Lecture 9: Families Flashcards
family
people who are related by blood one way or another or through legal ties
Nuclear Family
straight relationships who are socially accepted and with one or more child
traditional nuclear family
straight relationship with traditional gender roles
polygamy
nuclear family with one or more spouses (usually women) to the household
extended family
adding another generation one or more of the spouses parent of the household
marriage
ideally long-term sexual and economic union between a man and a woman
structuralist functionalist
- Social stability depends on how well the family performs these social functions
- The family has important social functions
how family performs social function
- Role specialization increases efficiency of family functioning
- Socialization
- Social scripts
important social functions
1 Regulated sexual activity
2. Economic Cooperation
3. Reproduction
4. Socialization
5. Emotional Support
crude marriage rate
of marriages that occur in a year for every 1000 people
crude divorce rate
of marriages that occur in a year for every 1000 people
conflict and feminist theories
- argue that institutional displacements are responses to changes with power relations between women and men
- idea that power relations between women and men explain prevalence in different family forms
canadian law and marriage
- prohibits polygamy
- marriage of convivence is illegal in canada
polygyny
marriage of one man to several wives
Sororal polygyny
one man married to several wives who are sisters
polyandry
marriage of one women to several husbands
serial monogamy
series of marriages to different partners (only one at a time)
critique of functionalist perspective
- ignores family abuse and sexual violence
- not clear in explaining why families and society change
- assumes society has one set of norms and values
- not tolerant of families differing from traditional nuclear family
conflict theory and families
- focuses on inequalities within structures
- negative influences affect power relationship and inequality
- families compete with other social institutions on limited resources
gender socialization examples
boys expected to be aggressive, girls nurturing
2. widespread acceptance that a women can only be fulfilled as a wife and mother
feminist theory: role of gender
- gender socialization
- gendered division of labour
- family relations (by extensions, society as whole) based on patriarchal system
gendered division of labour
household:
- - women expected to care for children
workforce:
- - higher levels of pay in traditionally male dominated occupations
symbolic interactionsim core criteria
- focus on communication between couple
- follows how they develop and maintain relationships
symbolic interactionism understandings
- seeks to
interpret meanings of words and
actions to understand relationships - individuals develop a sense of self/status/role through attitudes
and relationships with others - develop a sense of the roles they are
expected to fulfill
