objective, because of its failure to acknowledge the consequences of the sexual division of labour in contemporary society. By reference to the works of various socio-legal scholars and the relevant provisions of the Family Law Act/Marriage Act, this essay will explore the aforementioned failure of the family law in Australia...
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...Family Life in the 21st Century! Family life has become more stressful – two working parents, blended families, single parent homes, adolescent challenges, child safety concerns. Gender roles in relationships have become less defined. Children don’t arrive with an instruction book! Parenting is the only job for which there is no required education or training. Couples often have to balance career goals with personal goals. Older children moving back home and intergenerational relationships profoundly affect families. Research points to creating strong relationships as an essential ingredient for happiness and longevity. Effective communication is a foundation for relationships and is challenged by our instant message, sound byte society. Family Structures The following types of families exist today, with some families naturally falling into multiple categories. For example, a single parent family who lives in a larger, extended family. While these types of families are distinct in definition, in practice the lines are less clear. Nuclear Family The nuclear family is the traditional type of family structure. This family type consists of two parents and children. The nuclear family was long held in esteem by society as being the ideal in which to raise children. Children in nuclear families receive strength and stability from the two-parent structure and generally have more opportunities due to the financial ease of two adults. According to U.S. Census data, almost...
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...The family is a unique part of society, which is found in every country and culture in the world, however some sociologist may say it is impossible to define the family, as there many different forms of family across the world. According to the functionalist sociologist the family is key institution of society, as it performs vital functions for the maintenance of society as a whole and for the benefits of all the individual members, therefore the functionalist believe the society is a useful system made up of different part of sub system that depends on each other such as the family, the education system and the economy. Moreover Functionalists take a consensus view of the role of the family, as they see it as universal institution that performs essentials functions for the society as a whole. Functionalists see society as being like a living organism, made up of many different parts which all perform particular functions. In 1949, George Peter Murdock (functionalist) analysed societies across the world and came up with four basic functions, which he said all families in all societies performed. The first function is the sexual function, meaning that sex outside of marriage is limited in some way, which stabilises the society and can prevent conflict. Secondly, the family fulfils the reproductive function, as it is the main context for children to born and brought up. This is vital for society to continue. The family also fulfils an economic function, either as production or...
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...Asses the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of families and households. (24 marks) A family is hard to define but some of the characteristics of a family are: they live in the same accommodation (although not always), they share their wealth and resources, they socialise their children and prepare them for later life by teaching them skills and also they tend to reproduce children. There is many different types of families: nuclear families, lone parent families and even extended families. The nuclear family is based on two adults of the opposite sex and 1.8 children. Other relatives may be added to create an extended family. If grandparents and even greater grandparents so that there is three or four generations then the family is vertically extended. If the parents have adult brothers and sisters living with them then the family is horizontally extended. A household on the other hand is a group of people who live under the same roof and share certain actions, such as cooking/ eating together but these people are not necessarily related. Examples of households are care homes, foster homes and also student accommodation. Functionalists concern themselves with two main areas: the functions that the family provides its members and the functional relationship between the family and other social system for example the economic system. Functionalists argue society’s structure working together positively for the benefit of that society and this is known as...
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...report investigating family diversity What is a family? Sociologist Brown defined a family as “a group of people who are related by kinship ties: relatives of blood, marriage or adoption” (Brown, 1998). But many people might argue this statement is not right anymore as this only defines a traditional family. There are many different types of family which include Nuclear, Cereal Packet, Extended, Single Parent, and Reconstituted. Over the years family life has become more diverse. There is a lot of evidence that there is no one particular family type in Britain. In this report I will be looking at the impact of diversity on the family; such as Social Class, Ethnicity, Sexuality and cultural differences in relation to family diversity. Types of families The statistics of families in modern Britain show that there is increasing diversity, which in turn suggests that the nuclear family is decreasing in importance. The types of family that are increasing include Lone parent families, Reconstituted families and Extended families. These are the main types of families in the UK. Because of increasing diversity in family life in modern Britain, there are more types of family: Cohabiting and Homosexual. In this section I will look into diverse range of families and household types. “In 2012 there were 18.2 million families in the UK. Of these, 12.2 million consisted of a married couple with children.” (http://www.ons.gov.uk) This family type is called Nuclear Family and is the most common...
