This mini-lesson covers AQA Topic 3.3 — Families: functions of families, different family forms, conjugal roles and how they are changing, marriage and divorce, and the key perspectives — functionalism, Marxism and feminism.
Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Some questions are multiple-choice, some are sort-and-match games, and a few use simple research-methods maths (percentages and sample figures). Press Start when you're ready.
Families · functions
What are families for?
Sociologists ask what functions families perform for individuals and society. Different perspectives answer this very differently.
Functionalists (e.g. Murdock, Parsons) see the family as vital. Murdock said the family meets four needs: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. Parsons named two 'irreducible' functions: primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities ('warm bath' theory).
Marxists argue the family serves capitalism: it reproduces labour power, passes on private property through inheritance, and is a 'unit of consumption'.
Feminists argue the family reproduces patriarchy and unequal gender roles.
Key term — socialisation: the family carries out primary socialisation, teaching norms and values in early childhood.
Quick check
Who said this?
?A sociologist argues the family exists to carry out primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities. Which theorist is this?
Families · family forms
Different family forms
The nuclear family (two generations: parents and children) is only one form. AQA expects you to know a range and how they are increasing in diversity:
Extended family — more than two generations, or wider kin, living together or closely connected.
Reconstituted (blended) family — step-families formed after divorce/remarriage.
Lone-parent family — one parent with children; the fastest-growing UK family type.
Same-sex families — now able to marry and adopt in the UK.
Beanpole family — long and thin: several generations but few members per generation.
The Rapoports identified five types of family diversity (organisational, cultural, class, life-course and cohort) — evidence that there is no single 'normal' family.
Sort it
Sort the family forms
Tap a description, then the family form it best fits.
🏠 Nuclear
👵 Extended
👤 Lone-parent
Quick check
Which form?
?A household contains a mother, her new partner, her children from a previous relationship and his child. What family form is this?
Families · conjugal roles
Conjugal roles & the domestic division of labour
Conjugal roles are the roles played by partners in a couple. Sociologists ask whether they are becoming more equal.
Segregated conjugal roles — clearly separate 'his and hers' jobs (traditional male breadwinner / female homemaker).
Joint conjugal roles — partners share housework, childcare and decisions. Young and Willmott argued the family was becoming 'symmetrical' (more equal).
Ann Oakley (feminist) criticised this: she found women still did most housework — the 'dual burden' of paid work plus domestic work. Some add emotion work, making a 'triple shift'.
Calculate
Your turn — percentage
✎In a survey of 400 married women, 232 agreed with a statement. What percentage agreed? Give a whole number.
AQA expects you to explain trends and their causes:
Marriage rates have fallen; people marry later; cohabitation (living together unmarried) has risen.
Divorce became more common after legal changes such as the Divorce Reform Act 1969, which allowed 'irretrievable breakdown'.
Reasons for more divorce: changing laws, less stigma, secularisation (declining influence of religion), women's greater financial independence, and higher expectations of marriage.
Evaluation: more divorce does not mean the family is 'dying' — most divorcees remarry, and functionalists point to the family's continued importance.
Calculate
Your turn — percentage change
✎The number of cohabiting couples in a sample rose from 90 to 117 over ten years. Calculate the percentage increase. Give a whole number.
?Which feminist sociologist is associated with studying housework and criticising the idea of the 'symmetrical family', arguing women carry a dual burden?
Calculate
Your turn — percentage
✎In a survey of 250 lone-parent households, 95 agreed with a statement. What percentage agreed? Give a whole number.