SCLY1 Families and Households: Key Terminology

Question	Answer
Define the term "Achieved Status"	A position in society which individuals gain through their own efforts, rather than being born into it.
Explain what is meant by "Agenda Setting"	Deciding which issues will be placed on the agenda to be decided upon.
What is meant by the term "Ascribed Status"?	A position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender or class of origin.
Define the term "Asymmetrical Family"	Term used by Willmott and Young to describe the fourth stage of the family where the men become more work orientated, spending less leisure time at home while the women take the major responsibility for the home and children.
What are beanpole families?	Families where 3 or 4 generations survive with only 1 or 2 children in each generation, hence the family is vertically extended but not horizontally extended, thus long and thin (like a beanpole!)
Explain what is meant by "birth rate"	The number of live births per 1000 of the population per year.
What is care in the community?	A policy of deinstitutionalisation introduced during the 1990s, removing certain groups of people from institutional care into the care of the family and wider community.
What is a cereal packet family?	A nuclear family idealised by the media where there is a father, mother, two children (a girl and boy) and the father is the breadwinner whilst the mother stays at home.
What is the Child Support Agency (CSA)?	Established in 1993 by the conservative government to help reduce growing cost to the taxpayer of providing financial support for lone parents and their children.
Explain what is meant by "child-centredness"	It is argued that families are more child focused and less on the adults. It developed with the nuclear family. More attention, money and status is given to the child.
Define the term "childhood"	A socially constructed and biological state, usually a period before adult status and referring to a set of beliefs about what it is to be a ‘child’.
What is a civil partnership?	The term used to describe ‘gay marriages’, a legal recognition of a gay relationship which gives couple the same rights as straight married couples. Introduced December 2005.
What is cohabitation?	A situation in which a couple (gay or straight) lives together although not legally married.
Define the term "commune"	A form of family living in which groups of individuals, related or not, live together and share property e.g. Israeli Kibbutz.
Explain what is meant by the term "confluent love"	A term used by Giddens to describe a form of intimate relationships which is dependent on both partners finding fulfilment and satisfaction in the relationship.
What are conjugal roles?	The roles played by a husband and wife within marriage particularly when referring to the domestic division of labour.
What is co-parenting?	Parents who continue to share responsibility for raising their children after they have separated or divorced.
Explain what is meant by the "cottage industry"	The production of goods in the home
Define "culture"	The values and norms of a society; its whole way of life.
What is the dark side of the family?	In opposition to the view that the family is a ‘good’ thing, this concept suggests that for some individuals the family may be harmful.
What is meant by "death of the family"?	An expression used to indicate that the family as an institution is ‘dying’. Evidence for this is seen as the increase in divorce and cohabitation, rise in births outside of marriage and greater numbers of single parent families.
Define what is meant by "death rate"	The number of deaths per 1000 of the live population per year.
What is meant by "dependent children"?	Children either under 16 years of age or 16-19 years and undertaking full time education.
What does the term "dual income no kids yet" refer to?	This term usually refers to a young couple; both in well-paid employment who have a high disposable income to spend on themselves and their home.
Define the term "divorce"	The legal termination of a marriage which allows the individuals to remarry.
What is meant by the "divorce rate"?	The number of divorces per 1000 married couples in the population per year.
What is the domestic division of labour?	Refers to the way in which household and childcare tasks are divided between members of the family, particularly between the adult male and female partners.
Define the term "domestic labour"	Unpaid work such as housework and childcare within the home and family.
What is domestic violence?	Usually refers to the physical abuse of a spouse i.e. wife /husband or a child by an adult family member. Most adult victims are women; feminists argue this is a result of a patriarchal system.
Define the term "dual burden"	The double burden of paid employment and domestic labour.
What is a dual career family?	Both parents in a nuclear family are employed in professional occupations.
Define the term "emotional work"	The emotional input (caring, nurturing, supporting) a mother/ wife or father/ husband puts into their family. It is an invisible aspect of the conjugal role relationship.
