Premium Essay

Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family

In: Social Issues

Submitted By lali
Words 800
Pages 4
“Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks)

Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society: the sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions. However, the numbers of nuclear families have fallen due to a rise in family diversity such as singletons and same sex.
Attitudes to family may be a threat to the nuclear family as it is more accepted in society to have a divorce and it is much easier too. Divorce was legalized around the 1970’s in the world. The changes in law, declining in stigma and changes of attitudes had led people to carry out a divorce when necessary; this was seen as a ‘social

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family

...Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. The traditional nuclear family consists of a spouse and a husband with children. Firstly, a reason for the decline in the nuclear family is because of divorce. As divorce has increased there has been a rise in cohabitations. Cohabitations involve an unmarried couple in a sexual relationships living together. Whilst the number of divorces increase the number of cohabitations has also, making it fastest growing family type in the UK. There are over two million cohabitaing couples in britian, and in addition about a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting – double the amount in 1986. There are many reasons for the increase of cohabitations. Firstly, it can be linked to the decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage. This is also relevant to the decline in stigma to divorce, so now people are less bothered about divorce, therefore the outcome after a divorce will be a reconstituted family or a singleton life style. Secondly the increased career opportunities for women now mean that they no longer need a husband to sustain a family or themselves. Also now women do not feel the need to pursue a family, but rather some prefer to pursue a career, which can lead to them never being married, or being married at a later age, which can reduce the chances of having children, reducing the traditional nuclear family which consisted of children and married...

Words: 1264 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Using the Material from Item 2b and Elsewhere, Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family

...elsewhere, assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family In the past, traditionally families have mostly been the ‘traditional nuclear family’ made up of a married man and woman and at least one child. However there has recently been a decline in the amount of traditional nuclear families and an increase in the amount of diverse families. There are now less people following the traditional view that the nuclear family is the ‘normal’ way to live. The diverse families now include families such as, lone parent families, reconstituted family, extended family, lone person households, cohabiting couples and same sex couples. In this essay I will discuss the view that the traditional nuclear family has decline as a result of the growth of family diversity and the reasons why people are no longer following past tradition. New right believe that the incline in family diversity is a cause of many social problems. They believe that the increase in family diversity is the reason for economic problems. Charles Murray believes that there is now a ‘perverse incentive’ for young girls to get pregnant. He believes that there are young girls purposely getting pregnant with the knowledge that the government are going to give them a house and benefits for them to live in with their babies. An increase in the amount of young girls becoming pregnant has led to an increase in the amount of single parent living in the U.K which has led to the...

Words: 708 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Changes in Family Diversity - Sociology

...Using the Material from Item 2b and Elsewhere, Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family Using the material from item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family In the past, traditionally families have mostly been the ‘traditional nuclear family’ made up of a married man and woman and at least one child. However there has recently been a decline in the amount of traditional nuclear families and an increase in the amount of diverse families. There are now less people following the traditional view that the nuclear family is the ‘normal’ way to live. The diverse families now include families such as, lone parent families, reconstituted family, extended family, lone person households, cohabiting couples and same sex couples. In this essay I will discuss the view that the traditional nuclear family has decline as a result of the growth of family diversity and the reasons why people are no longer following past tradition. New right believe that the incline in family diversity is a cause of many social problems. They believe that the increase in family diversity is the reason for economic problems. Charles Murray believes that there is now a ‘perverse incentive’ for young girls to get pregnant. He believes that there are young girls purposely getting pregnant with the knowledge that the government are going to give them a house...

Words: 735 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Psychology

...n: Social Issues Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family “Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks) Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society:...

Words: 364 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sociology

...describes the division of labour in the traditional nuclear family in terms of an expressive role and an instrumental role. However, this traditional arrangement may have changed as families have changed, and many feminists use the term ‘dual burden’ to describe the woman’s role in the family today. Item 2B Government policies and laws include tax and benefit policies as well as legislation such as relating to divorce and marriage. Sociologists have different views on the impact of these policies and laws on families. For example, feminists argue that social policies assume that the ideal family is a patriarchal nuclear family, and that government policies and laws therefore favour this sort of family. On the other hand, the New Right argue that the benefit system undermines traditional nuclear families by actively encouraging lone parents. 0 6 Explain what is meant by the ‘dual burden’ (Item 2A). (2 marks) 0 7 Explain the difference between the expressive role and the instrumental role (Item 2A). (4 marks) 0 8 Suggest three ways in which the differences between children and adults are becoming less clear in society today. (6 marks) 0 9 Examine the reasons for, and the effects of, changes in family size over the past 100 years or so. (24 marks) 1 0 Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess sociological views of the impact of government policies and laws on family life. Item 2A Over the past 40 years or so, there has been a decline in the number of first marriages...

