FAD Exam 1 50 mult choice 2pt each Chapter 1 Why Study Families and Other Close Relationships DEFINING FAMILY Legal definition According to the US Census Bureau a family is two or more people living together who are related by birth marriage or adoption Heterosexual and homosexual unmarried partners are not classified as a family Social Science Definition A relationship by blood marriage or affection in which members may cooperate economically may care for children and may consider their identity to be intimately connected to the larger group Includes Family of Orientation the family you are born into Family of Procreation the family you make through marriage Fictive Kin nonrelatives whose bonds are strong and intimate Nuclear Family A family composed of adults and their children colonial American families Extended Family A family composed of grandparents children and other relatives such as grandparents Companionate Family A marriage based on mutual affection sexual attraction compatibility and personal happiness FUNCTIONS OF FAMILIES Marriage an institutional arrangement between persons to publically recognize social and intimate bonds Anthropologist William Stephens said marriage 1 Is a socially legitimate sexual union 2 Begins with a public announcement 3 Undertaken with some idea of permanence 4 Assumed obligations to spouse and any children Marriage norms eligibility social acceptable age etc whom ceremony behaviors be loyal help one another etc Functions of Marriages and Families Include Regulation of Sexual Behavior Requires marriage outside of the inner family circle determines who can have sex with whom and under what circumstances they can do so Reproducing and Socializing Children every society must produce new members and ensure socialization the process by which people learn the rules expectation and culture of society Property and Inheritance When couples accumulate worldly goods they will be distributed to children family others after they die became important to identify heirs monogamy ensured men would know who their heirs were Economic Cooperation A family is the group responsible for providing its members with food shelter clothing and other basic needs there was often gender divided distribution of labor male vs female tasks Social Placement Status and Roles Families give their members a social identity and position such as class religious affiliation and racial ethnic identity Statuses the positions that people occupy in a group or society Roles the behaviors associated with those positions Care Warmth Protection and Intimacy Humans need far more than food shelter and clothing to survive they also need emotional care LINKING THE MICROLEVEL AND MACROLEVEL PERSPECTIVES ON FAMILIES Social Structure the patterns of social organization that guide our interactions with others shapes our relationships Micro level Focus on the individual and his or her interactions in specific settings Factors include Personal behavior choices feelings communication decisions constraints and values Macro level Focus on the interconnectedness of marriage families and intimate relationships with the rest of society Factors include Culture History Power and Inequality Family as a Social Institution a major sphere of social life with a set of beliefs and rules organized to meet basic human needs Includes economy political system dominant religion Social Status the positions that people occupy in a group or society Includes Sex Race Ethnicity Social Class Social Movements and Social Change FAMILIES ARE ALWAYS CHANGING Marriage Patterns Includes Monogamy marriage between one man and one woman Polygamy A system that allows for more than one spouse at a time gender Polygyny A marriage pattern in which husbands can have more than one unspecified wife Authority Patterns Includes Patriarchy a form of social organization in which the norm or expectation is that men have a natural right to be in positions of authority over women Matriarchy a form of social organization in which the norm or expectation is that the power and authority in society would be vested in women Egalitarian The expectation that power and authority are equally vested in men and women Colonial American Families Business Schools Churches Indentured Servants Slave Trade Resilient Broken Families Institutions correctional health welfare Colonial America African Americans and Slavery The poor and working class Work conditions dangerous unsanitary inhumane Housing crowded substandard lacked sanitation Family strain violence crime alcoholism Middle and upper class Breadwinner Husband works wife raising kids Childrearing less children working because they were moved away from farms Rise of the modern family WW1 11 and great depression men went to war women took there jobs Women and work men came back and took all the jobs some women didn t want to give up there positions Technology allowed work to be done quicker creating more free time Companionate family families were established with loving relatinships and personal happiness those were maintained by the good stay at home wife and husband coming home from work society tv etc facilitated this Domesticity of women see above Families today Married women working women entering work force men are not always the breadwinners impact families Economic disparity the economy is declining Undesirable jobs Late night jobs long hours etc are common and negativity Affordable housing hard economic times negatively impacting environment in which families are created THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE THEORY AND RESEARCH Goals of Family Research to provide a more objective window on the world because of the norm of families changed from one place to another or one time period to another uses The Empirical Approach an approach that answers questions through a systematic collection and analysis of data the goals of family research can 1 Describe some phenomenon 2 Examine factors that predict or are associated with a phenomenon 3 Explain the cause and affect relationships explain why event do or don t occur 4 Examine the meanings and interpretations of a phenomenon Methods of Research Survey like our extra credit gathers information about attitudes or behaviors through the answers that people give to questions Allows for lots of people to contribute In depth interview allows an interviewer to obtain detailed responses to questions Better information but less participation Experiment A controlled
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