Conjugal Roles
Conjugal Roles AIMS In this particular study I will examine the concept of equality in marriage. I will use Bott's theories as a basis for my study. My aim is to find if chores are equally shared between men and women in Upper Newbolds households. My motivation has arisen by an observation of my mother undertaking all the domestic chores. I am interested to see if other families are similar or if conjugal roles are implemented in these households. My study is part of a wider debate which links social networks and class with conjugal roles. [93 words] CONTEXT AND CONCEPTS I will use Bott's theories so I can relate close-knit networks and lose-knit networks with conjugal roles. Rosser and Harris' concepts of pulsive domesticity and close-knit networks will be used to explain why women traditionally do domestic chores. Bott uses feminist theories to elaborate on conjugal roles. Botts' theory was implemented in the 70's nevertheless I feel this is still relevant in today's society as the concept of inequality still exists. Bott found extreme segregation in working class families. This maybe due to their connected social networks. Bott's study showed the degree of segregation in the role relationship of husband and wife has direct connections with the connectedness of their social networks. The more connected the network the greater the segregation of the roles.
conjugal roles
Chapter 1 Rationale My aim is to find out whether or not conjugal roles are distributed evenly between the sexes in middle class families. I am interested in researching this matter as I am from a middle class background and am surrounded by other middle class families and also the fact that I am forced to participate in housework myself in ms household. Sociologists such as Mary Boulton believe that is mainly the women who apply themselves in households as in her research she found that only eighteen percent of fathers help in extensive childcare and thirty six percent of fathers helped moderately. Aim: To examine how much men participate with housework. Objective: Design and create a questionnaire to be given to men and women aged 20-60. As I am using a questionnaire I am a positivist and positivists believe in quantitative data, as it is a reliable source of information as it takes in a wide range of data which you can analyse and produce tables and graphs. Chapter 2 Context and Concepts Ann Oakley criticises other sociologist's research as she does her own. I have chosen her study because she also was trying to find the truth about conjugal roles as she felt the other sociologists hadn't given accurate accounts. She says that although the figure of 72% of men doing housework is impressive she points out that this figure is based on one research question "do
Have conjugal roles become more symmetrical?
In this essay I will evaluate whether or not conjugal roles i.e.; the roles played by male and female partners in marriage or co-habiting relationships has become more symmetrical. I will attempt to evaluate this question using theoretical perspectives from a number of sociologists. First though we must establish what is actually meant by 'the family' and if it has in fact changed. The old view of what a family was according to G.P.Murdoch, was basically, man, woman and at least one child, who share residence, economic functions and reproduction. This of course is quite an outdated view as families nowadays consist of many different combinations, which include, childless couples, single parents and gay couples to name but a few. Giddons provided us with a more modern view, which said that the family were in fact, a group of persons linked by kin (blood, marriage, co-habitation), a view that caters for all the different combinations that make up society today. Functionalist sociologists believe that the family has evolved through two different forms, the nuclear family and the extended family. The nuclear family being pretty straight forward, a mother, father and children, this family was said to be fairly sufficient on each other. The extended family however is said to incorporate other family members and may contain three or four generations who all take care of each
Conjugal roles within the modern household
Rationale I have decided to study conjugal roles within the modern household. I intend to look closely at the different tasks carried out between the males and females within the group. I shall look at the amount of time spent on the tasks by each of the partners and compare these findings to some found in previous studies. I am carrying out this study of conjugal roles because I am interested in seeing how conjugal roles are changing in different households over time. It will be interesting to see how couples juggle their time between conjugal roles and employment at the present time and how this has changed since the 1950's. The previous studies I shall be looking at will give me an indication of what conjugal roles were in the past and I shall be able to compare them with the present. My initial hypothesis will be to look at whether women still do the bulk of the housework and see if the ratio of work done by males and females has changed since the previous studies were carried out. I aim to find out how many hours males and females spend performing conjugal roles, and I then intend to compare them with previous research. I am going to collect my own data by using structured questionnaires; this will give me quantitative data, with which I will be able to draw tables and charts, which will make it easier to analyse. I will be taking a Marxist feminist approach
Question: Assess the view that conjugal roles have become equal.
Question: Assess the view that conjugal roles have become equal. Different sociologists have had different views to whether conjugal roles have become equal. Researchers have measured different aspects of equality/inequality in conjugal roles. Some have concentrated on the division of labour in the home: they have examined the allocation of responsibility for domestic work between husband and wife and the amount of time spent by spouses on particular tasks. Others have tried to measure the distribution of power within marriage. Willmott and Young, and Gillian Dunne are amongst those who have argued that conjugal roles are equal. However many sociologists such as Ann Oakley, Ferri and Smith, Duncombe and Marsden, and Edgel, who have carried out research into the area of conjugal roles, have found little evidence that couples share equal division of domestic tasks. Willmott and Young agree with the statement that conjugal roles have become equal. During the 1970's they announced the arrival of the symmetrical family, a family in which the roles of husband and wife were similar. In the home the couple 'shared their work and shared their time'. Husbands were seen to be increasingly helping with domestic chores, child rearing and decision making about family life. Willmott and Young found that 72% of husbands helped with these household tasks. They argued that the change from
Asses the view that conjugal roles are now almost equal
Asses the view that conjugal roles are now almost equal Conjugal roles are the roles a husband and wife have within their marriage. During the industrial period, domestic labour primarily became the woman's role and the man's role was to work. Oakley (1974) stated that this was due to the series of Factory Acts from 1819 onwards that restricted the labour of children and then women. Gradually women were excluded from a number of industries, so they and their children were economically dependant on men. These restrictions to the home meant that the domestic labour was the only role for women; thus creating segregated roles. However, recently, according to Young and Willmott (1973), family life has steadily improved for its members as it becomes more equal. This movement away from the segregated roles was a step forward to integrated roles - where the roles of the husband and wife are similar. Oakley dismissed the view that husbands share part of the domestic chores. She conducted research in the early 1970's which show a clear division of labour. It was based on interviews with 40 women with pone or more children under 5. The findings showed that the wives saw the housework and child care as their own responsibility and received little help from their husbands. Oakley's results and conclusions support the theory of segregated roles. Since her study there has been extensive
Discuss the view that conjugal roles are becoming joint in families.
