Indo-Canadians Dominate with One of the Lowest Divorce Rates Worldwide
Indo-Canadians Dominate with One of the Lowest Divorce Rates Worldwide One in every two Canadian marriage ends in divorce. However, only one in every one hundred Indo-Canadian marriages ends in divorce. Canadian divorce laws came into effect in 1968, and the ten years following that date divorce rates increased seven-fold. Its become apart of everyday society to simply accept the inevitable; society is changing, divorces are becoming more common, and Canadians are as accepting of this fact as they are that the earth is round. However, Indo-Canadian divorces only account for 7% percent of all divorces within Canada. The Indian culture has always dominated the world as a country with one of the fewest failed marriage rates. This trend has continued to stand strong, as decades have passed and the Indo-Canadian divorce rate has yet to experience any drastic increase. To many however, this seems quite strange. Indian marriages remain as stable as ever despite the migration of Indian people to Western cultures, and the evolution of marriage within Indian culture itself. While Indian culture has changed, the core values of family and respect have kept arranged marriage in tact in Indian culture. This has in turn resulted in the Indo-Canadian community holding one of the lowest divorce rates. Many outsiders cringe at the idea of an arranged marriage, viewing it as a forced
Assess the argument that state policy has largely failed to protect the institution of the family
Assess the argument that state policy has largely failed to protect the institution of the family I think that state policy although appears to benefit people with families and their families; it is not always the case. An example of how state policy does not protect the institution is the Divorce Law Act. This act allows for a quicker, cheaper way of getting a divorce and allows divorce to be obtained much easier. This does not protect the institution of family because before this act came into place most people would try to work out the problems within their marriage because divorce was a long and expensive process. However, with the new act and its simplicity people are no longer trying to fix their marriages and are just getting divorced which leads to the breakdowns of many family units. For example, the divorce rate increased by 5% between 2009 and 2010. This can have terrible effects upon the family in particular any children the couple may share because a parents’ divorce can be an upsetting time and some children find it very difficult to handle. It can also affect the family because not all divorces are civil and it can leave the couple having bad relations and in custody battles the children can be deeply affected because in some cases only one parent has custody and they don’t allow the children to see the other parent therefore depriving them of a treasured
Sociology Questions on the Modern Family
Sociology Test 3: . Describe the functions of a family. (9 marks) Ans) Functionalists see the family as a ‘natural’ way to organize human life. Functionalists have tended to look towards the family as a vital social institution changed with the basic functions of socialization and system maintenance. Fletcher proposes the main functions of a family as being procreation and child-bearing, the regulation of sexual behavior and the provision of a home. Fletcher states that the family structure provides an outlet for child bearing and raising. As the child is virtually helpless at birth, parental nurture and care is seen as vital during the early stages of a child’s social development and this is provided by the family structure. The family structure also acts as a regulator of sexual behavior. It defines the limits of sexual freedom and thus limits the chances of developing a sexually damaging relationship or petty sexual jealousies of developing. He views the family as a primary institution for the provision of love, care and emotional support for both children and adults and it provides a sense of belonging and serves to define role relationships between men and women. Fletcher states that people find comfort and security within primary social and sexual relationships and the "home" not only provides physical shelter, it also serves as the focal point of family
Assess the Functionalist view that the nuclear family is the best fit for society.
Chris Kelland Assess the Functionalist view that the nuclear family is the ‘best fit’ for society. ________________ Functionalists believe that the family is a universal institution and must therefore perform some universal functions. They think that the nuclear family is the only family that can perform these universal functions and that the nuclear family is the ‘best fit’ for society. I am going to discuss two functionalists called Parsons (1995) and Murdock (1949) there views are from the same time period so they will both be of the same time significance. I will also be discussing the view of Marxism and feminism that conflicts with the functionalist view. First I am going to discuss the view of G.P Murdock (1949) The Consensus Theory. He says that the family have four basic functions: to relieve Sexual needs, to reproduce, to provide primary socialisation for young children and to provide economic support for the family these make the nuclear family ‘best fit’ for society. These functions of the family still remain and are still the main function of the family institution in today’s modern society however some criticisms of this theory is that it does not seriously consider if any other family type or any social institution such as care homes, foster homes etc.… could provide these essential functions. Another criticism of Murdock id that he dose not
Over the past 50 years there has been a considerable decrease in the rate of marriage in Great Britain
Ieuan Murrant Over the past 50 years there has been a considerable decrease in the rate of marriage in Great Britain, for example a graph shows that in 1971 around 475000 marriages took place all together, and where as in 2008 around only 180000 marriages took place. There are a large number of reasons which could have lead to this such as secularisation, changes in the role of women and education and careers. The first reason which explains why marriage has decreased so much is secularisation. This is the decline in religion, meaning that Britain over the years has generally become a far less religious country, this could be taken into two lights, as this could either mean there is less people following their religion, or there is far less people who have a religion, who are atheists. The effect on the marriage rates this has is that religion created the path for many people to follow, hence it influenced the vast majority of peoples lives, and anyone who went against the norms that Christianity created would often have their lives made like hell by those around them. This meant that cohabitation was a rare occurrence as it was considered to be ‘living in sin’, ‘living in sin’ would also apply to those who decided to have sex before they where married to the person. Often highlighted by those who fell pregnant before they were married, and were forced to marry
Functionalist Views of the Family.
