Skip to main content

Study information

The Family, Law and Social Change

Module titleThe Family, Law and Social Change
Module codeLAWM689
Academic year2024/5
Credits15
Module staff

Anne Barlow (Lecturer)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

12

Number students taking module (anticipated)

5

Module description

This module will through the lens of family law and policy critically examine the way in which law responds to social change. It aims to evaluate the theoretical explanations for the nature of this relationship, the doctrinal influences on a domestic and international level and the direct and indirect impact on it of inter-disciplinary socio-legal research.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will through the lens of family law and policy critically examine the way in which law responds to social change. It aims to evaluate the theoretical explanations for the nature of this relationship, the doctrinal influences on a domestic and international level and the direct and indirect impact on it of inter-disciplinary socio-legal research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Engage in critical reading of national and international theoretical, doctrinal and socio-legal writing on family law to achieve a developed understanding of the various critiques of the relationship between the family, law and society.
  • 2. Appreciate the sometimes controversial role of socio-legal research in uncovering and identifying the changing processes and social developments which lie behind it.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 3. Develop an inter-disciplinary approach to socio-legal issues, express their own thoughts on the topics studied, such as sociological, political or policy-oriented reflections.
  • 4. Combine and draw on both theoretical approaches and inter-disciplinary empirical research, while demonstrating the ability to address competing arguments.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 5. Capacity to conduct independent study and group work and meet deadlines.
  • 6. Develop critical approach to legal and socio-legal research in the family law and policy domain.
  • 7. Develop high level of competence in accessing legal and socio-legal bibliographic sources.
  • 8. Assemble systematic and sustained argument in a family law context.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Family definition and the law – responses to social change and medical technology.
• Equality and vulnerability – autonomy, financial remedies and shared parenting.
• The legal meaning of domestic violence – a struggle between accepted and marginalised knowledge.
• Cultural and religious diversity, child protection and marriage.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
201300

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities2010 x 2 hour seminars
Guided independent study95Seminar preparation and independent reading
Guided independent study35Assessment preparation, conducting research, producing formative work and writing up summative work.

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay plan700 words1-8Individual written feedback (with oral feedback upon request)

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay1003,000 words1-8Individual written feedback (with oral feedback upon request)

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
EssayEssay (3,000 words)1-8August/September re-assessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Akhtar, Rainara  et al, (2020) Cohabitation and Religious Marriage. Bristol: BUP

Bailey-Harris, Rebecca (1996) Law and the Unmarried Couple Oppression or Liberation? 8(2) Child and Family Law Quarterly 137-147.

Bala, Nicholas and Bromwich, Rebecca (2002) Context and Inclusivity in Canadas Evolving Definition of the Family International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 16:145-180.

Barlow, Duncan James and Park (2005) Cohabitation, Marriage and the Law Oxford: Hart

Barlow and Probert (2004) Regulating Marriage and Cohabitation: Changing Family Values and Policies in Europe and North America 26 (1) Law and Policy 1

Brown, Alan (2019) What is the Family of Law?: The Influence of the Nuclear Family; Oxford: Hart

Cooke, Elizabeth (2001) "White v White: a new yardstick for the marriage partnership" Child and Family Law Quarterly 81

Day-Sclater, S (2000) Families London: Hodder and Stoughton

Jones, C., Why Donor Insemination Requires Developments in Family Law: The Need for New Definitions of Parenthood. Edwin Mellen Press. 2007

Jones, C., The identification of parents and siblings: new possibilities under the reformed Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in Herring, J., Wallbank, J and Choudhry, S., (eds) Rights, Gender and Family Law, Oxford, Routledge-Cavendish: Glasshouse press, 2009.

J. Dewar, The Normal Chaos of Family Law (1998) 61 MLR 467, 470

Eekelaar, J and Thandabantu N, (1998) The Changing Family Oxford:Hart

Fortin, J (2003) Childrens Rights and the Developing Law London: Butterworths.

Foucault, M. 2003. Society Must Be Defended, Lectures at the College de France 19751976, Penguin Books, pg. 6-11.

Freeman, Michael D.A., (1984) Legal Ideologies, Patriarchal Precedents, and Domestic Violence. In The State, the Law and the Family: Critical Perspectives, edited by M. D.A Freeman. London:Tavistock.

Glendon, Mary Ann, (1981) The New Family and the New Property Toronto: Butterworths.

Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery, New York, NY, BasicBooks, chapter 4 Captivity

Hitchings et al,  (2023) ‘Fair Shares? Sorting out money and property on divorce’  Financial Remedies Journal, April, 47-49.

King, Michael and Piper, Christine (1995) How the Law Thinks about Children Aldershot: Arena.

Maclean, M. (ed) (2005) Family Law and Family Values Oxford: Hart

ODonovan, K. (1993) Family Law Matters London: Pluto

Smart, Carol (1989) Feminism and the Power of Law London: Routledge

Gunther Teubner (1993) Law as an Autopoietic System (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Publishers).

Key words search

Family Law Social Change

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

7

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

01/10/2007

Last revision date

04/08/2022