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Family Life: (Discussion Points from Chapter 13:

 

1.         The family is the basic social institution.  All others, from economy to politics, education to religion, were originally performed within the context of the family.  What do the three theoretical perspectives of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism have to say about the institution of family?

 

2.         Some basic statistics that have created concern about today’s families:  The decline in what has long been perceived as the basic “traditional” family unit—the “nuclear family.”  Basic statistics:  From 1980 to 2002 married couple households declined from approximately 60 percent of all households to 52 percent of all households.  High divorce rates:  They remain among the highest in the world, today (Macionis claims that only Sweden’s divorce rate is higher than that of the U.S. p. 332) .  We seem to have reached a plateau of approximately 50 percent of all marriages being formed today ending in divorce and, according to Palen, only 50 out of 100 children today will make it to adulthood with their parents’ marriage intact (Palen, 2000).

 

            a.         Is this really a change?  Back in 1900 when the average life expectancy for both men and women was about 45 years,  about as many marriages were broken by the death of a spouse as are being broken today by divorce.

 

            b.         Relationships:  Peter Uhlenberg’s article, “Death and the Family” points out that in the past, large families were a necessity because parents could expect to lose a child or two.  This actually promoted “colder” relationships—You did not want to become too attached to something that you might lose.

 

3.         Just how do we define this “thing” we call family?  A very politically charged subject:  Sociologist John Palen uses term “National Family Wars”  to describe this concept.  Our text (Macionis) does not use this term, but the author does address the debate over definitions on p. 324.  For example, should gay couples be called a “family” in both official and legal terms?  Here are some approaches:

 

            a.         Census Definition:  Family = two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption, who are living together.

 

            b.         1996 Defense of Family Act:  Family = a married unit of one man and one woman.

 

            c.         Text’s Definition:  Family = “a social institution that unites individuals into cooperative groups that care for members, regulate sexual relations, and oversee the bearing and raising of children (p. 324)” 

 

            d.         What is a HOUSEHOLD?  Household =  persons, related or not, who occupy a housing unit.

 

4.         A functionalist view would argue that the family is a “preserver of social stability.”  Conflict theorists would argue that the family is a repressive institution perpetuating the power of men over women.  Some sociologists like David Popenoe argue that modern American society has placed emphasis of personal individualism and fulfillment above family responsibilities and that this has hurt American children?  What is the “new familism?”

 

5.         Family forms:  Know the following:  1.)  nuclear (or conjugal) family; blended family; serial monogamy.  2.) polygamous families; polygyny; polyandry; group marriage.  3.)  extended families; joint extended and stem extended

 

6.         What were the general effects of urbanization on the family during the 20th century?  Is it as important an institution as it was in the past?  Palen (2002) addresses the costs of raising children to the age of 17 for middle class parents is nearly $150,000.00.  For upper-middle class parents the cost increases to nearly $220,000.00.  And if you want to send your children to college--- Its even higher.  (There is an extremely high estimate that Palen cites from U.S. News and World Report in 1998—over 1.4 million dollars to raise a child!!!  Urbanization also causes specialization of functions and with other things leads to high divorce rates. 

 

7.         Mate selection and the importance of romantic love in choosing one’s spouse.  We base a life-long relationship on something called “romantic love” that occurs in our youth.  If we fall out of love and things aren’t satisfied with the relationship, we break it.  (Much like our approach to other aspects of our McDonaldized society).  Look at the various marriage filters in the text—ethnicity, religion, SES, age and race.  In the U.S. interracial marriages are rapidly increasing.  Generally the focus has been on Black-White marriages which average  about 2 percent of all marriages every year.  Impressive statistics given the fact that interracial marriages were illegal in some states as recently as 1967.

 

8.         Marital happiness;  The text cites conflicting data on this but then concludes that the evidence suggests that women are happier in marriage than are men—at least as expressed in interviews that have been conducted.  But it also concludes that women, like men are now focusing on work outside the home as a source of fulfillment and happiness, so they can be expected to express less enjoyment in marriage.  Is this true?  What are your feelings about this?

 

9.         Look at the divorce statistics by age, poverty, and social class.  The latter is interesting as there is an inverse relationship between social class and divorce.  Be prepared to compare rates by gender, education, race and ethnicity.  What are the statistics on remaining single?  (30 percent of men in their thirties and 20 percent of women!)

 

10.       Family abuse:  Is abuse in the family setting rising or are we getting better statistics?

 

 

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