Postmodernist have argued that there has being a fundamental change in the modern family, thus denying any one family type can be seen as the norm. According to them, although the modern society have held up and promoted one dominate family type, the changing trends makes it no longer possible to produce a theory of the family as traditionalist have always believed. Therefore different explanations are needed for different types of families (Halarambos p465)
The family appears to be seen more problematic than it was in past times. In looking further, George Peter Murdock carried out a study entitled social structure (1949) where he examined the institution of the family in a wide range of society .Murdock took a sample of 250 societies ranging from small hunting and gathering bands to large-industrial societies. he claimed that some form of family existed in every society and concluded on the evidence of his samples that the family is universal and consequently defined the family as ‘A social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction, it includes adults or both sexes, at least two of which maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted of the sexually co-habiting adults. (Murdock 1949).
Murdock also found that either on its own or the basic unit within an extended family, the nuclear family was present in every society in his sample and argued again that the nuclear family is in all human society groupings either as the sole parenting form of the family or as the basic unit from which more complex forms are compounded.it exist as a distinct and strongly functional group in every known society(Murdock1949)
However, looking at the institution of the nuclear family and if there are any changes to that held by the formal, it will be what while to look at the views of other writers. According to Graham Allan and Graham Crow (2001),there was a suggestion that there have being a continued trends towards diversification of family types as each individuals follows a more unpredictable family course, complicated by co-habitation, remarriages, periods living alone. This diversity is based upon increased choice or individualised families are now more able to exercise choice and personal volition over so many things that concern them, they’re no longer constrained by social or ethnic needs due largely to separation of sex, parenthood and marriage. Now people do not feel they have to get marriage before sex and having children outside marriage is increasingly seen as legitimate and an acceptable opinion and this have affected the nuclear family. There are different families and these have developed and change over time. Allan and Crow gave some reasons for this diversity to include the high rate of divorce-this have affected most countries in the west, lone parent households have increased as social trends have changed, co-habitation outside marriage is now common, marriage rates have declined and a big rise in numbers of step families. Thus this view are partly in agreement to that of Murdock and Nicholson.
Again the guy and lesbian households have become common. Jeffrey Weeks and Catherine Donovan (1999) did observe in their studies that during the past generation the possibilities of living together in an open lesbian or gay life have being transformed. Moreover the new reproductive technologies have affected the way traditional families are seen. The first ‘test tube baby’ was born in 1978 through a process called Invitrol Fertilization which involves implantation of a fertilized egg in a woman’s womb and the woman may or may not be the one producing the egg. The issue of surrogate motherhood which involve one woman carrying a foetus produced by the egg of another woman, and this Calhoan sees as undermining the centrality of the reproductive couple as the core of the family, thus introducing other ranges of choice into families. This he concluded takes the family out from the traditional norms (Halarambos) p497
Globally, according to Rhona report (1989). Decline of traditional nuclear family are part of global trends. In 1980, the European coordination canter for referral and documentation in social sciences organised a cross cultural studies of family life in fourteen European nations and concluded that all EU countries had experienced rising divorce rate and many have made it easier to get divorce, also birth rate have declined. Katja Boh argues that there is a consistent pattern of non vengeance in diversity and that throughout the EU a great range of family type is now being accepted as normal (Boh, 1989)
The family life as put forward by new right and feminist sociologist have being dominated by an ideology of femilism. According to them, there is an ‘ideal family’ which should have the following characteristic 1, nuclear in structure (mother, father and own children),2 based on marriage and should be heterosexual and males should be bread winners while females should be primarily responsible for child care and house work (The family 2001) p31.consequetly other types of family other than those proposed becomes deviant. This ideal of nuclear family as an institution appears to be promoted by the media and government social policies especially on taxation and social security systems. The new right believe that marriage is the bedrock of the family and that marriage is in decline and therefore the nuclear family is fast becoming an ideology that is fast losing its edge. Though the new right thinkers did agree that most people still marry and see it as a desirable thing to do, as the numbers of re-marriages have increased compared to all marriages (15%-40%). It is clear that most people are not put off despite some having had bad experiences from their first union.
