Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Families and Households
- Couples
- DDOL
- Parsons- instrumental
and expressive roles
based on biology-
natural
- Bott- two types of conjugal
roles- segregated and
joint- support for the
segregated being the most
common in Bethnal green
in the 1950's ( Young and
Wilmott)
- Young and Willmott-symmetrical
family- march of progress due to the
changes in the women's position,
geographical mobility, new
technology,higher standards of living
- Feminist View- reject the march of
progress inequalities still exist,
these stem from family and society
being male dominated, Ann Oakley
claims Young and Willmott's claims
are exaggerated
- Stats that show men are now
doing more housework however
this is more likely to be childcare
and there are still huge
differences
- Women are x30 more likely
to have been the last one to
have done the washing up
- car maintenance and DIY
are the only chores that
men spend more time on
- Oakley- industrialisation led to
women being excluded from the
workplace when it became
disassociated from the home, since
the 20th century more women are
working but still have the main
homemaker role
- Has paid work made an impact on this?
- Man Yee Kan- yes- every 10,000
increase in pay, 2hrs less housework a
week (not a big amount, still)
- Gershuny- yes- gradual change in values,
equality lawsand parental role models- stats
in support
- commercialisation of housework-yes-
technology and women working means they
can afford it
- The Dual burden-no- they are working
but still have the homemaker role so
have dual burden
- Emotion work -no- triple shift means that
women have paid work, house and
emotional work
- Dunne -no - due to strong gender scripts for
relationships, this does not occur in lesbian
relationships due to the lack of gender script
(however if one partner earns lots more)
- Resources and Decision making- Who
makes the Decisions?
- Kempson- in low income
families women forgo own
need for children
- Edgell- very important, important and less
important decisions
- Graham- found that lone parents on benefits
are better off when they are married
- Pooling and allowance systems- Pahl
and Vogler- pooling more common for
both working parents but men make
important decisions
- Domestic Violence
- Feminist view- Patriarchal
society, women are for
venting anger- can explain
come patterns but not others
- Wilinson/marxist view- can explain
the patterns that feminism can't but
not why it is mostly men against
women - a result of stress caused by
unequal capitalist society
- Childhood
- Childhood is a social construct
because it varies over time and
across cultures
- Jane Pilcher-Western notion is
'separateness'- golden age of
happiness and innocence- completely
separate to adulthood- protected and
provided for
- cross cultural differences in childhood-
childhood is not fixed - children in similar
non-industrial societies are treated
differently:
- They take responsibility at an early age (as
shown in Punch's study of Bolivian
children- responsibility the home and the
community
- Less value is placed on
children showing obedience to
authority (as shown by Firth's
study of the Western Pacific,
doing what an adult says is up
to the child not a right of the
adult)
- children's sexual behaviour is viewed
differently ( as shown by Malinowski -
interest and tolerance of children's
sexual exploitations in the Trobriand
Islands
- Historical differences in childhood
- Aries- in the middle ages childhood didn't exist, they were
treated like mini adults once they were no longer
dependent infants. They had the same responsibilities and
punishments as the adults, Evidence for this came from
paintings from this this time period that depicts children
working and wearing the same clothes. ( what are the
problems with using such paintings as evidence?)
- Criticism: some sociologists claim
childhood was there it was just different
- Shorter- high infant mortality encouraged
indiffernce and neglect towards children-
parents referred to children as 'it' and may
have given babies the same name as a dead
sibling
- Aries- from the 13th century onwards children
emerged- schools specialised in teaching the
young, children were seen as fragile, growing
distinction between adults and children clothing
and by the 18th century handbooks for
childrearing were available. The 20th century was
'the century of the child'
- Has the position of children improved?
- Yes- March of Progress- Aries and
Shorter- it is better than it has ever been,
children are more valued,better
educated, have more rights and enjoy
better health. Family has become child
centred;parents invest financially and
emotionally in children and involve
them in decisions
- Yes- Healthcare and living
standards mean infant mortality
rate is much lower
- Yes- Smaller family sizes-
more money and time spent
on them - £186,000 by 21st
birthday
- Yes-society is child
centred - media,
leisure etc.
