1.Individual Task - Draw a family In Groups - 1.Define what is meant by ‘family’ 2.What is the purpose of a family? 3.Are families a good thing or bad thing?

Sociological Imagination: Disclaimer The problem with studying the Family is that we are all experts! We have been borne into and socialised into our roles. The key to studying the family is to step back from these taken for granted assumptions and look at the family critically.

The word ‘family’ comes from the Latin ‘familia’ – which means household or servant. It is also linked to the word ‘familiar’...what might this mean?

Family and Households NuclearLone ParentBean-Pole ExtendedReconstituted Same-sex families SingletonsHouseholdsCohabitation

Key Questions: What is the difference between a family and a household? Are families a universal concept? What family types are there in the UK?

Very famous sociologist He defined the family as the following: ‘ The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially-approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting couples. ’

The Universality of ‘Family’ Do families exist in all cultures?

Murdock Some form of family exists in every society. “social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children, own or adopted.”

Variations of this… Britain and Ireland Traditional nuclear Extended Reconstituted Cohabiting

Banaro of New Guinea The families live in a communal house, divided into apartments for each nuclear family Husband does not have sexual relations with his wife until she has borne a child by a friend of his father. The parent child relationship therefore is not biological.

Nayar of Kerala Two types of marriage: talikettu kalyanam (tali [necklet]-tying ceremony); sambandham (the customary nuptials of a man and woman). Matriarchal relationships

Nayar of Kerala The only duty of the wife is to attend his funeral and mourn his death. Nayar girls can take on many ‘visiting’ husbands. The husbands spend much time away from the villages so on return choose a wife to stay the night with. These husbands have no duty towards their offspring. Husbands may give their wives ‘tokens’ but it is frowned upon if they do this regularly.

Is Murdock’s definition too narrow? Growth of same sex relationships to include children. Growth of matriarchal families – high in western societies.

Do you think people have always lived in families? Murdock seemed to think the family had a social, economic and reproductive function. What other functions could there be? We will consider this more when we look at Functionalism.

Many sociologists try to avoid using a definition, and want to refer to ‘families’ rather than ‘the family’. Why might this be?

To think of ‘the family’ rather than ‘families’ seems to suggests that there is only one type. It is almost impossible to define the family that fits with the range of domestic (home) arrangements in our society,

Nuclear family A pair of biological parents and their children. Extended family A family that includes three or more generations. Usually includes Grandparents, their sons/daughters and their children. Also called ‘extended kinship networks’

Lone parent family A family headed by one parent living with their children. Reconstituted family A family that consists of two parents and their children from previous marriages/relationships (and perhaps the children from their relationship too) ‘Step families’

Polygamy A type of marriage where there is more than one spouse at a time. Polyandry A rare family structure where a woman has more than one husband at one time. Same-sex families A family structure that is headed by two parents of the same sex and their children (natural or adopted)

Family Life Cycle In groups – Imagine how many different types of family an individual might live in during their life cycle. Draw a diagram to represent this cycle.

Family or Families? How diverse are families in the UK? Is the Nuclear Family on the rise or decline? Activity: In groups use the social trends data to find out social facts about family and households.

Robert Chester (1985) Rise of the Neo-Conventional Family For most people the nuclear Family remains the most typical family type. Single parent families come from nuclear families. Singletons will eventually marry. Chester believes the extent of family diversity has been exaggerated.

Trends In the family

Increase or decrease? You tell me… Stand up or sit down whether you think the trend has increased or decreased over the past 50 years

1) The number of households…

2) Family size…

3) The number of young adults living with their parents…

4) The number of marriages…

5) The number of remarriages… x x

6) The number of people marrying later in life…

7) Divorce rate…

8) Single parenthood…

9) The number of people having children later in life…

10) The number of one-person households…

Intro to the Family – Exam Questions 1. Explain what is meant by the term ‘Extended family’ (2 marks) 1. Identify and explain 2 characteristics of Murdock’s (1949) definition of the family (4 marks) 2.Explain what is meant by the term ‘secondary socialisation.’ (2 marks) 3.Think back to Murdock’s definition of the family. Identify and explain 2 types of people he excludes (4 marks) 4.What does Murdock mean by the ‘economic function of the family? (2 marks) 5.Explain what is meant by the term ‘polygamy’ (2 marks) 6.Explain what the term ‘reconstituted family’. (2 marks)

Plenary How can we best define Family? Is the Nuclear Family a thing of the past? Is the Nuclear Family a constant feature of modern societies?

Point to discuss: Is there such a thing as an ‘ideal’ family type?