They view the nuclear family
An increase in lone-parent families has
as the ‘cornerstone of society’.
occurred which explains the belief that the
nuclear family is ‘in decline’.
They believe it is very
important for society’s
stability; like a building This leads to usually single mothers and therefore the
needing strong creation of families without fathers; this is not good.
foundation.
They believe In order to meet all of the functions of the family, children
however, that need both parents and boys require a male role model.
the nuclear
family is
‘under The rate of divorce has increased, cohabitation has increased and
threat’. same-sex couples have increased.
Criticisms
All of these changes contribute to a steady decrease in heterosexual,
- Victims are blamed for problems that they two-parent nuclear families which make what the New Right believes
didn’t ask for. to be ‘functional’ married couples.
Many of these problems stem from factors
such as low wages and a lack of jobs.
Family - The
New Right
- Value judgements; The New Right’s view of other family
arrangements being inferior is not necessarily balanced.
What are the consequences?
Who is to say fatherless families are necessarily inferior? - Over generous welfare benefits given to single mothers which
allows father to opt out of their responsibilities for raising and
providing for their children
- Idealised view of the past. The
New Right thinkers may be What are the solutions? - An increase in sexual permissiveness; attitudes have changed
returning back to a golden age of around sex outside of marriage and casual sex.
the family which never - A greater acceptance of same sex
even existed! There are two main solutions to these problems for
the New Right: relationships.
- Families are splitting up and becoming
1. A return to traditional family values
‘Fragmented’ (in parts/separately)
Lifelong marriage and a recognition of the duties and responsibilities of
parenthood.
- This ‘fragmented’ family is no longer
performing the functions effectively. It is
2. A change in government policy
especially failing to provide adequate
Redirecting welfare benefits and social service provision to support and
socialisation.
maintain two-parent families and penalising those who fail to live up to this.
- This can result in children and young
Other significant changes included reduced welfare payments for single mothers, making the process of getting social people underachieving at school and
housing harder for lone parents, making the procedure of divorce more difficult, penalising fathers who don’t financially behaving in antisocial ways ranging
support their children and giving tax breaks to married couples (reward) from rudeness to even crime.