- Yes- Adult control is
justified in order to
safeguard children
- No- Conflict View- the opposite is
an idealised imaged which ignores
important inequalities- adults and
society now oppress children and
keep them dependent on others
- No- Gitten's- age
patriarchy-
inequality between
children and adults
- No- Inequalities between children and adults
remain- neglect and abuse (childline 20,000
calls a year), control over time and space (road
safety and stranger danger less children
allowed to walk home from school on their
own, control over daily routine- school,
homework, play etc) control over bodies ( don't
pick your nose,wear your sun hat etc) control
over children's access to resources (benefits to
parents not children, pocket money, not
allowed to work)
- Is Childhood Disappearing?
- Yes- Postman-
'disappearing at a
dazzling speed' due to
fall of print culture and
replacement by TV
culture- middle ages,
19th century then now
- Yes- Children
committing adult crimes,
wearing adult clothes
watching adult TV,
leisure activities etc
- Yes- Children have
more rights now so
are becoming more
equal to adults-
custody cases etc
- Yes- Falling birth and
death rates means we
have an aging
population with less
children so it could be
literally disappearing
- No- Opie- lifetime of
research into childhood
games- shows there is a
continued existence of a
separate 'childhood'
- No- still remain subjects to
adult authority even tough
they have more right
- No- Globalisation- western nation of
inequality between children and adults are
spreading across the world- campaigns
against child labour, making children
dependent and oppressed by adults
- No- Extension of compulsory and post-
compulsory education has made young
children dependent for longer
- No- Fewer children mean that they
become more valued and the
childhood stage becomes even more
'separate'
- No- children's rights, laws
education acts- means it is
still a protected time for
them, smoking, drinking,
working, Education Act,
Children Act, Every Child
Matter
- No- control over bodies control over children's
access to resources (benefits to parents not
children,pocket money, not allowed to work)
- No- control over bodies control over children's
( road safety and stranger danger less children
allowed to walk home from school on their
own, control over daily routine- school,
homework, play etc.
- Toxic Childhood- Sue Palmer- it is
getting worse- junk food, computer
games, lack of social skills, emphasis
on testing in school, parents working
long hrs etc. UK Youth are near the
top for: obesity, self- harm, drug and
alcohol abuse, violence, early sexual
experience and teenage pregnancy.
- Perspectives Of The Family
- Functionalists
- Society is based on
consensus- shared norms
and values allows us to
meet societies needs
- Society is made up of
different sub systems (such as
the family) that depends on
each other, they all need to
work for society to run
smoothly if one changes they
all need to adapt (biological
analogy). Family is the building
block of this society.
- Parsons- pre-industrialisation ( extended
family for workforce and feeding / clothing)
with industrailisation came a loss of
functions now the family only needs to
perform primary socialisation of children
and the stabilisation of adult personalities.
For that a nuclear family is the best fit
because it is geographically and social
mobile.
- Evaluation/ criticism- the nuclear family
was most common in pre- industrialisation
society due to late childbearing and short
life expectancy (grandparents not alive),
the extended family did not die out with
industrailisation, it is still around today (
maybe living separately but still support
network)
- Murdock- The family performs four
functions for society: Stable
satsisfaction of sex drive,reproduction
of the next generation, socialisaton of
the young, meeting it's members
economic needs
- Evaluation/ Criticism- other institutions
could perform these functions
- Evaluation, rose tinted glasses
- Marxists
- Capitalist society is based on an unequal conflict
between two social classes, all societies institutions
including family help to maintain this inequality
- Inheritance of Property- the key factor determining
inequality in society. As forces of production
developed so did private property and wealth, the
need to pass down the wealth led to families.
Women are in nuclear families merely to produce
children they will only be freed when capitalism ends
and the family is abolished as wealth does not need
to be passed down.
- Ideological Functions- family helps to spread the ruling
class ideology that inequality between classes is
justified and natural. The family socialises children into
understanding hierarchy and accepting orders from
those above them. They also believe that the family
acts as a haven from the exploitation and alienation of
the workforce
- Unit of Consumption- capitalist society
is kept going by the ruling class making
a profit from exploiting the working class.
In order for this to happen they need to
sell products, the family acts as an
agent to push the selling of products-
pester power, keeping up with the
Joneses, not wanting children to be left
out/tease- encourages spending money.
- Evaluation/ criticism- it ignores the
benefits of family
- Feminists
- The family oppresses women via unpaid labour
in the home and the threat of violence, it is
created by the patriarchal society to benefit men
- Liberal- want equality for women and an end to
discrimination, they believe that we are moving towards
this with acts such as 1975 sex discrimination act, but we
need further movements in order to be a fully equal
society- March of Progress- men are doing more around
the house. HOWEVER other feminists argue that this
approach doesn't explain the cause of oppression.