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...EVIDENCE THAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT DEAD -MCGLONE – found that unemployment, poverty, community care for the elderly and increasing numbers of young people living at home longer, means that there is a need to family mutual support systems. –nuclear families feel a strong sense of obligation towards extended family in times of family crises. -FINCH –found that in working class are areas, the extended family is still common. Her study pf the East End of London found that adults often live only a few streets away from their close relatives and partners- visit regularly- especially if they have daughters. -MASON (1993)- study of Greater Manchester found that over 90% of the sample had given or received financial help from relatives and almost 60% shared a household with an adult relative other than their parents at some point in their lives. The term MODIFIED EXTENDED FAMILY is used to show how the nuclear family and individuals still have ties to extended kin. EVIDENCE THAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT DEAD -MCGLONE – found that unemployment, poverty, community care for the elderly and increasing numbers of young people living at home longer, means that there is a need to family mutual support systems. –nuclear families feel a strong sense of obligation towards extended family in times of family crises. -FINCH –found that in working class are areas, the extended family is still common. Her study pf the East End of London found that adults often live only a few streets away...
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...МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ ХЕРСОНСЬКИЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ТЕХНІЧНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ КАФЕДРА ТЕОРІЇ ТА ПРАКТИКИ ПЕРЕКЛАДУ Реєстр. № 7/949 - 03.12.09 Методичні вказівки для виконання практичних занять з дисципліни “Основна іноземна мова: усна та писемна практика мовлення (англійська мова )”, для студентів І курсу, напряму підготовки 6.020303 “Філологія” (за професійним спрямуванням “Переклад”) галузі знань 0203 “Гуманітарні науки” Херсон 2009 Методичні вказівки для проведення практичних занять з дисципліни „Основна іноземна мова: усна та писемна практика мовлення (англійська) для студентів І курсу, спеціальності 6.030500 „Переклад”. – Херсон, ХНТУ, 2009р. – 40 стор. Рецензент: к.п.н., доцент Радецька С.В. Укладач: асистент Прокопенко О.А. Обговорено і схвалено на засіданні кафедри теорії і практики перекладу Протокол №___ від “_____” ______________р. Завідувач кафедри _________ Н.В. Возненко Анотація Робота з текстом, виконання завдань до нього, переклад є ефективними для сприйняття й засвоєння іншомовної лексики, граматичних структур, фонетичних явищ, вмінь та навичок перекладу. Основною метою даної методичної розробки є оптимізація процесу вивчення англійської мови...
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...Lone parent families There has been a dramatic Increase in lone parent families During the last century. This has been for multiple reasons including; a reduced stigma on divorce, feminism, a more secularized society and a better image of single parenthood. Lone parent families bring pros and cons depending on which angle you look at. The new right argues that the ‘nuclear family’ is the cornerstone of society and that lone parent families are to blame for societies negatives. They believe that this type of family effects the individual in numerous negative ways such as; underachievement, living below the poverty line, social problems and higher crime rates. However, a major effect of lone parent families is the lack of both role models in the picture. The child misses out usually the farther figure (as most single parent families are headed by the mother) and as a result the usual ‘breadwinner’ is absent which leaves a reliance on the welfare state, and the children miss out on a farther figure which can result in problems in later the later stages of life. However, this cannot be generalized for all lone parent families, and would be inaccurate to do so. In many lone parent families, the absence of the father figure, encourages females to become strong independent women, and have less reliance towards men. Feminists see lone parent families headed by a woman as positive as it does not suppress the mother’s role and expectations as the woman ultimately has to do...
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...fertility clinics are privatized, this means, among other things, that doctors have the right to pick and choose whom they take on as patients. There is no guarantee for gay couples seeking fertility treatment; many couples trying to have a baby are turned away based on how a doctor feels about same sex families. As it stands, no physician or hospital receiving government funding can discriminate against a patient based on his or her race, color, religion or national origin (Appel, 2006). It goes against the human rights of the potential patient to discriminate against them based on their sexual orientation. How do anti gay legislation further conceptualize the idea the nuclear family? Using a Symbolic Interactionist perspective, this paper looks at how gay and lesbian families use family symbols and rituals as strategies to negotiate family identity in interactions with families of origin, social network members, and community institutions, as well as challenge hetero-normative ideologies of family life. Context Increasingly, there has been a rise in non-biological parenting in gay and lesbian families. An increasing number of lesbians and gay males form families with children. In a 2001 census, the first to collect data on same sex partnership, found that 34,000 couples identified as same sex common law couples, and 15 percent of female...
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