Changes Occurring in the UK Family System over the Past Fifty Years - Essay Example

FAMILY SOCIOLOGY Submitted by: ________________ Submitted ______________ Institute: __________________ _____________________ This paper is about the changes occurring in the UK family system over the past fifty years. It will consist of a systematic review of different available relevant studies and theories; and it will attempt to discuss and analyze the impacts of this change and how it has triggered a further change in the traditional roles assigned to each family member. 1. Introduction Family dynamics have changed considerably during the past fifty years. Dawn (2009) explains these changes as falling into following three categories. First: decrease in the average family size, second: increased trend of single parenting and third: displaced families (Dawn, 2009). According to the NSCFC (2010), the family system in UK has undergone many solid changes during the past fifty years. According to their statistics, fifty years ago only 25 percent of people above thirty were single, however this percentage has reached to 55% in 2007. 1.1 The Sociology of Family Life The discipline of Sociology views the family as being the basic unit of society (Bernardes, 1997). The idea of nuclear family is quite powerful; it includes the correctness of gender specific roles and also the responsibility of parents regarding the well being and upbringing of children (Muncie, 1995; cited in Bernardes, 1997). 1.2 Diversity in the family system of UK Immigration, technological development, economic pressure, homosexuality and increased broken and displaced families have created great diversity among the UK family system (Diversity in families and households, 2010). Ethnic families are more extended as compared to British families that are more nuclear. Separated and reconstituted families are also common in which children from different parents have to live with their step siblings. In secularized countries, the family is more cohabitation based than legal marriage based and homosexual co habituation is also common (Cheal, 2002). 1.3 Specific roles within a family According to Bernardes (1997), it is a common perception among people that a family consists of a heterogeneous couple, with a small number of healthy kids, where the women have the primary task of care taking and may be occasional supportive income source and the men have the real bread winning task. Women having young children are usually financially dependent on men and are not a part of the paid work world at all (Allan, 1999). As soon as a baby is born, the women are forced to stay at home and care for the young one, while men are expected to earn enough to provide for the family. This snatches the privilege of being paid for work from the women despite the fact that they work at home as much as men do outside. The division of labor between men and women that is implicit in the generations long concept of family is this different but equal allocation of gender based roles (Allan, 1999) 1.4 Changing roles in family life With the individualized family lifestyle, as the ‘bread winning role’ of males started to deteriorate, so did the feeling of responsibility towards family financial support among males began to deteriorate. (Different Family Ideologies and Types, 2010). According to Allan (1999), unemployment in men triggers very little role-swap thought, while if women chose to work or are forced to work, they have to take it up as an addition to their previous daily tasks. Lewis and Sussman (1986), suggest that in future the need for utilization programs for men to orient them about their new role in family is likely to increase. 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1 Major Relevant Theories Many sociological theories have attempted to explain the family dynamics. Some of these theories are reviewed as follows: Marxist Theory and Family: In Marxism, the family is seen purely as the product of as well as the basis for a capitalist system. According to the Marxist theorists, the family performs four capitalistic (economic) functions namely: obtaining unpaid labor from women in forms of child care and house keeping, producing further labor force via reproduction, the production of basic necessities like food, shelter, clothing etc, and lastly, a source of relaxation for the earning members, to refresh and comfort them for the next day’s work (Cape Sociology, 2010). The main criticism on this theory is its reductionist approach with primary focus on economic factors alone (Abott, 2009). Functional Approach to Family: According to the functionalists, the family has many functions that contribute to the social aspects of a society. These include regulation of sexual behavior, replacement of individuals in the society, social placement, emotional support and socialization (Long, 2010). This approach has been met by the criticism that it is over optimistic and neglects issues like family violence (Abott, 2009). Conflict Theory and Family: The conflict theorists agree with functionalists on their basic assumptions of the roles the family plays in the society but conflict theories also acknowledge the dysfunctions of a family like domestic violence, oppression of women and male dominance etc. According to Long (2010), the conflict theorists accuse the functionalist theory of being extra positive and completely ignoring the limitations family life imposes on one or other member, since according to conflict theorists, the family system limits choice of mate for women and snatches sexual freedom and also imposes an unequal division of labor among both sexes in the family role. Feminism and Family: The feminists argue that since the family is a miniature of society and that it is a platform for socialization, therefore unequal division of work among men and women in family is incompatible with the equal, wide social world. In modern society, the role and status of men and women is equal. