1. Introduction to Sociology SOC-101
Unit 8 – Marriage & Family

2. Marriage and Family Global Perspective
The term family is difficult to define since there are many types of families
Types of marriages
Polygyny - Societies where men have more than one wife
Polyandry – Societies where women have more than one husband
Family
A group of two or more people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage (or adoption)
Live together (or has lived together)
Household
Consists of all people who occupy the same housing unit

3. Marriage and Family Global Perspective
Nuclear family - Husband, wife, and children
Extended family - A nuclear family plus other relatives
Types of families
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
Marriage
A group’s approved mating arrangement
Usually marked by a ritual

4. Marriage and Family Global Perspective
Common themes run through the concepts of marriage and family
Each group establishes norms to govern who can and cannot marry
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within one’s own group
Exogamy is the practice of marrying outside one’s own group
The incest taboo is the best example of a norm of exogamy
Some norms of mate selection are written into law, others are informal

5. Marriage and Family Global Perspective
Three major patterns of descent (tracing kinship over generations) are:
Bilineal - Descent traced on both the mother’s and the father’s side)
Patrilineal - Descent traced only on the father’s side
Matrilineal - Descent traced only on the mother’s side
Mate selection and a system of descent are regulated in all societies in order to provide an orderly way of passing property, kinship, etc., to the next generation
In a bilateral system, property passes to males and females
In a patrilineal system, property passes only to males
In a matrilineal system, property passes only to females

6. Marriage and Family Global Perspective
Authority
Patriarchy
A social system in which men dominate women
Found in all societies
Matriarchy
A social system in which women dominate men
No historical records exist of a true matriarchy
Egalitarian
A social system authority is more or less equally divided between men and women

7. Polygamous Family

8. Theoretical Perspectives
Functionalists
Stress that to survive, a society must meet certain basic needs
They examine how the family, in turn, contributes to the well- being of society
The family is universal
It serves functions essential to the wellbeing of society
Includes economic production, socialization of children, care of the sick and aged, recreation, sexual control, and reproduction
Incest taboo
Rules specifying which people are too closely related to have sex or marry
Helps the family avoid role confusion and forces people to look outside the family for marriage partners, creating an extended network of support

9. Theoretical Perspectives
Conflict Theorists
The issue is the struggle over power
Argue that within the family, the conflict over housework is really about control over scarce resources—time, energy, and the leisure to pursue interesting activities
There are many dual earner families today but women still pull the “second shift” leaving many women dissatisfied with their marriage
The balance between power in marriages has led to the rising divorce rate

10. Theoretical Perspectives
Symbolic Interactionists
Look at the meanings people give to their experiences
For example, they are interested in how husbands view housework
Research indicates that men are doing more housework and childcare than they used to
Both genders are spending more time taking care of children and women are spending less time doing housework
Jesse Bernard
Husbands and wives “see” their marriages in different lights which causes a lot of dissatisfaction
Looks at the meaning of housework
Looks at how the definition of family, marriage, and divorce has changed over the past 50 years

11. Family Life Cycle

12. The Family Life Cycle
Romantic love provides the ideological context in which people in the United States seek mates and form families
Romantic love has two components:
Emotional - A feeling of sexual attraction
Cognitive - A feeling we describe as being “in love”
The social channels of love and marriage in the United States include age, education, social class, race, and religion.
Homogamy - The tendency of people with similar characteristics to marry one another, usually resulting from propinquity (spatial nearness)
People living near one another (in close proximity) tend to marry

13. The Family Life Cycle
Interracial marriage is an exception to these social patterns
In the U.S. about 7% of the population marries someone from a different race
At the same time, interracial marriages are becoming more acceptable
The number of children that Americans consider ideal has changed over the years
Religion and age are factors in the size of the family
Protestants and Roman Catholics who attend services more often favor large families
Younger Americans (ages 18-34) also prefer larger families than older Americans

