Family Flashcards
(16 cards)
The idea of the traditional (nuclear) family
Represents a historically particular and fleeting model
Heterosexual parents with kids (son and daughter with a pet)
1950s America: the nuclear family emerges as the dominant, normative, and mythical model for domestic life
The traditional nuclear family is not the norm anymore
Early 21st Century family model
46% of American households have two parents in their first marriage
There is no “typical” family in U.S. society today
What is a family?
A group of people who are connected by blood, a sexual relationship, or the law
Is the family in crisis?
The rise of single parenthood
Single parenthood is associated with negative outcomes for children’s life changes, though causation can be difficult to determine
What role do parents play in shaping their children’s life chances?
Social class predicts future wealth (income), success
A good predictor of high SAT scores is family income
Families are primary agents of socialization. What is socialization?
Socialization is the process by which we become culturally competent in our various social environments
What was Lareau’s study design?
In-depth interviews with 88 third-graders and their parents
Observation of two third-grade classrooms and 12 families’ homes
What are the two parenting styles?
Concerted cultivation (middle class)
Working class (natural growth)
What are characteristics of concerted cultivation?
Parents actively foster and assess child’s talents, opinions, and skills
Multiple child leisure activities are orchestrated by adults
Reasoning, Extended negotiations between parents and child
Weak extended family ties
Criticisms and interventions on behalf of child
What are the characteristics of natural growth?
Providing the conditions under which children can grow, but leaving leisure activities to children themselves
Child “hangs our” particularly with kin
Directives
Strong extended family ties
Dependence on institutions, mistrust institutions
What are the consequences of a natural growth parenting style?
Children develop a sense of constraint
They do not seem to be seeking to get educators to accommodate their own individual preferences
What are the consequences of a concerted cultivation parenting style?
Children develop a sense of entitlement
Middle-class children expect institutions to be responsive to them and to accommodate their individual needs
Which parenting style is often rewarded by social institutions?
Concerted cultivation
The contemporary education system:
Expects parental involvement
Responds to parents’ interventions
Responds to children’s self-advocacy
How much does concerted cultivation matter for social reproduction?
Lareau followed up with all of her respondents 10 years later
All but one of the middle-class children were enrolled in college and optimistic about their future careers
None of the students from working-class or poor families were
What are some limitations/critiques on Lareau’s case study?
Racism and legal status shape parenting in ways Lareau does not recognize
Lareau doesn’t acknowledge the complexity/agency of poor mothers’ innovative strategies for meeting the basic needs of their children
Working-class parents are starting to practice concerted cultivation as well
Maybe this study is revealing a divide between ideals vs. reality
Are there drawbacks to concerted cultivation?
The middle-class children seemed entitled
Working-class children were more polite and respectful and had stronger family relationships
