1. Sociology 1301: Introduction to Sociology
Family
Sociology 1301: Introduction to Sociology
Week Six

2. Overview of Family
Family: A social institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups to care for one another, including any children.
Nuclear Family
Extended Family
Family of Orientation: The family in which a person grows up.
Family of Procreation: The family formed when a couple's first child is born.

3. “Other” Forms of Family
Household: People who occupy the same housing unit.
Cohabitation
Kinship: A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption.
Kinship Networks:
Families of Affinity: People who think of themselves as a family and wish others to see them that way.

4. Relationships w/ Extended Families
Locality: Residential pattern in relation to family.
Patrilocality
Matrilocality
Neolocality
Descent: The system by which members of a society trace kinship over generations.
Patrilineal Descent
Matrilineal Descent
Bilateral Descent

5. Overview of Marriage
Marriage: A legal relationship, usually involving economic cooperation, sexual activity, and childbearing.
Arranged Marriages: Alliances between extended families of similar social standing and usually involve an exchange not just of children but also of wealth and favors.
Romantic Love: Affection and sexual passion for another person.
Other Legal Relationships:
Civil Unions
Domestic Partnerships

6. Marriage & Social Status
Endogamy: marriage from within one's social group
Exogamy: marriage from outside one's social group
Homogamy: Marriage between people with the same social characteristics.
Miscegenation: The technical term for multiracial marriage.

7. Number of People Involved
Monogamy: A person can partner with only one other.
Polygamy: People have more than one spouse at a time.
Polyandry: A woman having several husbands.
Polygyny: A man taking several wives.

8. Divorce Rise in divorce rate has many causes
Individualism is on the rise
Romantic love fades
Women are less dependent on men
Many of today’s marriages are stressful
Divorce has become socially acceptable
Legally, a divorce is easier to get

9. Gender & Power Differences in Marriages
Egalitarian: Authority more or less equally divided between people husband and wife.
Patriarchy: Men dominate women.
Matriarchy: Women dominate men.
Gender & Marriage - Bernard (1982)
Married women actually have poorer mental health, less happiness, and more passive attitudes towards life than single women.
Married men generally live longer, are mentally better off, and report being happier overall than single men.
Second Shift: Women's responsibility for housework and child care despite working full time.

10. History of “Traditional Family”
Traditional Family: A heterosexual couple in a patriarchal relationship that live with their dependent children in a self- contained, economically independent household.
Developed in 1950s
Spurred by Industrial Revolution
Allowed by Economic Prosperity
Separation of Work & Home
Family no longer minieconomies but sites for consumption
Three main effects:
A gendered division of labor
Families more mobile
“Cult of domesticity"

11. Family & Structural-Functionalism
Functions of the Family:
Socialization
Regulation of Sexuality Activity
Social Placement
Material and Emotional Security

12. Family & Conflict Theory
What type of inequalities exist within the institution of family?

13. Family & Symbolic Interactionism
What type of symbols exist within the institution of family?
Roles
Tasks

14. References
Conley, D. (2008). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Henslin, J. M. (2008). Sociology: A down-to-earth approach (9th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Macionis, J. J. (2010). SOC100: Sociology: custom edition (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Massey, G. (Ed.) (2006). Readings for sociology (5th Ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.