14. The Family Life Cycle
Traditionally, child rearing automatically fell on the mother
As more mothers become employed outside the home, this has changed
Overall, childcare arrangements appear to be quite similar for married couples and single mothers
The main difference is the role played by the child’s father while the mother is at work
For married couples, almost one in five children is cared for by the father
For single mothers this arrangement occurs for only one of ten children
Grandparents often help to fill the child care gap left by absent fathers

15. The Family Life Cycle One in four children is in day care
Only a minority of U.S. day care centers offer high-quality care, primarily due to the abysmal salaries paid to day care workers
Social class is also important in child rearing
According to Melvin Kohn, parents socialize children into the norms of their respective work worlds
Working-class parents want their children to behave in conformity with social expectations
Middle-class parents are more concerned that their children develop curiosity, self-expression, and self-control

16. Who takes care of preschoolers while the mother is at work?

17. The Family Life Cycle The later stages of the family life cycle
Aside from the death of a spouse, the “empty nest” syndrome is not so empty anymore
Grown children, or “adultolescents,” those aged 25-29, represent 42% of those who have moved back home
Problems include disruption of routines, and disagreements about turf, responsibility and authority
More U.S. children are leaving home later, or returning after initially leaving home; this is due to prolonged education and the growing cost of establishing households
Women are more likely than men to face the problem of adjusting to widowhood
Not only does the average woman live longer than a man, but she has also usually married a man older than herself

18. Blended Family

19. Diversity in U.S. Families
African Americans Families
Differs depending on social class
The upper class is concerned with maintaining family lineage and preserving their privilege and wealth
The middle-class focuses on achievement and respectability
Poor African-American families face the problems that poverty brings—sharing scarce resources and “stretching kinship” are primary survival mechanisms for poor families
Sociologists use the term fictive kin to refer to the nonrelated individuals who help the family out in hard times
A marriage squeeze (fewer unmarried males than unmarried females) exists among African Americans
African American women are more likely to remain single, to marry men with less education, or who are unemployed or divorced

20. Diversity in U.S. Families
Latino Families
Differ due to both social class and country of origin
Latino families can be distinguished by the Spanish language, Roman Catholic religion, and strong family ties, with a disapproval of divorce
There is also a diversity of Latino families with regard to some being Protestant, not speaking Spanish, some emphasizing loyalty to the extended family
Still, social class is the most important variable in determining family life

21. Diversity in U.S. Families
Asian-American Families
The family life of recent immigrants is closer to that in their country of origin
Bob Suzuki identified distinctive characteristics
Many families have adopted the nuclear family pattern of the United States
At the same time, they have retained Confucian values
This provides a distinct framework to family life: humanism, collectivity, self-discipline, hierarchy, respect for the elderly, moderation, and obligation
Children confront a world of incompatible expectations: those of the new culture and those of their parents

22. Diversity in U.S. Families
Native American Families
Most significant issue facing Native-American families is whether to follow traditional values or to assimilate
“Traditionals” speak native languages and emphasize distinctive Native American values and beliefs
One Parent Families
Increase in one-parent families due to both the high divorce rate and the sharp increase in unwed motherhood
Most of these families are poor because they are headed by women who earn less than men
Children from one-parent families are more likely to drop out of school, become delinquent, be poor as adults, divorce, and have children outside of marriage

23. Diversity in U.S. Families
Families that are voluntarily childless
There are a growing number of this type of family
The percentage varies with the education of the woman
The more education she has, the more likely she expects not to bear children.
Latinos are much less likely to remain childless than whites and African Americans
Reasons for not having a child
A weak relationship, financial constraints, or demanding careers are among the reasons identified
More education, careers for women, effective contraception, abortion, the costs of rearing children, and changing attitudes toward children and life goals

24. Diversity in U.S. Families
Blended Families
A blended family is one whose members were once part of other families (i.e., two divorced persons marry and bring their children into a new family unit)
Increasing in number and often experience complicated family relationships
Homosexual Families
Gay families have the same problems of heterosexual marriages: housework, money, careers, problems with relatives, and sexual adjustment

25. Heads of Households with Children Under 18

26. Trends in U.S. Families
The average age of U.S. brides is the oldest it has been since records were first kept
The percentage of unmarried women is now more than double what it was in 1970
Many young people postpone marriage, but not cohabitation
If cohabitation were counted as marriage, rates of family formation and age at first marriage would show little change
Cohabitation
11 times more common today than it was 30 years ago
Commitment is the essential difference between cohabitation and marriage
Marriage assumes permanence
Cohabiting assumes remaining together “as long as it works out.”

