FACS Final

Parents can foster high self-esteem in their children by:

(1) having high self-esteem themselves, (2) accepting their children as they are, (3) enforcing clearly defined limits, (4) respecting individuality within the limits that have been set, and (5) responding to their child with sincere thoughts and feelings. It is also important to single out the child's behavior for criticism. You DO NOT want to criticize the whole child.

_________ children born in the US are born to mothers who received no prenatal care through the first-trimester. Almost ______ children have no health insurance.

1 in 6; 1 in 8

Successful Single-Parenting Tips

1. Acceptance of responsibilities and challenges of single parenthood: Successful single parents were determined to do the best they could under varying circumstances. 2. Parenting as first priority: Parenting role came first; romantic relationships were balanced with family needs. 3. Consistent, non-punitive discipline: Successful single parents adopted an authoritative style of discipline that respected their children and helped them develop autonomy. 4. Emphasis on open communication: They valued and encouraged expression of their children's feelings and ideas. Parents similarly expressed their feelings. 5. Fostering individuality supported by the family: Children were encouraged to develop their own interests/goals; family valued differences. 6. Recognition of the need for self-nurturance: Successful single parents realized they needed time for themselves—needed to maintain an independent self that dated, enjoyed music, dancing, reading, and took trips. 7. Dedication to rituals and traditions: They maintained/developed traditions or rituals like bedtime stories, family prayer, sit-down family dinners at least once a week, picnics on Sundays, visiting grandparents, or watching TV or going on walks together.

Characteristics of Single-Parent Families

1. created by either divorce, births to unmarried mother, or the death of a spouse. 2. usually female headed. 3. characterized by a diversity of living arrangements. 4. some are created intentionally through planned pregnancy, artificial insemination, and adoption. 5. others are headed by lesbians and gay men. 6. many households contain two cohabiting adults and are therefore not single-adult households. 7. the prevalence and experiences of single parents vary across racial and ethnic lines. 8. they are often economically disadvantaged, perhaps even impoverished.

Postpartum Depression

11-18% of new mothers experience postpartum depression. Women who suffer from postpartum depression may experience a combination of the following: sadness, low self-esteem, greatly disturbed sleep, moderate to severe anxiety, obsessive thoughts, an inability to care for oneself or the baby, panic attacks, and thoughts of harming oneself or the baby. Can make the mother feel as if she is "losing her mind." Biological, psychological, and social factors are all involved in postpartum depression. Biologically, during the first several days following delivery, there is an abrupt fall in certain hormone levels, dehydration, blood loss, and other physical factors contribute to lowering the woman's stamina. Psychologically, conflicts about her ability to mother, ambiguous feelings toward or rejection of her own mother, and communication problems with the infant or partner may contribute to the new mother's feelings of depression and helplessness. Finally, the social setting into which the child is born is important, especially if the infant represents a financial or emotional burden for the family.

Father's Involvement with Children

1980s-1990s through to the present: degree of male involvement or absence of the lives of their children became a popular topic of scholarly interest and societal concern. Fatherhood is a normative part of men's lives. There is evidence indicating that fathers have become more emotionally connected to and involved in the lives of their children. Many men pursue more involved versions of fatherhood as part of their own quest for deeper relationships with their children. When pressed, most men today compare themselves favorably with their own fathers in both the quality and the quantity of involvement they have with their children.

Remarriage Trends

2009: 55% of Americans 15 and older had been married once, 15% had been married more than once (12% being married twice, and 3% being married three times or more), 30% were never married. Remarriages are more likely to end in divorce. Remarriage is common among divorced people, especially men, who have higher remarriage rates than women.2/3 divorced women and ¾ divorce men will remarry. Women face more competition and possess fewer "resources" to bring to a remarriage. Women are also more likely to have custody of children, which can reduce both the ease with which they socialize or date and their appeal as potential spouses. Research shows like likelihood of remarriage is affected by the presence of children. Dependent children are an obstacle for women when considered remarriage (more so than it is for men); especially if they are young or she has multiple children. Presence of children also affects the likelihood of women remarrying men without children. Initiators of divorce are more likely to remarry than non-initiators. They may be more "emotionally prepared." Remarriage is less common among widowed women and men, only 5% of women and 12% of men will remarry. Whites have higher remarriage rates than African Americans. Hispanic women are less likely to remarry than white women.

