Marriage and Family - Chapter 5

polygyny

societies where men have one more than one wife

polyandry

societies where women have more than one husband

family

a group of two or more people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage or adoption

household

consists of all people who occupy the same housing unit

nuclear family

husband, wife, and children

extended family

a nuclear family plus other relatives

family of orientation

the family in which a person grows up

family of procreation

the family formed when a couple’s first child is born

marriage

a group’s approved mating arrangement usually marked by a ritual

common themes regarding marriage and family:

mate selection, descent, inheritance, authority

endogamy

practice of marrying within one’s own group

exogamy

the practice of marrying outside one’s own group

bilineal

descent traced on both mother’s and father’s side

patrilineal

descent traced only on the father’s side

matrilineal

descent traced only on the mother’s side

patriarchy

social system in which men dominate women

matriarchy

social system in which women dominate men

egalitarian

social system authority is more or less equally divided between men and women

functionalists:

stress that to survive, society must meet certain basic needs/ examine how family contributes to the well being of society

conflict theorists:

struggle over power, argue that within the family the conflict over housework is really about control over scarce resources, time, energy, and the leisure to pursue interesting activities

symbolic interactionists

look at the meaning people give to their experiences

romantic love

provides the ideological context in which people in the US seek mates and form families

emotional romantic love

a feeling of sexual attraction

cognitive romantic love

a feeling we describe as being in love

social channels of love and marriage include

age, education, social class, race, and religion

homogamy

tendency of people with similar characteristics to marry one another, usually resulting from spatial nearness

widowhood

women are more likely than men to face the problem of adjusting to widowhood

fictive kin

nonrelated individuals who help the family out in hard times

marriage squeeze

fewer unmarried males than unmarried females

blended families

one whos members were once part of other families, two divorced persons marry and bring their children into a new family unit

same sex families

have same problems of heterosexual marriages: housework, money, careers, problems with relatives, and sexual adjustment

cohabitation

remaining together as long as it works out

unmarried mothers

mothers in cohabitative relationships and has risen along with cohabitation

sandwich generation

families who are taking care of their children and their parents at the same time, often taken on by the daughter