Chapter 1- 1 in 5 adults have divorced at least once- Divorce rates have been declining since peaking in 1981- “U.S. Divorce Rates Decline, Reasons Unclear”o per capita divorce rate (divorcees per 1,000 people)o rates declined since peaking in 1981- Marriage rate down by 30%- Cohabitation (living together without marriage) increasing rates- People getting married today have a 50% chance of getting divorced- A theme from the sociology of science: scientific evidence can always support a number of competing interpretations, the facts never speak for themselves- The Flat Earth Society: scientific evidence either supports this position or the evidence is a hoax- Three Basic Positions of Family Researchers:1. The Family is deteriorating2. The family is stronger than ever (parents spend more times with kids, sleep lessexhaustion)3. The family is changing, not deteriorating (emphasize the reality of the situation)- The role of public policy: what can the government do to help families in these troubled times? Affordable quality daycare, flexible leave time- The modern family is moving through unchartered waters, facing stresses and situations never faced before- Increase in both marriage partners working outside the home more moneyless fightingless divorce- Or “independence effect” (if both partners are working, disequality could lead to divorce)- Working housewives less willing to put up with crapmore divorce. - Competitive Global Economyo Job security is dead, downsizing and outsourcing to surviveo Increasing pressure for both partners tow ork in case on partner loses job, historical erosion of wages due to inflation, keep health insurance, housingcostso One income is not enough”Time Crunch”, Children issuesday careexpensive, safety issues (no national day care safety standards, safety standards vary from state to state)- Latch Key Kids-4 to 6 million pre-teens are unsupervised after school, these children are three times more likely to encounter trouble than children in the care of adultsmore accidents, more crime victims, more crime perpetrators- “Quality Time”-most meaningful interactions take place just hanging out- Declining Birth rate among industrialized nations, 2.0 kids per U.S. family, U.S. top heavy with old people- Tax working people more to support programs for the elderly? Cut services and benefits for the elderly? Generational warfare? Retirement age moved to 75?Chapter 2- Ecological Theoryo Microsystem: child and parentso Mesosystem: preschool, school, peers, extended family, religious groupso Exosystem: neighbors, legal services, school boards, friends of family, work, mediao Macrosystem: cultural values, attitudes, ideologies, war, economy, technology- Structural Functionalism: the family serves 2 important functions for any culture1. Produces new members2. Transmits the culture from generation to generation- Social conflict: focus is on family strife and struggle, struggleaction/outcome- Symbolic interaction: looks at the negotiation and development of meanings within families- Often a relationship between conflict theory and social interaction theory: the person with the most power tends to have the most success in defining the situation- Social Exchange: “rational actors”, Homogamy: people tend to marry those whose social assets are roughly comparable to their own- Family Systems Theory: originally interested in schizophrenia, treat it as a group problem not an individual problemvery sociological: the group is the unit of analysis- Many family systems theorists believe that there are “functional and “dysfunctional” families- Lennard and Bernsteino A “revised” family systems approacho The differences between “sick” and “normal” families really aren’t so greato Some families are dysfunctional most of the timeo Most families are dysfunctional some of the time- Family Systems Therapyo Presenting problem: the problem as it was originally statedo Index person: person with the problem as it was originally stated, “lightning rod”o Genogram: a picture of the extended family across generationso Ecomap: a picture of the family as it relates t other systems in its environmentgroup/organizational membership, occupations/hobbies, ethnic/racial membership, medical situations, health problemso Genograms should be multi-generational, include at least 3 generations- Video: “A Century of Women”o The importance of social movementso Organizing, putting pressure on powerful groups in business and governmento CHANGEChapter 3: Family in Historical Perspective- U.S. long-term trends over the past century: birth rates decreasing (smaller families), marriage rates decreasing- 1950s: birth rate increasing, marriage rate increasing- People tend to get married when they can afford to…in 1950s, the Great Depression is over and U.S. is at the top of the global economy…unprecedented period of affluence for the U.S. working class- The rise of suburbiao G.I. billjob trainingo G.I. loansmoney to buy a house, low interest mortgageo Husbands income alone was usually sufficiento Rise of “Familism”get married, buy a house, have lots of kidso Familism+McCarthyismsocial paranoia- Early 1960s: great plans and hopes- Late 1960s: disillusionment- 1970s: U.S. no longer at the top of the global economy, unemployment increase, inflation, meat shortage, coffee shortage, Arab oil embargo (gas prices increase)- U.S. is loosing its affluence: Watergate Scandal, Vietnam War lost, Ice Age?- Very depressing times. Where can you go to get satisfaction? Turn Inward.- The “Self-Fulfillment” Craze1970s: The “Me Decade”- The Michigan Studieso Compared peoples attitudes in 1957 and 1976o Conclusion: a psychological revolution took place in the 70’so People must recognize their inner needso Its OK to talk about your problemso Marriage partners are talking more about their needso More aware of adult “Stages of life”: midlife crisis, empty nest stageChapter 5: Socialization and Gender Roles- Sex: biological differences between male and female- Gender: social psychological, acting masculine or feminine- Gender roles: social scripts- How do we explain behavioral differences between males and females? Biological explanations, sociocultural explanations- Biological Explanationso Ancient Chinese: Yang-Masculine (bright, hot, active, positive), Yin-Feminine (dark, moist, cold, passive)o Freud: “Anatomy is