Families and Households

What Families and Households covers

Families and Households is one of the optional topics on Paper 2, and the largest of them. It covers the competing theories of the family, the changing patterns of marriage, divorce and diversity, roles and power inside the household, childhood, and the demographic trends behind it all.

The 11 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Functionalist views of the familyMurdock's four functions, Parsons on primary socialisation and functional fit, and the nuclear family in industrial society.Open →
• Marxist and feminist views of the familyThe family as a unit of consumption and a reproducer of labour power, and the radical, Marxist, liberal and difference feminist positions.Open →
• The New Right, postmodernism and family policyThe New Right ideal, Murray's underclass, postmodern diversity, and how tax, benefits, housing and law shape families.Open →
• Marriage, cohabitation and divorceWhy marriage rates have fallen and divorce risen, and what cohabitation is used for.Open →
• Family diversity and the personal life perspectiveThe Rapoports' five types of diversity, reconstituted and beanpole families, and Smart, Beck and Giddens on personal life.Open →
• Conjugal roles and domestic labourThe symmetrical family thesis and Oakley's reply, the dual burden, the triple shift, and emotion work.Open →
• Power relationships and domestic violenceDecision-making, money management, and how radical feminists explain domestic violence.Open →
• The social construction of childhoodAriès, the march of progress and conflict views, age patriarchy, and the new sociology of childhood.Open →
• Birth rates and death ratesWhat has happened to each since 1900, and the reasons behind the changes, including infant mortality.Open →
• Family size and the ageing populationFalling family size, the dependency ratio, and the effects of ageing on health care, pensions and families.Open →
• Migration and globalisationPush and pull factors, net migration, transnational families and chain migration.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Families and Households further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Joint conjugal roles vs Segregated conjugal roles

  Joint conjugal roles: roles where partners share domestic tasks and leisure activities. Segregated conjugal roles: roles where there is a clear division between male and female tasks.

• Dual burden vs Triple shift

  Dual burden: where women do paid work while keeping primary responsibility for domestic labour. Triple shift: where women do paid work, domestic labour and emotional work.

• Instrumental role vs Expressive role

  Instrumental role: the breadwinner role assigned to men, providing for the family financially. Expressive role: the caring role assigned to women, meeting the family’s emotional needs.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   According to functionalists, how does the family contribute to primary socialisation?

   Model answer

   The family teaches children the basic norms, values, and culture of society, enabling them to become functioning members of society.

2. 2

   What does the functionalist concept of 'stabilisation of adult personalities' mean?

   Model answer

   The family provides emotional support and a safe haven for adults, relieving the stresses of modern life and maintaining their psychological health.

3. 3

   How does the family perform the function of economic cooperation according to functionalists?

   Model answer

   Family members pool resources, share income, and provide for each other's material needs, creating an economic unit that supports its members.

4. 4

   What is the reproductive function of the family in functionalist theory?

   Model answer

   The family provides a legitimate context for producing and rearing children, ensuring the continuation of society.

5. 5

   What is the sexual function of the family according to Murdock?

   Model answer

   The family regulates sexual behaviour by providing a socially approved outlet for sexual expression between married partners.

6. 6

   What did Murdock conclude from his study of 250 societies?

   Model answer

   That the nuclear family is universal because it performs essential functions that every society needs.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Families and Households revision questions

What does Families and Households cover in AQA A-Level Sociology?

11 subtopics: functionalist views of the family, marxist and feminist views of the family, the new right, postmodernism and family policy, marriage, cohabitation and divorce, family diversity and the personal life perspective, conjugal roles and domestic labour, power relationships and domestic violence, the social construction of childhood, birth rates and death rates, family size and the ageing population and migration and globalisation. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Families and Households organised?

By the AQA 7192 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.