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2004), Feminism states that if a male child is reared in a male dominated society, he will never learn to treat women as equals when he enters the wider society, which is equality ridden in today’s modern world. Post Modernism: Sim (2002), cited in Freeman (2008) defined post modernism as: “Rejection of many, if not most, of the cultural certainties on which life in the West has been structured over the last couple of centuries”  This definition is reflective of postmodernism view of family as well. In post modernism, the family can be of any shape or size, having multiple functions and dysfunctions. According to Bannard (1983) cited in Freeman (2008), post modernism ‘aims for the popular’. This implies that it can be functional or dysfunctional as long as it is popular, it will be considered to be post modern. Criticism on this theory is its lack of cultural roots, neglecting of many important social, political and philosophical issues. For instance, in case of family it is important for it to be functional otherwise it will result in social normlessness- a state of anomie. 3. Literature Review There has been a lot of research regarding the changes occurring in the family system. Some of the relevant studies are reviewed below: Secularization and increased educational level, both are challenging the existing male role as well as the female role (Scott, 2006). The modern life style is definitely a challenge to the traditional gender identity roles. Study by Scott (2006) showed that among British families there is little gender based equity and men are mostly not sharing in the household tasks even in the cases where the women are working full time. The study also concluded that the women usually adapt to the new role in less period of time while men take longer in doing so. According to (Hunt, 2002), during the recent years, the traditional roles assigned to men and women among a family have undergone change. With increased number of females in the work area, there is also some increase in male participation in the household activities and active parenting. Hunt (2002) argues that this change in roles calls for complete adoption of the new roles but this is hindered by the natural role mindset among both genders. There is need to restructure or at least de-structure the existing ‘natural’ roles associated with respective genders. The females are usually resistant in sharing in their authority in the household tasks while the males are typically in conflict regarding their new role as the household caretaker and feel insecure regarding their position of ultimate authorities in the family decisions etc. As per Allan (1999), in most of the families in UK, claiming to be part of a so called equalitarian marriage, where the women work full time or part time, there is very little or no sharing in the household tasks by the males. Allan (1999) speaks in light of a specific study related to cooking responsibilities. In some cases, even the women themselves were defensive of this behavior and some provided explanations for this non participation. This shows that not only males, but females also find it hard to give up their traditional gender identity roles. Willets (2009), reported in the ‘Sunday times’ that family is shrinking in UK at a high pace and it is becoming the land of shrinking families. While discussing the pros and cons of this new family structure, Willets (2009) points out that extended families could offer more support than nuclear families can, smaller sized households are large in number in the nuclear family ridden societies, this creating inequality at the societal level. Such families tend to create dis-balance in the society and are against the nature or the natural lifestyle. Lewis and Sussman (1986) have reviewed a study according to which: 62% female respondents voted that men are equally good at child caring as women are and almost half of the women on the average reported that their husbands do the laundry, bring the laundry, do the cooking and clean the house. This is a clear cut indication of the changing family life in the UK and accompanied changes in the roles of family members. Prevalence of role conflict among young adults in today’s world is also a possibility. Lewin (1986) points out three films from very recent past that became highly popular and were based on role reversals in the modern family lifestyle. The movies Lewin (1986) argues have some appealing content in them that is more than bare comedy. This content might be that these movies relate to their real lives and address many of their changing roles related issues. 4. Discussion Many researchers have highlighted the gender differences in new role adaptation (Scott, 2006; Allan, ). Sussman (1986) has suggested one possible explanation to this: the new role of greater interaction with the child or children may be satisfying for the male, but at the same time there might be resistance or negative reaction to this closeness from the female. She may also have problems in accepting the husband’s new role. Throwing light on the universality of nuclear family, Murdock (1965) cited in Bernardes (1997) concluded that nuclear family is in some societies the only known form of existing family, and in others, the root of other, extended family systems. Living in a family is a natural and biologically preferred lifestyle. Lewis and Sussman (1986) suggest: role switching to adjust with the changing lifestyle in family is affected by the social response. Among the partners who do switch roles, criticism from neighbors and family members is frequent, which is a discouraging factor in the innovative process of role switching. Linking ‘changing of roles’ with different family approaches: Considering the phenomenon of changing roles in light of theories of family, a Marxist would view this process as negative for the capitalist system, since the labor force production might be reduced, the unpaid labor that women offered might have to be traded for some freedom to do paid work and the entity that was dependent