- Marxist- women are oppressed in the family as a result of
capitalism, they reproduce and socialise the next
generation of workers into the ideology of capitalism, they
absorb the anger from men that results from the alienation
and exploitation of capitalism and they are a reserve
workforce army (available for cheap labour but can be let
go when they are no longer needed)
- Radical- family keeps a patriarchal society and keeps
women oppressed, men are the enemy and they exploit
women sexually and through the division of domestic
labour. The only way forward is separatism, wives in
nuclear families are 'sleeping with enemy'. This approach
can be criticised as it fails to recognise improvements
that have occurred.
- Difference- other approaches fail to
recognise that you cannot generalise
all women's experiences with in the
family- race, class etc. all affect
women's experience of the family
- Criticisms of all approaches- all approaches
assume the nuclear family is the dominant family
and they ignore diversity. They all claim the family
is passive and has no choice in the role the family
plays in society or their own lives, other approaches
such as post-modern believe family members have
more active choice in this.
- Demography
- Births + Immigration = Increase in population size
Deaths +Emmigration = Decrease in Populaton size
- Immigration= movement into an area
Emigration = movement out of an area
- Net Migration= the difference between the two
- Total Fertility Rate: the average
number of children, women have
in their fertile years (15-44), this
has risen slightly since 2001 but
is still much lower than in this
past.
- Birth Rate: number of births
per 1000 of the population per
year, there has been a long
term decline in the UK since
1900 but there have been a
few fluctuations- post war,
1960's baby boom.
- Why it is Decreasing?
- women are remaining
childless and are having
children later
- Changes in the position of
women- (legal, attitudes, paid
employment, feminism,
educational, abortion, divorce-
resulting in more than one
opportunity for women)
- Decline in the infant mortality rate- (number of
infants who die before their first birthday) so
need to have less to ensure survival of
children. This is a result of improved
sanitation, better nutrition, better knowledge of
hygiene, improved services for mothers, less
mothers working , medical improvements
such as immunisaton.
- Children are an economic liability-
laws banning working and changing
norms- financial pressures put people
off £186,000 until 21
- Child centeredness- unique time,
separatness etc. quality not quantity
of children
- Effects of this: more women are likely to work
as they have smaller families to look after
creating more dual earning families, dependency
ratio number of younger working population is
decreasing meaning there are less to provide
taxes etc. to cover the older dependent
populations pensions etc. however children are
also dependents so less children reduce the
dependency ratio.
- Improved nutrition- changed
number of TB and resistance
of infection
- Medical Improvements -
antibiotics, immunisation,
midwifery, maternity services,
by-pass surgery
- Public Health measures
and environmental
improvments-
hoiousing, food, water,
clean air, etc
- Social changes- decline of dangerous
occupations (mining), smaller fmailies
reduce rate of transmission of illness,
greater public knowledge of causes,
higher incomes.
- Death Rate: number of deaths per 1000 of the population
per year, number of deaths has remained the same but the
population is increasing so rate is going down, declined since
the 1900- flucuation due to the wars. Main cause of death
used to be infectious disease (smallpox etc) it has now been
replaced by 'diseases of affluence' heart disease etc
- Life Expectancy- for males in 1900 it was 50 and in
2007 it was 77, key reason is change in infant
mortality rate, reigional and class differences still
remain, Northerners, scotish an dloer classes have
the lowest.
- the aging population- due to the fact that
their are fewer younger people and more
older people
- Due to and ageing population it causes problems within
society like : strain on services, increase in one person
pensioner households , the dependency ratio has been
offset as there are more old dependent than children, the
social construct of 'aging as a problem' and social policy
has been strained as more old people means more
accomodation and this has helped to rise retirement age
- Patterns
- Most 20th century
population grew naturally-
more births than deaths
- Until the 1980's more people
were emigrating than
immigrating
- Until the war the Irish were the biggest group
of immigrants to this country (for economic
reasons), followed by Eastern European Jews
fleeing persecution and those of British decent
very few were non-white.
