AQA A-Level Sociology: Families & Households Revision Guide

[00:00:00]All right, guys. So, paper two, sociology AQA is coming up. And one of the key major topics that is coming up is family and households. So, I'll cover all the baseline and major topics you'll really need to know to do good for this paper. That being said though, a lot of you guys have had specific requests in the comments that are kind of hard for me to go through cuz they're very specific to the individual who mentioned them. So obviously uh this video is for everyone and I'm not able to give each and every one of you the individual support that you need which is why I am releasing tutoring sessions that you guys can book with me.

[00:00:44]So obviously if you things such as how to structure 10 20 30 markers or a specific topic you'd like me to go over then you can book my tutoring by the time this video is out.

[00:00:58]it should be there. And um basically, yeah, I'll be able to give you individual support you'll need for any of your weakest points so you can still get the best grade to your ability. But that being said, this video is still really useful and you could still be good off this. But if you just need that specific help, I'm able to give that to you. But yeah. All right. So, first we have the functionless view on family. So Murdoch first talks about four functions of the family. One which is stable satisfaction of the sex drive basically like for example husband and wife of the family they're able to satisfy each other sexually when they're you know together.

[00:01:41]So that's a function reproduction of the next generation.

[00:01:46]uh basically they have the power to just create members for the next generation like their children who will be in the next generation. So that's a function socialization of the young obviously that's primary socialization they teach their kids the key like primary socialization they need for society all of that um meeting members economic needs. So basically uh members of the family are able to give each member individual and economic support that they'll need. So for example, a dad will obviously you know provide for his son, you know. All right. Then Parson talks about primary socialization which is basically like kind of the same thing as socialization of the young talked about by Murdoch. Yeah. Um so primary socialization is basically the first like basic skills and values that like children are taught by their family.

[00:02:42]It's kind of like what the foundation that future socialization is built on.

[00:02:48]So basically you know how in school and education I talked about how there's secondary socialization done for that to happen the primary socialization has to happen first. So just teaching them like basic skills and all of that that they they like learn from the family. All right. Then the stabilization of adult personalities also known as the warm bath theory. This essentially means that after adults come home from a long day of work and stress. They can kind of relax and decompress at home from the pressure of work by simply just interacting with their children and being provided emotional support by their family. So basically just think of it as like a warm bath that after you're stressed after a long time. You can just go in a warm bath and relax and enjoy.

[00:03:37]That's how like warm bath is related to family. So they can go home to their family and finally just relax from a long day of work. This is typically referred to by um the male breadwinner as just a functionalist view on the family. So it's pretty nuclear. Obviously, criticisms are pretty straightforward and simple. Uh, feminists say that um, functionalists ignore patriarchy and abuse in family, which is true because functionalists only look at the positive side for family, right? Uh, they only focus on the nuclear family. Marxism say they ignore class inequality. And yeah, they do cuz they only look at the positives as I just said and it's pretty outdated.

[00:04:22]Then other institutions also perform the same functions and families. All right. Then you have the Marxist view of the family and they essentially believe that the family's main function is just to benefit capitalism. So as you see angels talks about the inheritance of property.

[00:04:39]The family stays wealthy as it is passed on through inheritance. Like for example, a rich dad will pass on his property and wealth to his rich son, keeping the wealth in that family, making them stay in control. Yeah. Uh ensures ruling class maintains control through inheritance. Yeah. Basically what I said, Zeretski talks about family supporting capitalism. So family provides an emotional support for workers. So even working class uh members when they come home to their family they'll feel some sort of support from their family. So they might forget about their inequalities they're facing in work. Uh yeah they reproduce the new generation of workers. So workingclass family a workingass dad workingass they'd create kids that see their parents workingass jobs. So they would also think that that's calm and that's all right to do. So they would may also go into that same line of work creating the same cycle. Altha talks about an ideological state apparatus which did come into uh education as well but um it's also in family cuz family socializes children into accepting inequality by passing dominant ideology which supports the capitalist uh system reproduces the false conscious and basically what I said before so working so children from workingclass families might see their parents workingass jobs and feel it's okay and they just get like accepted into the norms of it and think of it as a normal thing. Meaning they just, you know, accept the inequality criticisms, right? Uh these guys only look at the negatives. They don't look at the benefits of family, right? They're too focused on class.

