Chapter 14: Marriage and Family

family life course

(less rigid model of the *family life cycle*) recognizes the events that occur in the lives of families but views them as *parting terms of a fluid course* rather than in consecutive stages. * accounts for changes in family development*, such as the fact that in today's society, childbearing does not always occur with marriage. It also sheds light on other shifts in the way family life is practiced. Society's modern understanding of family rejects rigid "stage" theories and is more accepting of new, fluid models.

Same-sex couple households account for _____ percent of American households.

1

Children of divorced parents are _______ to divorce in their own marriage than children of parents who stayed married.

40% more likely; 91% more likely when a parent remarried.

In which types of households do children benefit from their parents' divorce?

High-conflict households

Couples who cohabitate before marriage are ______ couples who did not cohabitate before marriage to be married at least 10 years.

Slightly less likely

Symbolic Interactionism on marriage and family

The idea of family itself is a *symbol*. To some, it is a father, mother, and children; to others, it is any union that involves respect and compassion. Interactionists stress that *family is not an objective, concrete reality*. Like other social phenomena, it is a social construct that is subject to the ebb and flow of social norms and ever-changing meanings.

Marriage

a *legally recognized social contract* between two people, traditionally based on a *sexual relationship* and implying a *permanence of the union*.

Nuclear family

a family consisting of a husband, wife, and child(ren). referring to married parents and children as the *nucleus*, or core, of the group.

Polygyny

a form of marriage in which men have more than one wife

Polyandry

a form of marriage in which women have more than one husband

Patriarchy

a group in which men as a group dominate women as a group; authority is vested in males

Extended family

a nuclear family plus other relatives, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts

Kinship (traceable how?)

a person's traceable ancestry (by blood, marriage, and or adoption)

Order the *family life cycles* and what they correspond to: School-age Family; Empty Nest Family; Procreation Family; Preschooler Family; Marriage Family; Teenage Family; Launching Family (criticism of *family life cycle*?)

a set of predictable steps and patterns families experience over time 1 Marriage Family: Childless 2 Procreation Family: Children ages 0 to 2.5 3 Preschooler Family: Children ages 2.5 to 6 4 School-age Family: Children ages 6-13 5 Teenage Family: Children ages 13-20 6 Launching Family: Children begin to leave home 7 Empty Nest Family: "Empty nest"; adult children have left home (criticized for generalizing family life and not accounting for differences in gender, ethnicity, culture, and lifestyle)

Family (formed by?)(how does it serve society?)

a socially recognized group (usually joined by *blood, marriage, or adoption*) that forms an *emotional connection* and serves as an *economic unit of society*.

Matriarchy

a society in which women as a group dominate men as a group

Patrilineal (system of descent):

a system of reckoning descent that counts only the father's side

Matrilineal (system of descent):

a system of reckoning descent that counts only the mother's side

Research suggests that people generally feel that their current family is _______ (how close it is) than the family they grew up with.

at least as close as

shaken-baby syndrome

describes a group of medical symptoms such as brain swelling and retinal hemorrhage resulting from forcefully shaking or causing impact to an infant's head.

Ambilineal

follows either the father's only or the mother's side only, *depending on the situation*

Functionalism on marriage and family

functionalists uphold the notion that families are an important *social institution* and that they play a key role in *stabilizing society*. They also note that family members take on *status roles* in a marriage or family. The family—and its members—perform certain functions that facilitate the prosperity and development of society.

Conflict Theory on marriage and family (what do they study?)

highlights the *role of power* in family life and contends that the family is often not a haven but rather an arena where *power struggles* can occur. This exercise of power often entails the performance of *family status roles*. Conflict theorists may study conflicts as simple as the *enforcement of rules from parent to child*, or they may examine more serious issues such as *domestic violence* (spousal and child), sexual assault, marital rape, and incest.

The median age of first marriage has ______ for men and _____ for women in the last 50 years.

increased for both men and women

what does research suggest regarding the well-being of children who grow up in same-sex households?

research reports that same-sex parents are as effective as opposite-sex parents

Incest

sexual relations between specified relatives, such as brothers and sisters or parents and children

Current divorce rates are: (why?)

steadily declining (two probable factors: an increase in the age at which people get married, and an increased level of education among those who marry)

patrilocal residence

system it is customary for the wife to live with (or near) her husband's blood relatives (or family or orientation).

Bigamy

the act of entering into marriage while still married to another person

Family of procreation

the family formed through marriage

Family of orientation

the family in which a person is born and grows up

Polygamy

the state of being committed or married to more than one person at a time

Bilateral descent

the tracing of kinship through both parents' ancestral lines

Unilateral descent

the tracing of kinship through one parent only

Intimate Partner Violence

violence that occurs between individuals who maintain a romantic or sexual relationship

Cohabitation

when a couple shares a residence but is not married

Monogamy

when someone is married to only one person at a time

matrilocal residence

where it is customary for the husband to live with his wife's blood relatives (or her family of orientation)