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DIVORCE – CORE TEXTBOOK

What is meant by the term  The number of divorces per year in a certain
divorce rate? population
Using Fig 5.3 explain how 
divorce has increased over the
60 years.

What 3 ways are divorce 

statistics presented?

Why do you have to be careful 

when analysing divorce rates?

What 3 factors don’t divorce 

statistics show us?

Why is it a concern that we  Their situation is evidence of marriage not

don’t know about couples who working out and perhaps communities where
live in unhappy marriages? marital relationships are dysfunctional but
culture rejects divorce

MARRIAGE RATES
Definition of marriage rates – the number of marriages in a population per year
Use page 300 of your textbook to identify the changing nature of marriage rates.
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MARRIAGE RATES DATA

THE 3 MEANINGS OF COHABITATION

Temporary informal Living together for a living companion.
arrangement
Alternative/substitute to Living as a married couple without legally being married.
marriage
Trial marriage Living together before deciding to get married to see if the
relationship works out.
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THE 6 REASONS FOR THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE/GROWING

COHABITATION
1 The changing role of Women have gained equality and rights over choices made around
women their own body in society so men feel less responsibility to marry
them if they get them pregnant, leading to less shot-gun marriage.
2 The reduced People are now able to rely more on the Welfare State for financial
functions of the support and institutions like the NHS and free, compulsory education
family take care of childcare and healthcare so individuals haver more
freedom to live their life in the way they want.
3 Changing social Society has become much more diverse in its moral views, and as a
attitudes/reduced result cohabitation no longer holds a stigma and is sees as a possible
social stigma choice.
4 Growing As religion has lost its importance marriage has been seen less and
secularisation less as a sacred tie of man and woman, so it has become more
acceptable to delay or skip getting married altogether in a
relationship.
5 Rising divorce rate People may be put off the ties of marriage by the divorce rate, and
prefer to be in a relationship where breaking up can be done by
simply walking away and not be a complicated legal process.
6 Reducing risk People may feel a relationship is easier to break out of if there are no
marriage ties as they may be wary of relationships due to their darker
side and temporariness.

LIVING APART TOGETHER RELATIONSHIPS (LATs)

Explain Levin’s view on An intimate long-term relationship.
LAT’s.

THE GROWTH OF LATs

Duncan and Phillips

Haskey

Levin’s 4 points 1 – way to deal with a broken down relationship

2 – a way to ensure relationships don’t tie people down

3 – couples are geographically mobile individually for the labour

market

4 – can keep in touch on Internet

THE MEANINGS OF LATs – THE PURE RELATIONSHIP

Duncan and Phillips

Levin 3 reasons 1 – individuals can keep responsibility for any other relationships e.g.
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elderly parents, dependent children

2 – practical as individuals don’t have to make sacrifices and can live
their preferred lifestyles and won’t have to leave places where they
have memories
Funk and Kobayashi Avoid risk of breakdown – scared of darker side of relationship and
legal or practical disputes that could be caused in a living together
relationship

Giddens

CHANGES IN CHILD-REARING and MORE BIRTHS OUTSIDE MARRIAGE

Answer the following question
when we have looked at
demographic trends –
Is there a downward trend in
the number of children being
born? Explain your answer.

THERE ARE 4 REASONS FOR THESE CHANGES

1 Changing role of women Women have more control over their own bodies and their
expectations have changed so they now find a career and get
financially independent before getting married or in a
relationship and having children.
2 Births outside of marriage Secularisation means marriage has lost its social stigma and
isn’t given as much importance, and the rising divorce rate and
the darker side of relationships have put many people off
legally tying themselves down to a relationship.
3 Cohabitation Many people choose to live like they are married without the
legal requirement.
4 Social stigma Having children outside of marriage is no longer viewed as
immoral and simply as a choice.
From your family experiences – I think it depends on culture, in my family we would be
do you agree with the findings? expected to get married and have children late 20s and early
30’s but my brothers would be expected to establish a strong
career first.

