...Applying material from item B and from your knowledge, evaluate the sociological explanations for changes in the divorce rate. There were a total of 118,140 divorces in 2012, a slight increase on 2011, when there were 117,558. Of the 2012 total, almost half of these divorces occurred in the first 10 years of marriage. There were 13 divorces an hour in England and Wales in 2012, Women were granted 65% of all divorces. One in seven divorces was granted as a result of adultery. These are just a few of many trends when it comes to divorce rates. But why is divorce increasing? Well again there are a lot of reason as to why this may be like changing social attitudes causing less stigma to divorce or generally just being unmarried, The attitudes and roles of women are changing and women are becoming more financially independent so they don’t need to marry to have a man to be dependent on financially. Secularisation would be another reason as religion has lost its importance to most in today’s society so there is less importance and rush when it comes to marriage. In the past because of the stigma attached to being unmarried people would just stay in their marriages even though there was no love or properties of what marriage should have, but now that there is less stigma a lot more lone parents have popped up, the government has realised this and has given help to such and this could be another reason why divorce is increasing. Finally, there has always been an importance of sex to...
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...This essay will discuss the sociological imagination (Mills 1959) as a tool to understand that personal troubles can often be caused or influenced by broader issues within society, rather than as a result of the individual. Fundamental to this theory is the difference between personal troubles and public issues in society, as often a distinction is not made between the two. If this contrast cannot be recognised then a sense of entrapment can be felt by the individual. An example of this is the institution of marriage and divorce. If the connection to the societal issues can be seen and perspective on personal troubles changed, this sense of entrapment or guilt can be relieved. Mills stated that the key to the sociological imagination was being able to see the relationship between the personal life of the individual and the wider public issues of society. An individual’s private troubles may occur due to their character, skills and immediate opportunities. Public issues are the result of broad societal flaws, affecting the individual but not caused by them directly (Mills 1959: 8). The distinction between the two is not always seen clearly, and often those that are unable to distinguish this difference are plagued by a feeling of entrapment and feel they are to blame for their situation and are thus falsely conscious of their social position (Mills 1959: 6). The sociological imagination can relieve this feeling as it allows the individual to understand that personal problems...
Words: 578 - Pages: 3
...a whole; “The Sociological Imagination” demonstrates this connection. Mills states “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” The sociological imagination tells us that there is a relationship that exists between Private Troubles and Public Issues which people are often unaware of. Mills explains that the distinction of private troubles and public issues is essential in grasping the sociological imagination. The distinction can be made in that private troubles are personal because of the individuals’ character. Public Issues; however, differ in that they are problems that have come from society and in turn effect the people within that society. The problem which occurs is that an individual often takes on the burden of a society created issue as their own private trouble, often without realising they have done so. An example of this given to us by Mills is marriage and in turn divorce. Individuals often feel that because their marriage is a private relationship the issues which grow within must be their own troubles. However the sociological imagination tells us that with substantial divorce rates, there must be a more logical explanation which is being overlooked. If divorce rates were low, this would indicate personal troubles. However as divorce rates continue to be so high there must therefore be a society based force causing the decline in marriages being sustained. The sociological imagination demonstrates...
Words: 472 - Pages: 2
...Compare and contrast the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist theoretical approaches to the study of society. How does each approach view society, the individual, social order, and social change? Your textbook analyzes sports in terms of various perspectives. Using the analysis of sports as a model, analyze the role of television from the functional, conflict, and interactionist approaches. Sociologists analyze social phenomena at different levels and from different perspectives. From interpretations to sweeping generalizations of society and social behavior, sociologists study everything from specific events; the micro level of analysis of small social patterns, to the big picture; the macro level of analysis of large social patterns. Sociologists today use three theoretical perspectives: the interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical examples for explaining how society influences people, and vice versa. “While the functionalist and conflict approaches were initiated in Europe, interactionism developed first in the United States (p. 15).” Herbert Mead is credited as the founder of the interactionist perspective. The interactionist perspective, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. According to the interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and...