Words: 5042 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Scly1 Past Papers

...SCLY1 (Old Specification) Past Exam Questions Although June 2016 will be a new specification and exam structure much of the material you have learnt in families and households applies to the new exam. Below are examples of questions taken from the old exam papers that you should practice writing plans for as they are still relevant. However there are a few key differences: * The question you will answer will be worth 20 marks not 24 marks. * You will have 30 minutes to write a 20 mark answer. * The essays will consist 4 paragraphs and a conclusion containing new information. How to use this document: * Use the extract from the mark scheme and examiners’ advice to create essay plans of the questions. * You may not have heard of all of the concepts in the mark scheme but there should be at least some that are familiar to you. * The examiner’s advice usually outlines bad, moderate and good answers to the question so pick out the ways in which you can achieve top band and incorporate this into your plan. June 2015 Examine the impact of government policies and laws on family life. [24 marks] From the mark scheme: Concepts and issues such as the following may appear: patriarchy; familism; surveillance; ideological control; gender regimes; marital breakdown; family structure; family diversity; welfare dependency; underclass; reserve army of labour Policies/laws on abortion; divorce; contraception; reproductive technology; marriage; adoption; pensions; benefits; taxes;...

Words: 7021 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Sociology

... Families and Households This Answers book provides some possible answers that might be given for the questions asked in the workbook. They are not exhaustive and other answers may well be acceptable, but they are intended as a guide to give teachers and students feedback. The responses for the longer essay-style questions are intended to give some idea about how the exam questions might be answered. Again, these are not the only ways to answer such questions but they can be treated as one way of approaching questions of these types. Topic 1 Functionalist and New Right views of the family How have functionalist and New Right thinkers explained family life and the relationship between families and social change? 1 The organic analogy refers to the extended comparison made by functionalists between the human or other living body and society, with the organs of the body equivalent to institutions and structures in society. 2 Primary socialisation refers to the first and most important stage of the socialisation process by which young children absorb the norms and values of their culture, mainly from their parents. Note: make sure your answer explains both ‘primary’ and ‘socialisation’. 3 One way in which the nuclear family is more suited than other types of family to modern industrial society is that it allows for geographical mobility; it is easier to move a nuclear family to a new area for, say, a new job than to move an extended family. A second...

Words: 7450 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Beliefs in Society

...Remember: You have to revise everything, because essay questions will focus on more than one area of the specification. The specification: The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability * Functionalism: conservative force, inhibition of change, collective conscience, Durkheim and totemism, anomie; civil religions * Marxism: religion as ideology, legitimating social inequality, disguising exploitation etc * Weber: religion as a force for social change: theodicies, the Protestant ethic * Neo-Marxism: religion used by those opposing the ruling class, liberation theology * Feminism: religious beliefs supporting patriarchy * Fundamentalist beliefs: rejecting change by reverting to supposed traditional values and practices. Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice * Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults, with examples of each New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world rejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each * New Age movements and spirituality, with examples * The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and practice. The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices * Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs...

Words: 23270 - Pages: 94

Premium Essay

Feminism and Ideology

...You have to revise everything, because essay questions will focus on more than one area of the specification. The specification: The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability * Functionalism: conservative force, inhibition of change, collective conscience, Durkheim and totemism, anomie; civil religions * Marxism: religion as ideology, legitimating social inequality, disguising exploitation etc * Weber: religion as a force for social change: theodicies, the Protestant ethic * Neo-Marxism: religion used by those opposing the ruling class, liberation theology * Feminism: religious beliefs supporting patriarchy * Fundamentalist beliefs: rejecting change by reverting to supposed traditional values and practices. Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice * Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults, with examples of each New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world rejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each * New Age movements and spirituality, with examples * The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and practice. The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices * Reasons why people...

Words: 23270 - Pages: 94

Premium Essay

52 Mark Ocr Research Methods Paper

...Assess the value of the left and right realist approaches to crime and deviance Right realism sees crime, especially street crime as a real and growing problem that destroys communities, undermines social cohesion and threatens society’s work ethic. Right realist views correspond with conservative governments as they see it as a workable solution to curb rising crime. It’s led to a shift in thinking, away from researching the causes of crime and towards a search for practical crime control measures. They view the best way to reduce crime was through control and punishment rather than rehabilitating offenders or tackling causes of crime such as poverty. Right realism reflects this political climate. They criticise other theories for failing to offer any practical solutions to the problem of rising crime. They regard theories such as labelling and critical criminology as too sympathetic to the criminal and hostile to law and order. Right realists are less concerned to understand causes of crime and more concerned to offer realistic solutions. Although their main emphasis is on practical crime reduction, they do offer explanation for causes of crime.Right realists reject the idea put forward by Marxists and others that structural or economic factor such as poverty and inequality are the causes of crime. For example against Marxists they argue the old tend to be poor but have a low crime rate. Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour. They...

Words: 3047 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Sociology

...Glossary of Sociological Terms |11-Plus Exam |Examination introduced with the 1944 Education Act, sat by all pupils in the state sector| | |at the age of 11. If they passed they went to the selective Grammar School, or if they | | |failed to the Secondary Modern School. This exam still exists in some counties such as | | |Kent and also in Northern Ireland. | |12-Plus Exam |Exam made available only to a minority of 'high-flyers' in Secondary Modern schools, | | |offering a late chance to go to Grammar School at the age of 12. | |'30-30-40 society' |A term associated with Will Hutton to describe an increasingly insecure and polarised | | |society. The bottom 30 per cent is socially excluded by poverty from the rest of society.| | |The next 30 per cent live in fear and insecurity of falling into poverty. Only the top 40| | |per cent feel secure and confident. ...

