Assess the claim that the nuclear family as a dominant form of family structure has been replaced by a wide variety of types of families
Assess the claim that 'the nuclear family as a dominant form of family structure has been replaced by a wide variety of types of families'. The 'nuclear family' has been described to be a family in which there are two parents in a heterosexual relationship with their biological children, some sociological perspectives would view the nuclear family as the best type such as Functionalism and the New Right. Between 1961 and 1998 the percentage of households qualifying as nuclear families had fallen from 38% to 23%. There have been rises in other types of family such as gay and lesbian families, lone parent families and reconstituted families. Other types of family have become more accepted in recent years, this trend is likely to increase over the next generations. This assignment will explore the nuclear family as a dominant form of family structure, the variety of types of family and whether the nuclear family has been replaced, by these by using case studies and theories. The Rapoports, The New Right and Postmodernism all believe that the nuclear family has been replaced by a wide variety of other family types, whereas on the other hand Jennifer Sommerville and Robert Chester will argue against this claim. Both perspectives will be examined in this assignment. In 1982, RN & R Rapoport [The Rapoport's] conducted a study known as 'Families in Britain'. It identified five
Assess the Marxist view that education is a form of social control
Assess the Marxist view that education is a form of social control. Marxist think that education is a form of social control as it puts you in place and prepares you for your role in society. They also think that it teaches you the hidden curriculum which contributes to the economic scale of society. The hidden curriculum is what leads to social order which leads to social control. Marxist also believe in myth of meritocracy, as Marxist Bowles and Gintis argue that education doesn't offer everybody an equal chance, as they believe that the education system works against the working class. They also believe that schools are very much like work places and they both have rewards and hierarchies, for example in both school and work you are being paid but in different ways, one with money and the other with certificates or rewards. Marxist Louis Althusser believed that education teaches working class children to accept their place in society amongst the middle class. This shows social control as it makes students believe that the capitalist system that is present is fair and equal to everyone, also it prepares people for the later exploitation they experience in life. This can be done in three ways which are, the hidden curriculum, alienation of school work and textbooks. The hidden curriculum means that students are following instructions, rules and regulations from people
American education is a lot different than the early Chinese education. In America, school is for developing critical thinking skills. American
Education Education in China is growing. Over the past years Chinas education system has been attempting, and been successful in improving the education in China. China for many years did not put much emphasis on education. China was more traditional, meaning they were more interested in farming and working. Prior the 1840 education in China was only for the elite, the high class. The main purpose of education was to train what China called "gentlemen" or high officials. This is the time of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who introduced China to the Royal Examination System, which is used to select imperial officers. Chinas education was very rigid and it focused highly on technology thus China has a high rate of illiteracy. Early Chinese students were not very well rounded; they were limited in what they could study. For example a student of science would not know much about Humanities, and vice versa, a student of Humanities would not know much about science. This approach of learning narrowed the range of knowledge that a Chinese student might have. This would limit the students thinking and restrict their future development. When a student is limited in what he of she can do then that will dramatically decrease the number of jobs that they have to chose from. American education is a lot different than the early Chinese education. In America, school is for
Employment opertunities for women in Britain in 1914.
In 1914 before world war one-started women's roles were just normal duties. If they were married they would stay at home to look after the children while the husband worked for the weekly wage. (A women's place was in the home also cooking and cleaning.) In 1911, a census showed that 90% of all married women did not work. Women worked as servants and in factories. In 1914 there was 5.9 million women working out of 23.7 million. There was about 1.5 million working in domestic service, 900,00 working in textiles and 500,000 in the sweated trades. Some of the middle class women worked as lawyers, teaches or doctors. Domestic Service The middle class women sometimes worked in domestic service but normally had the better jobs as working as governess, chamber maid or lady's maid. A lower class women normally worked as a scully maid which involved all the dirty jobs. The best job to get was housekeeper. Some girls were as young as twelve in service and if any got married or pregnant they were to leave. They normally work in bad conditions and lived in the attics of the houses. You would have to work about fourteen hours a day and start as early as 5am.Sometimes you would work longer hours if there was a party at the house. Yearly wages depended on your job. For a housekeeper they would earn about £45 a year down to a kitchen maid, which earned £24 a year, and a scullery maid
Outline and discuss the view that the influence of male culture disadvantages boys in education.
Sociology Essay Outline and discuss the view that the influence of male culture disadvantages boys in education. Until the late 1980's, most sociological literature focused on the underachievement of girls. Girls were less likely to pursue A levels and consequently to enter higher education. However, in the early 1990's, it was argued that girls had begun to outperform boys at most levels of the education system. The main sociological focus today therefore is on the underachievement of boys. Epstein et al. (1999) state that boy's underachievement is not something new, but in the past was not a worrying trend for two reasons: working-class boys used to move easily into jobs without good qualifications in the days when sons followed fathers into mines, factories, etc. And the structural and cultural barriers preventing female's access to high-status jobs and the pressure on women to become wives and mothers, etc. meant that males always achieved better paid jobs in the long run. However, today Epstein notes that governments are anxious about large numbers of unemployed young men because they are a potential threat to social order. There are many reasons why boys are under-achieving in education. In some schools, the extent of boys' underachievement has become so serious that twice as many girls are getting five GCSE's grades A-C. It is estimated that by the age of 16, nearly
The Marxist view of education
Essay on the Marxist view of education I will be looking at and evaluating the Marxist view of education. The theory of Marxist sociologists was developed by Karl Marx a German political philosopher in the 19th century. It is a structuralised approach (individual is less important than the social structure). Marxists see society as characterised by conflicts of interests. Marxists analysis is based on historical materialism; this means that all societies can be characterised by the nature of their mode of production. Society is divided into the infrastructure and the superstructure. The economic base, the infrastructure dictates the activities of all other institutions, which Karl Marx terms as the superstructure. The economy is therefore the most important institution. Marxist sociologists state that the education system is there to serve the interests of the Capitalists. They argue that there are two main groups in society; these are the Ruling class and the Subject class. They both have essentially different interests (the ruling class want to keep their position and keep making profits. There always is going to be an unequal relationship. The subject class is always going to be kept in their place). Marxists see schooling in a negative light. It transmits ruling class ideology and produces a passive and compliant workforce which fits the needs of capitalism. When
Why did women's rights lose ground at the end of World War 2?
