4.2.6

Diversity

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Family and Household Diversity

Marriage and the conventional nuclear family are no longer the only signs of commitment in a relationship, resulting in many different types of family and household.

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New Right and functionalists

  • According to New Right and functionalist sociologists, the conventional ‘cereal packet’ family, with its gendered divisions of labour and instrumental and expressive roles, is the most desirable type of family in which to raise children.
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Late modernists and postmodernists

  • Late modernists and postmodernists argue that there is growing individualisation and uncertainty now in society and that people have more choice in relationships that are no longer controlled by tradition and norms.
  • Marriage and the conventional nuclear family are no longer the only signs of commitment in a relationship.
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Types of diversity

  • Family structure: dual worker families, extended families, beanpole families.
  • Cultural diversity among ethnic and religious groups.
  • Social class diversity (upper- middle- working-class families).
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Types of diversity 2

  • Regional diversity (rural, suburban and inner city communities).
  • Living at home – people are living with their parents for longer, often due to financial constraints.
  • Alternative families (families of choice where people choose to live with friends).
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Types of diversity 3

  • Life-cycle and life course diversity, for example, where partners have children, separate, form another relationship or live alone, or grow older and have grandchildren.
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Modern society

  • Diversity suggests that the functionalist and New Right view of the ‘typical family’ no longer conforms with current reality.

Jump to other topics

1Theory & Methods

2Education with Methods in Context

3Option 1: Culture & Identity

4Option 1: Families & Households

5Option 1: Health

6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare

7Option 2: Beliefs in Society

8Option 2: Global Development

9Option 2: The Media

10Crime & Deviance

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