Words: 22530 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

Case

...chapter provides a backdrop to the entire book. The end of the Cold War is usually seen as the beginning of the contemporary era in world politics which is the subject matter of this book. It is, therefore, appropriate that we begin the story with a discussion of the Cold War. The chapter shows how the dominance of two superpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, was central to the Cold War. It tracks the various arenas of the Cold War in different parts of the world. The chapter views the NonAligned Movement (NAM) as a challenge to the dominance of the two superpowers and describes the attempts by the non-aligned countries to establish a New International Economic Order (NIEO) as a means of attaining economic development and political independence. It concludes with an assessment of India’s role in NAM and asks how successful the policy of nonalignment has been in protecting India’s interests. The end of the Second World War led to the rise of two major centres of power. The two pictures above symbolise the victory of the US and the USSR in the Second World War. 1. American soldiers raising the US flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japan, on 23 February 1945 Credit: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, Photograph by Joe Rosenthal/The Associated Press 2. Soviet soldiers raising the USSR flag on the...

Words: 52386 - Pages: 210

Free Essay

Management of Diversity in Chinese-Based Companies - Term ...

...International Journal of Manpower 17,4/5 76 Sources of diversity and the challenge before human resource management in India C.S. Venkata Ratnam and V. Chandra International Management Institute, New Delhi, India Introduction The common refrain about India is that “it is such a diverse country whatever you say of it, the opposite is equally true”. “In India”, Stern (1993) observes, you will find “a society that has, like Europe’s, the diversities of a continent and the unities of a civilization”. Such is the measure of the magnitude of the nature of diversity in Indian society whose features Indian industry had inherited. Societal diversity is not an unmixed blessing for corporations and their management. It is argued that in India, generally speaking, the weaknesses of societal diversity such as caste, for instance, are superimposed on its business and industrial organizations and exacerbated. The marketplace and workforce in India are becoming more diverse every day. In fact, workplace diversity is considered a major challenge and opportunity for human resource management. It makes integration both difficult and easy depending on how diversity is viewed and used. The sources of diversity and its uses make a difference to what it means and how it impinges on organizational purpose and human behaviour at the workplace and beyond. Workplace diversity in India may have been partly inherited from centuries of customs and practices, partly imposed from colonial heritage and...

Words: 16228 - Pages: 65

Free Essay

Environmental Studies

...Environmental Studies For Undergraduate Courses Erach Bharucha Textbook for Environmental Studies For Undergraduate Courses of all Branches of Higher Education Erach Bharucha for University Grants Commission Natural Resources i Preliminary Pages.p65 1 4/9/2004, 5:06 PM Credits Principal author and editor – Erach Bharucha Unit 1 – Erach Bharucha Unit 2 – Erach Bharucha, Behafrid Patel Unit 3 – Erach Bharucha Unit 4 – Erach Bharucha Unit 5 – Shamita Kumar Unit 6 – Erach Bharucha, Shalini Nair, Behafrid Patel Unit 7 – Erach Bharucha, Shalini Nair, Behafrid Patel Unit 8 – Erach Bharucha, Shambhvi Joshi Case Studies – Prasanna Kolte Co-ordination and compilation – Behafrid Patel Textbook Design – Narendra Kulkarni (Mudra), Sushma Durve Manuscript review and editing – Chinmaya Dunster, Behafrid Patel Artists – Sushma Durve and Anagha Deshpande CD ROM – Jaya Rai and Prasanna Kolte © Copyright Text – Erach Bharucha/ UGC, 2004. Photographs – Erach Bharucha Drawings – Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research All rights reserved. Distributed by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. 2004. ii Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses Preliminary Pages.p65 2 4/9/2004, 5:06 PM Vision The importance of Environmental Studies cannot be disputed. The need for sustainable development is a key to the future of mankind. The degradation of our environment is linked to continuing problems of pollution, loss...

Words: 125061 - Pages: 501

Free Essay

Mhqvwuydfqyugfow

...1900)—20% | 32 – 35 | Period 6 (1900 to the present)—20% | 36 – 38 | Help with Some Confusing Subjects | 39 – 43 | Chinese Dynasties | 39 | Political, Economic, and Social Systems | 40 | Religions | 41 | Primary Sources | 42 | “Must Know” Years | 43 | * Many of the guidelines in this study packet are adapted from the AP World History Course Description, developed by College Board. The AP Exam Purchasing and taking the AP World History exam are requirements of the course. This year, the AP World History exam will be administered on: ___________________________________________ Format I. Multiple Choice a. You will have 55 minutes to answer 70 Questions. b. Each question has options A, B, C, and D. c. Questions are divided evenly between the five course themes (20% each) and six periods. d. Each questions addresses one of the four historical thinking skills. e. You should answer ALL 70 questions, even if you have to guess. There are no points off...

Words: 16161 - Pages: 65