ships. In the area of social policy and the law, reformers have begun to focus on protecting the individual rights of vulnerable household members V women, children, and the elderly (MacLean & Kurczewzki 1994) at the expense of patriarchal privilege. Crucially, whilst the law has become aware of the potential for the exploitation of family members and in acting underlines the importance of public attitudes and legislation in maintaining gender inequalities and differential relationships; the reform approach cannot be seen as an open acknowledgement that socialisation patterns and family arrangements are male dominated (MacLean & Kurczewzki 1994). Following the vote of the General Synod in 1992, the ordination of women in the Church of England has challenged hundreds of years of patriarchal authority and tradition in the church. The implicit relationship between individual men and institutions can be viewed explicitly in the complex provision made to protect those who are individually opposed using the churchs own structures. Regardless of the refusal of key patriarchal institutions to acknowledge the extent to which man have been and are systematically and deliberately privileged by their structures and actions, these dominant forms of power can help produce social change, even if they are only attempting to keep in touch with contemporary society (Cooper, 1995). The process of power is therefore open to change and feminist theorists have shown using their account of patriarchy that the by products of power (e.g., inequality) can be mediated by the institution which represents it and moderated to be less damaging to individuals (Cooper, 1989). ReferencesBurman E (ed.) (1998). Deconstructing Feminist Psychology. Sage: London. Broderick CB (1993), Understanding Family Process. Sage: USA. Coole A, Harman H and Hewitt H (1990) Changing Patterns of Family Life, in Eekelaar J and MacLean M (eds.) (1994), A Reader On Family Law, Oxford Univers...
