SOC 100 (Exam 3)

Family as structure

approach to family; group of persons defined by ties of marriage, blood, or adoption

• focuses on legal relationships

• used by US Census Bureau

• benefits those who qualify

• privileges marriage

Family as household

approach to family; constituting a single household

• residential unit where resources are shared

• ~1/3 of households are non-family

• families may cross households

• transnational families

Family as roles

approach to family; social roles of husband/wife, mother/father, son/daughter, brother/sister

• gender differentiation and heterosexuality

• scripts associated with roles

Family as interaction

approach to family; creating and maintaining a common culture

• families created through interaction

• family as pattern of shared activities (sharing meals, celebrating holidays, taking vacations) rather than roles

Reasons for declining marriage rates

• economic and labor market changes

• pursuit of higher education

• changing gender roles (e.g. more women in workforce)

• cultural shifts (e.g. cohabitation)

Nuclear family

family of father, mother, and 2.5 kids

Extended family

kin networks extending outside or beyond the nuclear family

Endogamy

marriage to someone inside your social group

Exogamy

marriage to someone outside your social group

Monogamy

having one sexual partner/spouse at a time

Polygamy

having more than one sexual partner/spouse at a time

• polyandry: multiple husbands

• polygyny: multiple wives

Functionalist view of family

families perform important tasks to maintain social order

• primary socialization

• personality stabilization

Symbolic interactionist view of family

family members continually negotiate, define, and redefine roles

• socialization is bidirectional (parents → children, children → parents)

Feminist view of family

family can be site of exploitation, loneliness, and inequality

• division of household labor

• unequal power dynamics

• carework/second shift

Cohabitation

living together in a committed relationship without being married

• less stable than marriage

• resulting marriage if higher education, absence of children, and higher family income