Socio family
Course Logistics and Administrative Guidelines
Teaching Assistant Allocation:
The course utilizes two Teaching Assistants (TAs): Erin Fleming and Alena Kimberly.
The TAs alternate leading Friday conference sessions. For example, Alena leads sessions on specific Fridays, Erin covers others, and they swap responsibilities back and forth throughout the term.
A complete schedule specifying which TA covers each conference date is posted on MyCourses.
Exams and Grading Management:
The course includes two primary examinations.
To prevent conflicting grading styles, the instructor directly oversees and reviews all TA grading to ensure fairness.
If a student is dissatisfied with a grade, the instructor acts as a secondary resort.
For routine assignment preparation, post-grading reviews, performance advice, or initial grading concerns, students must contact the specific TA assigned to that topic or conference module.
TAs are topically aligned with specific conference materials and response chairs.
Attendance Policy and Excused Absences:
Conference attendance is directly tied to student grades. Unexcused absences result in a loss of grade points, and students do not need to submit notice for unexcused absences.
Decisions regarding excused absences are strictly made by the instructor, not the TAs.
To request an excused absence, students must email the instructor explaining their reasoning. The instructor evaluates the request, determines whether it is excused, and submits the score entry.
Conceptualization and Social Usage of "Family"
Perceived Characteristics of Family:
Common societal definitions of family center on mutual love, shared responsibilities, emotional intimacy, and a feeling of home (defined as an environment where an individual feels completely able to be themselves).
Family definitions extend beyond biological connections to include adopted individuals and close non-biological relationships (often expressed as "you're like family to me").
The Concept of Responsibility:
Responsibility within a family setting carries heavy historical and economic weight.
During childhood, adult family members bear legal and financial responsibilities to ensure basic survival, including providing food, housing, and financial security.
Commercial and Societal Appropriations:
The term "family" is used fluidly in broader society to evoke intimacy, love, support, and home-like safety.
Commercial enterprises leverage the term to appeal to consumers:
Olive Garden slogan: "We're all family here."
Usage by beer companies, insurance agencies, and pest control services.
Family acts as a symbolic marker across the life course, connoting deep emotional affection and mutual obligation that cannot be fully captured by alternative words in English or French.
Murdock's Classical Definition of Family and Contemporary Critiques
George Murdock's Structural Definition:
Sociologist/anthropologist George Murdock formulated a definition based on extensive cross-cultural research spanning five continents.
Murdock defined the family as a social group characterized by three mandatory features:
Co-residence (common residence).
Economic cooperation.
Reproduction.
According to Murdock's framework from the mid-20th century, all three criteria must be present simultaneously to classify a social group as a family.
Contemporary Limitations and Critiques of Murdock's Model:
Exclusion of Same-Sex Couples: The model presumes heterosexual pairings and fails to acknowledge homosexual couples.
Exclusion of Non-Co-resident Structures:
Fails to capture single-parent households or divorced parents who do not reside together.
Fails to account for LAT couples ("Living Apart Together"). LAT couples maintain a committed partnership and family identity while living in separate geographical locations (e.g., one partner living in Chicago and the other in Montreal) due to dual careers.
Mandatory Childbearing Assumption: Excludes childless or celibate couples by requiring biological or structural reproduction.
Exclusion of Non-Nuclear Co-residence:
Two adult siblings residing together do not fit Murdock's criteria.
A household consisting of a child, a mother, and a maternal grandmother fails Murdock's required standard.
Kinship Structure, Functional Roles, and Legal/Policy Evolutions
Kinship Structure vs. Functional Approaches:
Kinship-Structured Group: Defines family strictly by biological descent, blood ties, or legal status (such as formal adoption or surrogacy).
Functional Approach: Defines family based on the actual roles and care individuals perform for one another (such as feeding, shelter, emotional support, and guidance).
Functional Parental Example: A individual whose grandmother passed away when she was or years old, and whose father (a farmer) was emotionally and physically disengaged. She was raised by her friend's parents, who provided housing, meals, and assistance with college applications, effectively serving as substitute parents.
Legal Developments and Non-Traditional Structures:
Polyamorous Parentage: Contemporary courts have begun recognizing non-traditional structures. Recent judicial rulings have legally declared a third parent in polyamorous trios, including a landmark ruling in Long Island granting tri-custody to a three-person relationship.
Domestic Partnerships: Cities such as Somerville, Massachusetts, have expanded domestic partnership designations to multi-person or non-traditional cohabitant structures to facilitate healthcare access.
Governmental and Institutional Intersections:
Immigration: Government policy heavily relies on rigid family definitions to determine eligibility for immigration sponsorship.
US Social Security: Historical regulations dictate that a divorced individual is eligible for a portion of their former spouse's Social Security benefits only if the marriage lasted for at least years.
Marriage Laws: Statutory laws dictate legal boundaries for marriage (e.g., explicit prohibitions against marrying a sibling).
Canadian Framework: Canadian family policy increasingly emphasizes "form diversity" and "functional similarity" to adapt to changing demographics.
Census Metrics, Demographics, and Survey Methodology
Census Purpose and Household Classifications:
Census data is utilized to plan essential infrastructure, including roadways, healthcare facilities, hospitals, and housing.
Distinguishes between a "Census Family" and an "Economic Family".
Data collection relies on specific objective criteria questions rather than self-identification.
Modern censuses integrate categories to capture gender diversity, such as transgender and non-binary status.
Dormitory Standard: Students residing in university dormitories are explicitly excluded from being classified as a household or a census family.
Historical Context of the US Census:
The US Census has been conducted regularly since December 1790.
Unlike Canadian models, the US Census historically prioritizes the unit of the household (a trend dating back to the 1800s).
Historical Three-Fifths Clause: During the era of legal slavery, enslaved individuals were counted within a household but were calculated as only of a person ( ratio). This measure was implemented to cap the political and congressional representation of slave-holding states.
Survey Research Methodology and Limitations:
Social Desirability Bias: Respondents often alter survey answers to align with perceived social norms or expectations.
Welfare-to-Work Example: During the late 1990s US