4. WWhhaatt iiss tthhee FFaammiillyy?? ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Family as an institution has always changed in
response to its social, cultural, political, and
economic issues.
• Before the industrial revolution, “family” tended
to mean extended family or kin:
– An extended family is a large group of relatives,
usually including at least three generations living
either in one household or in close proximity.
– Kin is defined as relatives or relations, usually those
related by common descent.
4
6. WWhhaatt iiss tthhee FFaammiillyy?? ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Why has the family changed in America?
– Many functions formerly associated with the family
have been transferred to other institutions.
– Examples: work and production moved from the
family to the factory, education to the school, and
social welfare and medical functions to government
and the healthcare industry.
– Subsequent waves of social change – women’s
liberation and the push toward individual
independence and self fulfillment have begun to
erode the dominance of the family.
8. Household CCoommppoossiittiioonn::
11997700 aanndd 22000000
1970 2000
Married couples with
children 40.3% 24.1%
Married couples without
children 30.3% 28.7%
Persons living Alone 17.1% 25.5%
Other family Households 10.6% 16%
Other nonfamily households 1.7% 5.7%
10. DDiivveerrssiittyy iinn FFaammiilliieess
• Artistic representations of the traditional
family generally show a mother, father, and
their children all usually the same race. This
is known as:
– Endogamy refers to marriage to someone
within one’s social group (race, ethnicity, class,
education, religion, region, or nationality).
• Exogamy refers to marriage to someone
from a different social group
17. SSoocciioollooggiiccaall PPeerrssppeeccttiivveess oonn
tthhee FFaammiillyy –– FFuunnccttiioonnaalliissmm
• Durkheim – In his study on suicide, he found that marriage
and family, at least for men, decreased their chances of
suicide because these provide the structure and regulation
that Durkhiem believed people require to be happy and avoid
anomie.
• Parsons – argued that the “modern nuclear family was
especially complementary to the requirements of an industrial
economy” because it freed individuals from onerous
obligations to extended family members and made possible
the geographic and social mobility demanded by the modern
economy.
• In the most basic sense, the family is responsible for the
reproduction of society as it produces and socializes children,
passes values and norms from one generation to the next, and
creates emotional support. This helps society run smoothly.
18. SSoocciioollooggiiccaall PPeerrssppeeccttiivveess oonn
tthhee FFaammiillyy –– CCoonnfflliicctt TThheeoorryy
• Conflict theorists believe that society revolves around conflict over scarce
resources, and that conflict within the family is also about the competition
for resources: time, energy, and the leisure to pursue recreational
activities.
• The family can also allow exploitation through a sexual rather than a class-based
division of labor. Family is a gendered institution where men and
women experience it differently. Women usually have less power in the
household and their contributions to the family are devalued.
• Conflict theorists also look at domestic violence. They believe that
domestic violence occurs because of an unequal access to resources
within the family structure.
20. FFoorrmmiinngg RReellaattiioonnsshhiippss,,
SSeelleeccttiinngg MMaatteess
• The process of selecting mates is largely
determined by society and two concepts
(homogamy and propinquity) tell us a lot about
how this process works.
– Homogamy means “like marries like,” and is
demonstrated by the fact that we tend to choose
mates who are similar to use in class, race, ethnicity,
age, religion, education, and even levels of
attractiveness.
– Propinquity is the tendency to marry or have
relationships with people in close geographic
proximity.
22. FFoorrmmiinngg RReellaattiioonnsshhiippss,,
SSeelleeccttiinngg MMaatteess
• New Directions in Dating:
– The “hook-up” (pg. 362) – Some sociologists have argued that formal
dating is not as necessary as it once was. It is much easier for men
and women to socialize than it once was, so the idea of a “date” isn’t
necessarily the same. Also, rules guiding the social lives of college
students is a thing of the past.
• The “hook-up” is a new style of temporary relationship associated
with college culture where two individuals come together for a
short period of time and usually engage in some sort of physical
contact. The term itself is ambiguous as the contact can range
from kissing to sexual intercourse.
