Is the Nuclear Family universal?
Is the Nuclear Family Universal? A nuclear family is a family that consists of two cohabiting parents in a sexual relationship with children. The parents must be heterosexual as this is 'socially acceptable', a nuclear family does not have to contain a certain amount of children and the children may be adopted or step children. The nuclear family can also contain an extended family such as a spouse of the children or a grandparent. This idea was first developed by Murdock who believed the nuclear family was universal. George Peter Murdock was a Sociologist who was prominent around 1940 onwards when he developed his 'nuclear family' idea which he believed to be universal. The nuclear is a unit of people living together and this could be considered universal as most countries and cultures raise their children within their own household. Murdock was one of the first sociologists to propose the idea of a nuclear family and applied it to all cultures proclaiming it was universal. Economic cooperation, common residence and reproduction are the main points of the nuclear family and Murdock believed all these things applied to families around the world. A sexual relationship was a point Murdock thought was important, within most societies there are rules that limit sexual relationships or even forbid them before marriage. Sexual relationships provide sexual gratification for both
Analyse the extent to which bias, influence and attitude formation are important issues in the sociology of the mass media. Use two contrasting theories and relevant studies in your answer.
MASS MEDIA Analyse the extent to which bias, influence and attitude formation are important issues in the sociology of the mass media. Use two contrasting theories and relevant studies in your answer. Mass media is a plural term that refers to one or more sources of information. It comprises of outlets such as T.V, D.V.D, newspapers, books, radio and the internet. Although its purpose is to convey a message from one point to the masses traditionally, today's sources are more interactive so may not be so one way. It has played a crucial role in the 20th century and will continue to do so throughout the 21st. The hypodermic syringe model assumes that the media is so powerful that it can "inject" a message into the audience directly. This model also assumes that the audience are weak and passive so it fails to recognise the different social characteristics in society today and can be seen as too simplistic. Another model that tries to explain mass media would be the cultural effects model. This also sees the media as being so powerful but it recognises that the audience is more diverse than the hypodermic syringe model believes. This model states that the media expects an anticipated response; this is known as the "preferred reading". It sees the messages as being fed to the audience in a slow drip, drip process over a long period of time.
Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of the family.
Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of the family. Initially we have to consider do functionalists really contribute to our understanding family, additionally if they do how valuable is their perspective and does it still reflect on contemporary society. Functionalists view the family as an institution, which improves society by obtaining equilibrium and social order and stability; they also feel the family should not be studied in isolation but in terms of its contribution to the wider society. Therefore they feel the family does not benefit the individual, but the family is beneficial to the whole of society, in other words they are not too concerned of the individual as they opt to look at the macro-perspective. For instance the family prepares children to become adult workers in various ways for example by passing down their norms and values. Conversely there is the interpretive and symbolic interactionists approach that oppose the views of functionalists and feel the family should be studied in isolation and you should look at the individual, as they tend to advocate the micro-perspective of society. Nevertheless a group who shares the same views, as functionalists, are the New Right. These views being that the stability of the family is an important and integral ingredient for harmony and equilibrium of society. New Right and functionalists
To what extent have the goals of feminism been achieved?
Democracy, the individual and society To what extent have the goals of feminism been achieved? 06049458 Word count: 1938 In simple terms feminism can be defined as the belief in equality between the sexes, based on the idea that gender should not affect a persons social identity, or socio-political or economic rights, and complete equality regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or identity. (Wikipedia, 2006) Complete equality between the men and women can be further broken down into three main categories; social, economic and political equality. In my essay I will assess the extent that the goals of each individual category have been accomplished. However as feminism is a very broad doctrine, and some feminists are much more hard line than others, deciding to what extent goals have been achieved is dependent on whose definition of the goals you use. The first area I would like to discuss is that of social equality between men and women. One of feminists' main social aims is to eliminate the double standards that occur between men and women in all aspects of life, varying from women being expected to take maternity leave instead of men, to sexual equality between intimate partners. (Ward Crowe 1981) This idea is at the heart of the whole feminist ideology and so is very important, however like almost all-feminist goals, the extent to which it is complete
Assess the contribution of feminist perspective to an understanding of modern family life ( 20 marks)
Assess the contribution of feminist perspective to an understanding of modern family life (20 marks) In this essay I will attempt to analyse three areas of feminism and apply it to the modern family life. Each area of feminism has different views on what or who has caused the oppression of women and why. The definition of feminism is a doctrine that advocates equal rights for women. Feminism is often considered to be a paradigm shift which is a major change in the way society forms its values and beliefs. The nuclear family which the government strives for is 'advertised' by its political, ideological and religious expectations. The nuclear family was the typical family in the post-war period was known as the 'golden period' where the mother stays at home to look after the children and the father goes out to work. These were very segregated roles where the male acted as the instrumental role and female the expressive role. To begin with liberal feminists blame society for the oppression and exploitation of women and began to be popular in the 1950's and 60's when civil rights movements were taking place. The idea behind liberal feminism is that blame is not put on structures and institutions within society, such as agencies of socialisation e.g. religion, education and family but rather with the cultures and attitudes of the people in it. They look at the oppression of
