ROLES IN THE FAMILY

There are many roles in the family. Some of them are :-

• Conjugal roles
• Maternal roles
• Paternal roles
• Roles of Children
• Adult Children
• Roles of grandparents & extended family

Here, in this file, the information of what the roles are and how they
work and change will be available.
CONJUGAL ROLES
The functionalist believe that the roles within the family that works best,is
Conjugal roles are the roles
to have two clearly separate,gender based role. The natural role of a man is to
taken by the husband and wife
provide for the family, they are the breadwinners. The natural role of a woman
within the family resulting in
is to care for the family, they are the caretakers. This follows the idea that
the domestic division of labour.
when a man comes from work, tired and needs rest, it is the wife’s
Joint conjugal roles is when the
responsibility to provide a warm and loving environment where he relax and
husband and wife carry out
forget all his worries. This is the warm bath theory.
many tasks/activities together,
Roles in a family is either joint or segregated (in traditional nuclear
thus no clear separation of
families).
roles I shown.
Families where the roles have become more equal are called symmetrical
family.
In modern times, there are dual worker families, where both the man and
woman do paid work.
 MATERNAL ROLES
In moder societies, women have clear roles that they are expected to follow. They have the responsibility to care for
the children, husband and the the household. Many believe that mothers always want to and are be able to raise
children. The roles of a mother varies between cultures. Sometimes the grandparents or close kin may adopt the
children of a young unmarried mother. Nowadays, children likely spend time in a nursery/daycare while their mother
work.
The maternal role also limits the achievements at work. The responsibility of taking care of the children may cause
the mother to abandon opportunities at work. The domestic role of women is also different from paid work : it is
unpaid; there is no starting/finishing times; there are no benefits, such as, holidays and pensions; is not seen as real
work, so has a low status; gives little sense of achievement as there is always more to do.
There are three variations of stereotypical mothers: Working mothers - mothers who do paid work, their children
are usually taken care of by close relatives. Teen mothers - unmarried teen girls who become mothers, they are too
young and are usually unable to continue their education and provide a stable family. Lone mothers – women who are
either widowed or divorced become lone mothers, while some choose to raise their children alone.
 PATERNAL ROLES
The role of the man is instrumental, he is the breadwinner and is often away from home and Dual workers are
does not have time to spend with his family. Tasks such as, feeding the baby or pushing the the people who do
pram were not seen as appropriate for a man, men were expected to impose discipline on their both domestic work
children. This made, having a close emotional relationship between the father and child very and paid work.
difficult

In modern times, fathers are expected to be more involved with their children, as well as, being
the breadwinner of the family. Men have now become dual workers.

