SOC 350 Exam 1 Review

Why is exchange theory part of the consensus tradition of perspectives? Give an example of how an exchange theorist might explain housework.

People enter into relationships because they have something to gain from them. Husbands benefit from this because the wives are expected to do the housework and if they do, then the husband is more inclined to feel like he needs to work to make the money.

Define personal families, legal families, and the family as an institutional arena. Give examples of each, and explain how they're different from each other.

personal family: the people to whom we feel related and who we expect to define us as members of their family as well. EX: parents, siblings, step-siblings, friends etc. legal families: a group of individuals related by birth, marriage, or adoption. EX: immediate and extended family Family as an institutional arena: a social space in which relations between people in common positions are governed by accepted rules of interaction. EX: mother, father, child, brother, sister

Describe three significant contributions of feminist theory to sociologists' understanding of contemporary families.

Researchers pointed out that gender inequality is central to family life. Family structure is socially constructed - the product of human choices rather than the inevitable outcome of natural or biological processes. Race, ethnicity, and social class all affect family life and gender dynamics in unique ways.

How has the Census's definition of a family changed over time?

Today, the definition is a family who lives together in one household. The definition of family used to be a householder, the wife and the children.

When it comes to understanding families, how are structural functionalists and conflict theoretical perspectives different? Based on what you read in the chapter, contrast how the two theories might explain the breadwinner-homemaker family.

conflict perspective believes opposition and conflict define a given society and are necessary for social evolution while the SF perspective believe consensus and harmony form the basis of society. SF would agree with the breadwinner-homemaker family dynamic whereas conflict theorists would argue that the husband and wife should be competing for the roles.