• Kennedy (2001) did a study that included 62 female college
students on 11 college campuses supplemented by 20 minute
interviews of 1,000 female college students nationwide.
23. FFoorrmmiinngg RReellaattiioonnsshhiippss,,
SSeelleeccttiinngg MMaatteess
• New Directions in Dating:
– “Hooking-up” Continued…
» Ultimately, hooking-up has changed the order of relationship for many
young men and women….sex first and then they discuss
relationships/dating later.
» Basically, this new form of relationship is appealing for a number of
reasons: it is a way to avoid hurt or rejection, students find the time
and activity restraints of a relationship stressful, because hook-ups are
rather ambiguous women are able to neutralize the stigma of casual
encounters, and men are able to imply that more actually occurred.
» Another reason hooking-up has increased is because religious
boundaries are not as strict in society toward sex before marriage as it
once was (this is also cause for the increase in cohabitation and
pregnancy before marriage)
» On a problematic note, hooking-up has led to an increase in the
prevalence of sexually transmitted disease on college campuses. Also,
there is an increase in pregnancy before marriage.
26. DDooiinngg tthhee WWoorrkk ooff FFaammiillyy
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Arlie Hochschild’s 1989 study of working
couples and parents found that women were
indeed working two jobs: paid labor outside
the home and unpaid labor inside the home.
• Hochschild referred to this situation as the
second shift (unpaid labor inside the home
that is often expected of women after they
get home from working at paid labor outside
the home).
29. FFaammiillyy aanndd tthhee LLiiffee CCoouurrssee
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Aging in the Family
– The American population is aging because of the
baby boom generation (the large number of
Americans born in the post World War II era).
– This is because current life expectancy in the
United States is seventy-seven years (with women
living an average of five years longer than men).
New technologies in medicine and overall
healthier lifestyles are the main causes for this.
30. FFaammiillyy aanndd tthhee LLiiffee CCoouurrssee
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Aging and the Family
– Planning for an aging population has implications for an entire
society. Retirement income is particularly important. Social
Security benefits provide much of this income. (80% of elderly
Americans are on Social Security and it is the only income for
54% of that group.) This could lead to elderly with limited
resources.
– Currently about 10 percent of the elderly live below the poverty
line.
– Also, the care of the elderly is no longer a primary function of
family: over 40 percent of senior citizens will spend time in a
nursing home.
– Finally, coping with the transitions of retirement, widowhood,
declining health, and death are central tasks for seniors.
31. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess
• “People are more likely to be killed, physically assaulted,
sexually victimized…in their own homes by other family
members than anywhere else or by anyone else, in our
society.”(Gelles, 1995)
• Domestic violence is any physical, verbal, financial, sexual, or
psychological behaviors abusers use to gain and maintain
power over their victims in the home or with family members.
This is the most common form of family violence.
• 1 out of every 3 women suffers physical violence at the hands
of an intimate partner at some point in her adult life.
• In addition, millions of women suffer verbal, financial, and
psychological abuse from those who are supposed to love
them.
32. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Rates of domestic violence are about equal across
racial and ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and
religious groups.
• However, women between the ages of 19 and 29
are more likely to experience domestic violence
than any other age group.
• Poor women are also more likely to be abused than
women with higher incomes.
• Women are five to eight more times likely than
men to be victimized by an intimate partner.
33. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Contrary to popular opinion, most abusive partners are not
“out of control,” nor do they have “anger management”
problems. In fact, most seem quite “normal” in public. They
deliberately decide to be violent with those least likely to
report the crime and over whom they maintain the most
control: family members.
34. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• A four-stage cycle of violence seems to occur in
almost every abuse relationship:
– Stage 1: The abuse partner is charming, attentive,
and thoughtful; disagreements are glossed over
and the relationship looks stable and healthy.
– Stage 2: Tension is building and this stage is often
described as “walking on eggshells.” Both parties
sense something will happen no matter what the
victim may do to avoid it.
35. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
– Stage 3: Acute battering and violence occurs, lasting
for seconds, hours, or even days. No matter what
happens, the abuser will blame the victim for the
incident.