Unmarried Population

2011: 27.4% 18 and older were never-married. Many singles appear to be postponing marriage to an age that makes better economic and social sense. The fear of divorce can also deter some from marrying. Among older people, singlehood most often occurs because of the death of a spouse rather than by choice. Other factors to consider: (1) more liberal social and sexual standards (premarital sex); (2) uneven ratio of unmarried men to unmarried women; and (3) increasingly expanded educational, lifestyle, and employment options open to women (reduced their economic need to be married). Rising status of women contributes to the global growth of the single population.

Women contribute to more than ______ of family income in dual-earner households.

40%

___% of single mother-headed families with children lived below the poverty line in 2010.

41%

Single-parent family

A family with children, created by divorce or unmarried motherhood, in which only one parent is present. A family consisting of one parent and one or more children.

Authoritarian Child Rearing

A parenting style characterized by the demand for absolute obedience. Parents are high in the level of demandingness and are not responsive. The parents' ability to maintain control is of primary importance. "Because I said so" is atypical response to a child's questioning of parental authority, and physical force may be used to ensure obedience. There is little opportunity for children to discuss, question, or suggest behavioral rules/expectations. Parents expect compliance. More attractive to lower-income and working-class parents, as well as ethnic and racial minorities.

Authoritative Child Rearing

A parenting style that recognizes the parent's legitimate power and also stresses the child's feelings, individuality, and need to develop autonomy. Parents rely on positive reinforcement and infrequent use of punishment. This style is both demanding and responsive. Parents direct the child in a manner that shows awareness of his or her feelings and capabilities, and they encourage the development of the child's autonomy within reasonable limits. They foster an atmosphere of give-and-take in parent-child communication. Parental support is a crucial ingredient in child socialization. It is positively related to cognitive development, self-control, self-esteem, moral behavior, conformity to adult standards, and academic achievement. Control is exercised in conjunction with support by authoritative parents. May be more attractive to middle-class, white parents. More often recommended by educators.

Postpartum Period

A period of about three months following childbirth during which critical family adjustments are made.

Crossover

A situation in which one's job-related emotional state affects one's partner in the same way. Occurs when a worker's work-related stress (negative) or engagement (positive) affects one's partner in similar ways.

Stage 2 in Divorce for Children: Transition and short-term aftermath

Begins about a year after the separation, when the extreme emotional responses of the children have diminished or disappeared. Characterized by restructuring the family and by economic and social changes: living with only one parent and visiting the other, moving, making new friends and losing old ones, financial stress, and so on. This period lasted between two and three years for half the families in the study.

Perpetrators

Can be male or female and victims can be male or female. Men's violence tends to be instrumental: They use violence to get what they want and to assert control and gain power over their partners. Women's motives include self-defense, retaliation, expression of anger, attention seeking, stress or frustration, jealousy, depression, and loss of self-control. Male Perpetrators: He believes in the "traditional" home, family, and gender-role stereotypes and in the moral rightness of his violence (although he may acknowledge "accidentally" going too far). He has low self-esteem and may use violence as a means of demonstrating power or adequacy. He may be sadistic, pathologically jealous, or passive-aggressive and may use sex as an act of aggression. The Centers for Disease Control identify a number of individual factors that contribute to perpetrating intimate violence, including low self-esteem of the abuser, depression, antisocial or borderline personality traits, emotional dependency and insecurity, and heavy drug and alcohol use. In addition to such characteristics, they add being unemployed, being socially isolated (i.e., having few friends), and having a history of experiencing poor parenting, physical discipline, or physical or psychological abuse as a child.

Role Strain

Difficulties, tensions, or contradictions experienced in performing a role, often because of multiple role demands. In other words, it's when the role demands attached to any particular status (e.g. mother, husband, and employee) are contradictory or incompatible. Men who see themselves as traditional providers may experience role strain when pressed into higher levels of housework or child care. Employed wives, exhausted by their combination of paid work, housework, and child care, may also experience role strain, finding less time and energy for enjoying sexual intimacy with their spouses.

Exchange-Social Control Model

Exchange theory holds that in our interactions, we constantly weigh the perceived rewards against the costs. The expectation is that "people will only use violence toward family members when the costs of being violent do not outweigh the rewards." This model is useful for looking at treatment and prevention strategies for family violence.

Co-parental Divorce

Experienced when a couple has children. Parenthood and parental responsibilities persist even after the marriage has ended. Among the most complicated aspect of divorce because it also gives rise to single-parent families and, in most cases, stepfamilies. As parents divorce, issues of child custody, visitation, and support must be addressed. New ways of relating to the children and former spouses must be developed, ideally keeping the children's best interest foremost in mind.

