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AS and A Level: Family & Marriage

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203 AS and A Level Family & Marriage essays

  • Marked by Teachers essays 6
  • Peer Reviewed essays 1
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  1. Marked by a teacher

    Critically examine the Functionalist idea that the nuclear family exists for the benefit of everyone.

    5 star(s)

    This essay would score 5/5 stars. It contains breadth (lots of studies and named sociologists) and depth (it explains each one well). The candidate scores well on application(sticking to the…

    • Essay length: 1611 words
    • Submitted: 31/01/2011
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Lesley Clark 07/02/2012
  2. Marked by a teacher

    Outline and evaluate the functionalist view of the role of the family

    4 star(s)

    Overall this essay covers the basics well and makes good comparisons between Functionalism and Marxism. It would be stronger by applying more Feminism to the discussion and also sometimes the…

    • Essay length: 1521 words
    • Submitted: 16/03/2009
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Matthew Wilkin 09/04/2013
  3. Marked by a teacher

    Examine the factors affecting the domestic division of labour and power relations between couples.

    4 star(s)

    It has some good knowledge of studies which show inequality exists but the candidate fails to get to grips with the precise question set and this lets it down (the…

    • Essay length: 1066 words
    • Submitted: 10/03/2008
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Lesley Clark 07/02/2012
  4. Marked by a teacher

    Assess the sociological views of the relationship between the family and industrialisation

    3 star(s)

    This essay starts well and has a good description of Parsons' views and some excellent counterarguments. However, the essay ignores other Functionalist theorists, Marxist theory and distinctly lacks any overall…

    • Essay length: 1077 words
    • Submitted: 14/01/2013
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Matthew Wilkin 04/12/1999
  5. Marked by a teacher

    Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of families and households.

    3 star(s)

    This is a fairly good essay that uses some very good counter-arguments in particular. The essay however does miss out some of the key aspects of the Functionalist view in…

    • Essay length: 832 words
    • Submitted: 11/01/2013
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Matthew Wilkin 09/04/2013
  6. Marked by a teacher

    Examine the View that the Family is a Universal Institution

    3 star(s)

    Overall this essay explains the functionalist view well and provides some good examples of families to counter the debate. However, there is a lack of sociologists and alternative perspectives in…

    • Essay length: 902 words
    • Submitted: 10/03/2008
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Matthew Wilkin 09/04/2013
  7. Peer reviewed

    Examine the contribution of functionalist explanations towards an understanding of the family

    4 star(s)

    This question has been answered well. The writer has a sound understanding of Functionalism, which is evident as the essay refers to many Functionalist sociologists (Parsons, Fletcher, Murdock). As well…

    • Essay length: 2023 words
    • Submitted: 13/03/2009
    • Reviewed by: (?) cwhite 12/09/2012

  8. Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of families and households

    • Essay length: 707 words
    • Submitted: 03/07/2012

  9. Outline and Evaluate the view that nuclear families benefit individuals and society

    • Essay length: 458 words
    • Submitted: 13/06/2012

  10. To what extent is the family a declining social institution in Britain?

    • Essay length: 885 words
    • Submitted: 11/06/2012
203 essays
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UK trends - gender

  1. 1 Men tend to outperform women in terms of income, wealth, promotion at work; they are more likely to have full time and /or permanent contracts.
  2. 2 In the home men do less housework than women and are much less likely to suffer domestic violence than women. Men are more likely to have control of finances and power in decision making in the family.
  3. 3 Women have better life chances in terms of life expectancy, preferential treatment by courts when awarding custody of children, some evidence of greater leniency in sentencing, more time off paid work with their children, lower suicide rates and are doing better in schools.

Key UK trends - social class

  1. 1 At work, those in the working class are more likely to have a below average paid job, a temporary contract and work part time.
  2. 2 In terms of policing and the criminal justice system, the working class are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police and to be arrested.
  3. 3 In the family people from working class backgrounds are more likely to marry younger and to get divorced.
  4. 4 In terms of health the working class are more likely, more likely to smoke, to miscarry their baby, to die of an accident at work and to die before their first birthday.
  5. 5 In education the working class are more likely to be placed in lower streams or sets at school, to leave school with fewer educational qualifications, and much less likely than the middle class to go to university.

Key UK trends - ethnicity

  1. 1 African Caribbean Britons are at high risk of being stopped and searched, getting longer custodial sentences, being excluded from school, being unemployed, living in a single parent family and achieving the lowest average GCSE scores.
  2. 2 British Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have the highest rates of poverty, living in cramped housing and female unemployment.
  3. 3 British Indians and British Chinese have higher than average educational success rates.
  4. 4 White Britons have better life chances than ethnic minorities in nearly all areas, with the exception of the British Indians and British Chinese.
  5. 5 There are significant differences WITHIN ethnic groups, so men and women, people from different social classes and ages have significantly different life chances.

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Conclusion analysis

Good conclusions usually refer back to the question or title and address it directly - for example by using key words from the title.
How well do you think these conclusions address the title or question? Answering these questions should help you find out.

  1. Do they use key words from the title or question?
  2. Do they answer the question directly?
  3. Can you work out the question or title just by reading the conclusion?

  • Explain and briefly evaluate ways in which femininities are created and reinforced in contemporary society.

    "In conclusion, there are still traditional gender roles in our society that emphasise the dominance and power of men, encouraging and reinforcing that women should be more passive and domestic. However, there is more awareness today and these roles are forever being challenged, for example, the new 'ladette culture' that has come about recently, where girls and young women are taking on what has traditionally been male behaviour, ladettes involve themselves in binge drinking, casual sex and swearing. Also the 'poxy cupid' where in schools the slightest hint of sexism, is being challenged by fierce female pupils, behaviour designed to scare the teachers and even the most dominant males. Despite this, the roles we are 'taught' are still very powerful and influential because they are socialised into children from birth in the home, then reinforced in wider society, having an impact on their adult roles and personalities. Sociology - Naomi Harding"

  • Analyse the differences between primary and secondary socialisation

    "In summary, we have looked at certain key points about primary and secondary socialisation such as when they occur and what they teach us and it is reasonable to conclude that there are some vast differences between the two. Although they follow the same structure in that they both have socialising agents and agencies, there is a vast difference between what these agents and agencies teach us and what their purpose is. However, they are both vitally important when it comes to making an individual who they become in later life."

  • Using information from the items and elsewhere, assess the extent to which pupil subcultures are the cause of failure at school

    "To conclude I believe that subculture to some extend are the case of failure at school, in that a number of pupils do not value education, and focus on building a 'cool' reputation within their subculture. In most cases that means that the students with interrupt lessons and not do set tasks set by the teacher, which as a result will bring down achievement as they are not focusing on the information given by the teacher and also them kind of students are not allowing pro-school subcultures to learn because of the bad behaviour or interruptions going on in class. However I think subcultures vary in many aspects and different subcultures will have different ideologies depending where they live, their socio-class and the background they come from. Not all subcultures are anti-school, there are also pro-school subcultures, so we can not generalize subcultures. P.S I am not sure if I answered the question correctly, if not then SORRY. By Saida Murati"

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Peer reviewed

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