4family

the family

what is a family?

a group of related individuals who live together and cooperate as a unit

has long been the basic building block of human societies

varieties of the family

family of orientation: the family in which they grew up

family of procreation: the family they established through procreation

varieties of the family

In trying to understand variations in the family of different cultures, sociologists

have paid the most attention to:1. family composition

2. norm of mate selection3. rules of residence and descent

4. rules of authority

family composition

nuclear family: as being made up of a married couple and their younger children – this groups lives together apart from other relatives, also called conjugal family

extended family: includes not only the nuclear family but also grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, also called consanguine family

mate selection

arranged marriages: parents choose mates for their children

exogamy: marrying outward; finding their partners outside their clan, tribe or village

endogamy: marrying within; marrying within their own clan, tribe, or village

mate selection

monogamy: the marriage of one man to one woman

polygamy: having more than one spouse; may be polyandry for women or polygyny for men

serial monogamy: a succession of marriage, divorce and remarriage

rules of residence, descent and inheritance neolocal residence: establishing a home of

their own, away from both families of orientation patrilocal residence: requires the bride to leave

her family of orientation and live with her husband in the home of his family of orientation

matrilocal residence: requires the young couple to live with the bride’s family of orientation

rules of residence, descent and inheritance patrilineal descent: they define the

father’s family as a child’s close relatives matrilineal descent: descent is traced

through the line of the mother’s family bilateral descent: tracing children’s

ancestry through both sides of the family

rules of authority

patriarchal: eldest male dominates everyone else in the family; he allocates tasks, settles disputes, and makes other important decision that affect family members

matriarchal: authority rests with the eldest female

egalitarian: authority is equally distributed between husband and wife

rules of authority

patriarchal: eldest male dominates everyone else in the family; he allocates tasks, settles disputes, and makes other important decision that affect family members

matriarchal: authority rests with the eldest female

egalitarian: authority is equally distributed between husband and wife

matricentric: authority rests with the wife due to absence of the husband

stages of family life

courtship:

1. Arranged marriages were common in preindustrial cultures.

2. With industrialization, romantic love becomes a central criterion in mate choice.

3. Still, our society promotes homogamy, marriage between people with the same social characteristics.


settling in:Ideal and real marriage. Newly married

couples often have to scale down their expectations.

Infidelity, sexual activity outside marriage, is another area where the reality of marriage does not coincide with our cultural ideal.


child rearing:

Child rearing has changed since industrialization.

Children are now seen as economic liabilities rather than as assets.


child rearing:

Child rearing has changed since industrialization.

Children are now seen as economic liabilities rather than as assets.

Marriages between the elderly usually stress companionship. Retirement and the death of a spouse disrupt families in later life.

alternative family forms

one-parent families tend to face serious financial problems.

cohabitation is the sharing of a household by an unmarried couple .

gay and lesbian couples continue to face opposition.

an increasingly large number of people are voluntarily choosing temporary or permanent singlehood.

functions of the family

1. Regulation of sexual activity through the incest taboo, a cultural norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain kin

2. reproduction3. socialization4. social placement5. economic cooperation6. material and emotional security

inequality and the family

Family structure promotes inequality in several ways

because property is inherited through the family, it perpetuates class inequality

the family is generally patriarchal, perpetuating gender inequality

endogamous marriage also perpetuates racial and ethnic inequality economic cooperation

4family

Self Improvement

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