Words: 1328 - Pages: 6
...examiners’ advice to create essay plans of the questions. * You may not have heard of all of the concepts in the mark scheme but there should be at least some that are familiar to you. * The examiner’s advice usually outlines bad, moderate and good answers to the question so pick out the ways in which you can achieve top band and incorporate this into your plan. June 2015 Examine the impact of government policies and laws on family life. [24 marks] From the mark scheme: Concepts and issues such as the following may appear: patriarchy; familism; surveillance; ideological control; gender regimes; marital breakdown; family structure; family diversity; welfare dependency; underclass; reserve army of labour Policies/laws on abortion; divorce; contraception; reproductive technology; marriage; adoption; pensions; benefits; taxes; education; childcare; child protection; sexuality; immigration may be discussed Analysis and evaluation may be developed, for instance by comparing the impact of different policies/laws or by discussing perspectives on social policy and the family (eg New Right, feminist, functionalist etc) From the examiner’s report: The most successful answers were able to identify relevant policies...
Words: 7021 - Pages: 29
...elsewhere assess sociological explanations of changes in the rate of divorce. Divorce means the legal termination of a marriage. The rate of divorce rose rapidly from the 1940s to the 1990s where it has levelled off at a rate of about 40% of marriages end in divorce. Sociological explanations focus on changes to the laws, the role of women, secularisation, changing expectations of marriage, and changes in society itself. Item B suggests that the British marriage pattern is similar to trends in other European countries, especially those that are less religious. This may be explained by the idea that people in religious societies are more likely to stay in empty shell marriages rather than get divorced as this is either impossible or frowned upon by the church. This means that the higher divorce rate may not reflect any change in the level of relationship breakdown but simply the opportunities available to couples to separate when their relationship has failed. Older people tend to stay in empty shell marriages because they don’t want all the hassle of getting a divorce. Secularisation may have had an impact in changes on the law. As religion became less important the state felt it could pass laws to make divorce easier. Some New Right theorists have argued that laws have made it too easy to get a divorce. Indeed, when changes such as the 1948 Divorce Act made it possible to get legal aid the divorce rate shot up, just as it did again in the 1970s when divorce was made possible...
Words: 604 - Pages: 3
... Type: I 2. The scientific study of social behavior and human groups is known as A. psychology. B. political science. C. anthropology. D. sociology. Answer: D Type: D 3. Sociology A. is the scientific study of social behavior and human groups. B. focuses primarily on how social relationships influence people’s behavior. C. focuses on how societies develop and change. D. all of these Answer: D Type: D 4. The awareness that allows people to comprehend the link between their immediate, personal social settings and the remote, impersonal social world is called A. the sociological imagination. B. anthropology. C. a theory. D. verstehen. Answer: A Type: D 5. ____________ is most closely associated with the concept of the sociological imagination. A. Émile Durkheim B. Max Weber C. Karl Marx D. C. Wright Mills Answer: D Type: S 6. A key element in the sociological imagination is the ability to view one’s own society A. from the perspective of personal experience. B. from the perspective of cultural biases. C. as an outsider. D. as an insider. Answer: C Type: I 7. A sociologist observing behavior at a college football game would probably focus on A. what books the coach of the team has read during the past year. B. a “fan” who has fallen...
Words: 4557 - Pages: 19
...Divorce in the United States Tajaunna Pope Sociology Professor Darcy Schiller 3/19/14 Divorce or “dissolution of marriage” is a legal process in which a judge or other authority of the court breaks the bonds of matrimony between couples. This restores them to being single and able to remarry another individual. U.S. divorce rates are the highest in the world. There isn’t any data to show why divorce rates are higher than other countries. In the United States, researchers estimate that 40-50% of all first marriages end in divorce, and second marriages follow by 60%. Studies show that there are many factors that are associated with the increasing prevalence of divorce: lack of commitment, changes in laws, changes in gender roles, the media, and the changing views of divorce – just to name a few. These are just a few, but I think these are at the top of list. Lack of commitment is one of the most common reasons for divorce. Besides love, there are other reasons to stay married. In today’s society, once the love is gone, the marriage ends. It used to be about raising the children and providing a foundation for them, as well as financial security. The importance of this has diminished. Past generations used to endure a lot more in their marriages then the current generations. Working to save your marriage seems to be a thing of the past. Today, it seems much easier to quit and move on to the next best thing. Couples are lazy and feel they shouldn’t have to work for their marriage...