Robert Chester (1985) suggested that rather than the nuclear family declining, most people are delaying marriage and can be as a result of different economic or personal reasons (The ultimate study guide, revise AS).Figures from government statistic show that there are fewer marriages, more divorce, more single parents families and also more children born out of wed lock. Also there are more extended families especially people from some ethnic minority communities. According to statistics first marriages numbered 221,100 in 1961 and declined 345,000 in 2005. And also second marriages were reduced, giving the suggestion that the nuclear family is in decline. But many statistics might not be as accurate as the numbers of people that are single and available are not known. In 1991 average age for marriage was 27.5 for men and 25.5 for women. Thus not only are fewer people marrying, it appears more are doing so at a later age. In 2005 this age has increased to 31.7 and 29.5 respectively and the number of those who have never marriage have increased from year to year. The issue of co-habitation according to statistic is a trend that have affected traditional nuclear family as an institution.by 2002,there were 25% of unmarried adults that were co habiting, while of this 50% of women are involved. This suggest that formal marriage might be in decline but family format is still desirable (social treds.www.curriculumpress.co.uk.no36)
There have being evidence for changes in family structures as 2% of households were single parents families with dependent children in 1960,this increase to 7% in 2003.20% of under 19 year olds were living with one parents family in 2004, and even amongst people of Caribbean origin, this figure is much higher(36%). Most single families are headed by women, three quarters of the children of single parents did at birth live with two perents.but the proportion of mothers who have never married are fast increasing. According to Moore et al (2005) 726,001 children were estimated to live in reconstituted families in 2003 i.e. over 10% of children. In 2002 government statistic showed that 25% of households of people of Asian origin wee extended be young single people, couples or parents(s) with dependent children. Some of these can be said to be changing trends in family structures but can it be attributed to a decline in the nuclear family as an institution? A kind of family in crises seems to be put forward by politicians, sociologist and even journalist. The preferred assumption was that the family was in decline and that this decline has a negative effect in the society. According to M.Phillips,2006 ‘The causes of crime is in the widespread and systematic breakdown of all the connections and restraints that creates a civilised society,,,,,,,above all, the principal cause is the dismemberment of the traditional family’. Thus from the above it could be said that the spread of crime in society is as a result of the breakdown in the nuclear family, this can’t be completely true as reasons are not given to crimes that are carried out by children who have being raised and still remain in the traditional nuclear family structure.
Again T.Beggs (1849) argue and concluded that the withdrawer of women attention from care of her offspring and from domestic duties is an unnatural arrangement as young children are left at home…..to play at will and to expand into every lawless form….The early direction of a child’s mind to the value of money and the consequate temptation to procure it by illicit means.
New right theorist did agree with Beggs and added that government policies have encouraged women to go out and work and this have undermined the role of women in the family and hence the decline. Morgan(2006) also suggested that the change and laws that are made in response to divorce have made it easy to part with a partner who would have tried to resolve their diffrences.The most recent change seen as undermining the family is the legality of civil partnership. This law came into operation in 2005 and enables a same sex couple to register as civil partners of each other. Before 1923, women cannot divorcé men for adultery, and before 1857 divorce was almost impossible and rare as it required an Act of Paliament.The matrimonial courts then allows this only on the basis of matrimonial offence which according to men were if their wife have committed adultery and on the basis of desertion or cruelty, whereas for women only desertion or cruelty applied. Today the grounds of divorce are same for both sexes. other legal changes like the legal Aid 1949,The divorce Reform Act of 1969 which remove the need for an offence and allowed divorce on the basis of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage was to strengthen the position of women in deciding what type of family they want to be. The new right thinkers claim that welfare policies have encouraged diversity of the family and this is seen as deviant.Ferminist like Ann Oakley disagreed with the views of some new right thinkers and suggested that familial ideology promotes a woman’s maternal instincts, thus leading to a hegemonic view that ‘real women will strive to put their family before their careers. For feminists, if working women are harming their children in some ways, why is there never being a debate about working fathers. They are also criticised for ignoring certain facts like the difference between maternal and paternal parental leave which clearly assumes women will spend more time with the baby. Also the pro traditional government policies such as ‘care in the community’ ’and the CSA (child support agency)that make absent fathers financially responsible for their children are all geared towards making women independent and hence decline of the nuclear family
Fox Harding (1996) concluded in his writings that the best local authority housing is allocated to marriage couples and the worst on problem estates to single parents. The family is viewed as an isolation by crises theorist and in comparism to other institutions is regarded as the cause of all social problems.
