sociology homework that should have been done by 14th of April ))

Family and Households Questions.

a) Explain what is meant by the expressive role?
b) Suggest two ways in which 'family life may have a harmful effect on women'
c) Suggests three reasons for the decrease in the death rate since the 1900
d) Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed.
e) Use material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the nuclear family is no longer the norm.

2B item -
A popular image of the family has been the 'cereal packet' nuclear family norm of a married couple and two children who are the couple's biological offspring. The husband is the main breadwinner and the wife is primarily concerned with housework and childcare.

It could be argued that this nuclear family is no longer the norm. A number of changes have taken place, such as the rise in the number of same-sex couples and of lone parents. these have resulted in families becoming much more diverse.

However Somerville (2000) argues that these changes are exaggerated. The apparent diversity of family life is based on a snapshot at any one time and, if a life cycle approach is taken, many people have a fairly conventional experience of the family.



a) Explain what is meant by the expressive role?

Expressive role - role of the homemaker, caring for the family members, which is usually done by women.


b) Suggest two ways in which 'family life may have a harmful effect on women'.

Unequal gender roles (as men usually act as decision maker and are less responsible for the housework) and domestic violence (as women are more likely to be the victims).


c) Suggests three reasons for the decrease in the death rate since the 1900.

Decline in poverty, rise in the number of government policies aimed at improving the welfare of people, advance in medical treatment



d) Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed.

Childhood is said to be socially constructed due to several reasons.
First of all, the main argument for considering childhood as being the product of society is that the length of childhood and the way the children are treated vary from society to society. For example, Firth carried out a research on some societies where children were responsible for dangerous tasks. This is obviously not common for the modern Britain.

Another argument that supports this statement was proposed by Aries (1962), who argued that the development of the concept ‘childhood’ began only in the 16th century. He based his argument on the evidence of the letters, diaries and paintings, which suggested that children and adults were treated in a same way in the medieval Europe. However his research was criticized as being unreliable.

Moreover, Bukatko and Daehler provided the evidence that in the medieval Europe children were actually seen as different from adults in certain aspects, namely in the aspect of marriage: there were laws prohibiting the marriage for under 12s.

Also, another argument for the childhood being socially constructed is the two images of the childhood indentified by Rogers in 2001. The first one ‘the welfare view’ suggest that children need protection and the children welfare should be the primary consideration. Another one, ‘the control view’ sees children as unable to control themselves and needing regulation.

However, both of these views are argueable as some adults need to be treated in the same way. Lee (2001) identifies the change in the social construction of childhood where the distinction between childhood and adulthood becomes less obvious and suggests the evidence in the form of increasing divorce rates. Neil Postman (1983) goes even further in his argument by suggesting that childhood is disapperaing in the modern society under the influence of media.
This view may also be criticised as there are many laws protecting the childhood from violence as well as the ‘water shed’ which protects them from the ‘adult world’.

To conclude, there are numerous researches proving that the childhood is a social construction, while the biological form of childhood is supported by little evidence.

e) will update this one later.