Chapter 11 Families and intimate relationships Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, Kendall, 10e

Families in Global Perspective Families are relationships in which people live together with commitment, form an economic unit and care for any young, and consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group.

Kinship Kinship refers to a social network of people based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption.

The family of orientation is the family into which a person is born and in which early socialization usually takes place. The family of procreation is the family that a person forms by having or adopting children.

An nuclear and extended family An extended family is a family unit composed of relatives in addition to parents and children who live in the same household. A nuclear family is a family composed of one or two parents and their dependent children, all of whom live apart from other relatives.

Marriage Marriage is a legally recognized and/or socially approved arrangement between two or more individuals that carries certain rights and obligations and usually involves sexual activity.

Census Profile Household Composition, 1970 and 2012

Monogamy and Polygamy Monogamy is a marriage between two partners, usually a woman and a man. Polygamy is the concurrent marriage of a person of one sex with two or more members of the opposite sex. Polygyny: one man and multiple women Polyandry: one woman with multiple men

Descent Patrilineal descent is a system of tracing descent through the father’s side of the family. Matrilineal descent is a system of tracing descent through the mother’s side of the family. Bilateral descent is a system of tracing descent through both the mother’s and father’s sides of the family.

Patricarchal and matriarchal familiy A patriarchal family is a family structure in which authority is held by the eldest male. A matriarchal family is a family structure in which authority is held by the eldest female. An egalitarian family is a family structure in which both partners share power and authority equally.

Residence Patrilocal residence refers to the custom of a married couple living in the same household (or community) as the husband’s parents. Matrilocal residence refers to the custom of a married couple living in the same household (or community) as the wife’s parents. A neolocal residence is the custom of a married couple living in their own residence apart from both the husband’s and the wife’s parents.

Marriage rules Endogamy is the practice of marrying within one’s own group. Exogamy is the practice of marrying outside one’s own group.

Theoretical Perspectives on Family The sociology of family is the subdiscipline of sociology that attempts to describe and explain patterns of family life and variations in family structure.

Functionalist theory According to functionalists, families serve four key functions: Sexual regulation Socialization Economic and psychological support Provision of social status

Conflict theory Conflict theorists view the family as a source of inequality and conflict. Families = factory environment Social class conflict Feminist perspectives focus on patriarchy.

Symbolic interactionists Symbolic interactionists explain family relationships in terms of the subjective meanings and everyday interpretations that people give their lives. Modify or adapt roles to the expectations of others

Concept Quick Review

Developing Intimate Relationships and Establishing Families Changing roles of men and women in families

Cohabitation Cohabitation refers to two people who live together, and think of themselves as a couple, without being legally married.

<insert Figure 11.6> Figure 11.6 Estimated Number of Opposite-Sex Couples Cohabiting in the U.S. in Selected Years, 1996-2013 <insert Figure 11.6>

Domestic partnerships are households in which an unmarried couple lives together in a committed, sexually intimate relationship and is granted some of the same rights and benefits as those accorded to married heterosexual couples.

Homogamy refers to the pattern of individuals marrying those who have similar characteristics.

Consider This… Figure 11.7 The issue of same-sex marriage was frequently in the headlines in 2013 because of two major legal challenges that came before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dual-earner marriages Dual-earner marriages are marriages in which both spouses are in the labor force. The second shift is the domestic work that employed women perform at home after they complete their workday on the job.

Consider This… Figure 11.8 Juggling housework, child care, and a job in the paid workforce is all part of the average day of many women. Why does sociologist Arlie Hochschild believe that many women work a “second shift”?

Child-Related Family Issues and Parenting Child versus children Childfree versus childless Unmarried childbearing

Polling Question How should we deal with teenage childbearing, as a society?

Figure 11.9 Birth Rates for Teenagers Ages 15-19 Years, By Age, United States, 1960-2012

Single-parent households Challenges? Two-parent households Remaining single

<insert Figure 11.11> Figure 11.11 Living Arrangements of Children Under 18 Years Old for Selected Years, 1970-2012 <insert Figure 11.11>

<insert Figure 11.12> Figure 11.12 Marital Status of U.S. Population Ages 18 and Over by Race/Ethnicity, 2012 <insert Figure 11.12>

Transitions and Problems in Families Family violence – various forms of abuse that take place among family members

Foster care Foster care – institutional settings or residences where adults serve as caregivers

Divorce Divorce – the legal process of dissolving a marriage Causes Consequences

Figure 11.13 U.S. Divorce Rates by State, 1990-2011

Remarriage Blended families consist of a husband and wife, and children from previous marriages, and children from the new relationship

Family Issues in the Future Economics and the family Changing definitions of the family

Quick Quiz A social network of people based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption is: family of orientation. kinship. family. ethnic group.

Quick Quiz Answer: B. A social network of people based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption is kinship.

Quick Quiz A family composed of one or two parents and their dependent children, all of whom live apart from other relatives is called: nuclear family. sandwich family. boomerang family. extended family.

Quick Quiz Answer: A. A family composed of one or two parents and their dependent children, all of whom live apart from other relatives is called a nuclear family.

Quick Quiz The concurrent marriage of one man with two or more women is: polyandry. polygyny. polygamy. monogamy.

Quick Quiz Answer: B. The concurrent marriage of one man with two or more women is polygyny.

Quick Quiz A family structure in which the authority is held by the eldest female is a _____ family. matriarchical patriarchical patrilocal matrilocal

Quick Quiz Answer: A. A family structure in which the authority is held by the eldest female is a matriarchical family.

Quick Quiz Family that consists of a husband, wife, and children from previous marriages and children from the new marriage, (if any) is called a _____ family. boomerang reconstituted sandwich blended

Quick Quiz Answer: D. Families that consist of a husband, wife, and children from previous marriages and children from the new marriage, are called blended families.

Quick Quiz The family one is born into and which early socialization takes place is: the family of orientation. the family of adoption. the family of procreation. the family of origin.

Quick Quiz Answer: A. The family one is born into and which early socialization takes place is the family of orientation (in cultures that practice neolocality).