Sociology Final Exam The Family Family a set of people related by blood marriage some other agreed on relationship or adoption who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society The family is a social institution or a cluster of social behavioral patterns social subsystems organized to meet basic social needs Families may be correlated to but are the the same as a Household or the people who occupy a housing unit Nuclear Family a married couple living with their unmarried children this type of family serves as the core on which larger families are built this is the normative structure Extended family a family in which relatives such as grandparents aunts or uncles live in the same home as parents and their children provides advantages such as stability since more people can provide assistance and emotional support in case of a death or illness and economic prosperity most common form of family in the world Family of orientation primary group we are born into varies in structure nuclear single parent or blended Family of procreation primary group we form later in life varies in structure conjugal nuclear single parent or blended Monogamy a form of marriage in which one woman and one man are married only to each other normative model serial monogamy a person has several spouses in their lifetime but only one at a time The US has the highest rate of re marriage among all developed countries suggests americans love marriage Polygamy an individual has several spouses at one time 1 most societies about 80 practice this form of marriage most common form of marriage in history Polygyny the marriage of one man to multiple women Polyandry the marriage of one woman to multiple men Kinship the state of being related to others kinship is culturally learned and is not totally determined by biological marital ties Family and kinship are not the same the family is a household unit and kin do not always live together or function as a collective body on a daily basis The United States follows a system of Bilateral descent both sides of a persons family are regarded as equally important Most societies about 64 give preference to one side or the other in tracing descent Patrilineal descent only the father s relatives are important in terms of property inheritance and emotional ties normative model Matrilineal descent only the mother s relatives are signi cant Societies vary in the way power is distributed within the family patriarchy males dominate all the family decision making matriarchy women have greater authority than men egalitarian family spouses are regarded as equals wives hold authority in some spheres and husbands in others This is beginning to replace the patriarchal family as the social norm in the US Con ict perspective the family contributes to societal injustice denies women opportunities that are extended to men and limits freedom in sexual expression and mate selection the family is also an economic unit that contributes to societal injustice as it is the basis for transferring power and children may be less privileged because of their parents socioeconomic status of a child s family will in uence their nutrition healthcare housing educational opportunities and life chances as adults 2 Interactionist perspective considers the intimate face to face relationships and what family means to each member learning gender race ethnicity via family dynamics socialization beyond childhood studies nd when the father is more involved children have less behavior issues stepmothers are more likely than stepfathers to accept blame for bad relations with their stepchildren more equality in a relationship increases chances families will stay together Functionalist perspective the family grati es the needs of its members and contributes to social stability and performs 6 paramount functions Reproduction couples reproduce to replace dying family members Protection the family assumes the ultimate responsibility for protection and upbringing of children Socialization mothers and other kin monitor children s behavior and transmit the norms values and language of their culture to their child Regulation of sexual behavior standards of sexual behavior are most clearly de ned within the family circle ex only adults can have sex no incest Affection and companionship family provides members with warm and intimate relationships helping them to feel satis ed and secure Provision of social status We inherit a social position because of the family background and reputation of our parents and siblings as well as ascribed status based on race and ethnicity Criticisms of functionalist Emphasis on nuclear White middle class families neglects understanding of the diversity in American families at all times Neglects family violence assumption of instrumental expressive roles ignores roles of other institutions such as school on children and minimizes in uence of other institutions on family Feminist perspective look at single women single parent households and lesbian couples 3 Gender inequality double shift inequality fosters violence women care for husbands but not vice versa In many traditional cultures courtship is de ned largely through the interaction of two sets of parents who arrange marriages for their children In the US courtship often requires individuals to rely heavily on intricate games gestures and signals courtship seems to be taking longer than usual in today s time this could be because of concerns about nancial security and personal independence Endogamy speci es the groups within which a spouse must be found and prohibits marriage with others strengthens group cohesiveness by marrying within your own kind normative model Exogamy requires mate selection outside certain groups usually ones family or kinfolk incest taboo a social norm common to virtually all societies prohibits sexual relationships between certain culturally speci ed relatives Homogamy the conscious or unconscious tendency to select a mate with personal characteristics similar to our own Parents in the US value love highly as a rationale for marriage and encourage their children to develop relationships based on love and affection despite this high divorce rates and in delity are a big part of the family experience in Societies with arranged marriages engineered by parents economic considerations play marriage less frequent among lower class most likely because of the legal found to be more
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