- In the 1950's black immigrants
from the Caribbean begin to arrive
followed by South Asians in the
1960's and 70's this led to more
diverse society- in 2001 7.9% of
the population were minority ethnics
- 1962- 1990- sever restrictions on
non-white immigration, EU settlers
made up the majority
- Since the 1900's most people emigrate to USA
and old commonwealth countries (Australia etc)
- Key reasons are economic (push factors such as
recession and pull factors such as more jobs)
- Due to birth rate decreasing without
immigration our population would be
shrinking
- Passage schemes led to a lot of emigration, particularly to
old commonwealth countries they paid part or all costs of
migration- £10 pomes, etc. in order to boost population of
these countries
- Recently there has been increasing numbers of immigration and
emigration, 2004 was the highest net inflow of people since 1991,
key reason was expansion of the EU to include ten new member
states- 4/5 of the increase came from these countries Poland,
majority coming in and out of the country were young (studying
and work)
- Effects of patterns- dependency ratio-
immigrants are mainly working age meaning
they bring dependency ratio down however
immigrant women tend to have more children
and are of childbearing age therefore they bring
it down again- complex relationships
- Internal Migration- it is important to also look at
migration within the UK, during the industrial
revolution there was a population shift from the
South to the North for industrial jobs- rural to
urban. During the 20th century these industries
began to decline and new industries developed
causing a shift southwards, recently this shift has
moved to London and the Southeast with the
emergence of city jobs.
- Changing Family Patterns
- Increase in divorce- doubled from 1961-1969
and again to 1972, peaked in 1993 and is
slightly falling, 40% of marriages will end in
divorce, increase in number of petitions coming
from women- big change. More likely to divorce if
they had a child before marriage or if thye have
been married before. Other solutions such as a
legal separation, desertion and empty shell
marriage are now less popular.
- Reasons for increase in divorce
- Changes in the law- makes it
easier to obtain( equalising and
widening the grounds for divorce,
making it cheaper)
- Declining stigma and changing attitudes
- Secularisation- religion has less influence on society
now, those with the lowest levels of divorce are those
who have a strong religious backgrounds
- Rising expectations of marriage-
functionalist's claim this comes from the
ideology of love ans romance, if love
dies there is no point in marriage, it is no
longer seen as a binding contract but a
relationship of fulfilment. Functionalists
still see positively- most people still get
married and get remarried if they divorce.
Feminists say this ignores female
oppression.
- Changes in the position of women-
improvements in their economical positions
means they are less dependent on men.
More likely to be in paid work, equal pay
and discrimination laws narrow the pay gap,
greater success in education gets them a
better job, welfare means they don't need a
husband. Feminists criticise this is as they
claim not enough change has happened
yet. Role of feminism.
- Dual roles- feminists claim due to paid work and
housework it creates a new conflict between spouses
and leads to divorce.
- Changing patterns of
parnternships
- Marriage- fewer people marry, half the number from 1970, people marry later,less
marry in church. Reasons are the same as divorce, but also divorce puts people
off marriage and reason for the number of remarriages is because of the number
of divorces.
- Cohabitation- over 2 million in the UK, double now than 1986 will double again
by 2021. Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage, career,
secularisation. Doesn't always mean it is instead of marriage, for some it is a
step before marriage.
- Same Sex relationships- 5-7% of the population have same sex relationships,
is this really an increase? Could just be that people feel confident to 'come
out' now. Social acceptance, stigma, laws of consensual age, civil partnership
act, adoption, chosen families. However, some wish to retain their 'difference'
status.
- One- person Households- account for 3/10 households, half are
pension age, pensioner one person families have doubled since the
60's and non-pensioner one person households have trembled. Males
are most likely to live alone. Result of divorce- children stay with
mother, decline in marriage means more are living single, 'creative
singlehood', deliberate choice or not enough partners. Some are just
living apart together
- Meaning of increase
- The New Right- it is undesirable as
it undermines traditional nuclear
family and leaves boys without a
male role model- causes societies
problems
- Feminists- desirable- women
are breaking from the
oppression of patriarchal society
- Post Modernists- gives
individuals the choice and
freedom
- Functionalists- does not prove that
marriage is under threat, people still
remarry, can be a step before marriage
etc
- Interactionalists- means
different things to be different
people- different experiences
- Changing patterns of childbearing
and child rearing: 4/10 are born
outside of marriage, women are
having children later, having fewer of
them and more are remaining
childless
- Reasons for changing patterns of child
bearing and child rearing: see reasons for
increase in cohabitation and divorce,
changing position of women and decrease
in birth rate
- Lone Parent Families- 24% of all families, 90%
headed by women, biggest group is never
married mothers, child from these families are
more than twice as likely to be in poverty than
those with two parents. Increased due to
increase in divorce and separation, stigma,
secularisation etc. Mostly women headed as
expensive, custody, limit parental involvement.
Cashmore- working mothers chose this route for
welfare.