on the earning body might become fully or semi independent. These changing roles in family are definitely a threat to the Marxist capitalism. The functionalist, who views the family as a ‘positive-only’ kind of institution in the society might be least affected with changing roles until the consequences surface and reduce the social functionality of families. Since the functionalists refuse to acknowledge any conflict, changing the roles or not changing them, would not affect the functions of the family directly, but the changing roles might slowly reduce the functionality aspect of a family. The family will still continue to replace individuals (though may be at a low rate), provide socialization either in mother’s care or father’s and will continue to offer support to the children (but this too, would be divided with changing roles). The conflict theory on the other hand is further supplemented by changing roles, since this process will initially give rise to further conflict, until the new roles are accepted fully by the society and all its members. The changing roles and their implications are perhaps most welcome to be discussed among feminists. Feminism is the theory demanding this very change and stresses on role switching much more than any other theory on the family system. According to Lewis and Sussman (1986), change in the masculine and feminine role has been occurring slowly since long. Behaviors that were not tolerated to be a part of masculine role by one generation became a vital part of that gender in some of the succeeding generations. The role switching or adaptation takes time to get accepted. Personally I believe that it is difficult to accept new roles and even more difficult to change attitudes to bring them in accordance to the new demands. All roles and specially gender specific roles are internalized from early childhood and it takes much effort to modify these. For instance, if a male has to take care of the children while his wife is at work, he will be faced with multiple dilemmas: he might not know how to deal with children because he was not trained in or prepared for bringing up children, he might face an ego problem, an identity conflict or ridicule from the members of same gender who do not opt to take up the role. In cases where the female counter part is non cooperative and not willing to give up her superior authority on the indoor side, the situation leads to crises on part of both; the male and the female. Even in my case, when I was a child I could never have imagined my mother working outside my home and my father doing the cooking and the laundry. But on giving thought to the subject now, I think why not? It is not so unconventional in today’s post modern world. But it was unconventional a few years back. Conclusion In the light of above discussion, literature and theoretical review regarding the changing roles in UK family life, it can be concluded that with modernization, the nuclear family system is being encouraged throughout the country wherein the family consists of a mother, a father and a small number of real, adopted or step siblings (children). This system in the modern world and changing economy has undergone a further change that is of mothers taking up full time or part time job. Such a change in role specific tasks call for a change in role specific practices and mindsets as well. This kind of change is more prominent in some small percentage of families in the UK, but it should definitely be more advocated and the idea of equal and similar male and female roles and relevant tasks need to be popularized. References Abott, D. (2009). Sociology: Revising theories of the family. Retrieved from: http://tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/sociology/comments/revising-theories-of-the-family/ on December 8th, 2010. Allan, G. (1999) The Sociology of the Family. A Reader Oxford:  Blackwell. Bernardes, J. (1997). Family studies: An introduction. London: Routledge Scott, J. (2006). Family and Gender Roles: How attitudes are changing. Retrieved from http://www.genet.ac.uk/workpapers/GeNet2006p21.pdf on December 8th, 2010. Cape Sociology. (2010). Marxist functions of the family. Retrieved from: http://capesociology.org/marxist-functions-family-52.html on December 8th, 2010. Cheal, D. (2002). Sociology of family life. London: Palgrave Diversity in families and households. (2010). Families and households. Retrieved from: http://romel.staff.gunadarma.ac.id/Downloads/files/2581/Families+and+Households.doc on December 7th, 2010. Different Family Ideologies and Types. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=150112 on December 7th, 2010. Freeman, L. (2008). Modernism and postmodernism: The dysfunctional family. Macquarie University. Retrieved from: http://lukes.me/papers/modernism-and-postmodernism-the-dysfunctional-family/ on December 8th, 2010. Hunt, T. (2002). Gender: Challenging attitudes. Retrieved from: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/gender-challenging-attitudes-conceptualizations-and-theories-relevant-to-work-and-family-roles on December 8th, 2010. Lewis, R. A & Sussman, M.B. (1986). Men’s changing roles in society. NewYork: Haworth Press.Dawn, Q. (2009). Changes in family and community over the past fifty years. Health Care Issues. Retrieved from: http://dawnqwingate.blog spot.com/ 2009/01/changes-in-family-and-community-over.html on December 8th, 2010. Long, R. (2010). Social problems: Family and children. Retrieved from http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/problems/chap-15.htm on December 8th, 2010. NSCFC. (2010). Fifty years of change. Retrieved from: http://www.nscfc.com/ 50years.htm on December 7th, 2010. Stanford encyclopedia on Philosophy. (2004). Feminist perspectives on reproduction and the family. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-family/ on December 8th, 2010. Willets, J. (2009). Land of the shrinking family. Retrieved from: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6945787.ece on 8th, December, 2010. Read More