1. Family diversity
Key terms
• Nuclear family = a family group consisting of two parents and children living in the same
household
• Cohabitation = couples who are not married live together
• Extended family = a family which includes three or more generations, usually including
grandparents, their sons and daughters and their children
• Singleton = someone who lives by themselves
• Same-sex families = two people of the same sex live together as a family
• Reconstituted family = a family which comprises of married or cohabiting couples who between
them have at least one child from a previous relationship who either visits or live with them
• Single-parents family = a lone-parent family which is a result of the parents divorce or
separation, the death of one parent, or because there has only ever been one parent
• Empty nest family = 2 parents and their children have grown up and left home
 DINKI family = dual income – no kids
Modernism and the nuclear family
• Functionalists and the new right have a modernist view of family diversity.
• Both think that the best family is the nuclear.
• They believe the nuclear family easily slots not societies structure and helps it but performing and
maintain certain essential functions.
• The essential functions are described by George Peter Murdock, Talcott Parsons and Charles
Murray who are functionalist and new right sociologists.
Talcott parsons
• Says he Extended family become a nuclear family to functionally fit the needs of modern society.
• Argues that modern society wanted a flexible and more mobile family such as the nuclear family
and believes this was due to the family being able to adapt themselves.
• Has two irreducible functions the primary socialisation of children.
Murdock
• Argues that the nuclear family is essential for society due to them being the building block of
society and through 4 functions which are educative, economic, sexual and emotional.
The new right
• Have a conservative and anti-feminist perspective on the family and strongly oppose to this
How are the New Right similiar to the functionalists?
• Both are against change
• Both love the nuclear family and support them as they believe they are 'essential’ for to society

2. • Both strongly oppose family diversity (AGAINST)
Why do the new right have such a problem with Family Diversity
Lone parent families
• Riots
• Dependency culture
• Poverty
• Crime
• Illegal activities
• Under age pregnancies
• Deviant poorly socialised children
• See them as a burden welfare state as they cannot discipline
• children.
Working mums
• New Right don't like them as caring for their family is just their priority
• Their job is to look after their husband
Cohabitation and divorce
• Don't like it as they believe marriage is essential for creating a stable environment for children
• Believe it creates instability
Welfare/benefits discourage men from working and encourage a dependency culture
Family breakdown increases risks to children
• Amota (2000) argue that children in families that have broken down have greater risk of poverty,
education failure, crime ,health problems, increase in chance of future breakdown and return to
traditional values to prevent damage to broken children.
The welfare system is to blame
• They believe increase in lone parents families because more spending on welfare
• If you have high levels of tax and benefits acts as perverse incentives
• Public funds, the tax burden on the working population has become bigger
• Responsible behaviour is punished – high tax
• Irresponsible behaviour is rewarded – freebies for the welfare estate
Solution to reducing family diversity
• culture welfare benefits
• Encourage the conventional family
• Abolish them completely to reduce dependency culture

3. Harry Benson (2006)
• Studied 15,000 babies born in 2000 – 2001 and found that 3000 of the parents had become
single mother during the first three years of the child's life
He found that:
• The rate of family breakdown was lower fir among married couples than any other family type
• 6% of married couples resulted in single parent family
• 20% of cohabiting couples resulted in a single parent family
• 74% of people who were ‘closely involved’ but not living together
Criticism of the New Right
• Feminism – do not agree with feminist campaigns for women's equality which is why they’re so
negative towards them.
• New rights – based on patriarchal oppression of women. They are criticised as they want women
to remain unequal and be dependent on men.
• Criticised as there is no evidence that lone parent families are part of a dependency culture or
that children form single parent families are more likely to be a criminal than children from any
other family type.
Robert Chester: the Neo conventional family
• Recognises the fact that there has been an increase in family diversity but unlike the new right
Robert doesn't see it as significant or damaging.
• Suggest the only important change is the shift from the traditional nuclear family to the neo-
conventional family
• The Neo Conventional Family is regarded by Chester as the Dual Earner Family, where both
husband and wife go out and work.
• Doesn't see any other evidence of a major change in society.
• Argues that’s most people are choosing not to live in alternatives to the nuclear family on a long
term basis and that the nuclear family is still the ideal family type for most people.
• Agrees with functionalism and sees the nuclear family as dominant and important
• Suggests the extent of family diversity and its impact on society has been exaggerated
• Chester identifies a number of patterns to support his view that family hasn't rapidly increased
Identified that little has changed
• Most people live in a household headed by married couple
• Most adults marry and have children reared by their natural parents
• Most marriages continue until death
• Cohabitation is a temporary phase before marriage
• Birth outside of marriage are still jointly registered – commitment to raise child as a couple
Rhona and Robert Rapoports (1982)
• Argue that diversity is of central importance in understanding of family life today.

