Definition of Family: US Census
The U.S. Census Bureau's definition of family distinguishes
between households and families:
Household: all persons or groups of persons who occupy a
dwelling such as a house, apartment, single room or living quarters.
Family: "A family is a group of two
Definition of Family: Class
a family is an intimate
environment in which two people:
Live together in a committed relationship
Care for one another and any children
Share activities and close emotional ties
Fictive Kin
Fictive kin are people other than blood or legal relatives
who are accepted as part of the family group...they play
family roles. (ex: godparent, boyfriend of a divorced
mother, egg or sperm donor, family friend)
Because of the recent rise in single paren
Functions of The Family: 5 very basic and important
functions:
1.Regulation of sexual activity: They legitimize sexual activity.
2. Procreation and socialization of children (bearing and raising
children)
3. Provide economic security
4. Offer emotional support
5. Social Class Placement: establish family members place
nuclear family (or traditional family)
is typically made up of a husband, a wife, and their biological or adopted children.
Family of Origin
the biological family in which a person is
born.
Family of Orientation
family in which a person is raised.
Family of Procreation:
family a person forms by marrying and
having or adopting children
Extended Family
In much of the world, the most common
family form is the extended family which consists of parents
and children, as well as other kin such as uncles and aunts,
nieces and nephews, cousins and grandparents.
Kinship System:
Each type of family is part of a larger kinship
system, network of people related by blood, marriage, re-marriage or adoption
Marriage
Can be defined as a socially approved
mating relationship that people expect to the stable
and enduring. Some form of marriage is practiced in
every society, although there are many forms.
Norms
Are culturally defined rules for behaviors. The rules that a
group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs,
attitudes and behaviors.
Common characteristics of marriage
1.Share economic responsibilities
2. Sexual faithfulness
3. Bear and raise children
Bigamy
Marrying a second person while a first marriage is still
legal. It is listed as a crime in most western countries.
Myths about Marriage & Family
Families were simpler, happier and stronger in the past.
2. Marrying and having children are the "natural" things to do.
3. "Good" families should be self-sufficient.
4. Every family is always a loving refuge. All families provide love,
nurturance and emo
Residential Patterns
Patrilocal
The newly married
couple lives with the
husband's family.
Matrilocal
The newly married
couple lives with the
wife's family.
Neolocal
The newly married
couple sets up its own
residence.
Often residential patterns
reflect who has authority in the
Authority Patterns
Matriarchy
The oldest females
control cultural, political
and economic
resources....for the most
part, matriarchy
societies are rare
Patriarchy
The oldest males control
cultural, political and
economic resources (ex.
Saudi Arabia)
Egalitarian
Both partner
Endogamy
requires people to marry or have sexual relations within a certain group. These might include racial or ethnic groups or clans or tribes. Example: Orthodox Jews in the U.S.
Exogamy
Exogamy (sometimes called heterogamy) permits
marriage outside of one's own group. For example in
the United States, 24 states prohibit marriage between
first cousins.
Family Values: Three Perspectives
1. The family is deteriorating.
2. The family is changing, not deteriorating.
3. The family is stronger than ever.
The Family is Deteriorating
This perspective is worried we are in a marriage
crisis. The family is changing in unhealthy ways.
This perspective argues that couples who live
together and do not marry are selfish...they lack
individual responsibility and commitment.
Unmarried couple h
The Family is Changing, Not Deteriorating
This perspective argues the changes in the
family we are experiencing today are
extensions of long standing family patterns.
We are continuing to adapt to changing
circumstances.
The Family is
Stronger Than Ever
The family is changing in ways that will make it
stronger in the long run.
This perspective would argue that the family is much
more strong and loving today than it was in the past
because family members have more equitable roles
at home and are more acce
Two major demographic changes have had
far reaching consequences on family life:
1. U.S. birthrates have declined in recent years. Most
American women have been bearing fewer children.
2. The average age of the population has risen. The
average age of the population was 17 in the mid
1800's...it was 37 in 2007.
Micro-level influences on the family
include individual choices and social interactions;
Macro-level influences on the family
1. Economic forces (unemployment, lower paying
jobs);
2. Technological innovations...advanced
health/medical technologies have lead to longer life
spans;
3.Popular culture/mass media (television, Internet,
pop music, magazines, radio, ads, fads, fashion,
ethnocentrism
(looking at the world primarily from the perspective of one's
own culture).
Theory
A set of statements that explains why a phenomenon
occurs. They offer perspectives explaining why
processes and events take place.
* Theories drive research, help us to analyze our findings, and ideally, offer solutions for family problems.
Eight Theories about Family
1.Structural-functionalist theory
2. Conflict theory
3. Feminist theory
4. Ecological theory
5. Developmental theory
6. Symbolic interactionist theory
7. Social exchange theory
8. Family systems theory
Structural functional theory (MACRO)
explores the relationship between the family
and the larger society. Families are seen as essential for survival because they serve as a individual's primary source of emotional and practical training in society...families must be structured in a certain
Conflict perspective(MACRO)
It is a perspective based on the ways people struggle over power and compete for scarce resources. It focuses on how social structure promotes divisions and inequalities between groups. Society is seen as a system of inequality which causes tension betwee
Feminist perspectives (MACRO)
Feminist theories examine how gender roles�expectations about how men and women should behave�shape relations between the sexes in institutions such as policies, the economy, religion, education, and the
family.
Major concern: socially constructed expecta
Ecological (MACRO)
Ecological theory examines how a family influences and is influenced by its environment. Major concern: how the family adapts and reorganizes in response to changing environments.
The microsystem (roles and relationships that influence the child's daily l
Family Development Theory( MICRO)
pays close attention to changes in
families over time and attempts to explain family life in terms of a process that unfolds over the life course of families. Major concern: developmental tasks at various stages of in the family life cycle.
Critique: This
Symbolic-Interaction
Symbolic interaction theory looks at the everyday behavior of individuals. These theorists examine how our ideas, beliefs, and attitudes shape our daily lives as well as those of our families.
According to symbolic interaction perspective, each family mem
Social Exchange
The fundamental principle of social exchange theory is that people seek, through their interactions with others, to maximize their rewards and to minimize their costs. When a relationship bears more costs than benefits
for a person, the person is more lik
Family Systems
views families as functioning units that solve
problems, make decisions and achieve collective goals. The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of family members interdependent. A change in one person's functioning is predictably followed by r
Colonial Families
The family was
A self-sufficient business
A school
A vocational institute
A house of correction
A welfare institution
Assimilation
is when an ethnic group totally conforms to
their new culture, including interracial marriage. They
hold on to almost nothing from their original culture.
Acculturation
is the process of adopting the language,
values, beliefs, and roles of a host culture...not including
intermarriage. Newcomers merge with the host culture
in most ways.
Cultural pluralism
involves maintaining aspects of one's original
culture, including language and marrying within one's own ethnic group, while living peacefully with the host culture. Small groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities.
primary sex characteristics
as those physical characteristics at birth such as testicles for boys or ovaries for girls.
Secondary sex characteristics
are those that develop during
puberty.
Gender
refers to the learned attitudes and behaviors that characterize people as men or women. We learn to
be either women or men.
Gender identity
usually learned in early childhood,
is our perception of ourselves as either masculine
or feminine...
Gender roles
are the characteristics, attitudes, feelings, and
behaviors that society expects of females and males. The first place we learn about our gender roles in in our family.