sociology - family
Sociology coursework Introduction The chosen subject area of my coursework is family. The reason I have chosen this particular area of sociology is because family is known worldwide and exists in everyone, however overtime the family structure and the roles in the family have changed. I am going to investigate why the divorce rate is increasing and to what extent the media has an impact on this choice, and I also would like to find out the effects of divorce on children. These issues are important in Britain today, because most families are no longer nuclear families. Therefore, I want to investigate and find out why this is happening and what effect the media has on these families. I will look at sociologists such as Karl Marx. Hypothesis The hypothesis is that I would like to find out why the divorce rate is increasing (1/3 - UK), this maybe due to the fact that women have more rights. In addition, I would like to know if the media is having a larger impact on the decision of divorce, and what effect it has on children. Therefore, I predict that the divorce rate is increasing because the media has a larger acceptance of divorce, which therefore has a greater impact of why the divorce rate is increasing. The three aims of my coursework will be: . Why is the divorce rate increasing? 2. To what extent does the media have an impact on this decision? 3. What effect
Marital Breakdown and Divorce
Marital Breakdown and Divorce Over the last 40 years, sociological research has provided statistics suggesting a significant increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce. In this essay I aim to justify this increase and explain why statistics may give a misleading picture. The way I have decided to structure this essay is firstly to look at a brief history of the laws governing divorce over the last century, then to discuss the statistics and finally to conclude with possible reasons and feasible explanations as to why there has been such an increase. The divorce courts were first established in 1857, under the Matrimonial Causes Act, thus enabling the middle classes to get divorced. At this time there were only three grounds for divorce, being cruelty, insanity or desertion and were each as difficult to prove as the other. Also, obtaining a divorce was a very costly procedure. Prior to this, a divorce could only have been granted through a personal act of Parliament, which meant it would only have been affordable by the wealthy. In 1937, the Matrimonial Causes Bill was passed through the House of Lords, extending the grounds for divorce and for the nullity proceedings. This meant that divorce was now possible on the grounds of cruelty, incurable insanity of 5 years or desertion of three years, and, adultery or on the grounds of unnatural offences being