Functionalists such as Parson, Young and Willmott (1973) and Fletcher (1966) believe that the classic extended family (more than two generations of family e.g. including grandparents and cousins living together in one household) is mostly disappearing in the UK and its replacement the privatized nuclear family (family of two generation of married heterosexual parents with their own children who lives isolated from their extended kin and community), is emerging as a family form most suited to life in contemporary British society. Parson’s Function Fit Theory explains that privatized nuclear family meets the need of society as it is socially and geographically mobile, in which it can easily move up and down the social scale in our meritocratic society (a society in which status position is based on individual’s merits and etc., rather than what family you were born into) and can easily move to places for the sake of work. However, Postmodernists argue that we no longer have clear structures such as the nuclear family, but instead a greater fragmentation and diversity of family types and lifestyle (Item 2B). This essay aims to explain and evaluate the view that there is greater diversity of family types and lifestyle today in contemporary British society.
However, anthropologists clearly point out that the existence of homosexuality has been identified in some societies at different degrees of prevalence throughout the history. The trait of homosexuality can be simply defined as the sexual attraction between the individuals of the same sex. A homosexual person in the male gender is called ‘gay’ while the term ‘lesbian’ represents a homosexual female. Over the past three decades, the number of homosexuals has dramatically increased and such trait has increasingly grown to be mainstream and open. According to some major studies (Billy, Tanfer, Grady and Klepinger, 1993), nearly 2% to 13% population in the modern western society is homosexual or has had some kind of homosexual relationship during their lifetime.
1) Examine the changing patterns of marriage in today's society and the sociological reasons for these changes. The patterns of marriage have drastically changed in modern society in contrast to the past with the patterns or marriage rapidly decreasing with time with only 170.800 new marriages recorded in 2005 which is less than half of the number recorded in 1970, however, in recent years the number or re-marriages has been on the increase an aspect in which functionalists would say is a good thing because it not shows that people are not turning their backs on as well as the total number of alternative living styles such as LATs (living apart together), Cohabitation and one person households. this is widely due to social changes a that have occurred over the past few recent years the decrease in marriage patterns can be linked to certain key contributing factors, factors that consist of things such as; declining stigma, secularisation, changing attitudes towards marriage, change in womens positions, fear of divorce and economic standing the aforementioned reasons all have their own contributing factors resulting in their change and ultimately leading to a declining marriage rate. the decline in stigma is related to the decline in stigma attached to alternative lifestyles to marriage much like LATs and cohabitation due to this decline in the attached stigma more people think that said alternate routes are the new way forward which is an idea most commonly found and shared by the younger generations and because of this more people are seeking these lifestyles, this is because many who believe that cohabitation and LATs are the way forward and because of this decline in the stigma attached to such alternate routes more people especially the younger generations are seeking these lifestyles. this could be down to the fact that many believe that the
The interpretation of statistical evidence relating to family diversity. 3. The concepts of life-cycle and family structure in relation to various theoretical forms of family diversity. Chris.Livesey: www.sociology.org.uk Page 1 Family Life Unit 2: Family DiversityIntroductionIn this set of Notes we are going to consider family life in terms of the idea of familiesas a social group within different societies. In particular, the emphasis will be on theconcept of family diversity; that is, the different forms of family relationship it ispossible to note and outline.The Diversity of Contemporary Family LifeWhen we examined the "fit thesis" (see: Teachers’ Notes Unit 2: Family andIndustrialisation) in relation to the way family structures have changed over to past300 years in Britain, we noted that writers such as Laslett and Anderson focusedpart of their criticism on the notion that a single type of family structure could beconsidered "dominant" in whatever period of time one chose to examine (forexample, the idea that the "extended family" was the dominant (main) form in pre-industrial Britain or that the "nuclear family" is the dominant form in industrial Britain).As Andersons research clearly indicated, this "monolithic"
This type is becoming more common due to the change in society where divorce is more common and accepted. Single parent families are another type that has become more common in recent years as it has become socially acceptable to have children out of wedlock. Female parentage in this instance make up over eighty percent of cases within the United Kingdom. Although bigamy is banned in this country by law, there are certain ethnicities and cultures who come here leading in polygamous lifestyles, where usually the man, can have two, three or more partners or wives. The most common two however, are the extended and the nuclear families.
The family structure is considered a traditional family support system involving two married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring. However, this two- parent, nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative family forms have become more common. The family is created at birth and establishes ties across generations. Those generations, the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, can hold significant emotional and economic roles for the nuclear family. Over time, the traditional structure has had to adapt to very influential changes, including divorce and the introduction of single- parent families, teenage pregnancy and unwed mothers, homosexuality and same-sex marriage, and increased interest in adoption.
Adoption Rights Equality for Same-Sex Couples Abstract A child being adopted by same-sex couples is one of the biggest controversies in our world today. Same-sex couples should have the right to freely adopt because they too can provide a loving and safe environment for children. Why do minorities of people think gay couples should have the right to adopt? Adopting a child is not a right it is a privilege. Same sex couples form relationships that are more stable than many regular couple.
The post industrial revolution has contributed to economic change which is associated with changes found in demographics, work and education. These, in turn, link to changes in families (Starbuck, 2010). Following World War II, childbearing rates increased dramatically. As a result of the baby boom, this partially increased divorce rates and crime as the majority of teenagers and young adults were most likely to get divorced and involve themselves in delinquent acts. Both skills and industrial habits, such as punctuality and discipline were stressed as being important in order to prepare the young to live in a democratic, industrializing nation (Starbuck, 2010).
Families are divided into hierarchies, with parents exerting power over children and men traditionally exerting power over their wives. These family hierarchies reflect wider inequalities in society in relation to race, class, and gender. Conflict theorists view conflict as an instrument for social change, in which
Each man could have more than one wife. Matrifocal families – In the Caribbean, parts of central America and the USA many households do not contain an adult male. Gonzalez (1970) found they are well adapted to living in poverty and the mothers have a lot of support from female relatives. Gay and lesbian families do not conform to this definition and civil partnerships were legalised in 2005 suggesting they are “socially approved.” Ideology and the Family New Right thinkers support narrow definitions of the family. Increasing family diversity suggests that the nuclear family is no longer the norm.