– Stage 4: This is the “loving contrition” or
“honeymoon” stage. This is also the reason why
victims remain in the abuse relationship. The abuser
will apologize profusely and promise that it will
never happen again. They may bring gifts or even
talk about getting help.
• Most abusers, however, have no interest in changing
because they don’t want to give up control OR don’t
really believe they have a problem.
37. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Children and the elderly also suffer at the hands
of abusive family members.
• Child and elder abuse are likely to be
underreported, due in part to the relative
powerlessness of the victims and the private
settings of the abuse.
• Estimates believe that 47 of every 1,000
children in the US are abused in some way.
• About 5% of all seniors in this country have
been subject to elder abuse in some form.
39. TTrroouubbllee iinn FFaammiilliieess ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Another form of child abuse is incest (proscribed sexual
contact between family members; a form of child abuse when
it occurs between a child and a caregiver). This can have
devastating lifelong consequences.
• Elder abuse can include violence and abuse, as well as
financial exploitation, theft, neglect, and abandonment.
• Sometimes elder abuse can occur when a primary caregiver is
frustrated. This is especially problematic for Alzheimer’s
patients.
40. DDiivvoorrccee aanndd BBrreeaakkuuppss
• As of March 2002, the U.S. Census reported that
more than 123 million persons were married while
about 21 million were divorced.
• Research indicates that about 50 percent of all first
marriages now end in divorce and most who divorce
remarry. (75% of men will remarry compared to 67%
for women)
41.
42. DDiivvoorrccee aanndd BBrreeaakkuuppss ((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Remarriage rates in the US are actually lower
now than they were before the 1960s, a fact
attributable to cohabitation.
• Cohabitation is living together as a romantically
involved, unmarried couple.
• About 5 percent of all households are occupied
by couples who are cohabitating.
• This may reflect a certain caution about marriage
as a result of rising rates of divorce.
46. TTrreennddss iinn AAmmeerriiccaann FFaammiilliieess
• The textbook identifies four trends that are taking place in American
families:
• The first is an increase in the number of people who are single.
– Married couples were the dominant household model through the
1950s, but their numbers have slipped from nearly 80 percent to
just above 50 percent now. Currently, 30 percent of all households
are made up of people who live alone.
– Single include the following: people seeking a partner for a
relationship, gays and lesbians, people living alone in long-distance
relationships, people living in communes, widows/widowers,
minors in group homes, and some clergy members.
– Its more accepted for people (especially women) to live alone than
ever before.
47. TTrreennddss iinn AAmmeerriiccaann FFaammiilliieess
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• The second trend is an increase in the number of people who
are cohabitating
– More than 11 million people living with an unmarried
partner, including both same-sex and different-sex
couples.
– Marriage is no longer a prerequisite for childbearing (1/3
of all first births are to unwed parents)
– Most couples that choose to cohabit are 25 – 34 y/o
– Growing economic independence of individuals today,
resulting in less financial motivation for marriage.
– Finally, changing attitudes about religion have made sex
outside of marriage more socially acceptable.
48. TTrreennddss iinn AAmmeerriiccaann FFaammiilliieess
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• Cohabitating Cont’d
– Some sociologists believe that another reason for the
increase in cohabitation is that the “functions” of marriage
have changed so much that there is actually very little
need for marriage beyond tradition.
– In earlier years, women were almost required to get
married if they wanted to move away from their parents.
– There was a great deal of social pressure for marriage,
especially if you wanted a sexual relationship.
49. TTrreennddss iinn AAmmeerriiccaann FFaammiilliieess
((ccoonntt’’dd))
• The third trend is an increase in the number of single parents.
– Currently, one-third of all first births are to unmarried partners.
– Some actually choose to raise a child without the support of a partner
– adoption, artificial insemination, and surrogacy are increasing.
– Only 10% of single parents are single fathers.
– Edin and Kefalas (2005) – dispelled the myth that low-income single
mothers have children to cash in welfare benefits. Instead, they
found that for these young women, having a baby is a symbol of
belonging and being valued. Being a good mother is an acceptable
role that can generate respect and admiration in the community.