Aneesa Hanif The functionalist theory views society as being a system which looks at society rather than the individuals themselves. In functionalism, society is considered more significant because an individual is made by the society and because, people are the creation of the social influences upon them, for example, their family, friends, how well they have been educated and how the media influences them. Parsons are functionalist sociologists who see the society as a body and the body parts as the institutions. Parsons claimed that the family provides two important functions which are the primary socialisation which teaches children the norms and values of society, and stabilisation which stabilises personalities and emotional relationships. Parents also provide security to help individuals cope in wider society. Parsons believe that family has an important part in teaching values and norms as it is in the primary socialisation. Primary socialisation happens in the very early years of life, usually through parents. Parsons believe that there are expected roles for men and women. They claim that the male role is instrumental as they are better at providing for the family, and the women role is expressive, as they are better at emotional support. The criticisms for the Parsons theory are that Marxist feminists would argue that the women end up staying at home, being
Assess the view that the modern family has become child centred.
Assess the view that the modern family has become child centred. In this essay I shall evaluate and the view that the modern family has become more child centred, I shall include childhood in the past compared to childhood now, the rights of children and the expenses now compared to the past. Jane Pilcher (1995) said that the most important feature of the modern idea of childhood is separateness, this is emphasised in many ways e.g. through laws saying what children can or can’t do, another example would be through the way they are dressed, toys, food, books leisure activities etc. related to this is the idea of childhood as the ‘golden age’ of happiness and innocence, innocence could be referred to as being vulnerable and so must be protected from all the dangers from the adult world. So with this idea of separation and vulnerability many people would say that the modern family is child centred as extra precautions will be taken to make sure that the ‘vulnerable’ children are safe and sound, furthermore as the law has drawn a clear line of what children are allowed to do what they are required to do and what they are prohibited to do- this has had an impact on how the modern family is becoming more child centred than in the past as children are being portrayed as vulnerable and in need of protection, however many people would disagree and say that even though
Examine the New Right view of the family
Millie Morgan L6HJ Examine the new right SOT of the family The new right perspective comes from a group of thinkers who mainly share the same values and ideas, from the conservative government. These thinkers believe that the nuclear family is the ideal family in society, and therefore is the bedrock of society. The views of the new right are in keeping with the functionalist views. The new right thinkers are opposed to many things in modern society, such as the decline of the nuclear family, and the rise in the numbers of couples that now cohabite and the number of marriages that now end in divorce. They believe many things are undermining the nuclear family. There are four main features of new right, the emphasis on individual freedom and choice, reduced spending by the state, free markets which encourage competition and the importance of tradition values and institutions. The new right believe that the family promotes decency, manners, respect for property and the law. They also believe that the new social policies have begun to undermine the nuclear family, such as welfare benefits. They believe that the government is too easy and generous with their benefits, and that this had a profound effect on the family, leading to more divorces, more single parent families and declining morals of the family. New right thinkers claim that the welfare state is leading to a culture
Using item A and other sources of information, examine the suggestion that the nuclear family is not a universal institution
Using item ‘A’ and other sources of information, examine the suggestion that the nuclear family is not a universal institution (24 marks) The nuclear family is a household of two generations – married parents and children. It is also known as the ‘cereal packet family’. Different perspectives see the family as providing different roles within society and whether these roles have a negative or positive effect. The idea of it being a universal institution is an arguable one and one that many different sociological perspectives have many different views on. The functionalist’s would say that the Nuclear Family is a universal institution as it is the reason why and is crucial for the function and maintaining of society. They argue that the nuclear family carries out the essential roles and functions such as ‘socialising us all into culture and skills’ and helping us to ‘develop relationships and maturity’. In this way it is obvious that the nuclear family is a universal institution as without it all the inter related systems that build a society would fail to work and society as a whole would collapse and with it civilisation. However there are different situations within which different groups of people may don’t be able to be within a nuclear family and this could be viewed as one of the reasons why the capitalist system in which we live and in some ways
Examine the Marxist contribution to our understanding of the family
Examine the Marxist contribution to our understanding of the family (20 marks) Marxism is a structuralist theory based on conflict, in particular class conflict. In capitalism the Bourgeoisie (owners of businesses and power) exploit the proletariat for personal gain. Marxist believe the only way to stop this is to have a revolution and convert to a communist society. Marxists believe the nuclear family props this system up, such as Zaretsky. They say how women are free labour, and this benefits capitalism. Others say communism will not work as it has never happened properly before. The Marxists do have some supporters such as the Radical Psychiatrists and the Marxist Feminists. On the other hand, Functionalists completely disagree and promote the nuclear family. Engels suggests the origins of the nuclear family were when people started to earn money and buy goods and own possessions. They need a biological family they could pass their possessions down to, knowing they will be safe. He says this developed Capitalism, doing things for personal gain and creating inequality. Engels says the nuclear family supports capitalism by using women as an unpaid labour force. They stay at home and work for free, supporting the children and socialising them. They are the next generation of workers, their socialisation is a false-consciousness making them accept and appreciate capitalism.
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