Socy 1000- Final Exam Study Guide

T or F: Family is a Institution of society

True, it’s the second major institution of society

What does the Institution of Family do?

A social institution is a set of instructions, so the institution of family tells you how to get married and how to set up your family

Do people all around the world follow the same instructions for their marriages?

No, people in other societies follow different sets of instructions

We don’t have much _____ - _____material in the Institution of Family section, which may be because sociology doesn’t do much _____ - ______ associations

cross-cultural (x2)

In America, what “instructions” do we follow when it comes to marriage?

We follow monogamy

What does Monogamy stand for?

mono = one

gamy = marriage

• A kind of marriage in which each partner is only married to another at a given time

What type of marriage is the following quote describing,  “A form of marriage in which each partner is married only to the other partner at a given time”?

This quote is describing Monogamy

What part of this quote is significant when talking about Monogamy,  “A form of marriage in which each partner is married only to the other partner at a given time”?

“...at a given time…” is significant because now-a-days, people are repeating the cycle of marriage, divorce, and remarriage over and again. Some people refer to this as “Serial Monogamy”

What is Serial Monogamy?

It’s when a person is only married to one other, at a given time, and will have a series of monogamy marriages

What person was mentioned in class as being part of Serial Monogamy?

Liz Taylor who was married 8 times. She married 7 men, one of the men she married twice and divorced twice

What does Polygamy stand for?

poly = many

gamy = marriage

• When an individual is married to more than one person at a given time

What type of marriage is the following quote describing, “A form of marriage in which an individual is married to more than one person at a given time”?

This quote is describing Polygamy

What part of this quote is significant when talking about Polygamy, “A form of marriage in which an individual is married to more than one person at a given time”?

The definition doesn’t specify the sex of the individual who is married to multiple people

Polygamy is a _____ category. There are different types of Polygamy, such as the most common form of Polygamy,  _____.

general; Polygyny

What does Polygyny stand for?

poly = many

gyny = women

• When a man will have multiple wives at a given time

What type of marriage is the following quote describing, “A form of marriage in which a male is married to more than one woman at a given time”?

Polygyny

Polygyny is allowed and most often found in _____ societies

Islamic

Islam allows a man to take up to ____ wives

four

In the video about Polygyny, where did it take place?

It happened in Malaysia which is a predominantly Muslim country.

In the video about Polygyny in Malaysia, what was shown about this practice?

The man said that financial stability isn’t the most important thing, instead being able to deal with a household with four wives requires even greater skills and religious faith. But, a man MUST have the means to support more than one wife. Most men in these societies will marry monogamously, which is because they don’t have the means to support more wives.

What does the following quote in the Quran talk about, “If you fear you might fail to give orphan women their ‘due’ rights ‘if you were to marry them’, then marry other women of your choice—two, three, or four. But if you are afraid you will fail to maintain justice, then ‘content yourselves with’ one”?

This quote is referring to polygyny, this is the only quote that is in the Quran that refers to this. The number of wives is (supposed to be) limited to 4. The verse is also giving priority to orphan women, who at the time of this writing, couldn’t find husbands on their own. 

Did the prophet Mohammed have 4 wives?

No, he and many other wealthy men in islamic societies have gotten around this restriction.

What is the history behind the establishment of polygyny in islamic societies?

In ancient times, a lot of men died while in battle, so this resulted in an uneven ratio of women to men. Women relied on men for support, they couldn’t own land at this point in time. Men would still have sexual relations with these single women, which resulted in the women becoming single mothers (in 7th century arabia this would be a death sentence). Mohommad wrote the verse talking about polygyny so the surplus of women could be incorporated into families to be taken care of

We can understand the emergence of polygyny and explain it as due simply to ________

demographics

Polygany is an ______ practice, and now it’s entering the ______ age.

ancient; digital

In the video about Polygyny in the digital age: What ways do men find women in the modern era?

Apps that are kind of like dating apps except designed specifically for men who want more wives

In the video about Polygyny in the digital age: What country was this video taken in, and what is the history of polygyny in that country?

