Family Forms and Diversity
Family form refers to the structure and composition of a family unit, and sociologists distinguish types found in the UK today including the nuclear family, the extended family, lone-parent families, reconstituted (step) families, same-sex families and single-person households.
Method
- Define 'family form' and list the main structural types recognised on the specification: nuclear, extended, lone-parent, reconstituted, same-sex and single-person households.
- Learn the Rapoports' five types of diversity, organisational, cultural, social class, life-stage, generational, as the named framework examiners expect for 'diversity' questions.
- For each type of diversity, be ready to give one concrete example, e.g. organisational diversity includes dual-earner couples and single-earner couples; cultural diversity includes differences between families with different religious or ethnic backgrounds.
- Apply Chester's 'neo-conventional family' critique as a counter-argument: diversity is often a temporary life stage, e.g. cohabiting before marriage, or being a lone parent after divorce, rather than a permanent rejection of the nuclear family.
- Distinguish description questions, identify or state a type of diversity, from evaluation questions, assess how much diversity exists, which need both the Rapoports' evidence for diversity and Chester's evidence against exaggerating it.
- For the 12-mark discuss question, plan one paragraph of evidence that family diversity has increased, one paragraph challenging that claim, then a supported conclusion.
Worked example
A family consists of a mother, her new partner, her two children from a previous relationship, and the couple's baby. Identify the family form shown, and explain which of the Rapoports' types of diversity this example illustrates.
- Identify the family form: this is a reconstituted (step) family, since the mother has re-partnered and the household combines children from a previous relationship with a child from the new relationship.
- Recall the Rapoports' five types of diversity: organisational, cultural, social class, life-stage and generational.
- Match the example to the most relevant type: this best illustrates organisational diversity, since it shows a household structure different from the original nuclear family, formed after separation and re-partnering.
- Explain the link: organisational diversity covers differences in household structure and roles, and a reconstituted family is one clear example of this kind of structural difference from the traditional nuclear form.
- Conclude with the wider point: this single household shows how one family can pass through several different forms over the life course, which is also relevant to life-stage diversity.
Practice questions
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Q1Define an 'extended family'.Show answer
Answer: A family that includes relatives beyond the nuclear family, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins, who may live together or stay in close, regular contact.
Q2Name the sociologists who identified five types of family diversity in Britain.Show answer
Answer: Rhona and Robert Rapoport.
Q3List the Rapoports' five types of diversity.Show answer
Answer: Organisational, cultural, social class, life-stage and generational diversity.
Q4What is a 'reconstituted family'?Show answer
Answer: A family formed when one or both partners bring children from a previous relationship into a new household, sometimes also having children together.
Q5Which sociologist argued for the idea of a 'neo-conventional family', suggesting family diversity is often exaggerated?Show answer
Answer: Robert Chester.
Q6Give one example of 'cultural diversity' in family life.Show answer
Answer: Differences in family structure or practices linked to ethnicity or religion, for example some cultures placing greater emphasis on extended family networks.
Q7Explain why a lone-parent family might also be an example of 'life-stage diversity'.Show answer
Answer: Because a person's family may pass through several forms over their life, such as being part of a couple, then a lone parent after separation, then part of a reconstituted family after re-partnering.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two types of family diversity identified by the Rapoports.
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'Family life in Britain today is far more diverse than in the past.' Discuss this view.
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See real GCSE Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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