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12THE FAMILY AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPSTHE FAMILY AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS

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Chapter Outline

• Global View of the Family• Studying the Family• Marriage and Family• Divorce• Diverse Lifestyles• Social Policy and the Family: Reproducti

ve Technology

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Global View of the Family

Nuclear Family

--The nuclear family is the nucleus or core upon which larger family groups are built.

Extended Family

--An extended family is a family in which relatives such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles live in the same home as parents and their children.

Composition: What Is the Family?

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Global View of the Family

Monogamy

--Monogamy is a form of marriage in which one woman and one man are married only to each other.

Serial Monogamy

--Serial monogamy is when a person has several spouses in his or her lifetime, but only one spouse at a time.

Composition: What Is the Family?

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Global View of the Family

•Polygamy

--Polygamy is a form of marriage allowing an individual to have several husbands or wives simultaneously.

•Polygyny

--Polygyny, a type of polygamy, is the marriage of a man to more than one woman at a time.

•Polyandry

--Polyandry, a type of polygamy, is the marriage of a woman to more than one husband at the same time.

Composition: What Is the Family?

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Global View of the Family

•Kinship

--Kinship is the state of being related to others.

•Bilateral Descent

--Both sides of a person’s family are regarded as equally important.

Kinship Patterns: To Whom Are We Related

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Global View of the Family

•Patrilineal descent

--In patrilineal descent, only the father’s relatives are important.

•Matrilineal descent

--In matrilineal descent, only the mother’s relatives are significant.

Kinship Patterns: To Whom Are We Related

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Global View of the Family

•Patriarchy

--When males are expected to dominate in all family decision making, that society is a patriarchy.

•Matriarchy

--When women have greater authority than men, that society is a matriarchy.

•Egalitarian family

--A family in which spouses are regarded as equals.

Authority Patterns: Who Rules?

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Global View of the Family

Figure 12.1: Types of Family Households in the United States, 1980, 1997, and 2010

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Studying the Family

The family serves six functions for society:

1.Reproduction

2.Protection

3.Socialization

4.Regulation of sexual behavior

5.Affection

6.Providing of social status

Functionalist View

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Studying the Family

•The conflict view believes that family reflects the inequality in wealth and power found within society.

•The conflict view recognizes that historically, husbands exercised power and authority within the family.

•The conflict view sees the family as an economic unit contributing to social injustice.

Conflict View

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Studying the Family

•The interactionist view focuses on the microlevel of family and other intimate relationships.

•The interactionist view is interested in how individuals interact with others, whether they are cohabiting partners or long-term married couples.

Interactionist View

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Studying the Family

•Feminist theorists have urged social scientists and social agencies to rethink the notion that families in which no adult male is present are automatically a cause for concern.

•Feminists stress the need to broaden family research to include not only gender, race, and social class, but human sexuality and the aging process.

Feminist View

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Marriage and Family

•Aspects of Mate Selection

--Endogamy: Endogamy specifies the groups within which a spouse must be found and prohibits marriage with members of other groups.

--Exogamy: Exogamy requires mate selection outside certain groups, usually one’s own family or certain kin.

Courtship and Mate Selection

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Marriage and Family

Figure 12.2: Percentage of People Aged 20 to 24 Ever Married, Selected Countries

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Marriage and Family

Households by Size: 1970 to 2000

28.931.4 32.3 33.1

17.317.5 17.3 16.4

15.815.7 15.5 14.6

20.912.8 10.4 10.4

25.524.622.717.1

5 or more people

4 people

3 people

2 people

1 person

1970 1980 1990 2000

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. The Population Profile of the United States: 2000. Figure 5-2. (Internet Release) accessed at http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/profile2000.html#cont.

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Marriage and Family

Variations in Family Life and Intimate

Relationships

•Racial and Ethnic Differences

--The subordinate status of racial and ethnic groups profoundly affects their family life.

--Family patterns differ among racial and ethnic groups.

--Family ties can serve as an economic boost within racial and ethnic groups.

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Marriage and Family

Child-Rearing Patterns in Family Life

•Parenthood and Grandparenthood

--One of the most important roles of parents is socialization of children.

--Recently, the United States has witnessed the extension of parenthood, as adult children continue to (or return to) live at home. This phenomenon is referred to as the “boomerang generation” or “full-nest syndrome.”

