postmodern family:
-single mothers;
-blended family;
-cohabiting couples;
-lesbian and gay partners;
-communes;
-and two worker families;
-the postmodern family is well suited to meet the challenges of the current economy and I an appropriate setting for raising children, who need capable, loving caretakers-regardless of their gender, marital status, or sexual orientation, argues Stacey;
family:
-a group of individuals related to one another by blood ties, marriage, or adaption, who form an economic unit;
-the adult members of which are responsible for the upbringing of children;
-all known societies involve some form of family system, although the nature of family relationships varies widely;
-while modern societies the main family form is the nuclear family, extended family relationships are also found;
kinship:
-ties are connections among individuals, established eiter through marriage, through the lines of descent that connect blood relatives (mothers, fathers, offspring, grandparents, etc.) or through adoption;
-in other cultures kinship is vital to social life;
marriage:
-socially acknowledged and approved sexual union between two adult individuals;
-when two people marry, they become kin to one another;
-marriage bond also connects wider range of kinspeople;
-parents, brothers, sisters and other blood relatives become relatives of the partner through marriage;
nuclear family:
-two adults live together in a household with their own or adopted children;
extended family:
-include grandparents;
-brothers and their wives;
-sisters and their husbands;
-aunts;
-nephews and so on;
families of orientation:
-the families into which individuals are born;
families of procreation:
-the families individuals initiate through marriage or by having children;
matrilocal:
-couple lives near the bride's parents;
patrilocal:
-couple lives near the husband's parents;
monogamy:
-a form of marriage in which each married partner is allowed only one spouse at any given time;
polygamy:
-a form of marriage in which a person may have two ro more spouses simultaneously;
polygyny:
-a man may have two or more wives at the same time;
polyandry:
-a woman may simultaneously have two or more husbands;
functionalism and the traditional family:
-the family performs important tasks that contribute to society's basic needs ad help perpetuate social order;
-socialists in functionalism regard the nuclear family as fulfilling specialized roles in modern society;
-with the advent of industrialization, the family became less important as a unit of economic production and more focused on reproduction, child rearing and socialization;
functionalism: primary socialization:
-process by which children learn their society's cultural norms;
functionalism: personality stabilization:
-refers to the role of the family in assisting adult family members emotionally;
functionalism: Parsons:d
-regarded the nuclear family as best equipped to handle the demands of industrial society;
-in the 'conventional' family, one adult can work outside the home while the second adult cares for the home and children;
-in practical terms, this specialization of roles involves he husband adopting the 'instrumental' role as breadwinner and the wife assuming the 'affective,' emotional role in domestic setting;
issues with functionalism and family:
-theories neglect the role of other social institutions-such as government, media, and schools-in socializing children;
-the theories also neglect family forms that do not reflect the nuclear family; families that did not conform to the white, suburban, middle-class ideal were considered deviant;
feminist approach to family: domestic division of labor:
-the way in which tasks are allocated among household members;
-feminists disagree about the historical emergence of this division;
-while some see it as an outcome of industrial capitalism, other link it to patriarch and see it predating industrialization;
feminist approach to family: unequal power relationships:
-domestic violence;
-wife battering, marital rape, incest, and the sexual abuse of children;
feminist approach to family: caring activities:
-encompasses a variety of processes, fro attending to a family member who is ill to looking after an elderly relative over a long period;
-sometimes caring means simply being attuned to someone's else's psychological well being;
affective individualism:
-the believe in romantic attachments as a basis for contracting marriage ties;
the most important changes occurring in families worldwide:
1. clans and other kin groups are declining in influence;
2. there is a general trend toward the free choice of a spouse;
3. the rights of women are more widely recognized, in respect to both initiating marriage and making decisions within the family;
4. kin marriages are less common;
5. higher levels of sexual freedom are developing in societies that were formerly very restrictive;
6. there is a general trend toward extending children's rights;
Asian American families:
-characterized by dependence on the extended family;
-in many Asian cultures, family concerns take priority over individual concerns;
-family interdependence also helps Asian Americans prosper financially;
-in fact, family and friend networks often pool money to help their members start a business or buy a home;
Divorce and children:
-almost all children experienced an initial period of intense emotional upset after their parents separate;
-most resume normal development without serious problems within two years after the separation;
-a minority of children experienced some long-term problems as a result of the breakup that may persist into adulthood;
cohabitation:
-two people living together in a sexual relationship of some permanence, without being married to one another;