GCSE Sociology₈₁₉₂

• Differing views of the functions of families.
• Parsons functionalist perspective on primary socialisation and the stabilisation of adult personalities.

Students should be able to:

• identify, describe and explain the functions of families (sexual, reproductive, economic and educational)
• describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on the functions of families (functionalist, feminist and Marxist).

• How family forms differ in the UK and within a global context.
• The work of the Rapoports on family diversity.

Students should be able to identify, describe and explain various family forms (nuclear, extended, reconstituted, lone parent, single sex).

• Different views of conjugal role relationships.
• The feminist perspective of Oakley on the idea of the conventional family.

Students should be able to:

• identify, describe and explain joint and segregated conjugal roles
• describe and explain the domestic division of labour in both traditional and contemporary families
• demonstrate their understanding of issues that impact on conjugal role relationships within the contemporary family including decision making, money management, dual career families, child rearing and leisure activities
• describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on conjugal role relationships (functionalist, feminist and Marxist).

• Changing relationships within families.
• How relationships within families have changed over time.
• The theory of the symmetrical family and the principle of stratified diffusion developed from the functionalist perspective of Willmott and Young.

Students should be able to:

• identify, describe and explain how relationships within families have changed over time (pre-industrial, industrial and contemporary/modern)
• identify, describe and explain contemporary family related issues, the quality of parenting, the relationships between teenagers and adults, care of the disabled/elderly and arranged marriage
• describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on changing relationships within families (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
• describe the key ideas of Willmott and Young .

• Different criticisms of families (isolation and unrealistic idealisation, loss of traditional functions, lack of contact with wider kinship networks, the status and role of women within families, marital breakdown, dysfunctional families).
• The work of Zaretsky on developments in families from a Marxist perspective and Delphy and Leonard’s feminist critique of families.

Students should be able to:

• identify, describe and explain different criticisms of families
• describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on these issues (functionalist, feminist and Marxist)
• describe the key ideas of Zaretsky on families
• describe the key ideas of Delphy and Leonard on families.

Changes in the pattern of divorce in Britain since 1945 and the consequences of divorce for family members and structures.

Students should be able to:

• identify, describe and explain the pattern of divorce in Britain since 1945 using relevant statistical data
• explain reasons for the rise in divorce since 1945 including: changes in the law, changes in social attitudes and values, secularisation, changes in the status of women in society
• describe the consequences of divorce for family members (husband and wife, children and extended family) and the increase in the numbers of lone parent families
• describe, compare and contrast a variety of sociological perspectives on these issues (functionalist, feminist and Marxist).