Sociology of the Family

Family Values: Three Perspectives

1. The family is deteriorating. 2. The family is changing, not deteriorating. 3. The family is stronger than ever.

Two major demographic changes have had far reaching consequences on family life:

1. U.S. birthrates have declined in recent years. Most American women have been bearing fewer children. 2. The average age of the population has risen. The average age of the population was 17 in the mid 1800's...it was 37 in 2007.

Functions of The Family: 5 very basic and important functions:

1.Regulation of sexual activity: They legitimize sexual activity. 2. Procreation and socialization of children (bearing and raising children) 3. Provide economic security 4. Offer emotional support 5. Social Class Placement: establish family members places in society.

Common characteristics of marriage

1.Share economic responsibilities 2. Sexual faithfulness 3. Bear and raise children

Eight Theories about Family

1.Structural-functionalist theory 2. Conflict theory 3. Feminist theory 4. Ecological theory 5. Developmental theory 6. Symbolic interactionist theory 7. Social exchange theory 8. Family systems theory

Theory

A set of statements that explains why a phenomenon occurs. They offer perspectives explaining why processes and events take place. * Theories drive research, help us to analyze our findings, and ideally, offer solutions for family problems.

Kinship System:

Each type of family is part of a larger kinship system, network of people related by blood, marriage, re-marriage or adoption

Myths about Marriage & Family

Families were simpler, happier and stronger in the past. 2. Marrying and having children are the "natural" things to do. 3. "Good" families should be self-sufficient. 4. Every family is always a loving refuge. All families provide love, nurturance and emotional support to their family members. 5. It is possible, and we should all strive, to be a "perfect" family.

Bigamy

Marrying a second person while a first marriage is still legal. It is listed as a crime in most western countries.

Authority Patterns

Matriarchy The oldest females control cultural, political and economic resources....for the most part, matriarchy societies are rare Patriarchy The oldest males control cultural, political and economic resources (ex. Saudi Arabia) Egalitarian Both partners share power and authority...Many Americans think they have egalitarian families but our families tend to be patriarchal.

Residential Patterns

Patrilocal The newly married couple lives with the husband's family. Matrilocal The newly married couple lives with the wife's family. Neolocal The newly married couple sets up its own residence. Often residential patterns reflect who has authority in the family. Around the world, the most common pattern is patrilocal. In industrial societies such as the United States, married couples are typically neolocal.

Definition of Family: US Census

The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of family distinguishes between households and families: Household: all persons or groups of persons who occupy a dwelling such as a house, apartment, single room or living quarters. Family: "A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together." A family is always a household but a household is not always a family.

Definition of Family: Class

a family is an intimate environment in which two people: Live together in a committed relationship Care for one another and any children Share activities and close emotional ties

Family Development Theory( MICRO)

pays close attention to changes in families over time and attempts to explain family life in terms of a process that unfolds over the life course of families. Major concern: developmental tasks at various stages of in the family life cycle. Critique: This theory really focuses on the nuclear, heterosexual family as being the "norm" for society. Some researchers feel stage models are "artificial" and are often restricted to nuclear and stable families, ignoring single-parent and gay and lesbian families.

Gender

refers to the learned attitudes and behaviors that characterize people as men or women. We learn to be either women or men.

Endogamy

requires people to marry or have sexual relations within a certain group. These might include racial or ethnic groups or clans or tribes. Example: Orthodox Jews in the U.S.

ethnocentrism

(looking at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture).

Macro-level influences on the family

1. Economic forces (unemployment, lower paying jobs); 2. Technological innovations...advanced health/medical technologies have lead to longer life spans; 3.Popular culture/mass media (television, Internet, pop music, magazines, radio, ads, fads, fashion, sports, movies) is especially influential in informing and misinforming us about family and culture. 4.Social movements: A number of social movements have changed family life including Civil Rights, Women's Movements, Gay Rights Movement, Marriage Movement) 5.Family policies (government policies, laws about when and whom we can marry)

Norms

Are culturally defined rules for behaviors. The rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Marriage

Can be defined as a socially approved mating relationship that people expect to the stable and enduring. Some form of marriage is practiced in every society, although there are many forms.

Ecological (MACRO)

Ecological theory examines how a family influences and is influenced by its environment. Major concern: how the family adapts and reorganizes in response to changing environments. The microsystem (roles and relationships that influence the child's daily life---child and parents) The mesosystem (relationships among different settings---healthcare provider, pre-school, peers) The exosystem (settings or events the child does not experienced directly but that can affect development---work place, media, neighbors, legal services) The macrosystem (the wider society and culture that encompasses the other systems...cultural values, attitudes, wars, economy) All four of these embedded systems can help or hinder a child's development and a family's functioning Critique: Too Broad, based on nuclear heterosexual family.

Exogamy

Exogamy (sometimes called heterogamy) permits marriage outside of one's own group. For example in the United States, 24 states prohibit marriage between first cousins.

