Flashcards on Couples (4.1)

Question	Answer
What does the 'domestic division of labour' refer to?	The roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work.
Talcott Parsons offers a functionalist model of the family in which there is a clear division of labour between the spouses. What are the separate roles he discusses?	The 'instrumental' role and the 'expressive' role.
What does Parsons say the division of labour is based on?	Biological differences - women are naturally suited to the nurturing role and men are naturally suited to the providing role.
Who distinguishes between two types of conjugal roles?	Elizabeth Bott.
What two conjugal roles does Bott describe?	'Segregated conjugal roles' and 'joint conjugal roles'.
What school of thought do Young and Wilmott belong to?	The March of Progress view.
What do Young and Wilmott believe is happening to the family?	It is gradually improving for all of its members, becoming more equal and democratic.
What do Young and Wilmott mean by the 'symmetrical family'?	A family in which the roles of husbands and wives will be very similar.
Young and Wilmott found that the symmetrical family was more common among who?	- Young couples. - Those who are geographically and/or socially isolated. - The more affluent.
What major social changes do Young and Wilmott believe caused the rise of symmetrical families?	- Changes in women's positions. - Geographical mobility. - New technology and labour-saving devices. - Higher standards of living.
How do feminist sociologists respond to Young and Wilmott's view?	They reject it, arguing that little has changed. They believe the family remains unequal, with women performing the majority of housework.
Where does the inequality within the family stem from, according to feminists?	The fact that the family and society are patriarchal, with women taking a dependent role within the family and in wider society.
Feminist sociologist Ann Oakley criticises Young and Wilmott's, stating that they exaggerate the extent of change. In her own study of housewives, what did Oakley find?	There was no evidence to indicate a trend towards symmetry: only 15% of husbands had a 'high level of participation' in housework, and only 25% had a 'high level of participation' in childcare.
What domestic labour are men most likely to participate in?	Childcare, but only the 'pleasurable aspects', such as playing with the children. However, this takes the pleasurable side of childcare away from the mother, and leaves her with more time for housework.
Which other feminist sociologist conducted a study, the results of which support Oakley's findings?	Mary Boulton.
What did Boulton say Young and Wilmott did wrong in their research?	She argued they failed to distinguish 'tasks' from 'responsibilities'.
What is meant by a 'new man'?	A modern day man who believes in the principles of the symmetrical family and, if in a relationship, has joint conjugal roles with his partner.
Women working can be interpreted as a positive change. What do the March of Progress think of women working?	They believe it is leading to a more equal division of labour at home and encouraging the 'new man'.
What do feminist sociologists think women going into paid work has created?	A dual burden.
The British Social Attitudes survey supports the existence of a dual burder. In 2012, men and women did how many hours of housework a week, on average?	Men did 8, whereas women did 13.
Additionally, how are tasks divided between couples, according to Alan Warde and Kevin Hetherington?	Tasks are divided along gender lines - wives are 30 times more likely to be the last person to have done the washing, while husbands are 4 times more likely to be the last person to wash the car
Arlie Russell Hochschild coined the phrase 'emotion work'. What is meant by this?	Women are often required to manage the emotions and feelings of family members, while controlling their own emotions.
Which two sociologists argue that with the responsibilities of paid work, domestic labour and emotion work taken into consideration, women now face a 'triple shift'?	Jean Duncombe and Dennis Marsden
Rosemary Crompton and Claire Lyonette identify two different explanations for the unequal division of labour. What are they?	1. The ideological explanation. 2. The economic explanation.
Describe the ideological explanation of inequality.	In this view, the division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms that shape the gender roles in our culture. From this perspective, equality will be achieve only if and when norms about gender roles change.
Describe the economic explanation of inequality.	In this view, women typically earning less than men means it's economically rational for women to do more domestic labour while men earn money. From this perspective, if women work and earn as much as men, we will see both partners doing equal amounts of domestic labour.
What did Jonathan Gershuny find to support the ideological explanation?	Couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share domestic labour evenly, which suggests parental role models are important.
What did Man Yee Kan find to support the economic explanation?	For every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week.
The division of labour among same-sex couples seemingly supports the ideological explanation. Gillian Dunne's study of lesbian couples with dependent children found they were more likely than heterosexual women to do what?	Describe their relationship as equal, with domestic labour and childcare being split evenly, and both partners' careers having equal importance.
Why does Dunne say is to blame for heterosexual couples not having equal relationships?	'Gender scripts'.
However, what other proof of the economic explanation of inequality did Dunne find, which contradicts her first findings in agreement with the ideological explanation of inequality?	Where one partner does much more paid work than the other, the time each partner spent on domestic work was likely to be unequal. This suggests that paid work does still affect the division of labour even in same-sex relationships.
Studies suggest there remains inequality in who does what in the home. There is also inequality in what other aspect of heterosexual relationships?	Who controls the family's income and resources.
Which two sociologists identified the two types of control over family income?	Jan Pahl and Carolyn Vogler
What are the two types of control over family income?	1. The allowance system. 2. Pooling.
Pooling, which is common in today's society, indicates more equality in decision-making and control over resources, but does not necessarily mean this is so. Which two sociologists both found evidence contradicting the claim that equality is increasing?	Irene Hardill and Janet Finch.