- New Right- ( Charles Murray) and Lone Parent
Families: over generous welfare state created
a 'perverse incentive' that rewards
irresponsible behaviour thus creating a
dependency culture, the answer is to abolish
welfare. This view is strongly criticised as
welfare is far from generous: lack of
affordable childcare, inadequate benefits,
most are women who earn less and failure of
fathers to pay maintenance.
- Step Families 10% of families with children most have
children from women's previous relationship, similar to
nuclear families in all aspects but are at greater risk of
poverty, face problems with loyality and contact with
parents, difference of experience in these families they
are not all the same.
- Ethnic Differences
- Black Caribbean and African- people have a higher rate of lone parent (female headed)
families, higher than any other ethnicity. Linked to slavery (male was removed from
family), high rates of unemployment in black males (making them unable to provide).
These views have been criticised as some see it as a result of the high value place on
independence by black women. Similarly the statistics may actually be misleading-
these women are actually in supportive non- cohabiting relationships.
- Asian- larger family sizes then average and sometimes
contains 3 generations though mostly they are nuclear. Larger
households are a result of more people at childbearing age.
Large sizes could be due to value placed on extended family
but also practical reasons such as support and a house for
immigration.
- Is the Extended Family extinct
- Yes- Charles- Swansea- classic three
generation family all living under
the same roof is all but extinct
- Yes- Parsons/functionalists- extended
family disappeared with industrialisation
due to functions it needs to fulfil for
society. Now it is just nuclear.
- Extended family continues to play a part an important
role for many people today providing both practical and
emotional support, however this family is very different
to the extended family that parsons discussed- nether
the less obligation still remains strong.
- No- Charles- Swansea- Exception
with Bangladeshi families
- No- it may have declined but not
disappeared, Willmott suggests it
continues to exist as a dispersed
extended family- support is still strong-
phone etc
- No- Chamberlain- Caribbean families in the UK-
geographically dispersed but provide lots of
support of each other, multiple nuclear families-
close and frequent contact between siblings,
cousins etc particularly with childbearing.
- No- Chamberlain- it survives
because it performs important
functions for members.
- No-Bell- middle class financial help
from father to son, working class more
domestic help from mothers to
daughters.
- No- Charles- contact stays high between
mothers and daughters all their lives- more
expected with females than males.
- Family Diversity
- Is their family diversity in our society
and is it a good or bad thing?
- Chester- Neo- conventional family- nuclear family has not
disappeared but has changed into the neo-conventional family it
is not a problem to society. It is similar to Young and Wilmott's
symmetrical family with dual earning and equal DDOL. Most
people still aspire to be in a nuclear family but due to later
settling, cohabite first. Although births outside marriage are on the
increase most of these children are brought up by two parents. It is
all an exaggeration.
- Bad- Functionalists- Parsons- family needs to perform
certain functions, a nuclear family is the best family type
to fulfill these functions so diversity is a bad thing- nuclear
family is best for geographical and social mobility.
Instrumental and expensive roles. This keeps society
stable; other family types cannot fulfill these functions so
society will not run smoothly if diversity increases.
- Bad- New Right- firmly opposed to diversity, only one correct
type of family- married couples with children with distinct male
and female roles. This is natural based on biology; family is
the cornerstone of society. The decline of the traditional
nuclear family and increase in diversity is the cause of
society is the cause of social problems such as crime rate.
Greater risks of poverty, educational, failure, crime and health
problems for children born to unmarried couples. Marriage is
the essential basis for bringing up children. Lone parents are a
threat to children; they cannot discipline properly and place a
burden on welfare. A mother working is wrong, caring for family
should be first priority. Harry Benson- family breakdown is
higher with unmarried parents. They oppose taxes and welfare
state saying it acts as an incentive- dependency culture and
discouraging men from supporting their families.
- Good- life course analysis- flexibility and variation in people's family
lives- choices and decisions that they make, these vary from person
and in-depth interviews must be used to understand such choices.
- Good- Rapoports- five types of diversity in our society
-CLOGS- culture, life- stage, organisational,
generational,social class
- Good- New Right and Functionalists- ideas have
been criticised by feminists such as Anne Oakley
as they claim roles are not based on biology, and
that the nuclear family keeps women oppressed
and dependent on men. There is also a question as
to whether there is any evidence that lone parent
families form part of a dependency culture or that
children from such families are more likely to be
delinquent.
