Transcript Family= group of people who are related by marriage, blood or

The Family: CrossCultural Perspective
Chapter 12, Section 1
Family Systems

Family= group of people who are related by marriage,
blood or adoption who often live together and share
economic resources.
 Nuclear
family= one or both parents and their children.

An individual can be a member of overlapping nuclear
families, so there is a difference between family by birth
(family of orientation) and family by marriage (family of
procreation).

Family also extends past just parents and children, to what
sociologists refer to as extended family– two or more
generations of people living together.

Nuclear and extended families are part of a larger kinship
system, those who are related by marriage, birth or
adoption.
 These
kinship systems can be quite large.
Marriage and Kinship Patterns– Marriage
Partners
 Sociologists
refer to the term marriage as the set of
norms that establishes and characterizes the
relationship between married individuals.
 Though
there is no universal norm for # of marriage
partner, most industrialized nations practice
monogamy– where an individual is allowed to be
married to only one person at a time.
 Marriage
 Two
with multiple partners= polygamy.
forms:
Polygyny=
man is permitted to marry more
than one woman.
Polyandry=
woman is permitted to marry more
than one man.
Marriage and Kinship Patterns–
Residential Patterns
 When
individuals marry, they must decide where to
live. Rules of residence vary between societies.
 Patrilocality=
married couple is expected to live
near the husband’s parents.
 Matrilocality=
couple is expected to live near
the wife’s parents.
 Bilocality=
newly married couple is allowed to
choose whether they will live near the husband
or wife’s parents.
 Neolocality=
newly married couple is free to set
up residence apart from both sets of parents;
found in most industrialized nations.
Marriage and Kinship Patterns– Authority
 The
individual who is the authority in the family
has been changing over the years, and across
societies.
 Most
societies are patriarchal, meaning that the
father holds most of the authority.
Some
societies operate in a matriarchy, in
which the mother has the authority.
Often
times, the woman does not have the
true authority, and it resides with the father
or brother of the woman.
Recently,
more and more societies have moved
to an egalitarian system, in which the mother
and father share authority.
Functions of the Family

Families around the world share similar functions, though
how they fulfill these roles may differ in various cultures.
 Regulation
of sexual activity all societies have some
form of incest taboo (forbidding of sexual relationship
between certain relatives); however, the relatives
included in this taboo differ between cultures.
 Reproduction
the family helps determine childbearing
and child-rearing practices, and acceptable norms for
who to marry and when.
 Socialization
family is the primary agent of
socialization for young children; learn values, and norms
of society through family.
 Economic
and Emotional Security division of labor
within the family to make sure that all resources and
are met; families also guide psychological development
and provide individuals with a caring environment.
THE AMERICAN FAMILY
Chapter 12, Section 2
MARRIAGE

Traditionally, the ‘typical’ American family
included a working father, stay-at-home mother
and two or three children.

This has changed over recent years though.
Homogamy= marriage between those with similar
social characteristics.
 Heterogamy= marriage between individuals with
different social characteristics.


Heterogamy has become more prevalent and
accepted in American society.
The likelihood of heterogamy increases as people
interact more with those of different characteristics.
 Homogamy is the strongest when it comes to race.

DISRUPTIONS

Families can be affected by all of the following
disruptions to stability:
Violence
 Divorce
 Empty-nest syndrome


Divorce

Two factors contributing: 1) Looser laws and
lower costs; 2) Decreased economic dependence
of women.
TRENDS IN THE AMERICAN FAMILY

The following are general trends that have affected
the American family in recent decades:

Delayed marriage
Being single is more socially acceptable.
 Time to complete education and establish a career.
 In 2000, 59.5% of people age 15+ were married, compared to
71.7% in 1970.


Delayed childbearing
Education and career
 Sandwich generation take care of both young children and
aging adults at the same time (generally mid-thirties).


Childlessness
Some who delay childbirth wait too long; infertility
 Voluntary childlessness (generally) couples who are highly
educated and have high incomes voluntarily delay
childbirth.
 Career success may be very important.

TRENDS IN THE AMERICAN FAMILY

Dual-earner families= both male and female work for
a living.
More women in the workforce
 Women working out of economic necessity
 Family and Medical Leave Act 12 weeks unpaid leave


One-parent families
Around 25% of families with children under 18
 Women tend to be the main heads of households in these
families lack of money due to low-paying positions available
 Increased stress (Robert Weiss)





Responsibility overload
Task overload
Emotional overload
Remarriage
43% of marriages contain an individual who has been married.
 75% of those that get a divorce remarry
 Increase in ‘blended’ families adjustment period

MODERN FAMILY QUESTIONS
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
What types of families are shown in the
episode? What trends (discussed in class) do
they represent?
Which ‘family’ do you believe is most like the
‘typical’ American family? Why?
Which family matches your definition of a
‘modern family’ the most?
What challenges do each of these families face?
Do you feel like these three families are
representative are the ‘new’ types of families
that are emerging? Why or why not?