chapter 11 - marriage and family Flashcards
(26 cards)
social institutions
models of social activity followed my majority of society
social institutions involve…
- norms and values that ppl conform to
- are protected by strong sections
- “bedrock” in society because they structure social behavior
what is the most basic social institution?
the family; critical function of reproduction and primary agent of socialization
- varies among culture to culture and evolving
nuclear family
parents and unmarried children living together
- the “nucleus” or “core” upon which larger family groups are built
extended family
network of relatives connected through blood and marriage
family
two or more ppl living together, related by blood, marriage, or adoption
household
one or more people who occupy a house, apartment, other residential unit
trends in the US
- declining share of Americans living in married-couple families, esp those with kids
- increasing share living in families of other types + non-family household arrangement
- decline in overall household size
what factors are related to declining married couple families?
- divorce and rise of single-parent families
- declining fertility
- increasing numbers delaying or forgoing marriage
rise in single-parent families
- most headed by women
- driven by rise in divorce during 60s and 70s
- often bypass marriage, over half of single mothers never been married
single parents and welfare
most single moms and kids are not poor but face greater odds of being poor compared to other family types
- key issue in political culture wars, focus of national debate on poverty and welfare
declining fertility
- women having fewer children
- advances in reproductive control and changes in societal norms
delaying/forgoing marriage
- most people are postponing marry/not marrying at all
- staying single is a big change from traditional social expectations
- trend related to normative and economic change
cohabitation
- increasing numbers are living w/ unmarried partners
- 18-44: more common to have ever cohabitated (60%) than ever married (50%)
living alone
- increasing numbers of Americans living alone
- departure from historical norms esp for women
reasons for the US family changing (norms)
- gender roles and increasing economic independence of women
- greater acceptance of divorce/cohabitation/sex outside marriage + nontraditional living arrangements
reasons for the US family changing (economy)
- economic restructuring: deteriorating economic position of men, esp less educated
- marriageable men hypothesis
- increasing benefits of college education
marriageable men hypothesis
stable employment, decent income, similar education level, etc.
kinship
connections among individuals, established either through marriage or lines of descent
families of orientation
a person is born into/adopted in family
families of procreation
one enters as an adult, a new generation of children brought up
polygamy
illegal in the US; perimtted in lots of other countries
- polygyny: men married to more than 1 woman
- polyandry: woman married to more than 1 man (less common)
functionalist perspective
- a set of social institutions performs functions to ensure stability
- nuclear family fulfilling
- criticized for justifying household division labor as smth natural