[00:06:29]They don't focus on other factors such as gender. And they assume each family just passively accepts capitalist norms.

[00:06:37]So some families could even reform and be like, "Oh, now we want to have better for ourselves and we don't want to just live normal workingass lives and just accept the capitalist norms that we're meant to." All right. Then you have the feminist view of the family and they just essentially believe that feminists, they just look at how family negatively affects and oppresses women. So first you have liberal feminists which typically are more open-minded compared to the others and see as there has been some change right says they say cultural culture and norms are reinforced by the family but family is only sexist as it supports mainstream culture. So they think that yeah um if the family stopped supporting mainstream culture then it would be completely fine and not be a sexist right. They think social change is possible if there are changes within legal systems and governments. So yeah, they believe that change is possible if like policies change for example and stuff like that. Marxist feminists, these guys kind of just link it to capitalism. They say the exploitation of women is essential to capitalism as they help produce and care for the next generation of workers. So yeah, just saying that like it um the exploitation of women is because of capitalism because it benefits capitalism because by women staying at home and taking care of the kids, it helps produce a new they they help produce and take care of a new generation of workers basically, right?

[00:08:11]Radical feminists. Yeah. Housework.

[00:08:14]These guys probably are on the most extreme side, right? They say housework exploits women, but it's because of a patriarchal society, not capitalism.

[00:08:25]That's where they're different from Marxist feminists. And Delia and Leonard talk about how family is a patriarchal institution where women do most of the work while men basically just get most of the benefits from it. All right.

[00:08:38]Criticisms of feminist theory is that it just portrays women as passive. Like it basically assumes that women can't just say to their family that no we don't want to live like this cuz women could say that and they could like change the whole family structure. Also assumes that not all family structures are patriarchal in modern society. Yeah. Not all of them are like yeah for example neoconventional ignores gay or lone parent households. So family structures where there isn't even patriarchy in the question, right? And women from different ethnic backgrounds may have different experiences. So yeah, not all women are the same. So not all women will have the same experiences with family. Then you have the postmodernist view on family. Uh they essentially believe that people just have more free choice now within families. So yeah as Giddon says yeah people have more choice in terms of relationships and family.

[00:09:37]Example of this is yeah uh Giddens talks about this today's relationships are pure relationships. Essentially this means yeah that the relationships nowadays they last as long as the people are happy in the relationship. So cohabitation and serial monogamy are more common. So, like in today's society, if people in a relationship aren't happy, even if they have kids, they're more likely to leave and just find new people or just be by themselves uh to make them happy. So, they'll just do whatever makes them happy. Whereas before, they might have just stayed together even if they're not happy, just for the sake of kids. But divorce and separation is much more common now, which allows people to have more free choice in their relationships. So then Stacy talks about how women have more freedom now to shape the family arrangements to suit their needs and be freed from oppression. Example of this is like even when women are divorced yeah from their husband or whatever, they're still more likely to maintain relationships with their ex-in-laws due to access to their children, right? But they can also create divorce extended families with like step fathers, stepmothers, you know, it just allows way more choice. So even if they end up getting a divorce or whatever, there's still always an alternative now. All right. Then you have social policies, which I feel like is pretty straightforward and I'll just be reading what's basically on the slide, which is why I feel like I don't really got to talk for this one. And I'll just let you guys take notes on it. And if I just go past it, just screenshot it so you guys can look at it on your own time. But I'll go through like one two points briefly just so you guys can get an idea of it. So for example, functionalism help uh they think policies help family perform their functions more efficiently. Example of that is 1967 legalization of contraceptive pill that just basically introduced more safe sex within couples, right? which would uh fulfill one of Murdoch's functions if you remember which was a stable satisfaction of sex drive. So yeah, basically they like the policies that help um basically families perform the functions better. New right they only like um policies that avoid undermining the self-reliant family. So if you look at like for example the conservative side, the 1984 divorce act allowed couples to divorce within only one year of marriage. So they would probably like that one because it like allows, you know, couples to divorce way more easily and just creates more independent family cuz they're more all about like, you know, independent stuff and they don't like self-reliant stuff. So yeah, and yeah, the rest is just pretty much straightforward. You guys just screenshot it, whatever, and just read up on it. If you still have any struggles with it, just comment down below. All right. Then you have types of family diversity. So within families, why some can be different? So organizational. So this is like different family roles for example. So like one family might just have one single owner for them whereas other families might have multiple dual owners meaning like less burden on one person for example. Cultural differences due to ethnicity or religion pretty straightforward. Class middle be workingass family structures can be different. Yeah. Uh life stage structures vary by age depending on how old uh people are. Generational. Yeah.

