Sociology · Oct / Nov 2025 · Paper 22 · Question 1
0495
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1(a)(i)[2]
Define the term empty shell marriage. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. no longer in love;
Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. when a married couple continue to live together but without love or affection. Accept any other reasonable response.
1(a)(ii)[2]
Define the term gender role. Award one mark for a partial definition, e.g. male breadwinner;
Award two marks for a clear definition, e.g. the behaviours and expectations associated with being male or female. Accept any other reasonable response.
1(b)[2]
State two ways family life is changing. Award one mark for each correct example (up to a maximum of two). Possible responses:
diverse range of types of family;decline of the nuclear family;decline of the marriage rate/increase in cohabitation;increase in divorce leads to more reconstituted families;decline in the birth rate leads to smaller families (less children);increase in symmetrical families and joint conjugal roles;growth of the dual burden/triple shift for women;growth of DINK families (childless);growth of the sandwich generation due to the ageing population;growth of child-centred families;any other reasonable response.1(c)[6]
Apart from the nuclear family, describe three types of family. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
extended family – it is often thought that extended families were more common in the past and are increasingly in decline because they are less well suited to the privatised lifestyles of modern industrial societies. Nonetheless, they continue to survive and adapt in various forms. This type of family includes more relatives than the nuclear family usually living in the same household. They are often a family of more than two generations, usually including grandparents or a wider family of aunts, uncles and cousins;reconstituted family – if a person marries for a second time after divorce or the death of a partner, a new family is formed. There are many versions of this type of family. Remarriage creates new relationships e.g. step-parents and step-children. These can sometimes be referred to as ‘blended’ families;lone-parent family – in the past such families were largely the result of the death of one partner and were often a temporary situation until the surviving partner remarried. However, there has been an increase in single-parent families in modern industrial societies, and they now often are through choice or divorce. The stigmatisation of lone-parent families has been drastically reduced;empty-nest family – when adult children leave home to live independently this leaves adult parents alone together at home. With increasing life expectancy this can be for many years. This often leaves parents, particularly the mother, feeling alone and without a purpose;childless family – couples who do not have children, often by choice. This may be for financial, career or other reasons. These can sometimes be referred to as DINK families and are a growing trend;any other reasonable response.1(d)[6]
Explain three feminist criticisms of the nuclear family. Award one mark for each point correctly identified (up to a maximum of three). Award one mark for each point that is developed (up to a maximum of three). Possible responses:
domestic division of labour – the way tasks are divided within the house and the family is unequal;women are expected to take on more responsibilities than men;
domestic abuse – Dobash and Dobash – the family can be a place of violence and abuse, where most victims are women – the private nature of the family masks this;patriarchy – men have more powerful roles within the family meaning that it disadvantages women and cements their lower status within society/the workplace too;dual burden/triple shift – Oakley – even when they have paid employment women are expected to contribute more to family life than men be it through childcare, emotional work, housework etc;differential gendered socialisation – Oakley – boys and girls are socialised differently, preparing them for very different roles later in society. This is thought to be unequal as it often leads to women taking lower status, lower paid jobs than men;decision making – decisions in families are usually made by men, particularly the ‘big’ decisions and those involving finances e.g. studies by Edgell/Pahl;any other reasonable response.1(e)[8]
Discuss why many women choose to have children later in life. Use Table A to mark answers to this question. Possible responses:
education – women now value their education and want to achieve as much as they can in order to best set themselves up to be financially independent therefore, they postpone having children until this point;careers – the feminist fight for equality means that many women can now access highly paid and high-status jobs and are reluctant to give these up for children hence they wait until they are more established in their career;loss of stigma – it is no longer seen as unusual for a woman to not have children or to wait to have them later in life, it’s a personal choice (postmodernism) meaning women have the flexibility to choose when to have children at a time that is right for them;medical advances – medicine and artificial insemination programs can support women to have children safely later on in their lives, supporting the trend for this to happen later;joint conjugal roles – partners expect their relationship to be based on equality and therefore it is no longer expected for a woman to give up work in order to have children whilst the man becomes the breadwinner. Women may wait until they have achieved their goals and feel secure therefore before having children;other institutions – families are no longer reliant on their children to look after them when they get older due to active ageing and institutions such as the welfare state and residential homes for the elderly. There is therefore no need to have children early in life;divorce/decline in marriage – marriage is no longer seen as being ‘for life’ with serial monogamy now the norm in many societies. Therefore, relationships may start, develop and break up multiple times meaning that on a practical level it is often later in life when women have ‘settled down’ and are ready for children;any other reasonable response.1(f)[14]
Evaluate the view that the family performs essential functions for its members. Use Table B to mark answers to this question. Possible responses for:
reproduction – societies must produce new generations of children which is closely associated with marriage and the family therefore being an essential function;socialisation – children need to learn the norms and values of their culture, and this is done through the family so making it an essential function for society. When this isn’t done socialisation can be inadequate, e.g. the feral children examples;social control – children’s behaviour is controlled to achieve social conformity e.g. through sanctions and rewards administered in the family, so making it an essential function;care of children and elderly/sick family members – families are assigned the tasks of nurturing and caring for the vulnerable who need their input to survive, it is an essential function of the family;family members roles – different family members have different roles, e.g. men are the natural instrumental role and women the expressive. This division of labour in the family helps society to function smoothly;status – families provide status for children by involving them in a web of interpersonal and group relationships, an essential family function;regulation of sexual behaviour – societies insist children are born within a socially approved sexual relationship and the family provides this, therefore making it an essential function;warm bath theory – following industrialisation the nuclear family started to perform the essential function of de-stressing and caring for the male breadwinner, preparing him for the workplace;Parsons – despite many societal changes the family still has two essential functions that no other institution could perform – primary socialisation and the stabilisation of adult personalities;any other reasonable response. Possible responses against:dysfunctional families – not all families are functional, in fact, many may harm and damage its members e.g. domestic abuse, neglect etc;family diversity – families no longer provide essential functions to members because the institution has become so varied and diverse, the nuclear family is no longer dominant;DINK families – reproduction is compromised through the decline in the birth rate and the increase in artificial reproductive technologies e.g. IVF;singlehood – this is no longer stigmatised and is a choice made by many adults, rejecting the notion of traditional family life and therefore not providing any of the essential functions;Leach, cereal packet families – Leach claimed that the nuclear family was damaging to its members as rather than provide essential functions it placed family members under incredible tension and stress;Marxism – Marxists believe that the family does not exist to provide essential functions for its members but rather is a tool of the state, serving the needs of capitalism and exploiting the proletariat;feminism – feminists believe that the family does not exist to provide essential functions for its members but rather is a tool of patriarchy, allowing men to maintain their dominant, powerful position;other institutions – the state now performs many of the functions once performed by the family e.g. childcare, schooling, looking after the sick, welfare benefits. Therefore, the family no longer performs these once essential functions;any other reasonable response.
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