The decline of the nuclear family as an institution might also be linked to secularisation. According to Bryan Wilson, religion has lost its influence on marriage. In 1981 there were 52% of marriages that are religiously based.in 2002 it was 34% and even among the Christian churches the reduction is higher. The Christian belief take lifelong marriage very serious, living together is considered a sin. However if marriage is not solemnised in church, then divorce is not contravening sacred vows. This would have being fine for the society but for the fact that there is a declining proportion of the population adhering closely to religion and as such the influence it has have greatly diminished (sociology fact sheet)(Halarambos)
It must be said that the position of women have greatly changed over the years. Women’s expectations in past were low and even lower amongst those with children, this was so as the harse economic hardship affects women more and also the social effects and the limitation of being single, but now changing attitudes and the fact that many women in their life time must have seen members of their families or fiend’s family members live alone and raise children without any social consequeces.This have contributed in putting the nuclear family as one of the options and not the only option. Moreover government policies that create a favourable mixture of child benefit and economic empowerment of women meant that only few women are still wholly dependent on their husbands, and this have affected their view when they go into relationships as their financial burden to their husbands have reduced or taken away. Thus most women expect or have high expectations of their husbands providing love and romance and quite a sizable portion of relationship’s have collapsed if these expectations are not met
Looking at all the various opinions by the mentioned writers ,it will appear that all or some of them do agree that the family is still safe as an institution, most extracts seems to deny the existence of family diversity and instead concentrate upon what many called ‘ideological’ image of family life. The nuclear family by many funtionist thinkers is the ideal family and any alternative form is seen as challenging the universality of the nuclear family, and this was also partly agreed by new right thinkers. However the feminists suggested that this so called ideal of family is at odd with the reality of family life for many as the family is not ovewhelmily nuclear (general one file)
Diana Gittins (1993) sees family diversity as a direct challenge of its being nuclear in nature, and observed that so many different forms of it exist that it is now difficult to define what family is. According to Diana what we have is diverse range of many different families forms- a real choice for way of living, and this gittins sees as improving awareness that the nuclear family might not live up to reality (general one file).Fuelled by the media moral panics about rising crimes, low standard of education, the young lacking work ethnics and the rise of illegitimacy. Divorce and single parenthood, politicians and other opinion formers appear to give support not so much to families, as to the ideology of the nuclear family. Therefore diversity from this view is a social problem to be solved (general one file. Gale group.com)
The new right have argued for the return to traditional family values as a remedy for these proplems,but from my research, it is clear that though the institution of the nuclear family is in decline, most people are still in one family or the other.it looks as if the family is still performing it’s functions effectively and even the quality of life is much better than in the past. This point supports the feminists view of a changing family, these evidence points to a new type of family as there have being transfer of functions from nuclear family to other forms of family, although the new rig did not see other forms of family performing same roles. No doubt there is a changing family pattern, the new right opposition to the changing values and claim of one family type is not true based on my research. While Person (1959) argue that although there might be diversity, it is not important as the nuclear family remain dominant. But statistic shows that the nuclear family is not dominant but rather in decline (sociology in perspertive2000
The future of the nuclear family according to feminists is to embrace diversity as it best matches the reality of modern times, however some feminists thinkers also points out that the nuclear family is still a massive source of control for women, therefore diversity is a way of challenging this control, since women now have more options.Giddens believed the family is now more democratic and equal than ever before. There have being a social change in our lives and this have opened up new opportunities and challenges.
Post moderns see the future and diversity as both the consequence of and the contribution to the increased postmodernasition of the society and in our personal life. The claim that some family forms are better or more natural or normal than others are seen in this postmodern view to be a left over from modernist: a time when social actors searched for a fixed meaning about life, a ready-made truth according to which life could be lived. Today, so the claim goes, this is no longer possible. We cannot even say what constitutes ‘family’ today. The above could be seen as family being characterised by choice, freedom, diversity, ambivalence and fluidity, and it means family relationships are undecided and we can only expect individual responses to problems solved within or without the family (general one file).
It appears that the nuclear family have both an uncertain past and an uncertain future. Different opinions agree that the nuclear family have undergone lots of changes and what they mean is open to interpretation.as society changes and the role of the family within society changes, we are offered different views to evaluate and critique the ideology of the nuclear family. In political rhetoric- as we read in the media and our everyday lives, the family is clearly in transition. We are living therefore in a transitional and contested period of family history (stacey1990)
The postmodern family is not a new model of family, not the next stage in an orderly progression of family history, but the stage when the belief in a logical progression of stages breaks down, rupturing evolutionary models and incorporating both experimental and nostalgic elements. The postmodern family lurches forward and backwards into an uncertain future (Stacey 1990).
It may be well that the functionist and and new right theorist overstate the extent to which the nuclear family as it currently operates can satisfy the needs and aspirations of both males and females, thou feminists and Marxist analysis of the actual operation of the nuclear family are in many cases justified, there is evidence from these research that values, altitudes and behaviours within the family are changing. Thus many marriages, co habiting relationships and civil partnerships are increasing and appear to be accepted. The wide spread existence of empty shell marriage suggest that the nuclear family is in decline. However all families are not same and might mean different things to different people. Therefore the family is not a single identifiable thing. We recognise them when we see them but are very different from one another. Whether or not the institution of the nuclear family is in decline will partly depend on how the family is defined. Taking the traditional nuclear family, it could be said to be in decline and the factors that gave rise to it have being enumerated.
A good family can be said to be that which serve the unique values of its member’s.