Stage 3 in Divorce for Children: Restabilization Stage

Families had reached this stage by the end of five years. Economic and social changes have been incorporated into daily living. The post-divorce family, usually a single-parent family or stepfamily, had been formed.

Historically, what types of social phenomenon/events have led to this description of the "women as housewives" role?

Industrialization.

Homogamy

Marriage between those with similar social or personal characteristics. Most important elements are race/ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, age, and personality characteristics. These elements are strongest in first marriages and weaker in second and subsequent marriages. They also strongly influence our choice of sexual partners, in part because our sexual partners are often potential marriage partners.

Endogamy

Marriage within a particular group. People usually marry others from within their same large group—such as the nationality, ethnic group, or socioeconomic status with which they identify—because they share common assumptions, experiences, and understandings. It strengthens group structure. If people already have ties as friends, neighbors, work associates, or fellow church members, a marriage between such acquaintances solidifies group ties. Both the need for commonality and the distrust of outsiders urge people to marry individuals like themselves.

Homogamy Statistics

Most marriages are between members of the same race. Of the 58 million married couples in 2010 in US, more than 90% were between the same race. Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans are more likely than African Americans to marry whites.

Financial Responsibilities of Raising Children

National Associated of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRA): states the average cost of one year of child care for an infant ranges $3,803 to over $13,000 regardless of how much the parents make. Child care in places like New York and San Francisco can cost parents almost $26,000 a year. Parents also have to think about the cost of higher education. The College Board reports for 2011&2012 conclude that the cost of tuition and fees for a year of college at a private college/university was $28,500. For public university, it was close to $8,500 (not including room and board, which may be another $10,000). With everything calculated, it is estimated that parents spend more than a million dollars a year on one child.

Cohabiting Trends

Over the past 40 years, cohabitation has increased significantly, from 400,000 to almost 20 times as many heterosexual couples. It's increased across all socioeconomic, age, and racial groups. It is estimated that there are currently 8.1 million cohabiting couples in the United States (7.6 million heterosexual couples and approximately 650,000 same-sex couples). Since 2000, 67% of women cohabiting before getting married the first time. 2006-2008: about 70% of women in their 30s experienced cohabiting. Cohabitation increase occurred across racial lines. Cohabitation is more likely among those with less education. Individuals with less college education are twice as likely to cohabit as individuals with college degrees. For those with college degrees, cohabitation is typically an economically sensible step toward marriage and parenthood. For those without college educations, cohabitation is a "parallel household arrangement to marriage." Men's economic situations, including their employment, earnings, and work experience, all influence their likelihood of marrying versus cohabiting. Men with less than full-time, year-round employment are more likely to cohabit than to marry. The childhood experience of parental divorce or family instability increases the likelihood that one will enter a nontraditional lifestyle such as cohabitation. Although such experience occur at all class levels, they are more common among those who have fewer economic resources. There are racial differences that often overlap with class differences when in regard to the likelihood of growing up in a cohabiting parental household. African American and Hispanic children over-represent this group. African American and Hispanic women are more likely to become pregnant while cohabiting and to continue to cohabit rather than marry after their children are born. Cohabitation is more common among those with liberal views—those who are more likely to support non-traditional families and egalitarian gender roles and are less religious.

Men's Roles during Pregnancy

Some fathers may be detached, others may be fully involved, and others may be a little bit of both. They way men act during pregnancy (reading material, attending prenatal classes, involving themselves in the birth process, etc.) may affect how they later relate with their newborns. When men are involved prenatally—supporting their partner (e.g. helping with chores, taking her to the doctor, and buying needed items) and experiencing the unborn child (e.g. listening to the baby's heartbeat and examining ultrasound images)—they were more likely to be involved post-birth with their partners and their infants. Men whose employment is unstable or whose incomes are insufficient will experience more provider anxiety than will men who simply take for granted that they can meet their financial responsibilities.

