Chapter 1 - Canadian Families Today - David Cheal
What is Marxism?
- A functionalist approach - Differences between genders - Social change is normal and desirable - Identify power relations within the home and connect to inequities outside the home
What is Family Systems Theory?
- Assumes that family is a relatively closed system - Popular w/ family therapists - Study interactions at multiple levels
What did Feminism do for theorization of families?
- Challenges the gender-neutral assumptions about about family life and roles. Challenge myths about women's roles.
What are Developmental Theories?
- Families are influenced by developmental processes, with stages.
What is Symbolic Interactionism?
- Looking within families at the interactions - Individuals as active agents - Individuals shape family life
What is Functionalism?
- Structural functionalist theories based on the idea of organic ontology, which assumes that society is like a living organism or body made up of a series of interrelated parts working together for the good of the whole - Each social institution works like an organ in the system and provides a specific function
What is Exchange Theory?
- Used to examine relational processes within families - Understanding balance between cost and reward within relationships
What are the 7 biases in the past of family lit and theorization?
1. monolithic 2. conservative 3. sexist 4. ageist 5. micro-structural 6. racist 7. heterosexist
What is a nuclear family?
A couple and their children sharing the same household. Can also be one parent an their children is they are a widow
What is a household?
A group of people who share a dwelling
What are simple step-families?
All children are the biological or adopted children of only one spouse
Why are children staying longer with their parents? (Delayed child-launch)
Changing economic status, difficult to find stable long-term work, large debt loads
What is a bi-nucler family?
Children of divorced parents move and live in both households
Which has more? Common-law or lone-parent families?
Common-law outnumbered lone-parent families for the first time in 2011
What is a Racist Bias?
Devalued or ignored families of culturally or ethnically different groups
What is an Ageist Bias?
Examining families as involving exchanges between 2 middle-aged adults, largely excluding children and the elderly
What are complex step-families?
Families that are composed of at least one child of both parents as well as at least one child of one parent only
How are all of the 7 biases addressed?
Mainly by feminist theorizing on families
What is the dominant family form in Canada?
Married couple families, but this is declining
What has happened since 2006 with common law couples?
On the rise
What has happened to stepfamilies?
On the rise
What has happened with blended families?
On the rise
What has happened with male lone-parent families?
On the rise
What has happened with same-sex couples?
On the rise
What is happening with older children living at home?
On the rise
What is extended family/ multigenerational family?
People living with their extended family such as grandparents or disabled adults, pooling of resources to make things easier
What are transnational/ multi-local families?
People who are temporarily separated from their children or spouses due to immigration, domestic workers, or visa students.
What kind of definitions of families exist?
Social definitions, legal/ formal definitions, and personal definitions
What is a Microstructural Bias?
Tendency to treat families as encapsulated units, ignoring extraneous/ external factors
What has happened to married couple families between 2006 and 2011?
The amount has doubled
What is a Sexist Bias?
The assumption that there is a "natural" division of function between the sexes
What is Conservative Bias?
Theorists tended to provide only a romanticized view of the nuclear family
What has happened to common-law unions since 1981 when they began being counted?
They have quadrupled
What is a Heterosexist Bias?
Treated heterosexual couples as "natural", denying family status to lesbian, gay and trans families
What is Monolithic Bias?
Treats fam as a monolithic structure, under-represents the diversity of family forms that existed in society
What are satellite families/ children?
Used to describe children who are from somewhere else, return to their country of origin after immigration, and left children or spouses in Canada
What are boomerang children/ velcro kids?
Young adults who leave the parental home for work or school, only to have to return due to debt or instability