NHS and Community Care Act 1990

I have chosen the concept kinship, ‘ a relation by the bond of blood, marriage or adoption’ reference. It represents one of the basic social instittues,it is universal and it the majority of societies play a significant role in the solization of individuals (giddens page 1022).This essay will look at kinship in relation to the family structure. The family structure has developed and changed over time and can be seen as a result of social changes brought about by indrustlisation.The period known as the industrial revolution began in Britain around the eighth cenuturay,it brought a number of important changes in society. The work force moved from agricultural industry to industrial work producing manufactured goods. Powered machinery was used to mass produce goods ,so home family run business could not compete. The population rose and towns and cites grew with most of the population in large urban areas (sociology n focus 244-245).It is important to define some key terms that will be prevalent, indulsiation revolution was a period were major indlization took place.

There was the emergence of large scale factory production which took over home based hand manufacturing and the agrcutrial industy.The nuclear family consist of a mother, father and one or more children. The extended family is mothers, fathers children, uncle aunts and grandparents live all together. Talcoct parsons (1951) believed that this industrial revolution was the main cause of the transformation from extended family households to necular family households. Were as some sociologists state it has always been necular.(pip jones 78-79)He believed that industrialisation changed society it brought a mobile geographical work force. He believed that the separation of extended families caused neular families to be framed in order to take advantage of the new job oppertunties.

The other fundamental change that he reconigesed was families no longer had to provide their own clothes, food and materials(78-79 pip jones).as the factories took over and the home and work place became separated as individuals became wage earners. However Wilmot and young (1962) disagreed with parsons view that the nuclear family evolved suddenly they believed that it happened over three stages .Stage one was before 1950’s and was described as the pre-industrial stage , most families were nuclear and not extended like parson states. The second stage was the early industrial stage from 1950, which was when home and work became separated and the factories were excluding women and they were economically independent on men.Finnaly the third stage, modern industrial stage, the symmetrical family appeared because of social stages, which made the extended family less important, as a source of support and therefore the family became nuclear. (Sociology n focus 247-248)

(Pete laslett 1965-1977) a historian had used parish records to look at households in England during pre-industrial britian.He found that households on average only consisted of two generations ,he concluded that the pre-industrial family was nuclear and believed that idolisation only occurred because the engorgement of nuclear family.(275-277 family history revisited).However Michael Anderson (1971) suggested that the evolvement of industrlastion has strengthened the need for reliance on the extended family. Before the welfare state emerged the family provided homes for homeless children, they shared the cost of accomadation,finicial support and advice on unemployment ect.He believed that kinship remained important as it produces inheritance of property, social connections and influences.(family history revisited 275 277) Another sociological perspective is Marxist, he saw the family as part of the structure of society and it helps maintain the economic system.Maxist states that the requirements of the capitalist system have shaped the family in to a industrial society. he rejects the functiolist veiw and believes that the family is a ”superstructure ”books words)of society and is a number if institutions which serves the needs of and helps to maintain the economic system.

He believed that the capitalist mode of production had specific requirements which shaped the development of the family in western industrial societies, rather than industrlisation as such..(A dictionary of Marxist thought pp 187) The feminist perspective focuses on a number of social, cultural and political movements and theories that are concerned with gender inequalities and prejudice against women. Anne Oakley looked at conjugal roles within the family and the divide of housework between men and women. Conjugal roles are created by views in which people see how they should behave. These are influenced by the media and several agents of socialization and until these views are changed the roles of men and women will still be largely segregated.. However with women finding better career opportunities and being financially dependent on themselves the traditional house wife is not so prevalent in today’s contepary society today. However women along side their careers still undertake the domestic chours with in the household which is referred to as the as the ”second shift”. (Hochschild secocond shift)

To conclude, the nuclear families are still prevalent in society today. However our contempary society is much more diverse and multi cultural than it once was.aThere is a higher rate of divorce, single parent families and same sex relationships. As for the extended families, this is something that is not so traditional in today’s society however in certain religions this is something they believe in. Most family members such as grandparents, unites and uncles live in separate accomadtion, this could be still in the same area or even in a different countries.Indurilization has played a part in this process, as lots of families and family members have to move due to their work commitments, or where jobs are avalible.Industrial revolution was seen to be negative towards women as at the time of its emergence women were not allowed to work in the factory’s. In today’s contemporary due to political and social factors, the women’s role has changed ,they have gained equal opportunities to gain a career and can be finically dependent on themselves, and as mentioned earlier they can run the households along side their careers or if divorced or a single parent. The industrial revolution did impact upon the structure of the family over the centaury’s and still impacts on the family structure in today’s contempary society!