AS Unit One Acquiring Culture; Family and Culture Family Dysfunctions

1. AS Unit One Acquiring Culture;Family and CultureFamily Dysfunctions

2. Objectives Having viewed this slide show you should be aware of: • The dysfunctions of the family. • Radical Psychiatrists and the dark side of family life. • Conflict and violence in the family. • Abuse within the family. • Debates about whether the family is in decline. Family and Culture Chapter 7

3. Dysfunctions of the Family Functionalists and the New Right adopt a rather idyllic and over-positive view of the family performing positive functions. This stance is viewed as naïve and challenged by various feminist, Marxist, interpretive, and Radical Psychiatry researchers. Family and Culture Chapter 7

4. Vogel and Bell – Children as Emotional Scapegoats Even the functionalists Vogel and Bell(1968)recognise the family can have dysfunctions. They see children used by parents as ‘emotional scapegoats’ or punch bags for their everyday stress. Family and Culture Chapter 7

5. Marxism and Dysfunctions Marxists emphasise how the family works in the interests of society rather than its members The unpaid work of women is seen as keeping wages lower than they would otherwise be Women are seen as reproducing labour on a daily basis Women also constitute a ‘reserve army of labour’. Family and Culture Chapter 7

6. R.D. Laing – Radical Psychiatry R.D. Laing saw the family as a key source of madness – especially schizophrenia He saw family life as a tangled web of conflict and tensions. Such tensions can pull children apart resulting in psychiatric problems. Family and Culture Chapter 7

7. Edmund Leach Edmund Leach also has very negative views of family life. He described it as a claustrophobic institution where parents fight and children rebel He likened family life to like living in a “chicken coop” and families behaving like ”overloaded electrical circuits”. Family and Culture Chapter 7

8. David Cooper David Cooper, applies a Marxist analysis, and sees the family as a ‘dangerous socialising agency’ producing obedient citizens. His argument is largely about how the family helps prop up the capitalist system through encouraging blind obedience to authority figures. At the same time, he sees the family as stifling the self. Family and Culture Chapter 7

9. Critique of Radical Psychiatry David Morgan (1996) supports Laing arguing he comes ‘closer to family life as it is actually experienced’ than do most others. However, he also feels Laing concentrates on the suffocating aspects, ignoring the harmonious aspects and positive values of family life. Laing presents the family in a social vacuum ignoring culture and the effects of external agencies: schools, social workers, etc. Family and Culture Chapter 7

10. Feminist Dysfunctions Feminists see the family as patriarchal and hence dysfunctional to women. Fran Ansley responding to Parson’s function of women as stabilisers of adult personalities sees women as : ‘takers of shit’. Abbott and Wallace (1997) adopting a third-wave feminist analysis, do concede how women’s experiences within the family are tempered by class, ethnicity and the degree of patriarchy imposed by their male partner. Family and Culture Chapter 7

11. New Right: Dysfunctions of non-traditional Families The New Right argue non traditional families and feckless parenting are dysfunctional to both society and individuals. Norman Dennis sees children ‘damaged’ by lone parent families headed by women. Boys are seen as particularly damaged by loss of positive male role model. Family and Culture Chapter 7

12. Domestic Violence Betsy Stanko(2000) found an act of domestic violence is committed every 6 seconds in Britain. It is estimated that a quarter of all violent crimes committed are "domestics“. In 45-70% of cases, the father inflicts violence on the children as well as the mother (BMA Report, 1998). Family and Culture Chapter 7

13. BMA Report on Domestic Violence (1998) More than 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lives. 1 in 10 women experience domestic violence every year. Violence ranges from being punched, choked, bitten, burning, starving and knifing, to being forced to have sex against their will. Domestic violence is more likely to occur during pregnancy. Family and Culture Chapter 7

14. Meanings of Domestic Violence But public admission of the violence present in their family can make women feel a strong sense of failure. Support for battered partners is not always forthcoming from police, family, friends, or the welfare services. The police traditionally regarded ‘domestics’ as private matters and reluctant to intervene. From 1990s the Home Office have instructed the police to treat domestic violence the same as any form of violence. Family and Culture Chapter 7