Words: 740 - Pages: 3
...burden’ to describe the woman’s role in the family today. Item 2B Government policies and laws include tax and benefit policies as well as legislation such as relating to divorce and marriage. Sociologists have different views on the impact of these policies and laws on families. For example, feminists argue that social policies assume that the ideal family is a patriarchal nuclear family, and that government policies and laws therefore favour this sort of family. On the other hand, the New Right argue that the benefit system undermines traditional nuclear families by actively encouraging lone parents. 0 6 Explain what is meant by the ‘dual burden’ (Item 2A). (2 marks) 0 7 Explain the difference between the expressive role and the instrumental role (Item 2A). (4 marks) 0 8 Suggest three ways in which the differences between children and adults are becoming less clear in society today. (6 marks) 0 9 Examine the reasons for, and the effects of, changes in family size over the past 100 years or so. (24 marks) 1 0 Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess sociological views of the impact of government policies and laws on family life. Item 2A Over the past 40 years or so, there has been a decline in the number of first marriages in the United Kingdom. One of the reasons for this decline is the change in the role of women in society. In order to develop their careers, women may be rejecting the notion of marriage altogether and remaining single. Over the same period...
Words: 5042 - Pages: 21
...What is sociology? ------------------------------------------------- Sociology is a thing, which if it didn’t exist, would have to be invented… ------------------------------------------------- Leonard Broom (2005, p. 210) If you’re new to sociology, and trying to get your head around exactly what it entails, you probably haven’t realised that you’ve encountered it many times already. Sociological analysis features regularly in media commentary and public debate. One sociologist noted “ours has become an age pervaded by sociology’ and sociological concepts have ‘drifted into our everyday language.’ Robert Merton 1981, p. 42. This familiarity with the subject matter of sociology – we are all members of society and thus by definition, should be automatic experts on the topic – can too often lead to the dismissal of the sociological enterprise as mere common sense. Yet, it is much more than that. Sociology involves a methodical study of human behaviours and societies. It is the study of the relationship between the individual and society, investigating how human thought, action and interaction shapes and is shaped by society, or how ‘we create society at the same time as we are created by it’. As sociologists, we need to view our own society as an outsider would. As sociologists, we need to view our own society as an outsider would. Questions: 1. Imagine you are looking through the telescope at our society. In your own words, how would...
Words: 1165 - Pages: 5
...What is sociology? ------------------------------------------------- Sociology is a thing, which if it didn’t exist, would have to be invented… ------------------------------------------------- Leonard Broom (2005, p. 210) If you’re new to sociology, and trying to get your head around exactly what it entails, you probably haven’t realised that you’ve encountered it many times already. Sociological analysis features regularly in media commentary and public debate. One sociologist noted “ours has become an age pervaded by sociology’ and sociological concepts have ‘drifted into our everyday language.’ Robert Merton 1981, p. 42. This familiarity with the subject matter of sociology – we are all members of society and thus by definition, should be automatic experts on the topic – can too often lead to the dismissal of the sociological enterprise as mere common sense. Yet, it is much more than that. Sociology involves a methodical study of human behaviours and societies. It is the study of the relationship between the individual and society, investigating how human thought, action and interaction shapes and is shaped by society, or how ‘we create society at the same time as we are created by it’. As sociologists, we need to view our own society as an outsider would. As sociologists, we need to view our own society as an outsider would. Questions: 1. Imagine you are looking through the telescope at our society. In your own words, how would you describe the society...