- Good- Family Practices- describe the
routine of actions, our practices are
influenced by the beliefs that we hold
about our obligations to the family.
Family is not clear cut, the movement
towards kinship showed family / non
family is becoming blurred.
- Good- Giddens- greater choice and more equal
relationships between men and women because:
contraception- reproduction is not the main reason for
relationship and independence for women through work
and feminism. Pure relationship- they meet each
other's needs and satisfy / are attracted to each other
rather than being together for duty or tradition.
However, he does acknowledge that they become less
stable.
- Good- Beck -risk society- tradition has
less influence and people have more
choice, we are thus more aware of
risks. Patriarchal family has been
undermined by: greater gender equality
and greater individualism. This has led
to a negotiated family-equal basis.
- Good- Stacey- greater choice has
benefited women as it has enabled
them to free themselves from
patriarchal oppression and meet their
own needs. Divorce extended
families- female dominated-
ex-in-laws or ex wife and new partner.
Based on choices and what fits.
- Good- Weeks- Long term shift in
attitudes,sexual morality is a
matter of choice, the church and
state have also lost most of their
power in morality. However most
still marry, if divorce- remarry so
some tradition remains.
- Social Policy
- Policies that affect the
family (even if they are not
directly related)
- Key examples of policies- China's
One child Policy, Nazi Germany,
Russian 'abolish the family'
- Perspectives Of Policies
- Functionalist- society is built on harmony
and consensus (shared values), free from
conflict, the state acts for society as a
whole and social policies are good for all.
Family policies help the family to fulfill
their functions effectively and make it
better for their members. Fletcher-
introduction of health, education and
housing policies in the years since
industrial revolution help families to
perform their functions- NHS means the
family is better able to take care of
individuals when they are sick. Criticism-
do all members of the family benefit?
March of Progress making family better
and better but this isn't always the case
(cutting of welfare and benefits)
- New Right- nuclear family with traditional DDOL can
take care of its members therefore social policy
should not undermine this natural family. They
criticise many policies for undermining self reliance
of the family such as welfare or housing for unmarried
mothers. Murray- we reward irresponsibility or
antisocial behaviour with a 'perverse incentive',
fathers see their families will be supported by the
state, council houses encourage teen pregnancy,
lone parents encouraged by welfare- lack of paternal
authority causes problems for society and encourages
self reliance. They believe the state should advocate
policies to support the traditional nuclear family- tax
credits that favour, child support, making absent
fathers pay. The less the state interferes in family the
better (disagree with functionalists). Criticised by
feminists as it is trying to keep the patriarchal family
where women are oppressed, is patriarchy natural.
Cutting benefits = more poverty. Conservative.
- New Labour- support traditional family, favours a
strengthening of the institution of marriage as it is
best for bringing up children and has cut some lone
parent funding. BUT they take a positive view on
social policy, some interventions can improve life in
families: adoption (right to adopt is the same for
non-married and homosexual couples), welfare,
taxation and minimum wage (lifting families and
children out of poverty). Means testing means only
low income gets.
- Feminism- conflict view- society is patriarchal and benefits
men at women's expense, policies just widen the inequality in
DDOL and women's subordination. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
(social policy is based on what family they see as normal
then the policies reinforce this family type therefore it then
becomes normal). Social policies assume the patriarchal
(roles) nuclear family is ideal therefore social policies
reinforce patriarchal relationships making it difficult to live in
different family types. Tax and benefit policies assume
husbands are main wage-earners and wives are dependent
on them (reinforces women's dependence on men). Even
when policies appear to support women they are really
keeping them oppressed (maternity leave, child benefit,
welfare etc. to women to keep children that is her role).
Familistic (women should be dependent on me) and
individualistic (separate entitlement to state welfare) gender
regimes- we are moving to individualistic.
- Marxism- society is split into capitalist and workers, all
institutions help to maintain class inequality and
exploitation. Family polices do not benefit all members of
society equally, policies serve capitalism. Policies that do
help the lower class are due to struggle however there is
not a steady March of Progress towards better welfare
policies and any positive policies are easily lost. Most
policies benefit capitalist class.
- Donzelot- policy is a form of state power over families,Foucault's
surveillance concept- power can be found in all relationships and
interactions. Social workers, health visitors and doctors use their knowledge
to control and change families. problem Families are targeted for
improvement- lower class ( that's why policies focus on these families)
parenting classes for delinquency / truancy etc. keeping power and control.
Criticised by other approaches as it does not explain who benefits from the
surveillance?