Flashcards · 9699 · AS Topic 2

Paper 2 – The Family (AS Level) flashcards

19 cards on AS Topic 2, subtopics 3.1 to 4.2. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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How do functionalists see the role of the family?: The family benefits its members and society by performing essential functions, such as socialising children, stabilising adult personalities and meeting emotional needs.
What is the "loss of functions" debate?: The claim that the family has lost functions (education, welfare, health care) to specialist institutions such as schools and the welfare state. Others argue it has kept or gained functions, e.g. emotional support.
How do Marxists see the family?: The family benefits capitalism: it passes on ruling-class ideology (ideological control), reproduces labour power by raising the next generation of workers, and acts as a unit of consumption.
How do feminists respond to functionalist and Marxist views of the family?: They argue both overlook inequality within the family: the family is patriarchal, with women doing unpaid domestic labour and emotional work that benefits men (and, for Marxist feminists, capitalism).

Nuclear vs extended vs reconstituted family: Nuclear: parents and their dependent children. Extended: the nuclear family plus other relatives, such as grandparents. Reconstituted: a family in which at least one partner has children from a previous relationship.
Organisational, cultural and class diversity: Organisational: differences in how families divide roles and structure households. Cultural: differences linked to ethnicity and religion. Class: differences in family life linked to social class.
New Right vs postmodernist views on family diversity: New Right: growing diversity, especially lone-parent families, is a social problem; the married nuclear family is best. Postmodernist: diversity is evidence of greater individual choice.
Give two causes of rising divorce rates: Changes in the law making divorce easier and cheaper, and women's greater financial independence. Others include declining stigma, secularisation and higher expectations of marriage.
How does social policy influence the family?: State policies on welfare benefits, tax, divorce law, childcare and parental leave encourage or discourage particular family forms, so the state is an active influence, not a neutral backdrop.

Liberal vs radical vs Marxist feminist views of the family: Liberal: gradual progress towards equality through law and changing attitudes. Radical: the family is a key site of patriarchy and male power. Marxist: women's subordination in the family serves capitalism.
Segregated vs joint conjugal roles: Segregated: partners have separate roles, e.g. male breadwinner and female homemaker. Joint: partners share tasks, decision-making and leisure.
What is emotion work?: The effort of managing a family's emotional life, such as caring for and soothing others. Feminists argue it falls unequally on women.
What is the "dual burden"?: Women doing paid work while still carrying most of the housework and childcare. It challenges claims that the family has become equal.
Give one argument that family life is negative and one that it is positive: Negative: domestic abuse and the control of women and children (radical feminist view). Positive: the family provides emotional support and stability (functionalist view).

What does it mean that childhood is socially constructed?: The idea of childhood, and what is expected of children, varies over time and between societies; it is not a fixed biological fact.
How has the position of children in the family changed?: In many societies children have become more child-centred, protected and economically dependent for longer, with fewer children per family and more spent on each child.
How has rising life expectancy affected grandparents' role?: More people live long enough to be grandparents and great-grandparents, creating "beanpole" families; grandparents often provide childcare, while some need care themselves.
How do class, gender and ethnicity affect children's family experiences?: Class affects resources and opportunities; gender affects expectations and chores; ethnicity affects family structure and cultural norms, so there is no single experience of childhood.
How have concepts of fatherhood changed?: A shift from the distant breadwinner towards more involved, nurturing fatherhood, though studies often find mothers still do most childcare.