Sociology · May / June 2022 · Paper 22 · Question 1
0495
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A person’s gender may affect whether they experience the family as patriarchal. The family is constantly changing due to factors such as divorce, secularisation and urbanisation. This means that family roles and functions are often different according to culture, time period and society. 1
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1(a)[2]
What is meant by the term ‘gender’? One mark for a partial definition, e.g. being male or female. Two marks for a clear definition, e.g. the roles and expectations associated with being male or female.
1(b)[4]
Describe two roles grandparents can play in the family in modern industrial societies. Possible answers:
economic – giving and lending money and gifts to kin;practical support – e.g. looking after children for working parents;emotional and moral support – listening, talking and giving advice to other family members;shared role – sharing accommodation with wider kin to reduce costs and domestic work and responsibilities;as a burden – where grandparents are in need of care and support from their wider family;partial role – with modified extended families grandparents may not live close to family and thus have a limited role in day-to-day family life;active role – with the ageing population and better health care, grandparents may play the role of active, pleasure seeking and fun;any other reasonable response. One mark for each point correctly identified (up to maximum of two). One mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of two).1(c)[6]
Explain how urbanisation has affected family life. Possible answers:
jobs – the move to the city saw families less involved in the primary sector and more likely to be working in manufacturing, trade or the service industry which may have involved shift work;loss of family functions – the state and its institutions e.g. school, health care, started to take over many of the functions once performed by the family as dual-worker families became the norm;education − schooling became more valued and, later, compulsory therefore saw children spending less time with their families and more with their peers;gender roles − many sociologists believe urbanisation was responsible for the normalisation of the male breadwinner and female housewife roles so leading to gender inequality;more equal gender roles – some sociologists saw the opportunities for women to focus on their own careers as a way to resist patriarchy and to see more symmetry in the family through joint conjugal roles;decline of the importance of wider kin/extended family − urbanisation brought with it the privatised nuclear family which relied on one another, not the extended family, for support and leisure pursuits;living with extended kin − as families moved into cities they often moved in with relatives at the beginning, thus creating an extended family, before later starting a life of their own;social mobility − many sociologists believe urbanisation has allowed for social mobility as more opportunities become available to individuals – this meant changes in lifestyle, material items and norms and values for family members;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. Responses may be short and un/underdeveloped. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point, but there may be a tendency towards simplistic answers, engaging with sociological ideas without using sociological language. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will have clear and accurate explanation, showing good sociological knowledge and understanding. Sociological terms and concepts should be expected and explained. At the bottom of the band, the range of points covered may be narrow or lack detail. Higher in the band, answers will cover more than one point in a well-developed way or cover several points in less detail.1(d)[8]
Explain why there has been a loss of family functions in modern industrial societies. Possible answers:
decline in the nuclear family − as this family form becomes less commonplace, so many sociologists believe family functions are being lost;The New Right − believe there have been a loss of functions because we have seen too much diversity in family forms, namely the rise of the lone parent family, a decline in marriage etc. − the functions are no longer able to be fulfilled;feminism − some sociologists believe that feminism has resulted in a loss of family functions because women are going out to work which deprives them of their ‘natural’ housewife role as well as having negative effects on children;socialisation and social control − whilst most primary socialisation and social control is still carried out by the family, education, nannies and the media are all now also starting to play a role;education and work − the family is no longer responsible for educating and finding work for children, this function is performed by the education system and children are encouraged to stay in that rather than enter the workplace;dysfunctional families − research showing that families can often be dysfunctional for their members has led some sociologists to question whether the family actually has a function e.g. domestic abuse, conflict, tension, violence etc.;feminists – these sociologists believe that there has been a loss of family functions because women are no longer willing to accept their ‘place’ and lower status in the family and want independence instead e.g. the rise of DINK families and singlehood;the family function of reproduction – this has been lost due to societal changes such as secularisation and feminism allowing women to have children out of wedlock or not to have them at all;care of the elderly – this function has been lost due to the decline of extended families and the rise of care homes taking over the function from the family;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–3 marks] Answers in this band will show only a limited awareness of the question. A tendency to description is likely. Responses may be short and undeveloped and points stated without explanation. Sociological terms and concepts are unlikely to be used. At the bottom of the band (1 mark), expect one weak point. Higher in the band (2–3 marks), candidates may offer more than one weak point. Band 2 [4–6 marks] Answers in this band will show basic sociological knowledge and understanding. Responses may be underdeveloped and lacking in range. At the bottom of the band, candidates are unlikely to use sociological terms and concepts accurately. Higher in the band, candidates may be beginning to use sociological terms and concepts with greater accuracy. However, some aspects of the answer may only be partially developed/explained. Band 3 [7–8 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding and will be well-developed and explained. Sociological terms and concepts will be used accurately overall. Answers will be well-focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. At the top of the band explanations will be clear throughout.1(e)[15]
