Transcript Introduction to Sociology: Chapter 13

Introduction to Sociology: Chapter
13 - Family and Religion
Roderick Graham
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Family
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A social institution found in all societies that unites people in
cooperative groups to care for one another, including any children
Kinship
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A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption
Marriage
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A legal relationship, usually involving economic cooperation as well as sexual
activity and childbearing
Family: Global Variations
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Extended Family
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A family composed of parents and children as well as other kin
Includes everyone with “shared blood”
Nuclear Family
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A family composed of one or two parents and their children
The nuclear family is the type we see on television and is
considered the middle class ideal
Marriage Patterns
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Endogamy
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Exogamy
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Marriage between people of different social categories
Monogamy
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Marriage between people of the same social category
Limits marriage prospects
Marriage that unites two partners
Permitted by law in higher-income nations
Polygamy
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Marriage that unites a person with two or more spouses
Permitted by many lower-income nations
Constructing Family Life:
Micro-Level Analysis
“One way of thinking about marriage and family…”
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The Social-Exchange Approach
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Describes courtship and marriage as forms of negotiation
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Dating allows the assessment of advantages and disadvantages of a
potential spouse
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Terms of exchange are converging for men and women
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Several distinct stages of family life across the life
course
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Courtship and romantic love
Ideal and real marriage
Child rearing
Family in later life
Courtship and Romantic Love
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Arranged Marriages
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Romantic Love
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Alliances between two extended families of similar social standing and
usually involve an exchange not just of children but also of wealth and
favors
Affection and sexual passion toward another person
Homogamy
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Marriage between people with the same social characteristics
Settling In: Ideal and Real Marriage
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American culture gives idealized picture of marriage
Sexuality also a source of disappointment
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Frequency of marital sex declines over time
Infidelity
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Sexual activity outside marriage
Another area where reality does not match the ideal
Child Rearing
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Big families pay off in preindustrial societies
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Children supplied labor
High death rate
Industrialization transformed children from asset to liability
Parenting is expensive, lifelong commitment
Family in Later Life
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Increasing life expectancy in U.S.
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“Empty Nest”
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Couples who stay married do so for a longer time
Requires adjustments
Less sexual passion, more understanding and commitment
Adults in midlife now provide more care for aging
parents
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“Baby Boomers” in their 60s are the “sandwich generation”
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Many, especially women, spend many years caring for aging
parents as they did for their children
Final and most difficult transition in married life
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Death of a spouse
Wives typically outlive husbands because of greater life
expectancy
Challenge greater for men
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Fewer friends than widows
Lack housekeeping skills
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After marriage couples have to make the transition
from “ideal” to “real” marriage. There can be
problems during this transition
Many times couples decide to divorce
The family is the most violent group in society with
the exception of the police and the military
Divorce
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Causes of Divorce
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Individualism is on the rise
Romantic love fades
Women are less dependent on men
Many of today’s marriages are stressful
Divorce is socially acceptable
A divorce is easier to get
Figure 13.2 (p. 386)
Divorce Rate for
the United States,
1890-2006
Over the long term, the
U.S. divorce rate has
gone up. Since about
1980, however, the trend
has been downward.