What is an empty nest family?	Families where the children have grown up and moved out of the parental home, leaving the adult partners as a couple by themselves.
Define an "empty shell marriage"	The married couple share the same residence, remain legally married but their marriage exists in name only. They are going through the motions of married life, often for the sake of the children.
What is the "expressive role"?	Parsons says the expressive role played by women within marriage is the caring, nurturing, supportive role. Functionalists believe women carry out this role naturally as a result of biology whereas feminists believe women are socialised from a young age into this role.
What is an extended family?	A family unit which either lives together or keeps in close contact and which includes a wider range of kin (relations) than the nuclear family e.g. grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Explain what is meant by "family functions"?	This refers to the contributions made by the family both to its members and to society as a whole e.g. reproduction, socialisation. The function of marriage may be said to be to legalise and formalise a relationship and to provide for increased social stability.
What is meant by "family policy"?	The social polices introduced by the government which affect the family.
Define the term "family structure"	The composition of a group of people living together as a family. For example, nuclear, extended, lone parent, reconstituted.
What is Feminism?	The sociological perspective which examines social phenomena from the viewpoint of women.
Explain what is meant by the term "fertility rate"	The number of live births in a population per 1000 women of childbearing age.
Define "gender"	Refers to the social and cultural attributes of men and women i.e. masculinity and femininity.
What is a household?	A person living alone or a group of people who have the same address and share one meal a day and /or living accommodation. Thus households include groups of students sharing a flat.
What is meant by "housework"?	Work undertaken to support the running of a household. It includes domestic jobs like cleaning and may be extended to include shopping and childcare.
What meant by "ideology of the family"?	Refers to the ideas about the ‘ideal family’ which are commonly portrayed in the media and other agencies of socialisation, which seek to stereotype the family as a positive institution and seeks to idealise the nuclear family as the most desirable.
What is the ideology of romance?	Used by sociologists to suggest that what might be seen as a ‘natural’ emotion is in fact a socially constructed ideology. The concept of romantic love has an historical origin and has not been a universal feature of all societies.
What is meant by illegitimacy?	Children born outside of marriage i.e. to unmarried parents
Define "industrialisation"	The move to the production of manufactured goods in factories.
What is meant by "infant mortality rate"?	The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1000 live births.
What are informal carers?	Those who take responsibility for the care of others (often relative) who are unable through disability or illness to care for themselves.
What is the isolated nuclear family?	A married couple and their children who are largely independent from the wider kinship network.
What is the instrumental role?	Parsons says that men usually carry out this role of breadwinner in the family. This complements the expressive role carried out by women.
What are joint conjugal roles?	Role relationships between spouses in which there is relatively little domestic division of labour by sex and in which household tasks, childcare, leisure activities, etc are likely to be shared.
What are "kin"?	People who are related by blood or marriage e.g. uncle, aunt, cousin, brother in law, grandparent.
What are kinship networks?	People related by blood or marriage who provide a support system for members of the group.
Define "life expectancy"	The average number of years a newborn baby can be expected to live.
What are lone parent families?	These are families consisting of dependent children with only one parent, usually the mother.
What is marital breakdown?	This refers to divorce, separation and empty shell marriages.
Define "marriage"	The legal union of a man and a woman
What is maternity leave?	This refers to the time that women are entitled to take off work before and after the birth of their child.
Define the term "Matriarchy"	When applied to the family, the term is often used to refer to situations in which the mother is, or is regarded as, the head of the household and has authority over other family members.
What is a Matrifocal family?	Families where women are at the centre of the family but not necessarily the head of the household.
Define "matrilineal"	A form of kinship in which descent is traced through the females.
What is the modified extended family?	Families that keep in touch and provide important services for each other but they don’t usually share the same household.
Explain what is meant by "monogamy"?	A pattern of marriage in which people may have only one legal spouse at a time. It is found in most western societies.