Childfree

Term used to refer to parents who choose not to have children. In the United States, we have experienced a cultural and demographic shift in which there are now more women and couples than previously who expect and intend to remain non-parents. Not wanting or needing to be seen as objects of sympathy or portrayed as though they lack something essential for personal and relationship fulfillment, they are more likely to consider themselves "free" of responsibilities of parenting. Their "childlessness" is by choice. 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth: an estimated 8.5% of 20-24 year old women; 8.4% of women 25-44 expect to not have children in their lifetimes. Married women: 5.2% expected no children; 11.8% of never married women expected no children. Child-free women have the highest levels of education, those employed in high-status occupations such as managerial and professional occupations, and those with high levels of household income in dual-earner or dual-career marriages. They're also less religious, have less traditional family attitudes, and are more likely to be firstborn or only children, and have less traditional ideas about gender. White women were more likely than African American women to not have children. Among white women, married women had a reduced risk for childlessness. Among African Americans, married women were more likely that unmarried women to be childless. Research has shown child-free marriages have a higher degree of marital satisfaction than those couples with children. Divorce is more probable in child-free marriages. Child-free women are more negatively perceived than are child-free men.

Work Spillover

The effect that employment has on time, energy, activities, and psychological functioning of workers and their families. It links our home lives to our workplace. What happens at work—frustration or worry, a rude customer, an unreasonable boss, or inattentive students—has the potential to affect our moods, perhaps making us irritable or depressed. Often, we take such moods home with us, affecting the emotional quality of our relationships.

Role Overload

The experience of having more prescribed activities in one or more roles than can be comfortably or adequately performed. When the various roles we play require us to do more than we can comfortably or adequately handle or when we feel we have so much to do that we will never "catch up" or have enough time for ourselves.

Stage 1 in Divorce for Children: Immediate Crisis

The initial stage, following the decision to separate, was extremely stressful; conflict escalated, and unhappiness was endemic. Child's aggressive responses were magnified by parents' inability to cope because of the crisis in their own lives.

Infant mortality

The number of deaths for every 1,000 live births. Many of the infant deaths are associated with poverty, which often hits racial minorities harder. Others may die from congenital problems (problems appearing at birth) or from infectious diseases, accidents, or other causes. SIDS (a perplexing phenomenon wherein an apparently healthy infant dies suddenly while sleeping) is among the top three reasons for infant deaths.

Predictors of Martial Satisfaction

The period before marriage is especially important because couples learn about each other—and themselves. Courtship sets the stage for marriage. Many of the elements important for successful marriages, such as the ability to communicate in a positive manner and to compromise and resolve conflicts, develop during courtship. Age at marriage is an especially important background factor in shaping marital outcomes. *May be the most important. Length of courtship is related to marital happiness. The longer you date and are engaged to someone, the more likely you are to discover whether you are compatible with each other. You can also date too long; those who have long, slow-to-commit, up-and-down relationships are likely to be less satisfied in marriage. Also, more likely to get divorced. Socioeconomic factors (education, income, occupational prestige, etc.) are associated with marital quality and stability. Higher levels of education are positively associated with levels of marital satisfaction. Higher religiousness, especially by wives, is associated with greater probability of happy and stable marriages. Personality characteristics also play a role in determining marital satisfaction. Ex: a rigid personality may prevent negotiation and conflict resolution, and a dominating personality may disrupt the give-and-take necessary to making a relationship work, whereas warmth, an even temperament, and a forgiving and generous attitude toward one's spouse contribute to a happy, stable marriage. The ability to identify and communicate emotions is also associated with marital satisfaction. Women's marital satisfaction is more affected by the effective communication of emotions than in men'ssuggests that the emotional skills one brings with one into marriage are important factors in determining marital quality because they affect the level of shared intimacy. Premarital interactions and relationships may also have an effect on marital satisfaction. Signs of future marital problems surface during courtship and in the early years of marriage. Couples ability to solve problems and resolve conflicts.

Marriage Squeeze

The phenomenon in which there are greater numbers of marriageable women than marriageable men, particularly among older women and African American women. It refers to the gender imbalance reflected in the ratio of unavailable unmarried women and men. Because of this, members of one gender tend to be "squeezed" out of the marriage market. From 18 to 44 years old, there are more unmarried men than women. More African American women and/or women of certain ages are squeezed out of the marriage market as available men are scarcer.

Mating Gradient

The tendency for women to marry men of higher status. Although we tend to marry those with the same socioeconomic status and cultural background, men tend to marry women slightly below them in age, education, etc.

Single Population

There are more single women than men; 89 men per 100 women in the US (18 and older). Women make up 53% of all unmarried Americans. 18% of unmarried population is 65 years or older. Other countries worldwide have higher number of single households than the United States does. Between 1996 and 2006, the number of adults living alone worldwide went from 153 million to 202 million, a 33% increase. Percentage of unmarried Americans (18 or older) varies among race and ethnicity. 2011 data: 61.9% African Americans, 35.6% Asians, 47.1% Hispanics, and 40.7% whites were unmarried. 1.7% whites, 3.9% Hispanics, 1.3% Asians, 4.6% African Americans were married, but not living with the spouse. 22.8% whites, 43.8% African Americans, 35.3% Hispanics, 26.1% Asian/Pacific Islanders were never married. 11.2% whites, 12.0% African Americans, 8.0% Hispanics, and 4.7% Asian Americans were divorced. Population of singles is very large and diverse; some are divorced, some of them were never married, and some were widowed.