Why did women's rights lose ground at the end of World War 2? The War in Europe came to an end on the 8th of May 1945, after a prolonged 6 years. For most people, all they wanted to do was get back to normal life but for many people particularly women, peace demonstrated to be a challenge. During the war women had been involved in many things concerning the war effort, such as taking over men's jobs while they went away to fight in the war as well as running the household on their own which reinforced how independent women were at that time and thereafter. But as the war came to an end, things had changed and women who had feared the loss of independence were proven right. Women had lost their status and all women war time jobs were lost so that men could regain their jobs. People wanted to return to the concept of defining "men's jobs" and "women's jobs." A lot of pressure was put on women to return to the home and be re-domesticated. The chances of getting a job now were very slim and the government insisted that men should have the priority of getting a job more than women, which therefore would decrease the number of unemployed men. Another thing that put pressure on women being re-domesticated was due to funded research into childcare which was undertaken by a man called Boulby who concluded that children needed their mothers otherwise the child would be emotionally
Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage, cohabitation and divorce in the last 30 years.
E) Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage, cohabitation and divorce in the last 30 years. Britain today is a much more complex society than in past times, with great diversity in terms of households within which people live. Much of this diversity has been gained at the expense of tradition and there has been a downward trend in the certain types of families. Despite some improvements in recent years in incomes in gender opportunities, equality was neglected much more during post war times. Sociologists argue that the changes to more lenient and less traditional attitudes are responsible for the recent changes in marital behaviour. In recent decades, marriage rates have fallen, divorce rates have risen, and the defining characteristics of marriage have changed. Over the last 30 years, one of the most profound social changes in industrial societies has been the decline in marriage, cohabitation and divorce rates. Families have changed in the last several decades. Instead of getting married, many people are living together or cohabiting. Some of these cohabitating couples eventually get married. Many of them break up. Very few stay together as cohabitants for long. The decline in marriage has been parallel with the rise in non marital cohabitation. In the mid-1960s, only five per cent of single women lived with a man before getting married, by the 1990s,
Examine the Reasons for Differences in Educational Achievement between Different Ethnic Groups
Examine the Reasons for Differences in Educational Achievement between Different Ethnic Groups An ethnic group is one that sees itself as culturally distinct from other grouping in a society and is seen by others as distinctive. Groups may differ from others by country of origin, language, religion, dress or other aspects of culture. Some ethnic groups, for example the Irish, are not physically distinctive. Others are more visible and may be subject to discrimination and harassment, including in the education system. Ever since the arrival of immigrants to Britain from the West Indies and India, sociologists and educationalists have been concerned about wide gaps in attainment between different ethnic groups. There are huge differences between the GCSE results of different ethnic groups in England, as well as gender differences. In 2004, Chinese pupils were 70-79% likely to achieve five or more GCSE grades A*-C, with Indian pupils not far behind (62-72%). These groups achieved more GCSE grades A*-C than the White ethnic group, with a 47-62% chance of getting five or more A*-C CSE grades. However, Bangladeshi and Pakistani achievement is low; Bangladeshi pupils had 41-55% chance of getting five or more GCSE grace A*-C, and Pakistani pupils had 38-5% chance. Black Caribbean students, particularly boys, performed very poorly, with their percentage of achieving five or more A*-C
Describe the employment opportunities of women in Britain between 1914 and 1918
Describe the employment opportunities of women in Britain between 1914 and 1918 Employment opportunities for women increased between 1914 due to the enlistment of men. Very few women had regular work pre-1914 but many chose to work to earn extra income for their family and to support the war effort between 1914 and 1918. The Women's Land Army gave women was formed under the jurisdiction of the government in 1917. Most women who joined the Land Army were middle or upper-class. This allowed women who had never worked in their life to work with people similar to themselves. In 1914, 100,000 women worked full-time on the land and in 1919 this number had increased to 113,000. Discipline was harsh in the Land Army and the work was hard but rewarding: "From there I was posted to Lincolnshire for the back-aching job of picking up potatoes," Mrs Price. This was a good employment opportunity as although it was hard work, if you behaved and worked well, you had job security. Many women took up difficult and stressful jobs during the war period such as nursing in and out of the army. An example of a nursing job outside of the army was the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Again, lots of these women had never worked before and found the work challenging: "We never stopped for one single instant," Countess of Limerick. Women also faced sexual discrimination and harassment from both sexes at