Indonesia (another Southeast Asian country which is predominantly Muslim). There is a resurgence in the interest of Polygyny in this country.

Polygyny is often ______ for oppressing women, it’s seen as a practice which sees women as the possessions of wealthy men. However, when we look at these different marriage practices, we have to ______ them through the eyes of the people that are following them. 

condemned; understand 

In the video of Polygyny in Malaysia: How do the women describe their experience? (this is understanding the practice through the eyes of the people that are following them)

They described their experience as a “sisterhood”, they saw mutual benefits that are offered to one another, no woman was burdened with childcare or taking care of the house.

What are the two forms of Polygamy we studied in class?

• Polygyny

• Polyandry

What does Polyandry stand for?

poly = many

andry = men

• When one woman is married to many men

Is Polyandry a common practice?

No, it’s rare and now-a-days is only commonly found in the upper regions of the Himalayas

What type of marriage is the following quote describing: “A form of marriage in which a woman has more than one husband at a given time”?

Polyandry

What is the specific type of Polyandry that’s found in the upper regions of the Himalayas?

Fraternal Polyandry

What is Fraternal Polyandry?

It’s when the brothers of one family are married to one woman

In the Himalayas, why is Fraternal Polyandry common there?

It’s caused by economics and a shortage of arable land, if the brothers were to marry separate women, then they might have to split the land they inherit from their parents (this is materialist). This would cause families to own little slivers of land, that wouldn’t be enough to sustain a family.

Why does Fraternal Polyandry make sense when talking about conflict?

The brothers are already family, and then they form a separate family with their common wife. They are much less likely to conflict with one another.

In Fraternal Polyandry, for every ____ boys born, there are ____ girls. Simply, there aren’t enough females to go around for the men to have their own wives.

1000; 850

In the video from National Geographic about Fraternal Polyandry, what is another reason that this is common in the Himalayas?

It’s a form of birth control. Women can only be pregnant so often, and in the Himalayas specifically, it doesn’t have much expansibility for a greater population.

Why will the practice of Fraternal Polyandry eventually stop?

It will be lost because of western ideals and values (will be transmitted through movies which usually have themes of western style love and romance).

When talking about Fraternal Polyandry and the first video we watched: What did the daughter say or think about this practice?

She wanted to have only one husband to love, BUT (we heard the weight of tradition and culture) she then said “I will marry brothers, I will follow the tradition of Fraternal Polyandry, I will not embarrass my parents”

What does the question, “When are you going to get married?” represent?

It represents the institution of marriage speaking to you from someone else

What is an Institution?

It’s a set of instructions for how you are going to set up a part of your life

What is the Institution of Marriage?

It lays out a set of instructions which say that at a certain age, you should get married. Everyone expects to get married one day.

What is the following scenario showing, “First, you must find someone decent to marry, you will do that in a kind of market that you shop around in. You’ll date a number of people and reject defective products, until you find the one who gives you the best deal”?

This is showing Mate Selection

What theory is the following quote describing, “There are costs and benefits entailed in every relationship or interaction. An interaction continues if both people receive social and psychic rewards from one another. If either person finds the interaction to be costly, it will stop. A relationship may also reduce outside costs for one or both people”?

It’s describing the Exchange Theory, which is a kind of paradigm. This quote is describing how this theory assumes that people make choices and follow a course of action based on their calculations of cost and benefits.

When talking about the Exchange Theory: if something leads to very high benefits, but also entails high cost, what is the net benefit?

It’s low net benefits 

When talking about the Exchange Theory: if something has a low net benefit, are people more likely to do that thing?

No, people will choose to do things that promise to have high net benefits, they’ll choose things that seem to be the most beneficial at a low cost

When talking about the Exchange Theory: in the case of relationships, two people will form a relationship because that relationship is mutually _____ so the relationship will continue. However, if one person is not contributing as they should, then that relationship will ____.

beneficial, die

We can understand all three theories of Mate Selection in terms of _____ and benefits, and ______.

costs; exchange

What does homogamy mean?

homo = same

gamy = marriage

• Marrying someone that is much like yourself, someone who has the same characteristics

What is the following quote describing, “The tendency of like to marry like. People of similar age, race, religion, nationality, education, intelligence, health, stature, attitudes, and countless other traits tend to marry one another to a degree greater than would be found by chance”?

