Key Sociologist Names
Families & Household
The Rapoports: Recognised the increasing family diversity, how the average size of
households is decreasing with the percentage of nuclear families and the increase in
cohabitation, stepfamilies and children born outside of marriage. They categorised
family diversity in a British pluralistic society into 5 types of diversity:
1. Organisational diversity
2. Cultural diversity
3. Social class diversity
4. Life course diversity
5. Generational diversity
Parsons: The nuclear family performs 2 ‘irreducible functions’: primary socialisation
and stabilisation of adult personalities. Men perform the instrumental role whereas
women perform the expressive role.
Chester: Argues the extent and importance of family diversity has been exaggerated
and sees the nuclear family as dominant and has adapted to be the ‘neo-
conventional’ family to suit a modern society. Cohabitation is only a transitional
period – ‘trial marriage’.
Morgan: Argues that the family is more about ‘what people do’ than a concrete
structure. The family therefore has become more diverse as a response to society
becoming more fragmented and the nuclear family no longer being the ‘best fit’. The
boundaries between family, friendships, and other relationships have become
blurred.
Murray: The nuclear family is ‘perfect’ and the growth of family diversity causes
social problems like increased crime rates, educational failure, and increased
benefits having to go out to single parent families.
Mitchell & Goody: Since the 1960s there has been a rapid decline in the stigma
attached to divorce, as the stigma declines, divorces incline because they become
more socially acceptable.
Fletcher: The development of a welfare state supports the family in performing its
functions more effectively. Approves of the support of the state and see the state’s
role as offering help and progress to the family.
Foucault: The state controls the family through social policies, by identifying
‘problem families’ and allocating social workers to control their behaviour through
supervision. Over-surveillance of families is bad.
Wilmott & Young: The symmetrical family (Stage 3) developed post war as self-
sufficient nuclear families replaced kinship networks. Men and women share leisure
time, joint conjugal roles developed, but a division of tasks are still gender based.
Next stage is the asymmetrical family when organisation of the upper classes would
move down to the working classes.
, Oakley: Criticised Young & Wilmott and found, after 40 in-depth interviews with
working class mothers, that the symmetrical family does not exist. The women
claimed housework was ‘my work’ and the men were just an aid – ‘sometimes he’ll
help me to bath them’. Husbands are not regarded as domesticated creatures – ‘I
don’t think it’s a man’s job’ or ‘I don’t think its mannish for a man to stay at home’
Sharpe: In 1972, girls prioritised marriage, jobs, love, husbands, and children,
whereas in the 90s, attitudes had changed, and careers become a much higher
priority.
Silver & Schor: Roles are more symmetrical because housework has become more
‘commercialised’ and women are working.
Dunne: In lesbian relationships there are no such gender scripts, so relationships
are more symmetrical, and both hold each other’s career to the same standard.
Prout & James: ‘The Dominant Framework’ establishes childhood as not a social
construct because…
1. Physical and psychological immaturity in children
2. Children depend on adults
3. Children are not competent to run their own lives
4. Biological maturity in adults
Pilcher: Labour laws, for example, encourage a sense of separateness between
adults and children. Products, places and laws are different for adults and children.
Aries: Our present idea of childhood is a recent construction. Prior to pre-industrial
society, childhood didn’t exist; children were not called children, nor were they
treated as such – ‘small adults’. Due to high mortality rates, children were seen as
economic resources rather than emotional recourses (now).
Wagg: Children all go through the same stages of physical development, but
cultures construct the changes different eg ‘tamyeez’ in Sudan – marriage legal from
when a child can distinquish between right and wrong.
Berger: No children in artwork of the pre-industrial period. There was just babies
and little adults, based on the nature of dress, expressions, and mannerisms.
Shaw: Children in the white majority have their childhood partially constructed by
religious belief and values.
Donzelot: Poor families and children are more likely to be controlled and regulated
by the state, who monitors the quality of parenting and childhood using health
visitors and social workers to prevent the forming of deviant attitudes and delinquent
behaviour.
McHale: Where families have limited budgets, they are more likely to invest in
activities that enhance development for their sons than for their daughters.