LONE PARENTHOOD

What does the data tell us about single parent families in Britain? Complete mind map using the
data on page 304.
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LONE PARENT DATA

4 FACTORS EXPLAIN THE INCREASE LONE PARENT FAMILIES?

1 Greater economic Women are generally no longer viewed as weak and needy
independence of women of the protection and financial aid of a man so it is seen as
socially acceptable for women to raise children in lone
parent families.
2 Improved contraception Women have birth control so can lead a sexual life but
control how many children they have to keep their family
size and structure bearable to their lifestyle.
3 Reproductive technology Women can get pregnant without being in a relationship
with a man so can make a choice to whether both or one is
important to them.
4 Changing social attitudes There is no longer a social stigma to divorce and lone-
parent families so people feel freer to do these things if
they need to.
EXPLAN THE NEW RIGHT VIEW ON LONE PARENT FAMILIES – Include the following
Murray, Conservative politicians, Moral panics
New Right sociologists such as Murray believe that lone-parent families are an excuse for
women to claim more benefits off the Welfare State and have raised moral panics about
them when the Conservative party were in power. They were concerned that lone-parent
families socialised children defiantly and raised them to be future criminals and mental
health sufferers. Policies the Conservative party created to try to combat lone-parent
families are:
 Child Support Agency 1993 – cut benefits for single mums and made absent fathers
take responsibility for their children
Do you agree with the New I agree that lone-parent families are not the ideal situation
Right? Explain your answer. to raise children in but I do not believe that they directly
lead to negative socialisation and are impossible. Other
factors such as poverty, caused by the one person income,
and dad deprivation, leading to children turning to peers as
a role model, lead to the problems New Right theorists
fear. But even then, this is not the case in all lone-parent
families and much depends on ethnicity, social class and
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gender as well. I also think lone-parent families are more

successful if the parent has a close-knit support network,
either from family members or friends to support them
with childcare and lifestyle.

[Link]

Open the link – How does it challenge the New Right view of lone parent families?

 Single-parent families are a result of unplanned teenage pregnancies – 2% of single mums

are teenagers
 Children raised in single-parent are likely to be deviant and suffer from mental health
problems – these are caused by other factors e.g. poverty, dad deprivation
 Single-parent families skip the queue for council housing -

Use fig 5.6 to complete the pie chart below. How does the data challenge the New Right view on
lone parent families? Answer below the pie chart.

NAILING THE MYTHS

What percentage of births are to parents that 18%
are neither married or cohabitating?
What does this tell us about lone parent Most lone-parent families are a result of family
families? breakdown and not unplanned teenage
pregnancies.
What did the home office report find regarding Crime rate and deviance does not differ
crime rates and family types? How do the between lone and dual parent families, they are
findings challenge the New Right view of lone caused by other factors that are common in
parent families? both families e.g. poverty, dad deprivation.
What does the data inform us about the Lone-parent families do not socialise children to
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stereotype of lone parent families? How do the be deviant and create the future generation of
findings challenge the New Right view of lone criminals and mental health sufferers.
parent families?
Why do Feminists criticise the New Right view Feminists believe lone-parent families allow
on lone parents? women to be independent and fulfil their
maternal instinct without being oppressed by
the darker side of relationships and patriarchal
control.
Link back to the title nailing the myths – How Lone-parent families are not worthy of the
would you conclude this section? moral panics the media have created about
them, they are simply a family structure that is
a victim of family breakdown.

REMARRIAGE – GROWTH OF RECONSTITUTED – STEP OR BLENDED FAMILY

How many marriages now 2/5
involve a re-marriage?
Who are more likely to remarry Men – they are less likely to take care of the children after a
men or women? Explain why divorce so are free to start again and seek out a new partner
there is a gender difference. without being busy with childcare.
What is a blended family? A family where one or both of the parents have been in a
previous marital relationship and had dependent children in it.
What percentage of couple 10%
families with children, involve
step-children?
Why are step-families more Women are more likely to take custody of their children after
likely to have biological divorce.
mothers, than fathers?
From your experience do you Yes
agree with the research?