This quote is describing Homogamy. People tend to marry someone who is the same age, ethnicity, religion, education level, etc., these are demographic characteristics. People tend to marry others within their own demographic categories.

How can we understand Homogamy through the Exchange Theory?

People who are similar to one another are more likely to understand one another. This is a big benefit, because one is more likely to relate to each other on some level.

What is the following quote describing, “Marriages in which spouses have different characteristics, including race or ethnicity, age, or religion”?

This is describing Heterogamous marriages. These are marriages that the people have different characteristics. These marriages have a lot of friction or misunderstanding in them because the people are very different from one another.

How can we understand Heterogamous marriages through the Exchange Theory?

People who are different from each other are more likely to misunderstand or have friction, this is costly. People in these marriages tend to be less happy. These marriages are more likely to result in divorce. 

What is the following quote describing, “Individuals of equal physical attractiveness will more likely pair with one another; this gives each partner a greater “payoff” than would be had in selecting a less attractive partner and minimizes the risk of being rejected by someone more physically attractive”?

This is describing the Matching Hypothesis Theory, which says that people tend to mate with those of equal physical attractiveness.

How can we understand the Matching Hypothesis Theory through the Exchange Theory?

He has physical attractiveness to a certain value, and he is giving his physical attractiveness to his pattern, so he will want physical attractiveness that is equal to his own. She is going to want physical attractiveness that is equal to hers. Basically they are exchanging one another’s looks. If they are matched on physical attractiveness, then it’s an even exchange.

Complementary Needs Theory gets down to the ______ level. This was studied in the ____’s.

Psychological; 1950 

What is the following quote describing, “Different personality traits along the same continuum provide, when they are paired in a couple possessing each of them, a sense of “completeness""?

This quote is describing the Complementary Needs Theory, which says that people who have opposite personality traits go together. It supports the old saying of “opposite attract”, people with opposite traits are more likely to pair up.

How can we understand the Complementary Needs Theory through the Exchange Theory?

People who are opposite are more likely to pair up because they don’t have the other’s personality traits. If a person is really quiet, then they will pair up with a person who is really talkative so they can fill in the silence and vice versa.

In all three theories of Mate Selection, they are working at the same time and ____ down the selection of a mate until one remains.

narrowing

Marriage in our own society has changed ______. People have had _____ reasons for getting married, there have been different motivations behind marriages.

historically; different

What are the three forms of Marriage?

• Institutional Marriage

• Companionate Marriage

• Individualized Marriage

What are the characteristics of Institutional Marriage?

• Dominant prior to the 1960’s

• Couple may not actually like each other, all that matters is that they are married and within the institution of marriage

  • Lavender marriages were because of this

• Still can happen today in ultraconservative religious organizations, which bans divorce

Institutional Marriage is really a _____ _______.

social formality

What is the following quote describing, “The following of established marriage patterns and the taking on of traditional marital roles because marriage, as an institution, is dominant and culturally valued, but with little concern about whether the marriage partners were compatible or would love one another”?

This quote is describing Institutional Marriage, and how people do this just so they can be considered married and in the institution of marriage. The people who are in the marriage don’t actually have to like each other. 

What are the characteristics of Companionate Marriage?

• The couple lives and acts and a unit

• The couple feels a sense of friendship and sexual attraction towards one another

• The couple feels in a sense, like neither of the partners could get along in society with the other

• Has companionate love

What is Companionate Love?

It is a steady kind of love. It can be sustained for the long run, it’s a constant sense of fulfilment in the relationship

What is the following quote describing, “A marriage “held together by sentiment, friendship, and sexuality”.”?

This quote is describing Companionate Marriage, and what it’s held together by

What is the following quote describing, “A type of love that develops gradually and is not necessarily tied to sexual passion but is based on more rational assessments of the one who is loved”?