[00:13:15]Attitudes differ across generations.

[00:13:18]Yeah, people's views change over time.

[00:13:20]Then I got a small table explaining causes of family diversity. Just uh you guys can just read that yourselves. It's just more external factors as to why like there's changes in families and um yeah other than that I also put like a few different types of families that you might need to know and I explain what they are. So just read up on that as well. So yeah, a lot of stuff like family structures and that for uh sociology is pretty straightforward.

[00:13:49]It's just more about memorization. So you just guys just read up on it. Maybe take a screenshot, look at in your free time, just get it ingrained in your memory, I'd say. All right, the next slide is just extra notes. Uh this is basically just stuff that I felt like I should have mentioned before, but I forgot to, so I'm just adding it in now.

[00:14:09]So for example, Anne Oakley, Duncom and Marsden, these guys are feminists because I felt like my feminist slide was kind of lacking. So Anne Oakley talks about uh the dual burden on women.

[00:14:20]So not only do they now have jobs, so paid work, they also still have to manage housework, so domestic labor, which is why there's inequalities within family for women, which is what these guys argue. Yeah. Then Dunkome and Marsden go a different level for this and they say now women don't have a dual burden they actually have a triple shift. So not only do they have paid work and house work which is domestic labor but also emotional labor. So they have to emotionally support everyone else in the family which is why they say families create inequalities within women giving them more work than everyone else. Yeah. Next uh part is nothing to do with feminism. It's just reasons for the decline of marriage. So one is greater individualism. Yeah. So people are more independent nowadays than they were before. So they might not uh seek a partner for fulfillment.

[00:15:12]Whereas before it was more like common that yeah you need someone with you in your life. Yeah. Increase life expectancy cuz people are living uh life longer now due to greater quality of life. They get married later and also they have more long-term relationships before marriage. meaning that like those relationships might not go well so they might not even get to marriage whereas before people would just rush to get married and yeah less stigma around relationships. Yeah. So uh there's more acceptance of not getting married and stuff. Before it was kind of like you would be perceived kind of negatively if you were in a relationship without getting married and all of that. Yeah.

[00:15:52]Secularization. Yeah. Also, a lot of people would get married for religious reasons, but because there's a less influence on religion, a lot of people feel like that's not needed anymore, and they're just more guided by their own personal views rather than religion. All right, so next slide is childhood. So, the first view we have is the march, a progress view. Essentially, uh meaning that oh, childhood has improved. That's what this view kind of is about. So yeah, childhood has improved. It's more protected, more childc centered. Child- centered essentially means that oh, society kind of revolves around childhood Loki. Yeah.

[00:16:33]So example of that would be how there's a lot more laws and policies nowadays that prevent child labor. They prevent child abuse. You know, a lot of uh policies now that protect children basically, right? Another example is education has been extended up to 18 years old and it has been made mandatory for children all children which is just shows that the government want all children to be well educated so they can kind of excel in society. Yeah, that's this view basically showing that the government does a lot to make sure children are kept well and safe in society. Then a conflict view with this right is basically just disagreeing with this right. So they say inequalities still remain in childhood. So for example, gender, girls do more domestic labor. Ethnicity, the sociology batty talk batty, I think that's how you pronounce it. Yeah, she talks about how Asian girls have stricter control compared to other children, right?