LIFE IN STEPFAMILIES
How does Allen et al describe There is no sense of unity because the family are not
life in a stepfamily? connected by blood and shared memories, the new parent’s
status is unclear and children may not accept discipline from
them.

Watch the TV ads to understand how they are portrayed on the media;

[Link]

[Link]
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How do these adverts support the Functionalist view of the family and why would Feminists criticise
them?

 White families
 Mum = seen doing housework and childcare, home-based
 Dad = seen at work and doing physical jobs
 2 children

THE MYTH OF CEREAL PACKET FAMILIES

Why are families They are the type of families presented as ideal in the media.
referred to as ‘cereal
packet families?’
How does Allen et al
refer to cereal packet
families?
WHY IS THE CEREAL PACKET FAMILY MISLEADING?
Why is the way that It excludes other family types and makes out they are deviant to
the family is portrayed society’s standards.
in the media
criticised?
Are alternative types They are starting to be changed a little, models from ethnic minorities
of families used in TV are starting to be presented as well as alternative structures such as
adverts? Research and same-sex couples and men and women presented in less segregated
answer the question. roles.

Families with dependent children – How does the data criticise the myth of the cereal packet family?

Use the data from Fig 5.7 and 5.8 to support your answer.

THE CLASSIC EXTENDED FAMILY

Define the classic extended family. Different generations of the same family living
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together in the same household.

What is the Functionalist view of the classic The extended family was the dominant family
extended family? structure before industrialisation because it
functioned best in society.
What did Lane, Spencer and McCready find out The classic extended family is less common now
about the classic extended family? but more common in traveller, White working
class and south-Asian families.
TRADITIONAL WORKING CLASS SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITIES
 Live together in an industrial area  Live together to create a strong support
because the different generations of network for the members and a sense
the family all work in the same industry of pride in the family, showing great
respect for the elders and having
arranged marriages
THE MODIFIED EXTENDED FAMILY
Describe the modified extended family. Different generations of the same family living I
the neighbourhood or keeping regular contact
through social media and networking.
Do you have any family members who live in We live with our gran but everyone else lives in
modified extended families? If yes, describe a privatised family and no one is that close.
them.

THE BEANPOLE FAMILY – IS IT A RETURN OF THE EXTENDED FAMILY?

What is a beanpole family? An extended family that is long and thin with
fewer members but a greater number of
generations.
Why according to Brannen are beanpole People choose to have less children or none at
families on the increase? all, and they have them later in life and the UK
has an aging population.
From your point of view, what is the difference In a nuclear family it’s just the parents and
between a nuclear family and a beanpole children living together but in a beanpole family
family? there is lots of generations living together.

Draw the diagram of the beanpole family.

Great grandparents – grandparents – parents – children – grandchildren – great grandchildren

CULTURAL DIVERSITY
What does cultural diversity refer to? The different structures and expectations of the
family as a result of the beliefs of a specific
culture.
Explain the difference between assimilation and  Assimilation is when a cultures come to
accommodation. How does it apply to cultural assume a society’s habitus
diversity?  Accommodation is when a culture
adjust their habitus so it doesn’t
conflict with the norms ad values of the
cultures they live with
CARIBBEAN FAMILIES –How does Berthoud SOUTH ASIAN FAMILIES – Hoes does
explain the following? Ballard/Berthoud explain the following?
Modern individualism – focusing what happens Which South Asian Families?- Bangladeshi,
in the family around individuals choices Pakistani
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Extended families – traditional families that are

patriarchal and have a hierarchy
Marriage Vs cohabitation – black-Caribbean Arranged marriages – common but are staring
families over ½ women are lone-parents who to cause conflict between older and younger
have never been married members
Ethnicity and marriage – ½ of black-Caribbean Patriarchal domination – based on the men and
men are in a relationship with a woman who their decisions are given importance
isn’t black and 1/3 of afro-Caribbean women Size of families – women are expected to have
[Link] parent families – over ½ of women are lots of children and families live together in a
single parents close-knit relationship
Divorce rates – afro-Caribbean families have a Divorce rates – low divorce rate as divorce is
higher divorce than marriage rate stigmatised in culture and there is a huge
Unemployment – afro-Caribbean men lack of support network
responsibility to care for their children reflects Generational conflict – younger members are
their high rates of unemployment starting to combat traditional views of elders
which violates custom of respecting the
decisions and authority of the elders.

