A Sociological Investigation into the changing of social attitudes towards lone parent families.

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Adam Hepburn - 8076

Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys – 61985

A Sociological Investigation into the changing of social attitudes towards lone parent families

               

               

Hypothesis/Aims Chapter

I aim to find out whether lone parent families are viewed as a socially acceptable alternative to the nuclear family. My initial interest came from Haskey’s research, Sociology in Review volume 3 edition 3 published (1994). He researched the attitudes towards lone parent families in Britain in the early 1990’s. He concluded that social attitudes are changing in lone parent families’ favour due to the increasing number of these families. This is socially significant, as lone parent families are the fastest growing family structure in the UK today. However my hypothesis is that lone parent families are still seen as an undesirable alternative to the nuclear family.

Word count: 107

Context and Concepts chapter

   My first source to provide a context for my research proposal is Haskey’s research, Sociology in Review volume 3 edition 3 published (1994). In his research he studied lone parent families in Britain in the early 1990’s. His research concluded that it is most common that the heads of lone parent families are women. It is the women that look after the children in most cases when there is a divorce. It was found that there are 1.6 million children in this position at the moment. Much of his research was done using covert observations. He also then narrowed his research down to a few families and using what he referred to it as “snap shot” methods he watched and noted the hours these children spend with their fathers. He also found that many of these children lived in poverty as a result of the divorce. This helps me to provide a context for my research because it provides information that recognises that lone parent families are still seen as undesirable due to the figures of children in poverty as a result of marital breakdowns

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   My other source is taken from Bughes and Roberts (1995) taken from the book “Lone parents, Community Care”. In this they suggested that certain media influences have influenced many people into divorce through ‘moral panic’. This is due to the media presenting lone parents as a major social problem. Many different child protection agencies have been founded as a result. The research Burghes and Roberts performed reiterated the fact of the number of growing divorce rates. They concluded that the moral panic mentioned earlier played a big role in this. This source influences my own research as they have ...

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