[00:17:35]Obviously there's class as well. So poor children may uh get given worse education compared to richer kids like middle class. They may also face worse health because of poor diet, poor housing, all of those things. Right? So it's basically just saying that nah childhood is still not perfect. There's still a lot of inequalities. Right? Now the next view is a toxic childhood which is what Palmer talks about. Right? He says that now childhood is more like toxic. It's just more negative. So techn technology and fast food is damaging mental and physical health. There's more overscheduled lives. there. It's just a lot more packed now. Consumer pressure and yeah, that's kind of just the gist of it really what you need to know. Just remember some of those. Then disappear disappearing childhood. So Postman talks about this and said childhood is disappearing due to media exposure. So basically like because children have a lot more access to the internet, they see a lot of stuff they shouldn't see at their age kind of ruining their childhood low key. Yeah. Jensen then talks about how childhood is changing, not disappearing due to more surveillance of children. So there's a lot more like children are kept more under watch. There's a lot more cameras, all of that stuff. Basically, children are watched and monitored way more than they used to be. Meaning that like childhood has just changed forms like they're just monitored more. Whereas before children were kind of left to do their own thing. they'd go out and play and just come back when it's time to come back. But that's just an example.

[00:19:13]But yeah. All right. The final slide is demography. So the first point is decline in birth rate according to statistics. And this is due to factors such as a lot more contraception available now. Uh there's a lot more family planning. So families plan a lot more before deciding to go for children.

[00:19:34]Women delay birth rate. uh no women delay child birth due to other things that they're more focused on such as education and career which uh sharp talks about he came up in education as well if you guys remember uh children are more expensive nowadays right and there's more of a child centered society so due to like society focusing more on children than before it also like raises the cost of children than before as well cuz they're more prioritized meaning that due to children being more expensive there. Obviously, families are going to think, but not just families, anybody's just going to think twice before just bringing a child into this world. Yeah. Uh decline in death rate, right? That's due to stuff like better health care, sanitation, improved nutrition, and working conditions, and less infant mortality. Uh there's an aging population. That's cuz people are living longer. Obviously, this means there's a lot more older people than there used to be. Meaning that there are fewer young dependents. Effects of this is that due to there being a lot more older people, there's a higher dependency ratio as these older people need someone to depend on to take care of them. There's a lot more strain on public services to take care of these older people such as NHS and it's just caused the rise of Beanpo families.

[00:20:56]That's uh Brana talk Bron or Brer talks about uh so evaluation of this yeah it shows how family can adapt to wider trends right so family changes as the demography changes in society right aging is seen as a problem there are positives to aging as well for example um an example of this is if there's like a lot of older individuals they'll have a lot more leisure time and they might have more disposable income making them like good consumers and contributing to the economy. Yeah, that's a benefit to an aging population. So, there's positives to it as well, right? Another negative for the evaluation is that it ignores the diversity of elderly experiences. Yeah, but that's practically what you really like the key points you really need to know for demography. All right, guys. So, that's really it for family and household. And that's all the key info you really need to get a good understanding and prepare you well for the exam. But nonetheless, as I mentioned in the beginning, if you guys really want to excel and achieve to the best of your ability and get the best grade you can for your A level, then I suggest you book a tutoring session with me for just an hour and just see how it goes, right? Cuz with this here, I can give you guys the individual one-to-one support on a specific concept you guys are struggling with that maybe no one else is, and I can go in as depth for it as you want and just give you that final run to just get you that grade you deserve. But yeah, by the time this video is up, I should have released a separate video for my tutoring thing. If I haven't, I will still put a link for it where you guys can look at the Google forms without even signing up. Just take a look at it and just see how you guys if you guys want to book it or not. But link should be below. But yeah, guys, thank you for watching.