Chapter 11 Flashcards
Two dominant family forms
Nuclear Family: includes adult male, adult female, and offspring
Extended family: multiple generations co-residing
Economic family
A group of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law, adoption. A couple may be of opposite or same sex.
Census family
a married couple, a common-law couple with or without a child and a lone parent of any marital status with atleast one kid
Monolithic bias
Considering one type of family as ‘normal’
Margrit Eichler on the expanding boundaries of family
argues we operate with a monolithic bas when thinking in terms of “family”. The concept itself signals we consider one ideal type of family as the norm. We should expand our understanding of what a family is. important aspects of a family include socialization, emotional relationships, residence, economics, sexuality, and reproduction.
Talcott parsons
said families no longer function as economic units of product. Functions become more specialized, specific roles for men, women, and children. Women have the expressive role and men have the instrumental role
Expressive role:
responsible for the emotional well-being of family members and the socialization of children
Instrumental role:
responsible for engaging in paid labour outside the home
Benefits of legalization of same-sex marriage
- Having access to each other’s employment benefits
- Able to apply to adopt or foster children
- Make decisions on your partners behalf in case of health emergency
- Rights and benefits in terms of inheritance in the event of the death of a partner
1986 Divorce act
Prior to its enactment, divorce was only granted on the basis of adultery, desertion or imprisonment, or when spouses lived separately for three years
1985 “no-fault” divorce laws
Reduced the waiting prior to being able to file for divorce to one year. Uncontested divorces were granted after a separation of 3 years
1997 amendments to the Divorce Act
- Child support calculated based on income of the non-custodial parent
- Standardization to ensure that adequate supports are provided children within the financial means of the supporting parents
- Income tax on child was removed
conflict theorists on family
assert that the family is organized to meet the needs of capitalism and to serve ruling class interests
symbolic interactionsist on family
perception is that symbolic meanings vary from one family to the next, and may even vary among members of the same family unit. Explore families as cooperative groups with shared interests
social reproduction:
the necessary activities that guarantee the day to day reproduction and survival of the population
Domestic labour
The activities required to maintain a home and care for the people who live in it
Erving Goffman on family
states that people play roles in daily life. Ones interactions will fluctuate depending on the situation, the setting, and the expectations of those with whom you interact
role strains
stress that results when someone doesn’t have sufficient resources to play a role or roles
feminist theory on family
say that families are primary sites for the continued subordination of women. No one family form is inherently natural or functional, they are specific to time and place
Eichler and Janet Finch on family
argue that imposing one family model that privileges men and subordinates women through its very structure is indeed a political and idealogical exercise
post-structuralist theory on family
¬ Analyze how discourse or language influences our thinking and shapes our behaviour
¬ Seeks to dismantle or deconstruct prevailing discourses about families
Goffman
argued that people are like actors in the theatre, everyone plays roles in daily life (multiple roles)
Feminist theory
The family is a site of continued domination of women
No one family type is inherently natural or functional
Rejects that assertion that women and men’s roles within families are a natural outcome of biological difference
Structural feminists
Gender disparity enabled and sustained through laws, social policies, and labour market practices