15. Battered Men? Ian Lockhurst (1999) claims we should accept the fact that violent behaviour can be perpetuated by any individual to any individual. The fact of the matter is we have no real idea of the extent of violence inflicted on men since most is not reported. Family and Culture Chapter 7

16. Child Abuse David Morgan(1997) notes contradictions: over-private household that is anything but a safe haven for children. Most abuse of children is not sexual or physical but bullying (verbal and emotional abuse) However, NSPCC highlight the appalling statistic that 2 children a day will die through physical attack within the home. Family and Culture Chapter 7

17. NSPCC Report on Child Abuse (2000) 6% of children suffered serious physical neglect, 6% emotionally maltreated and 1% sexually abused by a parent. 49% of victims treated violently by their mothers, 40% by their fathers and 8% by a step-parent. 6% experienced multiple attacks on their self-esteem, including terrorising, humiliation, withdrawal of affection and harming of possessions and pets. An NSPCC Poster Family and Culture Chapter 7

18. Who is Likely to be Abused? The youngest age groups, boys, low birth weight children, and illegitimate children are all over-represented. Babies under a year old are most vulnerable. Boys outnumber girls in most cases of abuse. Only in sexual abuse cases are girls are in the majority, where they are 4 times more likely to be the victim than boys. Family and Culture Chapter 7

19. Is the Family in Crisis? Publicity about ‘Child-Line’, media reports of abusive parents, growing divorce, all suggest the family is in crisis. The New Right sees the current decline of the ‘traditional family’ as causing many of society’s problems. This ‘backlash’ blames family problems: divorce, lone-mothers, working mothers, cohabitation, even a reluctance to embrace family life (e.g. F.I.T.T. women) on the growth of feminism. Family and Culture Chapter 7

20. Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens argues the family both reflects and expresses changes in the wider society in 5 key changes: 1.Children used to be an economic benefit but now represent a huge cost to parents. 2. The growing equalization of men and women. 4. The liberation of sex from reproduction. 3. Participation of women in the labour market. 5. We are no longer resigned to ‘fate’, and now take a much more active role in deciding how they want to live. Family and Culture Chapter 7

21. Anthony Giddens (continued) The implications of Giddens’ work is a return to the ‘traditional family’ is neither desirable nor possible. Past family life often included infanticide, child abuse and damaging authoritarian relationships. A return is also not possible because the traditional family was based on a world that has now disappeared. Family and Culture Chapter 7

22. Giddens’ Conclusions Giddens concludes: it is sensible to be worried about the rise in divorce rates. The challenge, he argues, is the establishment of a satisfactory family life, in which partners are equal and relationships are based on communication, not violence. To be concerned that 50% of divorced fathers lose contact with their children after 1 year To be concerned about women struggling to bring up children on their own. Family and Culture Chapter 7

23. Conclusions • The functionalist ‘warm-bath’ image of the family is increasingly questioned as naïve. • Marxists, Radical Psychiatrists and feminists are critical of the family. • They all see the family as preventing the individual from achieving personal freedom in different ways. • R.D. Laing sees the inward-looking privatised family as a cause of mental illness. • Edmund Leach sees the modern family as stifling and claustrophobic. Family and Culture Chapter 7

24. Conclusions (continued) • David Cooper sees the family as a dangerous socialising agency creating over-obedient citizens. • Even the functionalists Vogel and Bell recognise family dysfunctions with children used as emotional scapegoats. • 1 in 10 women experience domestic violence in their life, 1 in 4 every year. • In 45 to 70 per cent, the father inflicts violence on the children as well as the mother. Family and Culture Chapter 7

25. Conclusions (continued) • NSPCC highlight how child abuse is mainly bullying. • But two children die a day in Britain because of abuse or neglect. • Anthony Giddens argues the family reflects wider changes in society. • He argues a return to the traditional family is neither possible nor desirable. Family and Culture Chapter 7