AQA Sociology A Level Families and Households Exams Questions 2024

AQA Sociology A Level Families and Households Exams Questions 2024 Functionalist views on the role of the family - correct answer-In functionalist thought, the family is a particularly important institution as this it the 'basic building block' of society which performs the crucial functions of socialising the young and meeting the emotional needs of its members. Stable families underpin social order and economic stability. Parsons believes the family has 2 functions; Socialisation and Stability. He also said the family is shaped by the functions it needs to perform. 2 Functions and Instrumental/Expressive Roles- Parsons - correct answer- Warm Bath Theory- Fletcher - correct answer- 4 Functions and Universal Family- Murdoch - correct answer- Marxist views on the role of the family - correct answer-Marxists argue that the nuclear family performs ideological functions for Capitalism - the family acts as a unit of consumption and teaches passive acceptance of hierarchy. It is also the institution through which the wealthy pass down their private property to their children, thus reproducing class inequality. Engels argued the Nuclear Family serves the interests of the Bourgeoisie, and pre-modern families participated in 'primitive communism'. Zaretsky says the family relieves the stresses of the proletariat man and allows them to target anger away from the capitalist system. Feminist views on the role of the family - correct answer-Gender roles are taught though the primary socialisation undertaken by the family, shaping our conceptions of gender. Feminist thought is very varied, either highlighting benefits of the family and contemporary policy or focusing on oppression within relationships and issues still faced by women- such as the Triple Shift. Liberal Feminists argue that great strides in equality have been made in the public sphere through social policy and inequality is made mainly through the attitudes and beliefs of individual men. Some, such as Marxist and Radical feminists say this is a marginal experience among women Radical Feminist views on the role of the family - correct answer-Radical feminists argue that all relationships between men and women are based on patriarchy - essentially men are the cause of women's exploitation and oppression. For radical feminists, the entire patriarchal system needs to be overturned, in particular the family, which they view as root of women's oppression. Paid work has not been 'liberating'. Instead women have acquired the 'dual burden' of paid work and unpaid housework and the family remains patriarchal - men benefit from women's paid earnings and their domestic labour. Focus on the Dark Side of the Family, 1/4 women will experience Domestic Violence. Some Radical Feminists suggest women should live separately from men in women only communes. Marxist Feminist views on the family - correct answer-Marxist feminists argue the main cause of women's oppression in the family is not men, but capitalism. Ways in which this is done is Childbearing making a labour force, Zaretsky's 'king of the castle' theory, and the Triple Shift undertaken by most women (free labour such as domestic labour and child care). Late modern views on the role of the family - correct answer-Late-Modernists such as Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck recognize that people have more choice in terms of their relationships and family arrangements, but do not believe that people are as free as postmodernists suggest. There are still underlying patterns, and shared experiences of relationships that are a consequence of our living in a 'late-modern' society - rather than families just being diverse and random. Ulrich Beck argues that fewer people getting married is because of increase in 'risk consciousness' - people see that half of all marriages end in divorce and so they are less willing to take the risk. Giddens argues people have an idealised view of 'confluent love' that means relationships don't live up to expectation Post modern views on the role of the family - correct answer-Postmodernists argue that we no longer live in the modern world with predictable orderly structures, such as the nuclear family. Instead society has entered a new, chaotic postmodern stage. In postmodern society, family structures are incredibly varied and individuals have much more freedom of choice in aspects of their lives which would have been relatively constrained in the past i.e. lifestyles, personal relationships ad family arrangements. Judith Stacey's study showed that families are fluid, fragmented and forever changing New Right views on the role of the family - correct answer-In the 1980s New Right thinkers argued that government policy was undermining the family, policy changes were needed. Their thinking dominated policy from 1979 to 1997. New Right hold the view that there is one correct family type. This is the traditional or conventional nuclear family. They argue that the decline of the traditional family and the growth of family diversity are the cause of many social problems such as higher crime rates and declining moral standards. The welfare state led to a culture where people depend on hand-outs from the state and that these encourage single parenting, which in turn, they argue leads to deviancy and a decline in morality Social Policy and the Family - correct answer-Social policy refers to the plans and actions of state agencies such as health and social services, the welfare benefits system and schools and other bodies. Most social policies affect families in some way or other. Some are aimed directly at families, such as laws governing marriage and divorce, abortion or contraception, child protection, adoption and so on. The creation of the Department for Children, Schools and Families suggest that the current government believe that to make a better society for the children of today, family life and education should not be treated as two separate areas of life.