Sociology, Tenth Edition Family

Sociology, Tenth Edition Basic Concepts Family –A social institution found in all societies that unites people into cooperative groups to oversee the bearing and raising of children Kinship –A social bond, based on blood, marriage, or adoption Family Unit –A social group of two or more people, related by blood, marriage, or adoption, who usually live together Families of orientation –The family you are born into Families of procreation –The family you form in order to have or adopt children Families of affinity –People with or without blood ties who feel that they belong together and want to define themselves as a family

Sociology, Tenth Edition Family Variations Extended family –Family unit that includes parents and children as well as other kin –Also called “consanguine families” –Nuclear family –Also called “conjugal family” –Composed of one or two parents and their children –The predominant family form

Sociology, Tenth Edition Marriage Patterns Marriage –Legally sanctioned relationship, usually involving economic cooperation, as well as sexual activity and childbearing, that people expect to be enduring Illegitimacy: out of wedlock children Matrimony: the “condition of motherhood”

Sociology, Tenth Edition Marriage Patterns Endogamy –Marriage between people of the same social category –Limited opportunities for marriage Exogamy –Marriage between people of different social categories can help form alliances Marriage partners –Monogamy: marring one other person –Serial monogamy: monogamy + divorce & remarriage –Polygamy: marrying three or more people –Polygyny: marrying more than one female –Polyandry: marrying more than one male

Sociology, Tenth Edition Residential Patterns PATRILOCALITY –With or near the husband’s family MATRILOCALITY –With or near the wife’s family NEOLOCALITY –Setting up house apart from both families

Sociology, Tenth Edition DESCENT How members of a society trace kinship over generations Importance includes passing on property and recognition as a family member Three types: –Patrilineal descent –tracing kinship through men –Matrilineal descent – tracing kinship through women –Bilateral descent – tracing kinship through both men and women

Sociology, Tenth Edition Structural-Functional Analysis of the Family The family serves basic functions –Socialization – creating well-integrated members of society –Regulation of sexual activity – maintenance of kinship order and property rights, incest taboos –Social placement -- births to married couples are preferred in societies –Material and emotional security – home can be a haven for people Critical evaluation –Glosses over great diversity of family life, how other institutions are taking over its roles & negative aspects like patriarchy and family violence

Sociology, Tenth Edition Social-Conflict Analysis of the Family The family perpetuates social inequality: –Property and inheritance – concentrates wealth and reproduces class structure –Patriarchy – to know their heirs men must control women who still bear the brunt of child rearing and housework duties –Racial & ethnic inequality – endogamous marriage shores up racial hierarchies Critical evaluation –Ignores that families carry out functions not easily accomplished by other means

Sociology, Tenth Edition Micro-Level Analysis of the Family Symbolic-Interaction: –Opportunities for sharing activities helps build emotional bonds Social-Exchange: –Courtship & marriage as a negotiation to make the “best deal” on their partner Critical evaluation –Misses the bigger picture, family life is similar for people in similar social backgrounds and varies in predictable ways

Sociology, Tenth Edition STAGES OF FAMILY LIFE Courtship –Arranged marriages versus romantic love –Homogamy: marriage between people with same social traits Settling in –Ideal vs. Real marriage Childrearing –Industrialization transformed children from assets to liabilities Later life –Empty nest –Sandwich generation – spends as many years caring for their children as for their aging parents

Sociology, Tenth Edition Figure 18-1 Percentage of College Students Who Express a Willingness to Marry without Romantic Love

Sociology, Tenth Edition POWER, GENDER, AND MENTAL HEALTH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEPRESSION IN MARRIAGES CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN VARIOUS MARRIAGE TYPES Conventional –Husband employed while wife stays home –Low to moderate depression for both partners Strained conventional –Wife joins husband in labor force out of necessity, and does housework at home –Moderate depression for wife, but high depression for husband who feels like a failure

Sociology, Tenth Edition POWER, GENDER, AND MENTAL HEALTH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEPRESSION IN MARRIAGES CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN VARIOUS MARRIAGE TYPES Strained egalitarian –Both partners are happy to be working, but wife still does most of the housework –Husband enjoys more family income while wife has more depression Egalitarian –Spouses happy to share in all facets of marriage –Spouses experience lowest levels of depression in this form

Sociology, Tenth Edition DIVORCE In the U.S. Nine out of ten persons will marry. Four out of these marriages will end in divorce. Factors include: Individualism on the rise Romantic love often subsides Women are less dependent upon men Many of today’s marriages are stressful Divorce is socially acceptable Legally, a divorce is easier to get

Sociology, Tenth Edition Violence Family Against women –Of 791,000 reported accounts of abuse between intimate partners, 85% are against women –32 percent of all women murdered are the victims of their partners, or ex-partners –All states have marital rape laws, half have “stalking laws” on the books Against children –3 million children a year are abused, 1 million of these involve serious harm including 1,100 deaths –Abusers are as likely to be women as men with no simple stereotype

Sociology, Tenth Edition Alternative Family Forms Single parent families –28 percent of U.S. Families with children under 18 have only one parent in the household –78 percent of these families are headed by women Cohabitation –10 percent of all couples, or 5.5 million, only 50% decide to marry Gay and lesbian couples –Although some European countries accept same-sex marriage the U.S. Congress has banned it Singlehood –In % of U.S. Women aged were single, by 2000 the number had risen to 75%

Sociology, Tenth Edition FAMILIES AND PREDICTIONS Divorce rates remain high –More equality between sexes Family life will be variable –All kinds of units will be called families Men will continue to play a limited role in child rearing –Many dads will remain absent from household scenes Economic changes will impact families and reform marriage –Less quality time as work demands more from parents New reproductive technologies –Ethical concerns about what can and what should be done