Society:The Basics, 10th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2009 by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
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Who Divorces
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Young couples are at greatest risk
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Especially after brief courtship
Lack money and emotional maturity
Also rises if couple marries after an unexpected pregnancy
People whose parents divorce have a higher divorce rate
More common if both partners have successful careers
Men and women who divorce once are more likely to divorce again
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High-risk factors follow from one marriage to another
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Divorce and Children
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Mothers gain custody but fathers earn more income
Well-being of many children depend on court-ordered child
support payments
Courts award child support in 57% of all divorces involving
children
3.2 million “deadbeat dads”
Federal legislation requires employers to withhold money from
earnings of parents who fail to pay
Remarriage and Blended Families
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Four out of five people who divorce remarry
Blended Families
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Composed of children and some combination of biological parents and
step-parents
Blended families must define who is part of the nuclear
family
Adjustments are necessary
Offer both young and old the chance to relax rigid family
roles
The Family and Violence
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Violence against Women
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Often unreported to police
700,000 people are victims of domestic violence each year
32% of women who are homicide victims are killed by spouses,
partners, or ex-partners
Women are more likely to be injured by a family member than a
stranger
Marital Rape Laws
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Found in all 50 states
Communities across U.S. have shelters to provide counseling and
temporary housing for women and children of domestic violence
The Family and Violence
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Violence against Children
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3 million reports of child abuse and neglect each year
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Involves more than physical injury
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Misuse of power and trust to damage child’s well-being
Child abusers conform to no stereotype
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1,500 involves a child’s death
More likely to be women than men
All abusers share one trait
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All abused themselves as children
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Profane
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Sacred
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Set apart as extraordinary, inspiring awe and reverence
Religion
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Occurring as an ordinary element of everyday life
A social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing
the sacred
Faith
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Belief based on conviction rather than on scientific evidence
Society:The Basics, 10th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2009 by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
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Sociologists categorize hundreds of different American
religious organizations along a continuum
Church at one end and sects at the other
And then there are cults
Church
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Church
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A type of religious organization that is well-integrated into the larger
society
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State church
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A church formally allied with the state
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Persisted for centuries
Considers everyone in the society a member
Denomination
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A church, independent of the state, that recognizes religious pluralism
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Hold to their own beliefs but recognizes rights of others
Sect
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Sect
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A type of religious organization apart from the larger society
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Charisma
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Rigid religious convictions, denies beliefs of others
Extraordinary personal qualities that can infuse people with emotion and
turn them into followers
Generally form as break-away groups
Actively recruit (proselytize) new members
Churches and sects differ in composition
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Churches (high social standing); sects (social outsiders
Cults
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Cult
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A type of religious organization that is largely outside a society’s cultural
traditions
Most spin off from conventional religion
Typically forms around a charismatic leader
Because some principles and practices are unconventional,
viewed as deviant or evil
Many demand adoption of radical lifestyle
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Sometimes accused of brainwashing
Religious Commitment in the US
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Eight in 10 people claim “comfort and strength” from religion
 More than half of U.S. adults are Protestants
 One-fourth are Catholics
 2% are Jews
Religious diversity stems from constitutional ban on government
sponsored religion and high immigrant population
Identification with religion varies by region
Religiosity
 The importance of religion in a person’s life
Figure 13.4 (p. 398)
Religiosity in
Global Perspective
Religion is stronger in the
U.S. than in many other
nations.
Source: World Values Survey (2006
Society:The Basics, 10th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2009 by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
National Map 13.1
Religious Membership across the United States
Society:The Basics, 10th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2009 by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
National Map 13.2
Religious Diversity across the United States
Society:The Basics, 10th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2009 by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
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Religion is changing in the U.S.
Sociologists focus on the process of:
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Secularization
Includes
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Civil religion
“New Age” seekers
Religious revival
Secularization
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The historical decline in the importance of the supernatural and
the sacred
Commonly associated with modern, technologically advanced
societies
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Science is the major way of understanding
More likely to experience birth, illness, and death in the
presence of physicians rather than church leaders
Will religion disappear some day?
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Sociologists say no
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Majority of people in U.S. profess belief in God
Conservatives view secularization as a mark of moral
decline
Progressives view secularization as liberation from
dictatorial beliefs
Secularization sparked by U.S. Supreme Court ban on
prayer in schools (1963)
Civil Religion
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A quasi-religious loyalty binding individuals in a basically secular
society
Religious qualities of citizenship
People find religious qualities in political movements
Involves a range of rituals
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Standing to sing the National Anthem
Waving the flag at parades
U.S. flag serves as a sacred symbol of our national identity
and expect people to treat it with respect
Religious Revival:
“Good Old-Time Religion”
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Fundamentalism
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A conservative religious doctrine that opposes intellectualism and
worldly accommodation in favor of restoring traditional, otherworldly
religion
Distinctive in five ways:
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Fundamentalists take the words of sacred texts literally
Fundamentalists reject religious pluralism
Fundamentalists pursue the personal experience of God’s
presence
Fundamentalists oppose “secular humanism”
Many fundamentalists endorse conservative political goals