Sociology Second Assessment

Q1) Define the following terms:

a) Secularization (2)
Secularization is the process by which religion has become less important in the daily lives of many people in the modern
industrial societies
b) Patriarchy (2)
Patriarchy is a term used by feminists to describe societies and organizations (including the family) in which men are dominant
and women are subordinate
c) Matrifocal (2)
Matrifocal is a type of family one in which the mother heads the family an father has less important role in the family and in up-
bringing of children
d) Household unit (2)
A house unit is the group of people living together in the same residence and sharing living space
e) Reconstituted family (2)
A reconstituted family is formed after the death of a partner or a divorce, a new family that is created by someone remarrying.
Q2) What is meant by the function, “Stabilization of Adult personality"? (4)
The stabilization of adult personalities refers to the emotional security which is achieved within a marital relationship between
two adults. According to Parsons working life in Industrial society is stressful and the family is a place where the working man
can return and be ‘de-stressed’ by his wife, which reduces conflict in society.
Q3) What is the difference between Monogamy and Polygamy? (6)
Monogamy is defined as the practice or state of having a marriage relationship with only one partner. Serial monogamy is
common in todays' date, it is quite linked to monogamy, however in it a person has one than one marriage partner during their
life, but only one at a time. While polygamy consists of a marriage in which a spouse of any gender may have more than one
mate at the same time. Polygamy can be further classified into two categories, Polygyny and Polyandry. Polygyny is when a man
has more than one wife at the same time and Polyandry is when a woman has more than one husband at the same time. In most
of society, monogamy is regarded favorably, while polygamy is often judged. Moreover, mostly people prefer monogamy as it
has less expenses in comparison to polygamy and usually wealthy men can take more than one wife as they can afford it easily.
Q4) Why does the New right argue that we need to return to the traditional family? (10)
New Right Theory of family argues that we need to return to the nuclear family because new diverse types of family are unable to fulfill the
functions needed in contemporary societies. In particular, they argue that children needs to be raised in nuclear family and so we need to return to
traditional family. New Right thinkers argued that government policy was undermining the family so policy changes were needed.
Like Functionalists, the New Right hold the view that there is only one correct or normal family. This is the traditional or conventional nuclear
family. Again like Functionalists, The New Right sees this family as ‘natural’ and based on fundamental biological differences between men and
women. In their view this family is the cornerstone of society; a place of contentment, refuge and harmony. Finally the New Right argues that the
decline of the traditional family and the growth of family diversity are the cause of many social problems such as higher crime rates and declining
moral standards generally.
The New Right believe that it is important for children to have a stable home, with married mother and father, and that ideally the wife should be
able to stay at home to look after the children. They believe that the introduction of the welfare state led to a culture where people depend on
hand-outs from the state and that these encourage single parenting, which in turn, they argue leads to deviancy and a decline in morality.
They think that non-nuclear families are being a problem because the rate of family breakdown is much lower amongst married couples and .
Moreover, children from broken homes are almost five times more likely to develop emotional problems and young people whose mother and
father split up are also three times as likely to become aggressive or badly behaved. Lone-parent families are more than twice as likely to live in
poverty as two-parent families, as in family of two both parents can help the family financial and earn more. Children from broken homes are nine
times more likely to become young offenders.
The criticism aced by New Right Theory is that they exaggerate the decline of the Nuclear family. Most adults still marry and have children. Most
children are reared by their two natural parents and most marriages continue until death. Divorce has increased, but most divorcees remarry.
Feminism is taking place as gender roles are socially determined rather than being fixed by biology. Traditional gender roles are oppressive to
women. Moreover, divorce being easier is good because without it many women end up being trapped in unhappy or abusive relationships. Most
single parents want to work but find it difficult to find jobs that are flexible enough so they can balance work and child care. Some argue that the
New Right exaggerate the extent of cohabiting and single parent families and most children still spend most of their lives in a nuclear family
arrangement.
Q5) Why do feminists criticize the Nuclear family? (10)
Nuclear family is made up of an adult man and adult woman who are married, or in a relationship, and living together with
dependent children. Feminists’ argued that gender roles were created by men for their benefit, and they described this type of
society as “patriarchal”. They have broadly criticized nuclear family, and argued the nuclear family performed two key functions
which oppressed women; first the family socialized girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socializing boys to
believe they were superior. Another, function is that socialized women are accepting the “housewife” role as the only possible
role for women; indeed it was the only way to be feminine. Feminism today can be split into three distinct branches: Liberal
Feminists, Marxist Feminists and Radical Feminists.
Liberal Feminists believe that the family is gradually changing for the better over time by becoming more democratic and more
equal. They argue that evidence shows men are doing a greater share of domestic labor (housework, childcare), decision
making is becoming more equal and that male and female children are socialized in a much more similar manner with similar
aspirations. Liberal feminists believe this trend has been facilitated by legal reforms, such as the sex discrimination act and by
changes in social attitudes. They also believe this trend will continue with men and women becoming more equal. Jenny
Somerville argues women’s role within the family has improved significantly; they now have better access to almost everything in
society. The liberal feminist view is criticized by Marxist Feminists as they point out that women still do the majority of housework
and they also highlight women are still the primary child caretakers. However, Radical Feminists point out that it is still women
who are most likely to be the victims of domestic violence.
Marxist feminists argue the main cause of women’s oppression in the family is not men, but capitalism. They argue that women’s
oppression performs several functions for Capitalism like; women reproduce the labor force through their unpaid domestic labor,
by socializing the next generation of workers and servicing the current workers. Women are just absorbing the anger of the