According to Stephen Edgell, men are more likely to make decisions for what reason?	They earn more and have more right to decision-making.
Feminists argue that inequalities in decision-making aren't simply the result of inequalities in earnings, but are due to what?	The cultural view of men as the rightful decision-makers being so ingrained into both men and women in our patriarchal society that we do not contradict it. This view is instilled through gender role socialisation.
What did Charlotte Nyman, who takes a personal life perspective, note with regards to money within a relationship?	It has no fixed meaning, with different couples defining it in different ways. The meanings they apply to money can reflect the nature of their relationship.
There is evidence that same-sex couples often give a different meaning to the control of money in their relationships. What did Carol Smart find?	Some homosexual couples attached no importance to who controlled the money, with individuals being perfectly happy to leave money management to their partner, as they don't equate it to equality.
Smart found there is greater freedom for same-sex couples to do what suits them as a couple. What does she suggest is the reason for this?	They don't enter relationships with the same 'historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings around money'.
Domestic abuse can include what types of violence?	Psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional.
Some people believe domestic abuse is caused by something psychological within the abuser's mind. However, sociologists believe its causes are social. What evidence do they provide for this view?	- Domestic abuse is far too widespread to simply be a few disturbed individuals. - Domestic abuse doesn't occur randomly, but follows particular social patterns.
What statistics did Kathryn Coleman and Sarah Osborne find on domestic abuse against women?	Two women - that's one third of all female homicide victims - are killed by a partner or ex-partner a week.
Russel Dobash and Rebecca Dobash found that violent incidents could be triggered by what?	A husband feeling his wife is challenging his authority. They therefore argue that marriage legitimises violence against women by giving husbands power and making wives dependent.
While most victims are women, the Crime Survey for England and Wales found a relatively narrow gender gap. What statistics did they offer?	7.3% of women and 5% of men reported having experience domestic abuse in 2012.
Just knowing how many victims of domestic abuse there are doesn't actually tell us anything about what?	The frequency, severity, and psychological effects of the abuse. When examining these factors, there is a very significant gender gap.
Sylvia Walby and Jonathan Allen found what?	Women were much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents of abuse and sexual violence.
Which sociologist stated that it can be difficult to count separate domestic abuse incidents, as abuse may be continuous or may occur so often that the victim cannot reliably distinguish between the incidents?	Aliyah Dar.
Official statistics on domestic abuse understate the true extent of the problem for two main reasons. What are they?	1. Victims may be unwilling to report the crime (on average, women suffer 35 assaults before reporting abuse). 2. Police may be reluctant to investigate, as they believe the family is a private sphere.
Lack of action by police and prosecutors means that cases successfully prosecuted are a tiny proportion of a very common type of abuse. From 2006 to 2011, How many reported incidents led to a conviction?	6.5%
There are two explanations for domestic violence. What are they?	1. The radical feminist explanation. 2. The materialistic explanation.
Radical feminists interpret findings such as those of Dobash and Dobash as evidence of patriarchy. What does Shulamith Firestone argue about the basis of all societies?	They believe all societies have been founded on patriarchy.
Radical feminists see the family and marriage as what?	Key institutions in patriarchal society and the main source of women's oppression. Within the family, men dominate women through domestic violence, or the threat of it.
Radical feminists point out that state institutions are male dominated. How may this impact the way in which domestic violence cases are handled?	Radical feminists argue that male police officers and judges are reluctant to convict their fellow man, thus allowing domestic violence to continue.
Which sociologist rejects the radical feminist claim that all men benefit from violence against women, arguing that not all men are aggressive to women?	Faith Robertson Elliot
Radical feminists also fail to explain female violence, including child abuse and violence against partners in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. What did the Crime Survey for England and Wales find in 2013?	18% of men have experienced domestic violence since the age of 16.
Radical feminists use the concept of patriarchy to explain why most victims of domestic violence are women. What do they wrongly assume when doing this?	That all women are equally at risk of patriarchal violence.
Radical feminists explain why it is women who are typically victims, but fail to explain which women are most likely to be victims. The Office for National Statistics found that women from certain social groups are at greater risk of DV. Give examples:	- Young women. - Women in financial difficulties. - Women with a high alcohol or drug intake. - Women with a long-term illness or disability.
The materialist explanation of domestic violence examines how economic factors may play a part in domestic violence. Which two sociologists presented the explanation?	Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.
How is Wilkinson and Pickett's examination of domestic violence useful?	It shows how social inequality produces stress and triggers conflict and violence in families. This explains the class differences in domestic violence statistics.
However, what do Wilkinson and Pickett fail to explain?	Why women, rather than men, are the main victims.
Marxist feminist Fran Ansley answers this. What is her explanation?	She claims that wives are 'takers of shit' - male workers are exploited at work, and take their frustration out on their wives
Ansley's explanation helps to explain why domestic violence is typically perpetuated by men. What does it fail to explain, however?	Why not all male workers commit acts of violence against their partners, nor why women commit DV.

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Flashcards on Couples (4.1)

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	Created by Em Maskrey over 7 years ago