Why is Family Important?Families are social institutionsFamilies are important economicallyCombined incomeMarriages are monogamous and consist of a small household unit with parents with their childrenIdeal Family?Breadwinner-homemaker family“leave it to Beaver family”this contradicts the idea of progress and gender equalityis this ideal for most familiesnocost of living is much more than in the past; income has not risenfound in the extremely wealthynot doing the homemakingfound in very low incomecost of child care, transportation and clothes are more than staying at homeAcceptable Family Types1. Cohabiting partners with or without childrena. Common among college students but most common among divorced2. Divorced and remarried families3. Childless familiesPolitical DebateMarriage MovementConservatives and religious leadersChildrearing is the central purpose of marriageStopped the “public daycare system bill” from passingDaycare working like a public schoolDiversity DefendersLiberal activists, feminists, and social scientistsAdults should be free to choose the style of life they find most satisfyingIndividualism and FamiliesFamily life centered on marriage still preference of most AmericansHow do we approach life today?IndividualismUtilitarian Individualism-a person focused on careerExpressive Individualism- a person wants to find a emotion satisfaction in lifeGood marriage, friends, etc.Why divorce rate is so highfoundation of marriage is now emotional security instead of financial securityWhat is “Very Important” to Americans?survey most likely to be people around age 40The Public FamilyOne adult, or two adults who are related by marriage, partnership, or shared parenthood, who is/ are taking care of dependents, and the dependents themselvesWhat is important for the definition of public family is the act of taking care of dependentsPublic families produce valuable goods which are childrenCall people who don’t have children “free riders”The Private FamilyTwo or more individuals who maintain an intimate relationship that they expect will last indefinitely-or in the case of a parent and child, until the child reaches adulthood-and who live in the same household and pool their income and household laborBasis for intimacy, social support, emotional support and lovePublic and private FamiliesMethods for studying the FamilyImportance of ObjectivityAll studies start with a hypothesisExperimentsSurveysPhone callsCan only call people with landlinesLeaving out low income, young adult, elderly in nursing homesPeople hang upElderly are the ones most likely to answerInternet SurveyHighest rate of abandonmentMail SurveyMore likely to get a true responseInterviewsTypes of SurveysLongitudinalPrimary AnalysisSecondary AnalysisObservational Study(Field Research)Theoretical PerspectivesFunctionalist perspectiveAttempts to determine the functions or uses of the main ways in which a society is organizedTalcott parson’sRobert BalesOne adult member specializes in instrumental leadership (husband) and one group member to specialize in expressive leadership (wife)Breadwinner-homemaker familiesConflict perspectiveFocuses on inequality, power, and social change. Conflict theorists focus on how individuals or groups come to dominate others as well as the circumstances under which those who are dominated are able to reduce or eliminate the disadvantages they face.Randall Collins: men are able to dominate women in terms of physical force and control of economic resources.Breadwinner-homemaker family is an ideal setting for men to express control.Exchange PerspectivePeople are viewed as rational beings who decide whether to exchange goods or services by considering the benefits they will receive, the costs they will incur and the benefits they might receive if they chose an alternate course of action.Women often choose rationally to exchange the performance of household and childcare services in return for receiving the benefits of a man’s income.Symbolic-Interactionist PerspectiveFocuses on people’s interpretations of symbolic behaviorGeorge Herbert Mead human beings interpret other human beings symbols whose meanings we have come to understandSymbols gestures, words, appearancesThe symbols we interpret from others modify our own behaviorsFeminist PerspectiveThis perspective was developed to better understand, and to transform, inequalities between women and menCentral aspect of this theory is genderSocial and cultural characteristics that distinguish women and men in a societyGender roles create socially constructed gender differences. These gender differences arise form culturally accepted norms of power and authority in menLiving in a family is different experience for women that it is for menModernity PerspectiveThe modern erathe long period that began with the spread of industrialization to the mid-to-late nineteenth centuryeffectively ended in the last half of the twentieth century and has been replaced by a late modern erathe period between the last few decades of the twentieth century and the present day.Individuals today have more choices; personal identity has become more important.People do the work of developing their identities through reflexivity, the process through which individuals take in knowledge, reflect on it, and later their behavior as a result.Evolutionary Psychology PerspectiveDifferences in the roles of men and women have social, cultural, and biological originsSexual orientation can have a biological componentView that human behavior can be explained in terms of evolutionary pressure to behave in ways that maximize chances of reproductionExplains how why men and women pursue relationships differentlyHunter-gather relationshipsFamilies are Social InstutionsA social institution has a set of roles and rules that define a social unit of importance to societyThe rules of the role of parent, spouse, child, etc, offer us guidance about how to act in these roles.An institution can grow stronger or weaker over time, it can take on somewhat different forms at different times and places, and at times can be difficult to define.Is our understanding of family more public or private?The BeginningsThe first families were hunter-gatherers.About 10,000 years ago, humans discovered the advantages of remaining in one place and planting crops.Patrilineages and MatrilineagesToday, most families are conjugal families: a kinship group consisting of a