Assess the claim that the family has become increasingly symmetrical
Assess the claim that the family has become increasingly symmetrical In the traditional nuclear family, the domestic divisions of labour of the husband and wife are segregated and independent from one another. The domestic division of labour refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework, childcare and paid work. The segregation of labour roles means that traditionally the man or husband would do heavy work such as household repairs whereas the woman would do cooking and cleaning. Conjugal roles are the relationships between husband and wife in a marriage. A conjugal role is the jobs duties and responsibilities the marriage partners take on and perform in the home. A number of sociological theorists such as Ann Oakley and Willmott and Young now reject this trend and argue that the family is becoming increasingly symmetrical. However others would disagree to this for example Dobash and Dobash believe the male still has firm control over all important decisions and over his wife. Michael Young and Peter Willmott studied families in London's Bethnal Green in 1973. They found that family roles are now becoming symmetrical and that the men do their fair share of domestic work. They see this as representing 'increased personal democracy' in the family. Willmott and Young take a 'march of progress' perspective on the family and its history. The family is
Deviance is relative. Evaluate this term
�Deviance is relative. Evaluate this term� Deviance can be defined as actions that go against the norms and values of a society or group an example crime. Different types of deviance can be split into 3 types, which are cross cultural deviance, situational deviance and historical deviance. However deviance can be said to be relative and things such as criminal acts are not always deviant. What is considered deviant in some societies may be normal in others. Whether an act is deviant depends on factors such as the place, the time and the circumstances. It is impossible to label all acts and not one single act is considered deviant at all times in society. An obvious act is lawbreaking. Killing someone, for example, is seen as horrific, but it is not always seen as deviant. For example in self defence. Someone could be a victim of an armed robbery and might stab the burglar in defence. Murder would be seen as okay by most people as it is a form of self defence. Also, soldiers fighting in the war might kill lots of soldiers on the opposition, but even though they have killed people soldiers are still deemed �heros� by society and their act of killing people is not seen deviant as that is their job and what they are expected to do. This can be seen as a form of situational deviance as it is ok, due to the situation of which it is taking place.
Should drugs be legalized in the UK?
Should drugs be legalised in the UK? Current Drug Situation in the UK The main recreational drugs are found in today’s society are: . Alcohol (legal after the age of 18) 2. Tobacco (legal after the age of 18) 3. Marijuana (grass, hash, pot, ganja, skunk) 4. Inhalants or solvents (e.g. glue sniffing) 5. Ecstasy (E, MDMA or 'pills') 6. Cocaine and crack cocaine 7. Heroin People take drugs because they want to change something about their lives. People use drugs to feel good. For real, it does feel good because most drugs act directly on the limbic system, in the brain. At this point, it can be considered recreational use. Here are some of the reasons that young people take drugs: . To fit in e.g. peer pressure 2. To escape or relax 3. To relieve boredom 4. To seem grown up 5. To rebel e.g. with parents 6. To experiment Young people are most at risk because they think drugs are a solution. They don’t have any knowledge of the consequences of taking drugs. They just want to change their situation and their life style. If they're depressed, they want to become happy. If they are stressed or nervous, they want to relax, and so on. By taking drugs, young people often think they can be the person they want to be. Therefore eventually, the continuation of taking drugs becomes the problem. Young people have to remember that no matter what, drugs won't help them in
Does the nuclear family benefit the bourgoisie?
DOES THE NUCLEAR FAMILY BENEFIT THE POWERFUL? The nuclear family can be taken to be two parents and their children. Is the nuclear family primarily to benefit the powerful rather than society as a whole can be perceived to be true. This point of view is associated with Marxism and the powerful are the ruling class or bourgeoisie. They own the means of production such as land, factories, machines and so on. Marxism is based on an exploitative and unequal relationship between two classes. The proletariats who are the workers are the majority and this is were the family comes in. The family is controlled by those who control the economy and they control the family and manipulate the family into benefiting them. In any society the economic aspect (that is, the productive process involving the creation of goods and services for distribution and exchange) is always the most basic, fundamental and ultimately most significant aspect because it is only through economic activity that people can produce the things they need for their physical survival. Marxists tend to see institutions like the family in terms of what they do to support the overall structure of capitalist society, their function within the limit of a particular form of economic production. Unlike Functionalist sociology, Conflict sociology tends to view these functions from more than one angle (for example, the family
Assess the values on sociological research of value free sociology, value laden and committed sociology.
Assess the values on sociological research of value free sociology, value laden and committed sociology. Sociologists vary in their opinions on the effect of values on research. Value free sociology is an opinion in sociology, started by Emile Durkheim, that states that sociology should be seeking to use methodology similar to that used in the physical sciences. One of the key elements in their methodology to make it similar to the physical sciences is objectivity. These positivists state that their values have no effect on their research and that this should apply throughout sociology. They argue that if a study is well planned it is possible for the researchers personal beliefs to have no effect on the findings. They argue that the nature of sociological research is no different to that of any of the physical sciences, they are studying and measuring a set of totally independent phenomena and constructing and testing hypothesis as to the cause of this phenomenon. Positivists also refer to social facts. These are the statistics obtained from surveys and official publications. According to O'Connell Davidson and Layder the personal views of the researcher are never relevant in sociological research, and they point to the accuracy of opinion polls on a range of subjects to display the accuracy of their surveys. A second group of sociologists believe that weather objectivity