This is describing Companionate Love, which is the opposite of passionate love (dangerous, and often short-lived)

How did the Ancient Greeks see Passionate Love?

They described it as a “diseased hysteria”. The Greeks saw this love as dangerous, since it cannot be sustained indefinitely.

What are the characteristics of Individualized Marriage?

• Found by Cherlin

• Each partner is thinking about what they are individually getting out of the marriage

• Each partner somehow wants the marriage to enhance their life

  • If a partner isn’t getting what they want out of a marriage, then they will leave and go somewhere else

• Marriage isn’t about “us”, it’s about “me”

• May be a less stable marriage

  • Cherlin describes it as the deinstitutionalization of Marriage

What is the following quote describing, “A flexible form of marriage in which each focuses on their own identity and emotional needs. The marriage is expected to enhance each partner’s ability to develop and express their selves and to have personal satisfaction. “In contrast, they are less likely than in the past to focus on the rewards to be found in fulfilling socially valued roles such as the good parent or the loyal and supportive spouse””?

This quote is describing Individualized Marriage, which is a form of marriage that is about oneself rather than the couple.

 What type of Marriage is the following picture showing? 

• Institutional Marriage

  • Circles are far apart in this form of marriage, since they don’t have to like one another

 What type of Marriage is the following picture showing? 

• Companionate Marriage

  • Circles are interlocked, and overlapped with one another since the couple likes one another and can be described as not being able to function in society without the other

 What type of Marriage is the following picture showing?

• Individualized Marriage

  • Circles are far apart but with arrows moving in between them to show that they don’t have the tightest bond and they are getting something out of the marriage

Identify all of the parts of the picture of Marriage and describe what they are showing,

• Box = institution of marriage

• Circles = married couple

What is the following quote describing, “A term coined by Andrew Cherlin to describe how, in contemporary society, “the social norms relating to marriage have weakened,” and as a result, people are less certain about how to form marriages and to live married lives and are freer to experiment with other arrangements of intimate and sexual relationships”?

This is describing the Deinstitutionalization of Marriage. It has become this because now the instructions for the institution of marriage are no longer clear, people don’t know how to live married lives, so they are making up their own set of instructions (which is why you’ll see a lot of people with innovative marriage arrangements like dual-residence or open marriages)

What do new parents need to figure out in order to properly raise their baby?

They need to learn the task of Child Socialization

What is the following quote by Calhoun talking about, “The process through which individuals internalized the values, beliefs, and norms of a society to learn to function as its members”?

This quote is talking about socialization. This quote refers to values, beliefs, and norms that one should have when growing up in a society.

What is Socialization?

It’s how the individual becomes a well-adapted member of society. One learns how to get along in society, get their needs met, and ideally contribute something along the way. It’s how “boys come to act right”.

What does Functionalism assume?

It assumes that there is one overarching set of norms and values. There is an overall consensus on norms, values, and beliefs

What is Sub-Culture?

It’s a variation on the general norms and values of a society.

Every social class has it’s own ________. Different social classes _____ children in different ways. A social class will _____ into its own particular norms and values

subculture; socialize (x2)

What did Annette Lareau do in the early 2000’s when it comes to socialization?

She did qualitative research on socialization and families within different social classes. She looked at the socialization of children within the middle class and the working/lower class.

What is Qualitative Research?

It’s research that is done on the scene, the researcher observes directly what’s happening. It’s presented with detailed descriptions of social scenes and things that’ve happened. This research is also presented with quotes from research subjects themselves. 

How was Annette Lareau’s research qualitative, what did she do?

She was able to get into doctors examining rooms and watch children interacting with physicians, she was also able to physically ride in the backseat of families SUV’s, so she could quietly observe the dynamics in the family and how the children interacted with others.

What was Lareau’s conclusion in her article, “Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Child-rearing in Black Families and White Families. American Sociological Review 67:747-776”?

In this article, she compared the socialization of children in the middle class to the socialization of children in the working/lower class. She also compared socialization in white families and the socialization in black families. She found that there was no difference between how white and black families raised their children. The conclusion she reached was that social class is the only difference in the socialization of children.