4. • Argue that the family has Shifted from the traditional and dominant nuclear family to a range of
different family types. Families in Britain have adapted to a pluralistic society which is where
cultures and lifestyles are more diverse
A02 – Unlike the New Right, the Rapoports see diversity as a response to peoples different needs
and wishes and not as abnormal or a deviation from the assumed norm of a nuclear family
Rhona and Robert Rapoports (1982) : five types of family diversity
1. Organisation diversity – differences in ways family roles are organised
2. Cultural diversity – because of different cultural, religious and ethnic groups family types are
already predicted
3. Social class diversity – family structure and practices may be different based on incomes
4. Life stage diversity – life cycle
5. Generational diversity – different generation have different attitudes and experience towards
family life e.g. younger age = prefer nuclear families
Post modernity and the life course
• Reject the idea that there is one best family type or that the family shapes its members and
behaviours
• Argue that we make our own choice about family life and relationships and that we have a greater
choice about our own personal relationship which has increased family diversity.
Tamara Harevan (1978)
• Studied the life course analysis.
• Argues that if we want to understand family life, we need to focus on individual family members
and how they may their decision.
• the life course analysis focuses on the meanings people five to life events such as leaving home,
having a baby, coming out as gay or moving into sheltered accommodations.
• Favours the use of unstructured in depth interviews with family members as the best way to
uncover the meanings behind their choices about family life and relationships.
Life course analysis

5. David Morgan (1996)
• A02 – like Tamara Harevean, explores the concept of family practices to describe the routine
actions through which we create sense of being a family member; such as feeding the children or
doing the DIY.
• Studied family practices
• Doesn't complete reject the idea of structural theories
How do beliefs influence family practice?
• Our right and obligations within family influences.
• Some men may believe it’s the wives job ti look after the kids whilst they go out to work.
• Idea allows us to see why family conflict exists due to different member may hold different beliefs
or expectations about each other’s responsibilities.
Why did Morgan prefer ‘family practice’ instead of ‘family structure’
• Families are not concrete ‘things’ or ‘structures’ they are just simply what people do.
• Family practice gets us closer to the relations of everyday experience ( not a physical thing)
• The family isn't a clear or distinct structure from society.
David cheal (1993)
• argues that we no longer live in the ‘modern world’ with its [predictable orderly structures such as
the nuclear family
• Believes that society has now entered a new chaotic postmodern stages family structures have
become more fragmented and individuals have much more choice in their lifestyles, personal
relationships and family arrangement
Two characteristics of society
. diversity and frafmentation
• family structures are fragmented and individuals have much more choice in their styles personal
relationships and family arrangements.
2. Rapid social change
• family life is more diverse
• Shape depends on the active choices people make about how to live their lives e.g. whether to
get divorces, cohabit, come out as gay etc
• There is no longer one dominant family type
Giddens (1992)
• Is a postmodernist sociologist
• Studied choice and equality
• Argues that the family and marriage have been transformed by greater choice and a more equal
relationship between men and women. This happened because of;
1. Contraception – has allowed sex and intimacy rather than reproduction to become the main
reason for relationship existence

6. 2. Women's independence – increase as a result of feminist because of greater opportunities in
education as well as in work
As a result of the changes Gidden identifies, the couples is now free to define their own
relationship rather than act out the roles that have been denied by tradition. This relationship
is known as the pure relationships
• Relationship solely exists to meet each partners needs
• Couple stay together because of love, happiness or sexual attraction that than tradition of
staying together for the same of children
• Relationships are a path of self discovery
• However, increased choices leads to instability
Beck: ‘risk society’ and the negotiated family
• Ulrich Beck (1992) suggest that we now live in a risk society were tradition has less
influence and people have more choices. We have now become more aware of the risk we
face; this is because we make choices involving calculating the risks and rewards of the
difference courses of action available.
These are;
1. Comparing today's risks society with the past
2. Undermining the patriarchal family
3. The new negotiated family
Comparing today's risks society with the past
• Today's risk society contrasts with an earlier time when roles were more fixed and people
had less chance on how to live their life's
Examples
• People were expected to marry
• Men played the role of the breadwinner, disciplinary and make more important financial
decisions
• Women took responsibly for housework and childcare
Undermining the patriarchal family
• In the past family was unequal and oppressive but the good thing about it was because it
was stable
• Patriarchal family has been undermined by two trend
1. Greater gender equality – has challenged mates role and women how expect equality at
work and in marriage
2. Greater individualism – peoples actions are now based on self interest rather than
obligation towards other people
The new negotiated family
• Relationship is negotiated between partners.
• Decide what's best for family and enter the relationships on an equal basis.

7. • However, this has led to the family no become more unstable if relationship is not what
they expected, individuals are free to leave the relationship.
Feminism: Stacey: the divorce – extended family
• Judith Stacey (1998) suggest that greater choice has benefited women: it has enabled
them to free themselves from patriarchal and to shape their family arrangements to meet
their needs,
• Found evidence of all sorts of different family and household arrangements in her
research.
Weeks: the growing acceptance of diversity
• Identified a long term shift in attitudes since the 1950’s
• Indentified that sexual mortality is down to person choice and that cohabitation and
homosexuality has become more acceptable
However despite these changing attitudes , family patterns continue to be fairly traditional;
• Most people still live in a family
• Most children are brought up by couples
• Most couples marry
• Most divorces remarry
Two views of family diversity
For family diversity 
• Postmodernist and feminists are in favour of greater family diversity
• Nuclear family is best equipped to meet needs of society
• Stacy see diversity as desirable as it brings peoples freedom to choose personal relationships
and ways of living and meeting needs
Against family diversity 
• Opposes greater family diversity which is held by the functionalist and new right
• Jeffery weeks says the family isn't natural and is socially constructed by its members
• Division of labour between an ‘instrumental’ male bread winner role and an ‘expressive’ female
housewife role
• New right see lone parent families as causing juvenile crime and deviance