Feminist perspectives (MACRO)

Feminist theories examine how gender roles—expectations about how men and women should behave—shape relations between the sexes in institutions such as policies, the economy, religion, education, and the family. Major concern: socially constructed expectations based on gender roles. Critique: One criticism of feminist theory is that it focuses only on issues that affect women and de-emphasizes those issues that affect only men. * Some critics say feminist theory doesn't pay enough attention to other areas of oppression such as age, disability, and religion.

Fictive Kin

Fictive kin are people other than blood or legal relatives who are accepted as part of the family group...they play family roles. (ex: godparent, boyfriend of a divorced mother, egg or sperm donor, family friend) Because of the recent rise in single parenthood, fictive kin have become more important in our overall view of the family.

Extended Family

In much of the world, the most common family form is the extended family which consists of parents and children, as well as other kin such as uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, cousins and grandparents.

Conflict perspective(MACRO)

It is a perspective based on the ways people struggle over power and compete for scarce resources. It focuses on how social structure promotes divisions and inequalities between groups. Society is seen as a system of inequality which causes tension between the "haves" and the "have-nots." Major concern: many family difficulties are the result of widespread societal problems...the inequalities that are built into social structures or systems Critique: Overemphasizes clash and coercion and focuses on institutional or macro level rather than personal choice or micro level. It tends tooveremphasize an assumption that power is people's main objective.

Symbolic-Interaction

Symbolic interaction theory looks at the everyday behavior of individuals. These theorists examine how our ideas, beliefs, and attitudes shape our daily lives as well as those of our families. According to symbolic interaction perspective, each family member plays an important role and plays more than one role in the family. We learn our definitions through interaction with significant others. For example, a man may be a husband, a provider, a father, a brother etc... Critique: Tends to ignore macro level influences on family functioning and may have unrealistic views of everyday life. It really is meant to be a close-up view of family and society.

The Family is Stronger Than Ever

The family is changing in ways that will make it stronger in the long run. This perspective would argue that the family is much more strong and loving today than it was in the past because family members have more equitable roles at home and are more accepting of diverse family forms (such as unmarried couple homes).

Colonial Families

The family was A self-sufficient business A school A vocational institute A house of correction A welfare institution

Social Exchange

The fundamental principle of social exchange theory is that people seek, through their interactions with others, to maximize their rewards and to minimize their costs. When a relationship bears more costs than benefits for a person, the person is more likely to end the relationship. Critique: Some say this theory puts too much emphasis on rational behavior—not all humans behave this way.

The Family is Changing, Not Deteriorating

This perspective argues the changes in the family we are experiencing today are extensions of long standing family patterns. We are continuing to adapt to changing circumstances.

The Family is Deteriorating

This perspective is worried we are in a marriage crisis. The family is changing in unhealthy ways. This perspective argues that couples who live together and do not marry are selfish...they lack individual responsibility and commitment. Unmarried couple households, latchkey children, childless couples are part of the larger "family decay" in our society

Gender roles

are the characteristics, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that society expects of females and males. The first place we learn about our gender roles in in our family.

Secondary sex characteristics

are those that develop during puberty.

primary sex characteristics

as those physical characteristics at birth such as testicles for boys or ovaries for girls.

Acculturation

is the process of adopting the language, values, beliefs, and roles of a host culture...not including intermarriage. Newcomers merge with the host culture in most ways.

nuclear family (or traditional family)

is typically made up of a husband, a wife, and their biological or adopted children.

Assimilation

is when an ethnic group totally conforms to their new culture, including interracial marriage. They hold on to almost nothing from their original culture.

Structural functional theory (MACRO)

explores the relationship between the family and the larger society. Families are seen as essential for survival because they serve as a individual's primary source of emotional and practical training in society...families must be structured in a certain way. Major concern: traditional family structure Critique: Functionalism is a broad (macro) perspective. It can help us understand how the family is related to the larger society, but it doesn't tell us how the family interacts as a unit on a daily basis. * Also, this theory has been criticized, especially by feminist theorists, as seeing the world through the cultural lens of white, middle- and upper-class American men.

Family of Procreation:

family a person forms by marrying and having or adopting children

Family of Orientation

family in which a person is raised.

Micro-level influences on the family

include individual choices and social interactions;

Cultural pluralism

involves maintaining aspects of one's original culture, including language and marrying within one's own ethnic group, while living peacefully with the host culture. Small groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities.

Family of Origin

the biological family in which a person is born.

Gender identity

usually learned in early childhood, is our perception of ourselves as either masculine or feminine...

Family Systems

views families as functioning units that solve problems, make decisions and achieve collective goals. The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of family members interdependent. A change in one person's functioning is predictably followed by reciprocal changes in the functioning of others. Major concern: implicit or explicit rules that hold families together. Critique: Some researchers have suggested family systems theory is too general and does not provide much insight on how the family functions. The perspective originated in the study of dysfunctional families in clinical settings---some question how it can be applied to healthy families.