GCSE sociology: Nuclear family is best!

Who said what? 2 functions of family:

• primary socialisation and
• stabilisation of adults - warm bath
Talcott parsons: theory (the wife soothes the man’s
stresses away – needs the wife not
Family working to succeed).

GCSE sociology: Nuclear family - the best family form.

Who said what? He argued there are 4 functions of the
family:
• Education
G.P MURDOCK: • Economic
• Reproduction
family • Sex (to keep the family stable)
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Dual burden - women still do the
majority of housework as well as doing
paid work - when you add emotional
support to this it becomes a triple shift
Ann Oakley: (latter developed by Dunscombe and
Marsden).
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Study into domestic violence - 1 in 4
women will experience domestic
violence and 2 women are murdered
Sylvia walby: each week by a current or former
partner.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Looked at the increasing family
diversity in the UK :
How families are organised; class; life
course (e.g. number of children,
The rapoports: divorce); cohort (i.e. when they were
born); cultural/ethnic.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Family is patriarchal and benefits men
much more than women - women
contribute the most to family life, e.g.
Delphy & leonard: housework and emotional support, but
get very little in return.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what?
‘Childhood is disappearing at a
dazzling speed’ - children are growing
up too fast and are like ‘mini-adults’,
Neil postman: e.g. exposed to sex and violence on TV.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Little emphasis on childhood in the
past - children had few rights and were
usually seen as an economic benefit.
Philippe arles: High child mortality meant parents
didn’t bond emotionally.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Only the nuclear family is acceptable -
children need to be brought up by both
parents (ideally mum will stay at home)
Charles murray: - single parenting leads to deviance
and a decline in moral standards.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what?
He argued that the increase in family
diversity had been exaggerated and
that most people still aspired towards
Robert chester: the nuclear family.
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Only the nuclear family is acceptable -
children need to be brought up by both
parents (ideally mum will stay at home)
Charles murray: - single parenting leads to deviance
and a decline in moral standards.
family
GCSE sociology: Capitalism makes families buy stuff
Who said what? they don’t need in the hope this will
make their lives better (through
advertising messages - consumerism)
Eli zaretsky - so workers will accept low paid
boring work as they need to provide for
family their family.
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Conjugal roles have changed to a
symmetrical family arrangement where
both parents work and share childcare/
Willmott & young housework. But some women give up
work (asymmetrical family)
family
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? He argued that ‘school is a society in
miniature’ - formal curriculum leads to
a sense of belonging to something
Emile Durkheim: bigger, which leads to social cohesion -
prepares us for adult life.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? ‘Lads’ study on counter-school
subcultures (‘Learning to Labour’ - the
lads attached no value to academic
work as it wasn’t relevant for their
Paul willis: future - so focused on having a laugh
with their mates.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? He argued that ‘school is a society in
miniature’ - formal curriculum leads to
a sense of belonging to something
Emile Durkheim: bigger, which leads to social cohesion -
prepares us for adult life.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Schools take over the role of
socialisation from families, once
children start school - teaches
universal values that they may not have
Talcott parsons: been taught at home.
Also teaches how to achieve status.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Middle/upper class children have more
social and cultural capital - so find it
easier to fit into school and succeed
Pierre bourdieu: (as schools value middle-class culture
more).
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Labelling - teachers make quick
judgements of students based on
appearance, attitude, behaviour,
David Hargreaves: siblings, etc.
Concept of ‘ideal student’.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Study at beachside comprehensive into
the effects of setting and streaming -
found top sets had higher expectations
(labelled high fliers) and bottom sets
Stephen ball: had lower expectations and were
taught less (labelled failures).
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Self-fulfilling prophecy - for labelling in
schools - if you label pupils as failures,
they will fail.
Howard becker: ‘What teachers believe, students
achieve’.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? ‘Pygmalion effect’ (self fulfilling
prophecy) - study in California where
teachers were told that a group of
average students were gifted - so
Rosenthal & jacobson: invested more time in them, meaning
they achieved more highly.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Correspondence theory - schools
produce obedient workers, who respect
hierarchy and are motivated by
Bowles & gintis: rewards (which corresponds to the
work place in adult life).
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Social capital - middle class mothers
are more able to understand the
education system and get what they
want (know the ‘rules of the game’) -
Francis & reay heavily involved in their children’s
schooling.
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? 1970s study into the aspirations of
school girls - repeated study in the
1990s…
• 1970s - priority = family
Sue sharpe: • 1990s - priority = career/
independence then family
education
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Culture of poverty - the poor have their
own way of life where it is normal to
steal from each other (and is linked to
Charles murray weak law enforcement and a failing
education system).
stratification
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Role allocation - the most difficult jobs
in any society are the most necessary
and require the highest rewards and
Davis & moore: compensation to sufficiently motivate
individuals to fill them
stratification
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? He said we need inequality to motivate
people to work harder – those who
work hardest are rewarded with the
best jobs and money. He also said
Peter saunders: middle-class people work harder!
stratification
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? He said there are 3 types:
• Traditional - based on long standing
customs, e.g. royals
Weber: • Charismatic – based on personality
• Rational-legal – voted in
authority
GCSE sociology: He said we show power in 3 ways:
Who said what? • Class/wealth - based on what you
own
• Status/prestige - based on how
respected you are
Weber: • Party/power - based on how much
power influence you have)
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Argued we need crime to keep society
healthy…
• Seeing justice reminds us of what
can happen if we commit crime
Emile Durkheim: • Collective sentiment - terrible
crimes make us stronger!
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology: Strain theory - everyone dreams of a
Who said what? good lifestyle - but not everyone can
achieve this (puts a strain on society as
people may turn to crime to achieve
their goals).
Robert merton: 5 responses – conformity, innovation,
Crime & deviance retreatism, ritualism and rebellion.
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? He looked at working class boys
suffering status frustration (anger at
their low position in society) - so joined
deviant subcultures where they would
Albert cohen: be rewarded with money, goods or
status.
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology:
Who said what?
Moral panics - when the media
sensationalises a crime this can lead to
a climate of fear, or copy-cat behaviour
Stan cohen: - and deviancy amplification.

Crime & deviance

GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Self-fulfilling prophecy - if you label
people as criminals they will become
criminals - they will adopt the criminal
Howard becker: label as their master status, leading to
a deviant career.
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Females commit less crime as they
have less opportunity, e.g. closely
supervised at work, given less freedom
than boys, scared of sexual violence so
Francis heidensohn: don’t go out alone, etc.
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Chivalry thesis - police, judges, etc are
usually men and often lenient towards
women - they feel protective of them
Otto pollak so are reluctant to arrest or charge
them.
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Control theory - 4 bonds control us:
• how much we have to lose
• our connection to others
• how committed we are to society’s
Travis hirschi values
• how involved/busy we are in society
Crime & deviance
GCSE sociology:
Who said what? Glasgow Gangs study using participant
observation by pretending to be a gang
member. It was covert observation to
James patrick: as the gang didn’t know they were
being studied.
Research methods
GCSE sociology:
Who said what?
Study into domestic violence using
unstructured interviews (more like a
Dobash & dobash conversation) - relied on ‘trust rapport’.

Research methods