Family keywords Word Definition Application Statistics 1. Youth culture Cultural norms, values and identities particular to specific groups of young people. Coleman argues that age segregation is the root of a separate youth culture Hundreds of students engaged in registering African Americans to vote in US Freedom Summer 2. Urbanisation The development and growth of towns and cities sometime called social migration Parson’s fit thesis suggests that it contributes to changes in the family and household In 2018, 83.4% of UK population lived in urban areas 3. Universalistic values Values that apply to everyone regardless of their particular situation This includes ideas like everyone is treated equally under the law 4. Triple shift A third element added to the double shift - the emotional work women do, investing time and effort in the psychological wellbeing of family members Marxist feminists Duncombe and Marsden highlight 2 forms of economic exploitation 1 secondary form of exploitation 5. Symmetrical family Where responsibilities are divided equally between all family members Willmott and Young say middle class families are more likely to be symmetrical 6. Social construction Behaviour that is culturally rather than naturally produced. Sociologists believe behaviour is socially constructed because it varies both historically and across different societies Work of Archard suggests childhood is socially constructed as every Hyman societies has developed differing concepts of childhood 7. Serial monogamy Where an individual may be involved in sequential sexually exclusive relationships Marriage in the UK was most popular just after WW2 8. Rite of passage Rituals that denote transitions from one phase in the life course to another In Jewish culture this transition is marked by a bar/bat mitzvah 9. Reconstituted family When two families join together after one or both partners have divorced their partners This is a form of family diversity 10. Privatised family Structure that is home oriented, child centred and built on emotional relationships between adults and children Zaretsky argues that the growth of the privatised family encourages family members to focus on private problems rather than wider social concerns Hughes found the average age at 1st marriage for women was 23 in 1977; 29 in 2007 Allan and Crow found there has been a big increase in the number of reconstituted families Word Definition Application Statistics 11. Primary socialisation Teaching and learning process normally first carried out within the family Swenson, a neofunctionalist, focuses on adults as providers of a safe stable family environment for primary socialisation 12. Postmodern family Idea that in postmodernity the focus of family members is on individual self development Zeitlin at al say postmodernity frees people from the constraints of the past and offers new ways of thinking, acting and being that are played out in families 13. Polyandry Polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband The functionalist theory views this as a dysfunctional type of marriage In Murdocks Ethnographic Atlas, 4 out of 1231 societies listed had polyandry 14. Pester power The ability of children to pressurise their parents into buying them products, especially items advertised in the media Marxist theory argues that the family serves 3 functions for capitalism one of which is Unit of consumption Goodman found that the average child in the US sees more than 3000 ads per day as of 1999 15. Pensioner household Households with at least one person of personable age 16. Patrilocal residence Social system in which the family resides with or near the husbands parents The Igbo of West Africa tend to do this 17. Patriarchy Social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property Feminists blame the patriarchy for societal conflicts 8 in 10 firms pay men more than woman in the UK for the same job 18. Partnership Being part of a couple, often living as married people but without any legal ties Beck argues that people in postmodern societies increasingly assess the likely risks and consequences of their actions hence less marriages In 2018 there were only 956 civill partnerships formed in England and Wales 19. Nuclear family particularistic values Standards or rules that only apply to one family Parsons says the family is the only institution in industrial society based on particularistic values, eg family members more likely to trust each other than a complete stranger 54% of pensioner households in the UK are made up of just 1 person Word Definition Application Statistics 20. New man Someone who combines paid work with their share of domestic labour McMahon calls the new man a fantasy Willmott and Young say that 72% of men do housework 21. Neolocal residence Newly married couple resides separately from both the husband’s natal household and wife’s natal household This is the norm in Western societies 22. Monogamy The practice of marrying or being married to one person at a time Functionalists see this as the right way to start a family 23. Modified extended family Wider family members keep in touch both physically through visits or exchange of help and services, and emotionally, via telephone and email, without necessarily having frequent personal contact Gordon suggests that the norm for the extended family is the modified extended family 24. Migration Movement of people from Parsons fit thesis one place to another with the describes how families intention of settling migrated from rural to urban areas after industrialisation 25. Matrilineal Tracing ancestral descent through the female line 26. Marital breakdown The ending of a legal marital Becker et al argue that relationship for reasons other short courtships do not than death of a partner give couples enough time to ensure they are well suited 27. Marriage Culturally recognised union between people that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children and between them and their in-laws Functionalists see this as the right way to start a family 28. Loss of function Situation where functions that were once performed by an institution are now performed by another institution Functionalists believe in modern industrial society the family has lost some of its functions, eg healthcare 29. Single parent family Families with dependent children headed by a parent that is single by choice Functionalists see this as a dysfunctional type of family 30. Life course analysis Examination of differences and changes over the