To what extent is the family patriarchal? Possible answers: Arguments for:
segregated conjugal roles − men and women typically take on different roles within the family that result in men having more power and status than women;male benefits − the housewife role expects women to look after the needs of men through cooking, cleaning, supporting emotionally and putting the man’s needs before the woman’s;gender role socialisation − Oakley − boys are socialised to be tough, aggressive, active and unemotional whilst girls are socialised into domesticity, being caring and gentle and passivity;inheritance − a son or male heir traditionally inherits the family’s wealth so that wealth and power stay with the males;the anti-social family − Barrett and McIntosh − the media promotes the idea that only the nuclear family can be the ideal, this puts women under pressure when they fail to achieve these impossible goals. Women are made to feel that they are to blame when the family fails;unpaid housewife role − despite the long hours, demands and stress that this role (played by women) causes, it is unpaid − this makes women financially dependent upon men;dual burden/triple shift − even when women engage in paid employment they are still primarily responsible for the housework, childcare and emotional roles;dark side of the family − women are often the victims of various forms of domestic abuse, coercion and manipulation within the family − men are not;any other reasonable response. Arguments against:functionalism − the family isn’t patriarchal it’s functional for society to have men as the breadwinner and women as the housewife as these are the roles each sex is ‘naturally’ better at;Marxism − the family doesn’t support patriarchy it supports capitalism through things such as consumption and economic dependency;family diversity − same sex relationships and lone parents are examples of family types that do not support patriarchy − women make the decisions and have the power;changing norms and values − as society changes so does the family. Men are now increasingly involved with childcare and housework (new man) and families are more symmetrical than previously (Willmott and Young, joint conjugal roles);careers and work − as families are increasingly dual worker women have the same amount of power and status as men and thus families can no longer be seen as patriarchal;social class, religion and ethnicity − whether or not a family is patriarchal depends upon various social factors e.g. some women may find the nuclear family patriarchal, others do not − cultural diversity;gender neutral socialisation − avoiding stereotypes and gendered expectations is becoming more common within families (e.g. in Scandinavia) and is thus reducing patriarchy within the institution;any other reasonable response. Band 0 [0 marks] No creditworthy response. Band 1 [1–4 marks] Answers in this band may be vague and largely based on commonsense showing limited knowledge of the debate. Use of sociological terms or concepts is very unlikely. Responses may be short, undeveloped and one- sided. Lower in the band (1–2 marks), expect one or two weak points. Higher in the band (3–4 marks) candidates may offer more than two points and provide a weak definition of key terms in the question. Band 2 [5–8 marks] In this band candidates will show some basic knowledge of the debate. Alternatively, they may offer an answer which is list-like in nature but there will be no real attempt to assess the issues raised by the question. There may be limited/some use of sociological terms or concepts. Responses may be underdeveloped and lack range. Answers may be simplistic and two-sided or only cover one side of the debate. Lower in the band, the response may be rather narrow in the points covered and there may be some development. Higher in the band, more points are likely to be covered with some development. Alternatively, a list-like answer with some development covering both sides of the argument may score up to 8 marks. A one-sided answer cannot score higher than 8 marks. Band 3 [9–12 marks] Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and understanding of the debate. Sociological terms and concepts will be used with greater accuracy and/or frequency. For the most part, answers will be well-developed, focused on the question and there will be a range of points presented. There will be a two-sided response, but it may lack range on one side. At the bottom of the band, candidates may provide a narrower range of developed points. At the top of the band, expect a wider range of developed points and clear focus on the question. Band 4 [13–15 marks] Answers in this band will show excellent knowledge and understanding of the debate. There will be a strong grasp of the arguments as well as accurate and frequent use of sociological terms and concepts. Answers will be well- developed, clearly focused on the question and discuss a wide range of points. Responses will be two-sided and have a range of points on each side. At the bottom of the band (13 marks), the answer may lack a specific conclusion. Higher in the band, there will be a clear attempt to offer an assessment of the ‘To what extent?’ part of the question through a focused conclusion.
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