The Diverse and Changing Family
Syllabus changes have seen a vast amount crammed into the above
heading and so there can be numerous angles for the cunning examiner
to choose from. Some of the old stalwarts – the causes of divorce, the
social position of children and the nature of childhood, and family
diversity – will still crop up, but there is scope here for lots of briefer
questions on the more recent aspects of change. This revision note will
necessarily cover these aspects briefly, but the aim is to try to alert
students to the broad range of issues and the broad trend of social
change.
Firstly, do remember that we can make a distinction between households
and families.
Households are residential units–people who live together in a shared
house or flat. Government figures are generally preoccupied with this
category. But remember, not all people living together in households are
necessarily members of the same family and not all family members live
within one household. Most of us for example have an extended family
(families with more than just 2 generations –e.g. grandparents, parents
and children) of some sort, but in most cases we do not live with other
relatives beyond our nuclear family (2 generations, parents and
children). So it is really only partly true when someone says, ‘I live with
my family’. They mean – usually – that they live with their most
immediate, that is, nuclear family. And of course, we can make even
more distinctions; when adults say this, they may in many cases, mean
that they live with their family of procreation, not their family of
origin.
One of the interesting things about contemporary Britain is the fact that
the relationship between households – who we happen to live with – and
families – those we are related to through marriage and kinship relations
– are now quite fluid and variable; some would argue that they are more
fluid and variable than in the past, but that is a complex argument which
we can’t go into here.
Diversity of Family Structures
One of the interesting things about contemporary family structures is the
sheer diversity which is evident. In the 1970s a feminist sociologist coined
the term ‘the cereal packet family’ to describe what was assumed by
many to be the normal and typical family – a man, a wife and two happy,
cornflake-eating kids. Sociologists of the time happily set about proving
that this image was a fake. Now, the picture is even more complex.
Diversity of family structures comes in varies guises: there are single
parent families, reconstituted families (partners who have been
married before but then form a new partnership), single persons,
extended families and modified extended families, couples who
cohabit but are not married, gay and lesbian couples – families of
choice, beanpole families, and one might even consider that LATs
(couples who ‘Live Apart Together’) count as a family structure of some
sort.
Family structures then can vary in terms of the sort of family which is
formed, the age group of the individuals concerned (and what counts as
our ‘family’ can change over our lifetime or at different stages in our
life), or on the grounds of cultural differences. (Indeed, an oft repeated
typology is that derived from Rhona and Robert Rapoport, two British
sociologists from the 1970s, who talked of organizational, cultural, cohort,
life-cycle, and class diversity. It’s a fair enough point, but I’m afraid I
find it excessively tedious, probably as a result of having heard of it so
many times. There are fresher, newer ways of discussing family
diversity, and I hope you will consider that there are a few included here.
And you don’t have to parrot out the name ‘Rapoport’).
Family structures can also vary between different ethnic groups,
between social classes and of course, between generations as younger
people reject, adapt or modify the morals and traditions of their parents.
One very important generational change is the shift to a greater social
acceptance of gay lifestyles in the second half of the twentieth century.
Britain and the USA are just two countries where it is now possible for gay
couples to marry (or form civil partnerships) and have children, either by
adopting them, by using new reproductive technologies, or by bring their
own children from previous relationships. This is a change which also has
considerable implications for the role of children in our society. It’s worth
also remembering the global dimension here. While these changes have
occurred in some western societies, there are still many countries in the
world where it is illegal to be homosexual and where failure to conform to
social norms and the law is punishable by death.
All in all, that seems like a fair bit of diversity. If you are preparing for the
AS exam, it’s worth being able to define a range of the different family
types and have a few statistics to hand. Here are a few to get you
started:
Nuclear Family
A two generation family consisting of two adults and their children.
Reconstituted Family
A two generation family consisting of two adults who have been married
before and bring children from an earlier marriage to a new family
grouping. If you want to sound really high-powered, you could refer to
these as recombinant families.
Extended Family
A family consisting of more than two generations. If they live in the same
household – which was a common arrangement in early or pre- industrial
societies, it is referred to as the classic extended family.
Modified Extended Family
This term was coined to refer to the fact that many people still have
extended families, but do not live with them. So it simply refers to
extended families which live apart. Another similar term is the dispersed
extended family.
Single Parent Family
A nuclear family which is contains only one adult parent as a result of
death, divorce or separation.
Family of Choice
This term refers to same-sex families or households, e.g. gay couples
(male or female) who live together, sometimes with children, either
adopted or their own from previous heterosexual relationships.
Family of Origin/Procreation
A family of origin refers to the family which a person is born or grown up
in. The family of procreation is the family grouping which that person
goes on to have their own children in. In an age when people don’t often
live with or in their extended family grouping, this is a good way of
distinguishing between the different family groupings many of us
experience.
Beanpole Family
This is a relatively recent term used to describe four-generation families
where there are fewer ties between the members of the same generation
(because people are now more likely to divorce and will have fewer
children) but more ties between the different generations because people
are living longer and these people still rely on others for certain kinds of
help.