Role Conflict

When the multiple social statuses or positions that we occupy (e.g. spouse, parent, and worker) present us with competing, contradictory, or simultaneous role expectations, we experience role conflict. In such instances, the successful performance of either role is made difficult because of the demands of the other role. We feel torn between spending time with our spouses or children and finishing work-related tasks. We cannot be in two places at once. Fathers, especially in recent years, have experienced an increase in role conflict because they jobs have become more demanding, and so has their responsibilities at home. Fathers are expected to share more domestic responsibilities and spend more time with their children. Both fathers and mothers have high expectations for how much time they need to spend with their children; while the work expectations have also grown.

Women as House Wives

Women were expected to do all housework outside of their other jobs. Women to do all housework—traditional. Neither traditional women nor their partners regard employment as a woman's fundamental role. Sociologist Ann Oakley described four primary aspects of the homemaker role: 1) Exclusive allocation to women rather than to adults of both sexes, 2) Association with economic dependence, 3) Status as nonwork, which is distinct from "real," economically productive paid employment, and 4) Primacy to women—having priority over other woman's roles.

Psychic Divorce

accomplished when one once again feels like a separate individual and no longer feels like part of a couple. A former spouse becomes irrelevant to one's sense of self and emotional well-being. Former spouses develop a sense of independence, completeness, and stability, and reconstruct their identities. Navigating through this stage may be difficult and take more time than their other stations of divorce.

Predictive Divorce Rate

allows researchers to estimate how many new marriages will likely end in divorce. It was predicted that by the end of the 20th century, between 43% and 46% of marriages would end in divorce.

Resource Model

assumes that social systems are based on force or the threat of force. A person acquires power by mustering personal, social, and economic resources. The person with the most resources if the least likely to resort to overt force.

Ratio Measures of Divorce

calculated by taking the numbers of divorces and the number of marriages in a given year and producing a ration to represent how often divorce occurs relative to marriage. One out of two marriages end in divorce.

Legal divorce

court-ordered termination of marriage. The legal decree permits divorced spouses to remarry and conduct themselves in a way that is legally independent of each other. A divorce decree will set the terms for the division of property and child custody, issues that may lead to bitterly contested and/or recurring divorce battles. Other feelings may be acted out at this time, such as hurt and betrayal.

The Nurturant Father

developed by Michael Lamb Found that fathers participate in virtually all practices (except gestation and lactation) and experience similar emotional states to those mothers experience. It is clear that men can feel a connection to their infants that men were often thought to lack. There are many ways in which fathers are influential participants in their children's development. Fathering activities such as communicating, teaching, caregiving, protecting, and sharing affection are ways fathers can be involved with their child, and all are viewed as beneficial to the development and well-being of both children and adults.

Individualistic theories of violence

emphasizes how the abuser's violence is related to a personality disorder, mental or emotional illness, or alcohol or drug misuse. If they can attribute the violence and abuse they inflict and the hurt they cause as due to an aberration or illness, then abusers can believe that their acts are not deliberately hurtful or abusive. Although there is no single mental illness that is unique to and common among those who abuse, psychopathology may well be a factor in the repeated and most extreme instances of domestic and intimate partner violence and abuse. In such instances, offenders may be more likely to fit profiles as either psychopathic batterers or having a borderline and antisocial personality.

Social Learning Model

holds that people learn to be violent from society and their families. The core premise is that children, especially boys, learn to become violent when they are a victim of or witness to violence and abuse. This is even more likely if the child experiences positive reinforcement for displaying violence. Although it is true that many perpetrators of family violence were abused as children, it is also true that many victims of childhood violence do not become violent parents.

Economic divorce

makes the economic aspect of marriage painfully apparent. Property acquired during a marriage is considered joint marital property and must somehow be divided between the divorcing spouses. The settlement is based on the assumption that each spouse contributes to the estate; may be non-monetary. Child support and alimony may be ordered by the court. Husbands and wives often experience different consequences in their standards of living as they set up separate households and no longer pool their resources. Women usually experience a decline in their standard of living, whereas men sometimes see theirs increase.