Families & Household
The Rapoports: Recognised the increasing family diversity, how the average size of
households is decreasing with the percentage of nuclear families and the increase in
cohabitation, stepfamilies and children born outside of marriage. They categorised
family diversity in a British pluralistic society into 5 types of diversity:
1. Organisational diversity
2. Cultural diversity
3. Social class diversity
4. Life course diversity
5. Generational diversity
Parsons: The nuclear family performs 2 ‘irreducible functions’: primary socialisation
and stabilisation of adult personalities. Men perform the instrumental role whereas
women perform the expressive role.
Chester: Argues the extent and importance of family diversity has been exaggerated
and sees the nuclear family as dominant and has adapted to be the ‘neo-
conventional’ family to suit a modern society. Cohabitation is only a transitional
period – ‘trial marriage’.
Morgan: Argues that the family is more about ‘what people do’ than a concrete
structure. The family therefore has become more diverse as a response to society
becoming more fragmented and the nuclear family no longer being the ‘best fit’. The
boundaries between family, friendships, and other relationships have become
blurred.
Murray: The nuclear family is ‘perfect’ and the growth of family diversity causes
social problems like increased crime rates, educational failure, and increased
benefits having to go out to single parent families.
Mitchell & Goody: Since the 1960s there has been a rapid decline in the stigma
attached to divorce, as the stigma declines, divorces incline because they become
more socially acceptable.
Fletcher: The development of a welfare state supports the family in performing its
functions more effectively. Approves of the support of the state and see the state’s
role as offering help and progress to the family.
Foucault: The state controls the family through social policies, by identifying
‘problem families’ and allocating social workers to control their behaviour through
supervision. Over-surveillance of families is bad.
Wilmott & Young: The symmetrical family (Stage 3) developed post war as self-
sufficient nuclear families replaced kinship networks. Men and women share leisure
time, joint conjugal roles developed, but a division of tasks are still gender based.
Next stage is the asymmetrical family when organisation of the upper classes would
move down to the working classes.
, Oakley: Criticised Young & Wilmott and found, after 40 in-depth interviews with
working class mothers, that the symmetrical family does not exist. The women
claimed housework was ‘my work’ and the men were just an aid – ‘sometimes he’ll
help me to bath them’. Husbands are not regarded as domesticated creatures – ‘I
don’t think it’s a man’s job’ or ‘I don’t think its mannish for a man to stay at home’
Sharpe: In 1972, girls prioritised marriage, jobs, love, husbands, and children,
whereas in the 90s, attitudes had changed, and careers become a much higher
priority.
Silver & Schor: Roles are more symmetrical because housework has become more
‘commercialised’ and women are working.
Dunne: In lesbian relationships there are no such gender scripts, so relationships
are more symmetrical, and both hold each other’s career to the same standard.
Prout & James: ‘The Dominant Framework’ establishes childhood as not a social
construct because…
1. Physical and psychological immaturity in children
2. Children depend on adults
3. Children are not competent to run their own lives
4. Biological maturity in adults
Pilcher: Labour laws, for example, encourage a sense of separateness between
adults and children. Products, places and laws are different for adults and children.
Aries: Our present idea of childhood is a recent construction. Prior to pre-industrial
society, childhood didn’t exist; children were not called children, nor were they
treated as such – ‘small adults’. Due to high mortality rates, children were seen as
economic resources rather than emotional recourses (now).
Wagg: Children all go through the same stages of physical development, but
cultures construct the changes different eg ‘tamyeez’ in Sudan – marriage legal from
when a child can distinquish between right and wrong.
Berger: No children in artwork of the pre-industrial period. There was just babies
and little adults, based on the nature of dress, expressions, and mannerisms.
Shaw: Children in the white majority have their childhood partially constructed by
religious belief and values.
Donzelot: Poor families and children are more likely to be controlled and regulated
by the state, who monitors the quality of parenting and childhood using health
visitors and social workers to prevent the forming of deviant attitudes and delinquent
behaviour.
McHale: Where families have limited budgets, they are more likely to invest in
activities that enhance development for their sons than for their daughters.