course of an individuals lifetime Mitchell says social age involves thinking about transitions Nayar of Kerala, India studied by Gough follows a joint matrilineal family structure Marriage in the UK was most popular just after WW2 In 2011, only 20% of the UK lived in rural areas Word Definition Application 31. Kinship patterns Family relationships, based on biology, affinity or law, that form distinctive patterns and networks In pre industrial sorties lack of government help for the sick or unemployed meant working class families relied on strong kinship network for their care and survival 32. Kibbutizm Communal movement that developed in Israel after WW2 Although each kibbutz functions as a family, it is not considered as a family in Murdock’s definition 33. Joint conjugal roles Husband and wife carry out Feminists argue that many different conjugal roles are still responsibilities together with largely unsymmetrical a minimum of task differentiation and separation of interests 34. Instrumental roles Involves dealing with people in an objective, unemotional way, based on what they can do for us and what we can do for them Functionalists believe men generally tale on instrumental roles for them to be successful in their provider role 35. Infantilisation Prolonged treatment of one who has a mental capacity greater than that of a child as though they are a child The act of infantilising others has been associated with narcissists 36. Industrialisation Process in which machines are widely used in the production of goods Parson’s fit thesis suggests that it contributes to changes in the family and household 37. Households One or more people living in a particular dwelling Roseneil suggests that couples who live apart can also be considered as a household 38. Vertical structures Structure of extended family that reaches up and down the generations Brannens beanpole family is vertical, with a long and thin structure 39. Gender inequality The idea that me and women are not equal and gender affects an individuals living experience Liberal feminism argues that this is the main cause of conflict in a society 40. Same sex families Families in which both parents are of the same biological sex Greater social acceptance of same sex families has resulted in structural diversity in families and households Statistics Willmott and Young say that 72% of men do housework 8 in 10 firms pay men more than woman in the UK for the same job Word Definition Application 41. Functional prerequisites Things that any institution like the family must perform if it is to continue to function successfully Murdock highlighted 4 functional prerequisites of the family 42. Functional fit The idea that social institutions are closely related Skolnick says there is a functional fit between the nuclear family and industrial society 43. Fertility rate Measure of the number of children born to women of childbearing age in a society each year Lower fertility rates has caused a decrease in childbearing 44. Female carercore Sheeran - female carers predominate and therefore a woman and her child form the basis of any family unit not the the nuclear family Feminist theory disagree with Murdock claim that the nuclear family is the basis of any family unit 45. Family ideology All those values and norms that instruct us on how ideal family life should be lived Marxist theory argues that the family enforces the idea that the capitalist system is far, natural and unchangeable 46. Extended family Family which extends beyond the nuclear family to include grandparents and other relatives Gordon argues that the classical extended family is seldom actually encountered in any society 47. Empty-shell marriage When a couple continues to live together, even though the marriage may be effectively over, for reasons other than love Reasons for empty shell marriages are to provide their children with a stable home and/or maintain the appearance of being married 48. Emotion work Work done in effort to maintain a relationship Marxist feminists Duncombe and Marsden highlight 2 forms of economic exploitation 1 secondary form of exploitation, a third element includes emotion work 49. Dysfunctional family When a family is not performing its function correctly and this may be actively harmful to the individual and society Same sex families are considered by functionalists as dysfunctional because they cannot reproduce Statistics Word Definition Application 50. Double shift Idea that women perform two shifts - one in the home as domestic labourers and one outside the home as paid employees Marxist feminists Duncombe and Marsden highlight 2 forms of economic exploitation 1 secondary form of exploitation 51. Domestic violence Violence or aggressive behaviour within the home, involving the violent abuse of a partner or child Marxists consider this as an example o power struggles within the family Nicholas et al not that round 75% of domestic violence victims are female 52. Domestic division of labour The division of tasks within the household between partners Feminists use this as evidence of gender inequality, as it is usually unequally divided Willmott and Young say that 72% of men do housework 53. Divorce Legal dissolution of a marriage Relatively easy access to divorce has increased structural diversity 54. Disengagement Process whereby people withdraw from social relationships as they age A postmodernist theory that reinvents elderly status 55. Convergence of The idea that family diversity structures are historically moving towards the nuclear norm, which will eventually become the sole prevailing family form Skolnick says family convergence is based on the idea that family is the best institution for certain functions and the functional fit idea 56. Confluent love The idea of love being contingent - given in return for something else Giddens says married peasant couples in pre modern time rarely kissed 57. Common law family Adult couple and children living together as a family without the adults being legally married Another name fore reconstituted family 58. Chosen family Family one creates by getting married or adopting children This mostly applies to same sex couples 59. Childhood The state or period of being a child Aries work suggests that childhood is a recently invented concept 60. Civil partnership Same sex relationship giving the participants similar legal rights to married couples Callahan notes that before same sex marriage was legalised in Britain, same sex couples were granted civil partnership Statistics