What is meant by "mortality rate"?	The number of deaths per thousand of the population per year.
What is a multicultural family?	Families in which the partners are from different ethnic groups.
Explain what is meant by a "neo-conventional family"	A new variation of the stereotypical nuclear family. The only difference to the traditional nuclear family is that women are increasingly working.
Define the term "new man"	A term applied to men who take on more expressive roles and share domestic tasks in the home. However, it has been seen as a media creation.
What are norms?	Social expectations, detailed guides to behaviour.
Define the term "nuclear family"	The nuclear family is stereotypically seen as a two generational family with one adult male and female and dependent offspring. It is seen as the ‘norm’ by many sociologists.
Explain what is meant by "paternity leave"	This refers to the time that men are entitled to take off work to spend with their children in the first year of their life.
Define "Patriarchal Ideology"	A set of beliefs/ ideas which assumes males are superior to females and thus it is natural that men should enjoy a more privileged position in society.
What is patriarchy?	A society where men are in positions of power and responsibility in all aspects of life- economic, political, legal, social, sexual, family, community as well as military. It can also refer to those ideas, customs and traditions which promote and protect the dominant position of men in society.
Define "patrilineal"	A kinship system where descent is traced through the males. For example, in the aristocracy in this country, hereditary titles are passed on through the male line.
What is polygamy?	A pattern of marriage allowing more than one spouse at a time. Polyandry is where a woman can have a number of husbands whilst Polygyny describes the pattern of marriage where a man can marry several women at once.
Define "postmodernity"	The era after modernity which is characterised by fluidity, uncertainty and a lack of consensus.
What is primary socialisation?	The first stage of learning norms and values appropriate to their society and culture which primarily takes place in the child’s family.
What is a privatised family?	This is usually seen as the nuclear family which has become isolated, more self contained and home-centred.
What is a production unit?	A group of people involved in the production of goods and services.
Explain what is meant by a "reconstituted family"	A family in which one or both adults have been previously married and the children are living with a stepparent and possibly step brothers/ sisters. AKA stepfamilies, blended families.
What is a remarriage?	A marriage in which one or both partners have been married to someone else before.
What are the rites of passage?	The ceremonies or rituals which mark the transition in an individual's life e.g. marriage, 21st birthday, confirmation, barmitvah.
Define "segregated conjugal roles"	The roles of the husband and wife are very separate. The man typically takes on the role of breadwinner and major decision maker whilst the wife is usually the housewife with primary responsibility for childcare and housework.
What is serial monogamy?	A more recent pattern of marriage where an individual has several marriage partners over the course of their life.
What is the sexual division of labour?	This is when work is divided on the basis of sex. Often it refers to a situation where men are in paid employment and women dominate domestic labour.
Explain what is meant by the "social construction of age"	Age is seen as a phenomenon which we have created through a number of social processes e.g. laws, media. Thus age is not ‘natural’ but is a cultural construct.
What is the symmetrical family?	Term used by Willmott and Young to refer to the stage 3 family. It is small, more privatised and conjugal roles have become more symmetrical or equal even though they are not the same.
Define "structural differentiation"	The historical process whereby social structures become increasingly specialised and segregated from each other. It was seen as an important part of the modernisation process by Parsons.
What is teenage marriage?	A marriage in which at least one partner is under the age of 21.
Define "triple shift"	The three areas of responsibility which many women have: 1) paid work 2) housework and childcare 3) emotional work
What is the underclass?	They are usually single parent families, are unemployed, live in urban areas and commit much crime. They are blamed for many of society’s problems and are seen as a sign of the deterioration of the family and traditional values.
What is a unit of consumption?	A group of people who consume goods and services together as a unit.
Define "urbanisation"	The concentration of an increasing proportion of the population in urban areas (towns and cities).
Explain what is meant by the term "values"	Beliefs about what is right and wrong in a society.

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