27. Trends in U.S. Families Unmarried mothers Grandparents as Parents
This refers to mothers in cohabitative relationships and has risen along with cohabitation
Grandparents as Parents
More grandparents are fulfilling the parental role as more parents are working
Sandwich Generation
Families who are taking care of their children and their parents at the same time
Often this responsibility is taken on by the daughter

28. Divorce Rates in the U.S.

29. Divorce and Remarriage
The United States has the highest divorce rate in the industrialized world
Estimates suggest that half or more of all couples getting married today eventually divorce
Divorce rates rose between 1950 and 1980 and since then the numbers have leveled off
Divorce has increased because of: changing norms, less stigma, and governmental policies
The effects of divorce on children are varied

30. Divorce and Remarriage
Each year over one million children in families are affected by divorce
Research has found that the grown children of divorce feel more distant from their parents than children from intact families
They are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce
Research shows that children’s adjustment to divorce is affected by the relationship(s) their mothers form after divorce
Those whose mothers entered into a single, stable relationship had the best adjustment

31. Divorce and Remarriage
Several factors help children adjust to divorce
When both parents express understanding and affection
The parent with whom the child lives is making a good adjustment
Family routines are consistent
The family has adequate money for its needs.
Children adjust better when a second adult can be counted on for support

32. Divorce and Remarriage
Serial Fatherhood
Divorced fathers tend to live with, support, and play an active fathering role with children of the woman to whom they are currently married or living
Over time, contact with their children from a previous marriage diminishes
Current research suggests that divorced women may feel divorce gives them a new chance at life
We don’t yet know the financial impact of divorce as more research is needed

33. Divorce and Remarriage
Most divorced persons eventually remarry
Most divorced people remarry other divorced people
Women with small children, and women with less than a high school education, are more likely to remarry
Men are more likely than women to remarry
Perhaps due to the fact that they have a larger pool of potential mates from which to select
The divorce rate for remarried people without children is the same as that of first marriages
Those who bring children into their new marriage, however, are more likely to divorce again
This suggests that remarriages with children are more difficult because there are not yet norms governing these relationships

34. What reduces the risk of divorce?

35. Two Sides of Family Life
The dark side of family life deals with events such as battering, child abuse, and incest
Wives are about as likely to attack their husbands as husbands are to attack their wives
Generally the husband lands the last and most damaging blow
Some men who batter think they are superior and have a right to force their will on their wives
Child abuse is extensive
Each year, two million U.S. children are reported as victims of abuse or neglect
Incest is sexual relations between relatives, such as brothers and sisters or parents and children
It occurs most frequently in families that are socially isolated
The most common offenders are uncles, followed by first cousins, fathers/stepfathers, brothers, and finally, other male relatives

36. Two Sides of Family Life
There are a number of factors that make marriages work
Variables that produce happy marriages include:
Spending time together
Appreciating one another
Having a commitment to the marriage
Using good communication
Confronting and working through problems together
Putting more into the marriage than you take out

37. The Future of Marriage and Family
Despite its problems, marriage is not likely to disappear as a social institution because it is functional; we see it as vital to our welfare.
Certain trends appear firmly in place.
It is likely that cohabitation will increase, as will the age at first marriage and the number of women joining the work force, with a resulting shift in marital power toward a more egalitarian norm
It is not clear what the long-term trend in divorce will be
The recent decline may be a prelude to a longer-term decline, or it could be a lull before the rate rises again
Sociology can play a role in correcting some of the distortions associated with marriage and family life, as well as help formulate social policy that will enhance family life