proletariat, who are exploited and who should be directing that anger towards the Bourgeois. Moreover, women are a ‘reserve
army of cheap labor,’ if women’s primary role is domestic, and they are restricted from working, this also means they are in
reserve, to be taken on temporarily as necessary by the Bourgeois, making production more flexible. Fran Ansley argues
women’s male partners are inevitably frustrated by the exploitation they experience at work and women are the victims of this,
including domestic violence. Criticism faced by Marxist Feminism is that it should not only see patriarchal oppression overt in
many pre-capitalist societies, but also that gender equality has tended to gone.
Radical feminists argue that all relationships between men and women are based on patriarchy; essentially men are the cause of
women’s exploitation and oppression. For radical feminists, the entire patriarchal system needs to be overturned. They argue
that women have acquired the ‘dual burden’ of paid work and unpaid housework and the men benefit from women’s paid
earnings and their domestic labor. In short, Radical Feminists advocate for the abolition of the traditional, patriarchal, as they
see it nuclear family and the establishment of alternative family structures and sexual relations. The alternatives suggested by
Radical Feminists include separatism - women only communes, and Matrifocal households. Criticisms faced by Radical
Feminism are that they ignore the progress that women have made in many areas e.g. work, controlling fertility, divorce.
Moreover, some say that that there approach is too unrealistic and they ignore domestic/emotional abuse suffered by men.
Q6) Explain why divorce rates have increased recently? (10)
Divorce rate are the number of divorces per year per 1000 people. The divorce rates have significantly increased over the year
and UK has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe. There are many reasons which results in divorce like those who marry
young are more likely to divorce.
Social changes is one of the factor that explains rapidly increasing divorce and Divorce Act extended the grounds of divorce to
‘irretrievable breakdown’, making divorce possible even if only one partner wanted a divorce, and people took advantage of this
Divorce Reform Act to gain separation from their partner.
Economic factors also played an important role as the increasing inequality in the UK has meant that the lower social classes
now get paid less compared to rising living costs (mortgages/ bills). This means that both partners in a marriage now need to do
paid work to get by, which puts a strain on the marriage which leads to higher numbers getting divorced.
Furthermore, in the past, when there was less geographical mobility, communities had informal controls to prevent people
breaking social rules and conventions. And so over the time now divorces are bringing no shame and disapproval to couples
Moreover, there are many changes in moral attitudes, like some people see the rise in divorce as a part of a more general
decline in moral standards, with individuals putting themselves first and no longer feeling tied by the marriage vows.
The changing position of women in society is crucial in understanding the increase in divorce rates. Women today are much
more likely to be in employment and this means they are less financially dependent on their husbands and thus freer to end an
unsatisfactory marriage. Giddens himself argues that two trends are the most important are the impact of the Feminist
movement, which arguably lies behind all of the above changes, and also the advances in contraception, which allows women to
avoid unwanted pregnancies and women in marriages without children, will be freer to leave those marriages. Feminists
however, point out that the advances of women can be exaggerated; women still earn less than men, and traditional gender
norms remain in many families.
A further set of reasons are those associated with both religion and traditional values have declined, also known as
secularization. The religious vows in marriage are no longer taken as seriously, at least by some, and more weddings are now
civil, not religious ceremonies. As a result there is no longer a set of social values which force people into staying married, there
is less social stigma attached to getting a divorce and so people are freer to choose to get divorced. This change reflects the
declining importance of social structure and the rise of consumer culture, like the idea that individuals can choose their own
lifestyles.
Q7) Describe two alternatives to marriage. (4)
Cohabitation is one of the alternatives to marriage where two people who are not married to each other are living together in an
intimate relationship. And another alternative to marriage is civil partnership where a legally recognized union with rights similar
to those of marriage, created originally for same-sex couples in jurisdictions where they were not legally allowed to marry.
Q8) Describe three types of marital breakdown. (6)
Marital breakdown is when a marriage has broken down so that the couple is no living as husband and wife; some breakdowns lead to divorce.
There are three types of marital breakdown separation, desertion and empty shell marriage. Separation is when the partners stop living
together. This can often led to divorce but it does not have to because separations are not recorded it is difficult to know how many couples
separate. Desertion is a type in which one partner leaves the family. Again, there are no reliable figures for desertion. Empty shell marriage is
when the couple continues to live together and continue to appear to the outside world to be a married couple, even though there is now no
substance to their relationship. This may be for financial reasons; they may be unable to afford to live apart.