Words: 1165 - Pages: 5
...1. 1.The Sociological perspective What is Sociology? Sociology is the scientific study of human society & social behavior. 2. What is Sociology? * It focuses primarily on the influence of social relationships upon people’s attitudes and behavior and on how societies are established and change. * The ultimate aim of sociology as summed up by Samuel Koenig is “ to improve man’s adjustment to life by developing objective knowledge concerning social phenomena which can be used to deal effectively with social problems.” 3. The Sociological Perspective * 1. The sociological perspective is important because it provides a different way of looking at familiar worlds. It allows us to gain a new vision of social life. * 2. This perspective stresses the broader social context of behavior by looking at individuals’ social location, employment, income, education, gender, age, and race –and by considering external influences –people’s experiences –which are internalized and become part of a person’s thinking and motivations. (cont…) 4. * We are able to see the links between what people do and the social settings that shape their behavior. * 3. The sociological perspective enables us to analyze and understand both the forces that contribute to the emergence and growth of the global village and our unique experiences in our own smaller corners of this village. 5. Subject Matter of Sociology * Sociological analysis:...
Words: 2750 - Pages: 11
...Sociological Perspective and conflict approach Sociological perspective can be defined as seeing the general in the particular. It can be also described as a frame that shapes how people behave in society or interacting with diversity people, and how we are categorized in various ways, such as children and adults, women and men, the rich and poor. Each of people is supposed to do different affairs in their lives as it matches them. And one of the sociological theories is called conflict approach, meaning that explains about inequality between such as women and men and black and white, so on. For instance, in the past of South Korea or other many of countries as well, there was intense inequality of between women and men in getting a job. Women used to be only in charge of doing house work, and they were not able to do anything else without permit from a head of family, which is why many of people still regard women to do more house work than men do. This representative example can be conflict approach in social perspective of how we look at women in our society. And although it seems to be non-changeable the society perspective, there are a lot of factors that changes the sociological perspective of how people behave in our society. Particularly, when it comes to recession, it seem to be more remarkable changes in the behavior of people life, For example, if it happened to come recession into country, it can also change of the social perspective that people become more pessimistic...
Words: 1200 - Pages: 5
...Sociological Imagination Nicole Badders Galen College of Nursing Professor Sanjay Sociological Imagination Social Imagination is defined as the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces (Conley, 2012, 5). C.Wright Mills’s theory was thought to help us connect what happens to us on a personal level to what is happening to society as a greater whole. This concept can be seen as a way to also help us realize we are not alone in our struggles and decisions. I will be using this concept and applying it to a situation that I went through almost twelve years ago, when I married my husband just two weeks after I graduated high school. Personal Explanation I come from a somewhat religious background. I was always taught that you do not live with someone of the opposite sex unless you are married, you do not have sex before marriage and that you respect your parents. All these things and more caused me to make decisions that I might otherwise not have if I had been able to be a little freer to think for myself. When I was fifteen we moved from San Antonio, TX, where I was attending a huge high school to Boerne, TX where I was thrown into what I would call a culture shock of a high school. The high school I had previously been attending had so many students that no one really knew anyone. The new high school was very small and everyone knew everyone, so walking onto campus everyone knew...
Words: 1630 - Pages: 7
...Examine the reasons for the changes in the patterns of marriage In the last 30 years, the British society has experienced many changes affecting the family. There have been changes in attitudes to and expectations of family life, as well as official changes such as government legislation. Society has been affected by feminism, which has led to increased awareness of women’s rights and freedoms, as well as postmodernism and secularisation. The changes resulting have affected marriage rates, which are decreasing, and more people are now marrying later in life and more than once. More people are choosing to cohabit, either before or instead of marrying, and this is becoming increasingly common in young couples. Divorce rates have also increased in the last 30 years, following changes in legislation and attitudes. As society’s view of a ‘conventional family’ has changed over the last 30 years, the acceptable norms have widened. In the past, an unmarried woman would be looked down on, as it was expected that women would marry and invest their time in raising a family. If they didn’t, it could be presumed that could they couldn’t find a willing partner, or that there was something wrong with them. Although 95.1% of British women still marry before they are 49, it has become more acceptable to choose not to get married, and rather than being looked down on, single women are more likely to be viewed as strong, focussed, and independent. This means there is less pressure on...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