Discuss the view that conjugal roles are becoming joint in families A conjugal role describes the positions and tasks typically taken up by husband and wife or cohabiting partners in the family. It has been argued that these roles are becoming increasingly joint in relation to the family. Elizabeth Bott (1957) distinguishes between two polar types of conjugal role relationship, segregated and joint. Segregated in a sense that men and women have clear differentiation in tasks, interests and activities. Botts study suggests that there is a basic division of labour in which the man is responsible for supporting the family financially and the women performs the housework and childcare. However according to Bott joint relationships are in existence, however this depends on the class and background that the couples have each come from, joint relationships is when there is a minimum of tasks differentiation and separation of interests. Wilmott and Young (1975) identifies a growth in joint conjugal roles this relatively new type of companionship between men and women is evident more so in the middle and working class. Also their research suggested that families were becoming increasingly symmetrical this was premised on the fact that more women are now in paid employment and the growth in technology is assumed to have removed drudgery from domestic work and saved time. The
Have conjugal roles changed in the last 50 years? Design section
'Have Conjugal roles changed in Britain over the last 50 years?' Design Section The question I will be investigating is 'Have conjugal roles changed in Britain in the last 50 years?' I have chosen this coursework title because I'm interested in the results I could get from it and it would be interesting to see what conclusion could be drawn from it. My aim is to see if conjugal roles have changed in Britain in the last 50 years. To do this I will carry out six interviews of three different couples who have been cohabiting for approximately fifty years, twenty-five years and only a few years, I will then ask them the same questions about conjugal roles to then compare their answers. I hypothesise that conjugal roles have changed in Britain over the last fifty years. I think that conjugal roles of the cohabiting couple of approximately fifty years will be more 'traditional' with the man working and earning the income and the woman sticking to the more stereotypically feminine household chores- cooking and cleaning etc. I think this because the couple of fifty years would have very segregated conjugal roles perhaps because they would be sticking to the conjugal roles that were traditional of their generation. Whereas the younger cohabiting couple of only a few years I think would tend to have shared conjugal roles, because in our current society it isn't uncommon for both
Are Conjugal roles still in the twenty first century, separated by gender"
"Are Conjugal roles still in the twenty first century, separated by gender" Hypothesis/Aim - 87 words My investigation will be based on family relationships; more specifically why conjugal roles in the twenty first century are most frequently governed by gender. I have been raised in a society, where the majority of domestic tasks, are automatically assumed to be 'women's work'. Families are changing - single parents, reconstituted families and homosexual relationships. Man is no longer the breadwinner; sex discrimination in working environments is unlawful. Even so, dust on the computer will wait for a 'woman's touch'. I aim to find out why this is. Context and Concepts - 402 words My first concept is conjugal roles; Young and Willmott (1973) claimed the roles of husband and wife were becoming increasingly similar. In 1974, Anne Oakley argued there was still a clear division along gender lines. Young and Willmott's research announced the arrival of the "Symmetrical Family" where roles of husband and wife are similar. They based their research on historical evidence, plus work from earlier studies. Family life was changing; roles in society were altering, particularly in the home. Families have moved towards symmetry, between the roles of male and female in home life. Their surveys found women were taking paid employment outside the home and there was an
Critically evaluate the view that conjugal roles in the family are now more symmetrical.
Critically evaluate the view that conjugal roles in the family are now more symmetrical. There are many definitions of what a family is both modern definitions and archaic. The consensus amongst most modern sociologists today is that there is little point in trying to define the term family as such diversity exists within modern societies. Functionalists see the institution of the family in a positive light and believe that the ideal family is the nuclear family as it is the best situation for individuals and is more beneficial for society in general. Functionalism is a consensus theory which assumes that society operates on the basis of agreement, thus there is a tendency towards reaching equilibrium between the various institutions so that they are able to function together as they are inter connected. Functionalists tend to be of the opinion that the nuclear family evolved from the Industrial Revolution. This view is derived from Talcott Parsons (1955), who studied societies in the pre industrial times and compared them, to our post industrial societies of today. Parsons along with other sociologists such as Arensburg and Kimball (1968) hold the view that most pre industrial families "existed in a patriarchal extended family structure." (Kirby et al, 1999). The basis of Functionalist theory is that society works as a system, the institutions are a set of inter connected