SOCIAL CLASS DIVERSITY

Define life chances. The opportunities and individual has to improve the quality of
their life.
What does social class diversity
refer to?
What were the findings of
Charles’ research?
REGIONAL DIVERSITY – findings below

SINGLEHOOD – LIVING ALONE - how many factors can you identify? List them below.
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Explain the significance of age.

ADULT KIDS
[Link] - Read the article how does it apply to the
following?

3 REASONS WHY MEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE AT HOME COMPARED TO WOMEN
1

Explain what the pictures have to do with families.

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LIFE CYCLE AND LIFE COURSE DIVERSITY

below describe the change that has taken place over family life cycle diversity
TRADITIONAL CONTEMPORARY
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CONCLUSION – Based on family diversity what My mum is South Asian (Bangladeshi) and my
is your family life cycle likely to be? dad is White (Italian) so I don’t feel my life cycle
is influenced by any specific culture. My parents
would leave it up to me how I choose to live my
life but there is an expectation that at the end I
will have children in a married relationship with
someone who is the same religion as us. I
would probably get a job, work full time until
I’ve got enough money to live on my own, get
married, have kids, work part time until they
are older ad then go into full time work again.

EXAM QUESTIONS

Outline and explain two changes in society which may have contributed to women’s changing role
within families. (10 marks)

ITEM A

Life course analysis suggests that there is flexibility and variation in people’s
family
lives. Individuals make decisions and choices at different times in their lives
and
this determines how their lives turn out. Postmodernists argue that we no
longer
have clear structures such as the nuclear family, but instead individuals have
greater
choice. This means that there is greater fragmentation and diversity of family
types
and lifestyles.
Other sociologists suggest that this range of choices is exaggerated and that
society’s structures and expectations still have a large influence on family
types and
relationships.

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, evaluate the view that there is
greater
diversity of family types and lifestyles today. (20 marks)

Evaluate the sociological arguments for the changes in family size over the past
100 years. (20 marks)
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Outline and explain two reasons for the decline in the number of first marriages
over the past
40 years. (10 marks)
ITEM B

The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth
of
family diversity as negative trends in modern society. For example, they point
to the
rising number of couples cohabiting and the large number of children born
outside
marriage. From the New Right perspective, these changes have undermined
the
family and are the cause of many social problems in Britain today.
Other sociologists suggest that changes to the family are exaggerated. For
example,
if we take a life-cycle approach to the study of families, then we will see that in
fact
most people marry and most have children within marriage.

Using material from Item B and elsewhere, evaluate the view that the growth of
family
diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. (20 marks)
Outline and explain two reasons for changes in the divorce rate over the past 40
years.
(10 marks)

ITEM C

In addition to changes in the birth rate and the death rate, the other factor
contributing to the size of the population is net migration. The search for
employment is an important reason for migration. This was particularly true
for those who came to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean in the 1950s.
Immigration has created greater ethnic diversity in the population and
contributed
to family diversity.

Applying material from Item C, Analyse two ways in which greater ethnic diversity has
contributed to family diversity. (10 marks)
Evaluate the reasons for changes in the divorce rate since 1969. (20 marks)

ITEM D

For functionalist sociologists, the family fulfils a number of important functions

for individuals and for society, such as the socialisation of children and the
stabilisation of adult personalities.
However, some sociologists suggest that, in today’s society, these functions
are
being taken over by other institutions and the family is losing its importance.
For
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example, nurseries and playgroups have an increasingly important role in the

socialisation of young children whose parents are working full-time. Also,
family
life is much less stable than it was in the past and this undermines the
traditional
functions of the family.

Using material from Item D and elsewhere, evaluate the view that, in today’s
society, the
family is losing its functions. (20 marks)

Evaluate the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage and cohabitation in
the last
40 years or so. (20 marks)