According to Annette Lareau, upper class black families raise their kids ____ ____ ____ as an upper class white family.

the same way

What did Lareau call the child socialization of middle-class parents?

She called it “Concerted Cultivation”

What is the following quote by Lareau describing, “Middle-class parents schedule their children’s leisure time with formal activities and reason with them in a deliberate effort to optimize their children’s personal and intellectual development”?

This quote is describing “Concerted Cultivation” that is present in middle-class parents when they are socializing their children. The children in middle-class families will most likely be booked up every night of the week. However, the kids most likely never asked to be in all of those programs, groups, sports, etc, but the parents put them there.

What did Lareau see in middle-class parents when it comes to “Concerted Cultivation”

The parents are trying to create superkids, every night they are driving their kids place to place. Conversations between middle-class parents and their children tend to be more complex. They also tend to reason with their kids, since they want their kids to understand and question problems and situations. The kids develop their own independent way of thinking.

How does middle-class parents and their “Concerted Cultivation” socialization affect their kids?

Because the kids are taught to question problems and solutions, the kids develop an independent way of thinking. They become more aware of their own interests and how to get what they want. Lareau sees the kids developing a sense of entitlement that will translate into their school and adult age years. 

Why does Lareau describe middle-class children having an  “Emerging sense of entitlement”?

The middle-class kids aren’t afraid to ask for things. They actually are very assertive when doing so, because they think they deserve special things. Lareau observed this in schools, and the interaction between the child and their teacher.

What is Lareau describing in the following quote, “Children, too, asserted themselves at school. Examples include requesting that the classroom’s blinds be lowered so the sun wasn’t in their eyes, badgering the teacher for permission to retake a math test for a higher grade, and demanding to know why no cupcake had been saved when an absence prevented attendance at a classroom party…They were displaying an emerging sense of entitlement by urging adults to permit a customized accommodation of institutional processes to suit their preferences”?

Lareau is describing what she saw in middle-class children and their emerging sense of entitlement when in schools. She saw that the children want customized accommodations, some of which may not be provided according to the rules. 

How did Lareau describe how working and lower class parents socialize their kids?

She described these parents as having a hands-off approach to parenting.

Who is Lareau describing when talking about parents socializing their kids, “Accomplishment of natural growth”?

She is talking about lower to working class parents. These parents assume kids will just grow up on their own. So, the parents don’t feel the need to proactively do anything for their kids' development. The parents just do the bare minimum of feeding, dressing, and letting the kid grow up.

What is the following quote by Lareau describing,  “Parents and these classes allow their children their own space and freedom to decide how they will use their time; it is assumed that children will develop on their own once given basic necessities”?

This quote is talking about how parents in the lower to working classes go along with “Accomplishment of natural growth”. They let their kids make their own decisions, without any real guidance, since the parents assume the children only need the basic necessities provided in order to grow up. 

Who is Lareau describing with having an, “Emerging sense of constraint”?

She is describing the children in the lower to working classes. The kids in these classes won’t ask for anything (certainly not anything customized like kids in the middle-class). These children will defer to authorities and preferably avoid them all together (they don’t have a sense of entitlement)

What is Lareau observing in the following quote, “In classroom observations, working-class and poor children could be quite lively and energetic, but we did not observe them try to customize their environments. They tended to react to adults’ offers or, at times, to plead with educators to repeat previous experiences, such as reading a particular story, watching a movie, or going to the computer room…[T]he boundaries between adults and children seemed firmer and clearer…[T]hey did not seem to be seeking to get educators to accommodate their own individual preferences”?

This is Lareau observing children in the lower to working class, in a classroom setting. She noticed that the kids in the lower to working class did not request accommodations with teachers but instead, asked the teachers to repeat previous experiences they did in the classroom (like read a particular story, watch a movie, etc.). She observed that the lines between kids and adults were clearer. The kids didn’t have a sense of entitlement so they wouldn’t “fight back or argue” with their teacher over something, since they didn’t grow up in that environment where that was encouraged or taught.