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A level Sociology Family and households
- Module
- Family and Households
- Institution
- AQA
This is a Sociology revision booklet on Family and households
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,family & householdsPage 1 of 54
, 1. THEORIES OF THE FAMILY
Add notes for functionalism and Marxism
INTERACTIONALISM
Interactionism is a sociological perspective, is a conflict /consensus theory and takes a micro view of
society which means that it looks at the smaller scale of society. Interactionists focus on the way
humans act, interpreting what it is going around them and making choices on how we interact with
other people.
Interactionists believe that the family Is an essential social institution as the interactions that we
experience in our early years, shape our identities for the rest of our lives.
1. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONALISM is a theory which is based on understanding how individuals interact
with each other through the meanings of symbols.
2. The SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONALISTS argue that shared activities within the family, help to build
emotional bonds and that marriage are based on negotiating and establishing roles within the
family.
3. ROLE TAKING is a key theory that permits individuals to appreciate another person’s perspective
and to understand what their action might mean to the person. Role taking is being thought at an
early age through activities as playing house /cooking etc. The family is seen as ‘social actors ‘as
each member has a role to play for e.g. The husband goes to work, and the wife takes care of the
children.
4. The INTERACTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE also believes that the family reinforce bonds
through symbolic rituals such as family meals and holidays.
POSTMODENISM
Postmodernists disagree that society is always stable and functioning. They view sociological theories
as metanarratives (big stories) because they are not able to explain the diversity of personal
relationships and the family.
1. In postmodern society individuals have the choice to choose the family type and the
type of lifestyle that they want to live and that meet their own needs. There is no
longer a dominant family type like the nuclear family, in postmodern society there are
other type of family which include for e.g. Same sex relationships, cohabitation and
reconstituted families.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Individuals in society have the choice to choose There is a greater risk of instability as relationships
how they want to live their life and the type of are more likely to break up. For e.g. Divorces,
family they want to live in that will benefit them. unstable couple/marriage.
POST MODERN SOCIETY HAS TWO CHARACTERISTICS
1. DIVERSITY AND FRAGMENTATION
Postmodern society is fragmented as there is a greater diversity of subcultures and lifestyle rather
than picking a single shared culture and this means that individuals can pick their own identity such
as sexual preferences (e.g. gender) and lifestyle (e.g. being vegan).
Page 2 of 54
, SOCIETY IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY IN THE PAST
We build our identity through consumption by Individuals gained their identity through tradition
sharing time /experiences with others. and their religion.
Choice and individualism are the key features in Opposite to individualism is Collectivism as
postmodern society individuals did not have the right to choose in
society
Secularisation is when society is changes from
having religious values and replaced with
non-religious values and as a result church
leaders loose influence over society
o Individualism (self-interest), diversity and consumer choice are the main features of
today’s society and this is demonstrated by:
o The decline/disintegration of the traditional family e.g. Man + woman create a child
o Diversity of households such as single parent /conventional/nuclear families, stepfamily etc
o The personal relationships in which people choose to have
2. RAPID SOCIAL CHANGE
New technologies in today’s society have made the word feel smaller and faster as for e.g.
communication happens faster due to the use of smartphones. This has changed our patterns of
work and leisure (free time) as people are able to communicate faster rather than having to see
each other face to face.
3. DECLINE OF TRADITION
There is a decline in traditions as people do not feel attached to traditional ideas and expectations
such as getting married and having children and following the gender roles (Giddens) and as a
result this leads to the increase of divorce rates, cohabitation, having multiple partners, step families
, gay couples and births outside marriage this shows that the way that people live their lives is
more flexible now due to freedom of choice.
4. DECLINE IN THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION
Individualism leads to a decline in being influenced by religion because they can choose how to
live their life and because of secularisation, religion has less influence on society. The reason for the
decline in the influence of religion is because of the decline of tradition in society e.g. not getting
married and having kids which goes against religion.
A02 POSTMODERNISTS
TAMARA HAREVEN ’LIFE COURSE ANALYSIS ‘
Hareven used a method called the ‘life course analysis ‘by carrying out in dept interviews to study the
choices/decision people made (e.g. coming out as gay/having a baby). This approach recognises
that there is flexibility in people’s family life choices. For e.g. how they decide to raise their children
/choose their sexuality.
STRENGHTS THE LIFE COURSE ANALYSIS METHOD
o It focuses on what the family finds important and not what the sociologist traditionally finds
important.
o The life course analysis is suitable for families in today’s society where there is greater choice
of personal relationship and more family diversity.
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