Ideas about gender equality has caused many fathers to become more involved or play a more
active part in child-rearing.
 ROLES OF CHILDREN
What is meant by childhood?
Today children are the people under the age of 16. There are
rules and regulations that they must follow, adult rights and
responsibilities are gradually granted to them.
Traditional societies mark the change from childhood to
adulthood in different ways.
Among the Yanomami people of the Amazon rain forest, girls
are treated as adult women and marry at their first
menstruation.
In the Shona society in Central Southern Africa, women are
traditionally not treated as adults until they bare a child.
In the past, childhood was quite different. Children worked,
dressed and took part in festivities just as the adults did.
Children’s rights and responsibilities.
Children are subjected to the authority of adults
such as parents and teachers and are expected to
be respectful and obedient.
There are laws and regulations, in modern
societies, that give some power to the children.
Modern industries reinforce the children’s special
status by producing specialised goods for them.
Modern industrial societies are now child-
centered societies, which means that the child’s
needs and wishes are the most important
considerations
 ADULT CHILDREN
Empty – nest families is
when the parents live
together at home after the
adult children have moved
out.
Boomerang family is a
family in which the adult
children have left home but
the return.
Parent – child relationships continue after the child has turned 18. In modern
times, adult children usually leave the family home to live independently. This
leads to empty-nest families.
Recently though, it has become more common for adult children to return
home. For example, children who go to university return home to their parents.
These children are known as boomerang kids and this families are boomerang
families.
In Italy, more than half the population of 18 – 34 year olds live with their
parents. This a ‘full – nest’ rather than an ‘empty – nest’.
Some adult children live with their parents because they are unemployed or
unable to afford living on their own. This causes the parents to be financially
responsible for their children for more years than expected. In some societies
this practice is quite disapproved of.
 ROLES OF GRANDPARENTS & EXTENDED
FAMILY The role of grandparents
In the past, grandparents used to be a rarity as very few people lived to the age. Though in present times,
grandparents are very common due to the development in medicine and technology.
There are several factors that affect the role of grandparents, such as: their children divorcing and becoming
lone parents or remarrying; divorce and separation also affects the relationship between grandparents and
their children, grandparents also ‘lose’ their grandchildren; parents who remarry give their children step –
grandparents; children in gay/lesbian families or children who have been adopted/ neglected and abused affect
the grandparents; children can have grandparents who are from more than one ethnic group; grandparents can
also divorce and remarry and start a new family.
Grandparents also provide support, such as, financial support, practical support, emotional and moral support,
etc.
Some parents experience a period in their life where they have to support both their own parents and their own
children. These parents are known as the pivot generation.
 CHANGES IN FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS &
CONJUGAL ROLES
Segregated conjugal In the functionalist view, there should be a clear separation of gender roles. The man
roles is when the should work and be the breadwinner, the woman should stay at home and take care of
husband and wife the household and children. For the functionalists, the gender based division of labour is
have clearly different natural and desirable.
roles within the family Some household tasks are done by family members, such as the children. Some tasks
and different interests are carried out by employees hired by the family, such as a cleaner.Men always do the
and activities; the toudher and heavier house work while the women do the other household work, such as
opposite of joint roles. cleaning and cooking. Modern women do paid work more than they did in the past, but
Symmetrical family is such work is seen as less important than their domestic duties.
a family in which the The British sociologists Will most and Young of a new and more equal division of
conjugal roles have labour based on joint rather than segregated conjugal roles. While there is still a gender
become more equal. based division of labour, both the wife and husband contribute equally to the family,
such families are known as symmetrical families.
REASONS FOR SYMMETRICAL FAMILIES
• The nuclear family has become more privatised, the family organises their lives around
themselves rather than work or society. This encourages equal partnership.
• The decline in extended families deceased the pressure from family members to follow their
norms.
• Women now have a higher status, thus the men are more likely to treat them as equals.
• Female independence arising from paid work leads to more equality as they are now more
involved in the family decision making.
• It has become easier for men and women to choose and negotiate their own roles in the family.
• Labour- saving devices have reduced the time and effort needed for household work,
encouraging equal partnership.
 VARIATIONS IN FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Social stratification & family relationships
Willmott and Young found the symmetrical family more
common amongst the working-class than Middle-class
families. They suggested that this was due to working-
class men having less rewarding jobs, which
encouraged them to spend time with family. While the
business men were more work oriented, thus spending
little time with family. The changes in family life started
among the high-class and worked its way down. They
called this stratified diffusion. Willmott and Young
thought that the work-centred, middle-class family
would spread to the rest of society. This did not happen.
Though, there is one main difference between the
classes, middle- class families were able to pay for
employees to do the housework.
Ethnicity & family relationships
The ethnic minorities in UK have adapted their family
lives to British circumstances but are still influenced
by the country of origin. The UK‘s African-Caribbean
minority has higher rates of single parenthood and
matrifocal families. The South Asian minorities often
have strong extended family bonds and low rates of
divorce and single parenthood. These minorities
contribute to the diversity in family types and
relationships. The divorce rates are significantly less
among the British South Asian minorities, where the
marriage has been arranged by older family members.
Romantic love is seen as unnecessary. Though, it can
be argued that the threat of ostracised by family and
society makes a divorce much more difficult,
especially for women.
 THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF FAMILY
The negative aspects of family life includes domestic violence, gender inequality,
Dark side of family is the
child abuse and neglect. Functionalists emphasize the positive ways in which
negative aspects of family
families help both their individual members and the wider society but there are,
life such as, arguments,
however, a negative aspect, as well as the failure to full fill their functions may be
abuse, neglect and
because of conflict, bad behaviour, neglect or abuse. In the functionalist view,
violence.
dysfunctional families are seen as acceptions, most families function are as a
Dysfunctional family is a
should but something has gone wrong to make the family dysfunctional. An
family that fails to carry out
alternative view, is that the dysfunctional aspects of family - specifically in
the functions expected of it,
traditional nuclear families - are part of the nature of the family.
such as, where the children
are neglected.
Here we learn about domestic violence and child abuse/ neglect.
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
In the past, domestic violence was a subject that was not often talked about or dealt with properly. There was a
widespread belief that what happened in the family home was to be kept private and not for the society. It was also
believed that the men had the right to use physical force on their wives or even against their children if there was
some justification. In the 1970s, two sociologists, Russell and Rebecca Dobash, researched domestic violence in
Scotland and found that it was widespread therefore not explained as the behaviour of a few disturbed individuals.
They found examples of women being abused, raped and even being killed by their husbands. This was often the result
of when men see a challenge to their authority. Feminists argued that in a marriage the man had the power thus
making the violence acceptable. They also argued that even if some men disagree with such a notion, all men benefit
from it, reinforcing the patriarchal society. Men are usually the offenders of most domestic violence cases, with their
wives and sometimes children being the victim. Men can also be the victim of such cases, though, said cases are not
usually reported. Now domestic violence is a crime and the government takes a strong stand against it.
The reasons why victims do not report domestic violence: they feel as though the authorities cannot do anything; they
fear the violence will become worse; they believe that the violence is normal; they are afraid of losing contact with
their children; they believe that they can change the abuser.
 CHILD ABUSE/NEGLECT
Not all children experience a loving and safe family, for some it is a scary and dangerous. Modern industrial
societies have an increase in child abuse/neglect cases, mostly by the parents or step parents, such abuse or
neglect is not always done by the man. Some cases have been covered by the media and have become national
scandals. Just as with domestic violence cases, not all cases are reported, but there are more known child abuse
and neglect cases than domestic violence cases. There is a greater awareness and parents strive much harder to
protect their children. There are four forms of child abuse:
• Sexual abuse
• Physical abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Neglect
There are many children living in dangerous or difficult households, such as, living with someone with mental
problems. There are many children who grow up in poverty. In Sierra Leone and Uganda, during civil wars, children
are recruited as soldiers. Both, boys and girls are recruited this way and are forced to do appalling things, even to
their families. When the war is over, it is often very difficult for the children to readjust to civilian lives.
THANK YOU
By: Anvitta Mallika Ranjith
Grade 9C