Community Divorce

means that when people divorce, their social world changes. In-laws become ex-laws and may lose contact—particularly hard on the children; they lose grandparents. Friends may choose sides or drop out; may not be supportive. New friends replace old ones as divorced men and women start dating again.

Refined Divorce Rate

measures the number of divorces that occur in a given year for every 1,000 marriages (as measured by women age 15 and older). Most useful measure of divorce. In 2005, the refined rate was 16.7 divorces per 1,000 marriages. This is the lowest refined rate in nearly 40 years. One study shows a first divorce rate of 17.5 per 1,000 women in first marriages.

Intimate terrorism

occurs in relationships where one partner tries to dominate/control the other. Common traits: violent episodes that escalate and emotional abuse. Victims are lest "demoralized and trapped" as their sense of self and their place in the world are greatly diminished by their partner's dominance. Violence is likely to recur, escalate, and lead to injury. It's less likely to be mutual but more likely to be transmitted intergenerationally. Typically perpetrated by men. Victim is more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Direct crossover

occurs through empathy of one spouse for what the other is experiencing—when one spouse feels a lot of pressure/overload at work, the other spouse may begin to feel depressed or overloaded as well.

Mutual violent control

refers to relationships in which both partners are violently trying to control each other and the relationship.

Violent resistance

refers to violence used to resist intimate terrorism. Can be self-defensive but "can also function primarily as an expression of anger/resistance even if the resistor expects that it may actually provoke greater violence from the controlling partner." More often perpetrated by women than by men.

Crude Divorce Rate

represents the number of divorces in a given year for every 1,000 people in the population. 2010: approximately 3.6 divorces for every 1,000 Americans.

Indirect crossover

results more from the conflict between spouses that might result from negative spillover. Job demands can create work-family conflict, which then leads to marital conflict from which one's spouse's well-being then may suffer.

Feminist Model

stresses the role of gender inequalities, gendered power and powerlessness, and cultural concepts of masculinity as causes of violence. Using a historical perspective, this approach holds that most social systems have traditionally placed women in a subordinate position to men, thus supporting male dominance even when that includes violence. Women are sometimes violent toward their husbands and partners. More mothers are implicated in child abuse than fathers. Rates of violence between lesbian partners are such that the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs estimates that approximately half the lesbian population in the United States has experienced or will sometime experience domestic violence. Furthermore, like heterosexual partner violence, when same-gender partner violence occurs, it is more likely to be a recurrent feature of the relationship than a one-time event.

Intimate Partner Violence

terms currently used to address the full scope of violence and/or abuse among intimate couples, regardless of gender, marital status, or sexual orientation. It can include violence between young teenagers in middle school or high school dating relationships, unmarried cohabiting adults, married women and men, and applies to both heterosexual and same-sex couples.

Ralph LaRossa view on Fatherhood

the study of fathering needs to separate the culture of fatherhood from the conduct of fatherhood. When we look at how fathers compare to mothers, on average, fathers are neither as involved with nor as close to their children as mothers are. Those men for whom being a father is of central important in how they perceive themselves are more likely to be more highly involved in mental and physical care-giving activities.

Marriage Gradient

the tendency for men to marry younger, slightly more attractive, and physically smaller women with lower educational attainment and occupational status and for women to marry slightly older and physically larger men with higher educational attainment and occupational status.

Ecological Model

uses a systems perspective to explore child abuse. Psychologist James Garbarino suggested that cultural approval of physical punishment of children combines with lack of community support for the family to increase the risk of violence within families. Under this model, children who don't "match" well with their parents (such as children with emotional or developmental disabilities), and families under stress (such as from unemployment or poor health) and that have little community support (such as child care or medical care), can be at increased risk for child abuse.

Social Stress Model

views family violence as arising from two main factors: (1) structural stress such as low income or illness and (2) cultural norms such as the "spare the rod and spoil the child" ethic. Groups with few resources, such as the poor, are seen to be at greater risk for family violence.

Situational couple violence

violence that erupts during an argument when one partner strikes the other in the heat of the moment. It is as likely to come from a woman as a man or to be neutral. It less often escalates, and it is less likely to lead to serious injury/fatality. It's also not likely to be "passed on" from one generation to the next.

Emotional divorce

when one spouse (or both) begins to disengage from the marriage/stats to feel that "something isn't quite right," begins well before the legal divorce. One or both partners may find themselves feeling ambivalent once the divorce papers are filed. They may try to reconcile.