Deck 8: Personal Lives

Question 1

Increasing numbers of people are choosing to live alone for the long-term,rather than as a response to relationship change.Examine the sociological impacts of living alone both for the individual and for society.

Answer 1

Student response could include a description of the statistics for living alone to demonstrate the changing trend and outline the circumstances in which people live alone.Discuss the implications for society's norms in terms of heterosexual marriage and the nuclear family.

Question 2

The history of the nuclear family structure in Australia reveals that:

A)The nuclear family is the preferred family style and has existed since colonialism
B)The patriarchal male breadwinner family form grew as a capitalist response in opposition to the ideology of the liberal state
C)The continuation of women living in nuclear families shows that this family form remains the best structural condition for women
D)Nuclear families serve industrial capitalism because they are small and transportable and the state prefers them because women provide human support services

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What was the centerpiece of social life in postwar Australia?

A)The school and church communities
B)The blended family
C)The married,heterosexual,co-resident couple
D)The golf club

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Briefly examine what Giddens (1992)proposes as the pure relationship and suggest the key criteria that define this relationship compared to other types of relationships.You can view Table 8.2 on page 201 to get ideas of different types of relationships,which may apply,to Giddens' model.

Question 5

People in modern relationships behave - consciously or unconsciously - as if they were ending because of which two reasons?

A)Married women are working more and careers offer financial support if they were to separate//Men need to be flexible workers,and hence cannot fulfil obligations of housework and caring for children
B)Men need to be flexible workers,and hence cannot fulfil obligations of housework and caring for children//The increase of technologies enables people to have both on-line and off-line relationships
C)The increase of technologies enables people to have both on-line and off-line relationships//The ease with which people can get divorced offers a route out of a relationship
D)The ease with which people can get divorced offers a route out of a relationship//Married women are working more and careers offer financial support if they were to separate

Question 6

Western societies are disengaging with the ideology of couple culture yet the notion of heterosexual coupledom continues as the ideal relationship form.Use examples from popular culture to discuss this contradiction.

Question 7

Which of the following do we know about women's incomes after divorce compared to men's incomes?

A)Women's incomes decline in comparison to men's incomes
B)There was no difference between men's and women's incomes
C)Men's incomes decline in comparison to women's incomes
D)Women's incomes increase in comparison to men's incomes

Question 8

Which of the following pattern of parenting does the Family Court favour?

A)Equal shared parenting responsibility except where violence and abuse exist
B)Children live with one parent with regular visits to the non-residential parent
C)One parent ceases to have contact and children live with the other parent
D)Co-parenting,when children move between two households and parents have a shared commitment to their children

Question 9

What is the term for a family with fluid boundaries whose members may or may not live in the same household but who share children and financial and other resources?

A)The nuclear family
B)The unclear family
C)The family of choice
D)The post-divorce family

Question 10

You are a researcher working for an independent consultancy that has been briefed by the government to examine the effectiveness of co-parenting as a strategy for looking after children post-divorce.First,conduct a review of the literature to examine what research has already said about the effectiveness of this arrangement and present your findings in a balanced report.Next,devise your own questions to ask parents who have divorced about how they experience co-parenting.Provide a rationale for the questions.

Question 11

What societal norm ended with the introduction of no fault divorce?

A)The marriage contract
B)The companionate marriage
C)The covenant marriage
D)The egalitarian marriage

Question 12

The adult children of divorce tend to argue that families will become:

A)Conflict relationships
B)Negotiable relationships
C)Purely biological relationships
D)Social relationships

Question 13

What amendment was made to the Marriage Act in 2004?

A)The previously neutral language used to describe marriage was changed to being between a man and a woman
B)The previous language of marriage as being between a man and a women a was changed to be neutral
C)Two types of marriage were offered,one with more commitments and obligations than the other
D)Marriages could take place in public places like parks and not just in religious buildings such as churches

Question 14

Which one is NOT one of the three key factors determining children's wellbeing in a post-divorce family?

A)The degree to which family rituals are continued
B)The economic wellbeing of the family
C)The way adults express conflict
D)Quantity and quality of contact with non-residential parent

Question 15

What is meant by the no-fault divorce,which was facilitated by the Family Law Act of 1975?

A)People could cite irretrievable breakdown as the reason for divorce
B)There was no longer a need to prove adultery with evidence in court; it was enough to state that it had occurred
C)People could receive free counselling for their children following divorce,so that they did not blame themselves that the marriage breakdown was their fault
D)The ending of marriage had previously been instigated by men,and the no-fault divorce meant it could be instigated by men or women

Question 16

Which of the following is not a model of caring for children by parents following divorce?

A)Co-parenting
B)Shared parenting
C)Solo parenting
D)Mutual parenting

Question 17

The traditional nuclear family relies on:

A)Wedding planners
B)People falling in love
C)Gendered roles
D)Domestic labour

Question 18

All of the following accurately describe Giddens' (1992)pure relationship EXCEPT:

A)A social relationship that is entered into for its own sake
B)A relationship like friendship in which freedom of choice is paramount
C)A relationship that allows for the process of change so that individuals can learn about themselves
D)A monogamous relationship,which continues till one person passes on

Question 19

It is much more common for low-income people without higher education to separate and divorce than it is for those with tertiary education and higher income levels.

Question 20

Figure 8.1 on page 183 shows that marriage rates rise at times of war and fall during economic depression.This reveals the rate of marriage is closely related to:

A)Government policy
B)Religion
C)People's social world
D)Fashion

Question 21

Which of the following best describes a family of choice?

A)A network of people that offer support,companionship and services that were traditionally offered by kinship
B)The way that people refer to some friends as being like a family member,e.g.'He is like a brother to me'
C)The ways that the nuclear family has declined over the past 20 years
D)The purely heterosexual relationship,which is championed by choosing a marriage partner

Question 22

Which of the following groups is not likely to be LATs (living apart together)?

A)Adults who already have children from another relationship and do not want to create a new stepfamily
B)People who work and study in separate places and prioritise their careers
C)Young adults who continue to live at home with their parents
D)Older and retired people who have lost a partner through death or divorce

Question 23

Drawing on the research of Pahl and Spencer (2004),examine the extent to which the idea of friendship is converging with the idea of family; or whether these are still two distinct and separate social relations.

Question 24

What percentage of the population over 18 years of age describe themselves as in an intimate relationship with someone they consider to be their partner and both of them living in their own home?

A)4 per cent
B)6 per cent
C)36 per cent
D)24 per cent

Question 25

Review Table 8.2 Patterns of Commitment on page 201 which draws on the work of Pahl and Spencer (2004)to suggest some differences between given and chosen relationships and their levels of emotional commitment.Choose three or four of the relationship types from the table,and write a brief paragraph for each relating the ways that this is a given or a chosen relationship.Can a relationship be both given and chosen?