Society, Seventh Edition Family and Religion

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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”

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh Edition Figure 13-1 (p. 341) Percentage of College Students Who Express a Willingness to Marry without Romantic Love

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh 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%

Society, Seventh 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

Society, Seventh Edition Profane and Sacred Differentiating Between Ordinary & Extraordinary Emile Durkheim –Religion focuses on things that surpass the limits of our own knowledge Profane – “outside the temple”- Ordinary elements of everyday life Sacred – That which is extraordinary, inspiring a sense of awe, reverence, and even fear Religion – The social institution involving beliefs and practices based upon a conception of the sacred Ritual – formal, ceremonial behavior

Society, Seventh Edition Faith –Belief anchored in conviction rather than scientific evidence If not science, what? –Scientific sociology is interested in the consequences of religious belief rather than a direct critique of the belief systems

Society, Seventh Edition Structural Functional Analysis of Religion According to Durkheim religion has 3 major functions –Social cohesion – Unites people through shared symbols, values, and norms Totem – an object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred –Social control – The use of religious symbols and language to control human behavior has always been with us –Provides meaning and purpose – Personal spirituality allows humans to pass through tough times without total collapse Critical Evaluation – Downplays religion’s dysfunctions such as generating social conflict and violence

Society, Seventh Edition Symbolic-interaction Analysis of Religion Religion is socially constructed (although perhaps with divine inspiration). Through rituals like prayers, fasts, observances we sharpen the distinction between sacred and profane –According to Peter Burger placing our brief lives in some cosmic frame of reference gives us the semblance of security and permanence Critical Evaluation –Socially constructed religion only works if we ignore that it is a social construct – Downplays religion’s link to social inequality

Society, Seventh Edition Social-conflict Analysis of Religion Religion serves the ruling elites by legitimizing the status quo and diverting people’s attention from social inequities –Disrupts cultures with attempts to “convert heathens –Focuses on the “better world to come” Marx called it the “opium of the people” Critical Evaluation – Downplays religion’s efforts to promote social equality as in the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement

Society, Seventh Edition Religious Organizations Church – organization that is well integrated into society State church – formally allied with the state Denomination – independent of the state and pluralistic Sect – a type of religious organization that stands apart from the larger society –Leaders sometimes have charisma – extraordinaire personal qualities that can turn an audience into followers Cult – religious organizations that are substantially outside a society’s cultural traditions

Society, Seventh Edition History of religion IN PREINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES –RITUALS PRACTICED 40,000 YEARS AGO –EMBRACED “ANIMISM” ELEMENTS OF THE NATURAL WORLD ARE CONSCIOUS LIFE FORMS THAT AFFECT HUMANITY –NO FULL-TIME RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES –SCIENCE HAS OFTEN REPLACED RELIGION AS A SOURCE OF COMFORT AND CERTAINTY –SCIENCE IS SILENT WHEN IT COMES TO ANSWERING “WHY” WE AND THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE EXISTS –OFTEN THESE TWO BELIEF SYSTEM ARE AT ODDS WITH ONE ANOTHER

Society, Seventh Edition Figure 13-5 (p. 359) Religiosity in Global Perspective

Society, Seventh Edition Religion in the U.S. AFFILIATION –56.2% PROTESTANTS (20.6% BAPTIST) –25.1% CATHOLICS –14.7% NO PREFERENCE –2.3% JEWISH –1.7% OTHER OR NO ANSWER RELIGIOSITY –REFERS TO IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION IN A PERSON’S LIFE –TYPES: EXPERIENTIAL: EMOTIONAL TIES RITUALISTIC: FREQUENCY OF ACTIVITIES IDEOLOGICAL: DEGREE OF BELIEF IN DOCTRINE CONSEQUENTIAL: TIE INTO DAILY ACTIVITIES INTELLECTUAL: KNOWLEDGE OF RELIGION

Society, Seventh Edition National Map 13-2 (p. 360) Religious Membership across the United States

Society, Seventh Edition National Map 13-3 (p. 360) Religious Diversity across the United States

Society, Seventh Edition Religious Practices Are Found to Be Tied to Various Other Social Patterns Social class –High achievement: Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and United Church of Christ congregations –Moderate achievement: Methodists and Catholics –Lower achievement: Baptists, Lutherans, and members of sects –Jewish people tend to be represented among the higher achievers due to stress on education and achievement Race and ethnicity –Many religions are tied to specific regions and societies in America Irish Catholics, Anglo-Saxon protestants, Greek orthodox, Russian Jews, etc

Society, Seventh Edition Religion’s Changing Face Secularization – historical decline in the importance of the supernatural and the sacred –Religion isn’t going away, but rather some features are in decline Civil religion – A quasi-religious loyalty binding people in a basically secular society –American way of life has its core rooted in a moral belief system Religious revival –New age spirituality flourishes –Membership in mainstream churches dwindles –Interests increases in Fundamentalism – a conservative religious dogma that opposes intellectualism and worldly accommodation in favor of traditional otherworldly religion

Society, Seventh Edition Fundamentalism Interpret sacred texts literally Rejects religious pluralism Pursues the personal experience of God’s presence Opposes “secular humanism” Endorse conservative political goals

Society, Seventh Edition High-tech Some organizations especially fundamentalist are becoming electronic churches Prime-time preachers include: Oral Roberts Pat Robertson Robert Schuler 10 million regular watchers; 40 million watch some every week The internet is one of the most recent modalities to spread religion to people Pope John Paul II called it the “new evangelism”