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Marriage and Family

Child-Rearing Patterns in Family Life

•Adoption

--Adoption is a process that “allows for the transfer of the legal rights, responsibilities, and privileges of parenthood” to a new legal parent or parents.

--The largest single category of adoption in the United States is adoption by relatives. In most cases, a stepparent adopts the children of a spouse.

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Marriage and Family

Child-Rearing Patterns in Family Life

•Dual-Income Families

--Among married people between the ages of 25 and 34, 96 percent of the men and 72 percent of the women are in the labor force.

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Marriage and Family

Child-Rearing Patterns in Family Life

•Single-Parent Families

--A single-parent family is one in which there is only one parent present to care for the children.In 1998, a single parent headed about:

19% of White families with children under 18 34% of Hispanic families with children54% of African American families with children

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Marriage and Family

Figure 12.3: Rise of One-Parent Families among Whites, African Americans, Hispanics,and Asians or Pacific Islanders in the United States

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Marriage and Family

Live births per 1,000 females180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

1940

1945

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Percent of all births

Births to unmarriedfemales (right scale)

Birth rate for unmarriedfemales 15-44(left scale)

Birth rate for marriedfemales 15-44(left scale)

Birth Rates for Married and Unmarried Females

Source: Office of the President. 2000. Economic Report of the President: Transmitted to the Congress, February 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Chart 5-3 on p. 171.

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Marriage and FamilyPercent of Live Births,

Born to Unmarried Women

1980 1998

United States 18 33

Canada 13 28

Denmark 33 45

France 11 40

Germany 8 14

Italy 4 9

Japan 1 1

Netherlands 4 21

Sweden 40 54

United Kingdom 12 38Births to Unmarried Women, by Country: 1980 to 1998

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Table 1331 on p. 836. Also accessible at http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/stat-ab01.html.

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Marriage and Family

Child-Rearing Patterns in Family Life

•Stepfamilies

--The rising rates of divorce and remarriage have led to a significant increase in stepfamily relationships.

--Stepfamilies are an exceedingly complex form of family organization.

--The exact nature of these blended families has social significance for children and adults alike, and re-socialization is often required for children and adults alike.

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Marriage and Family

6

5

4

3

2

1

01970 1980 1990 1998

Neither parent present

Only father present

Only mother present

Both parents present

Percent of children under 18who live with a grandparent

Grandchildren in Grandparent’s Homes by Presence of ParentsSource: Office of the President, 2000. Economic Report of the President: Transmitted to the Congress, February 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Chart 5-5 on p. 174.

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Marriage and Family2,000

1,600

1,200

800

400

01976 1982 1988 1994 1998

Male victims

Female victims

Number of Victims Murdered by an Intimate Partner

Source: Callie Marie Rennison for the Bureau of Justice Statitics. 2001. Intimate Partner Violence. NCJ 178247, p. 1. Accessible at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ipv.pdf.

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Marriage and Family

25

20

15

10

5

012-15 16-19 20-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65 or older

Male

Female

Intimate partner violenceper 1,000 females or males in each age category

Rate of Intimate Partner Violence by Age, 1993--1998

Source: Callie Marie Rennison for the Bureau of Justice Statitics. 2001. Figure 6 in Intimate Partner Violence. NCJ 178247. Accessible at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ipv.pdf.

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Divorce

Statistical Trends in Divorce

•Approximately one-third of all people in the United States will marry, divorce, and then remarry.

•Divorce rates increased in the late 1960s but then started to level off and even decline since the late 1980s.

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Divorce

Factors Associated with Divorce

•Divorce rates have increased largely because of the greater social acceptance of divorce.•Other factors include:

more liberal divorce laws

families have fewer children

greater family income

more opportunities for women

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Divorce

Impact of Divorce on Children

•It would be simplistic to assume that children are automatically better off following the breakup of their parents.•Recent research suggests that the impact of divorce can extend beyond childhood, affecting a grown person’s ability to establish a lasting marital relationship.

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Divorce

Figure 12.4: Trends in Marriage and Divorce in the United States, 1920-2001

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Divorce Lifestyles

Cohabitation

•Male-female couples who choose to live together without marrying engage in cohabitation.

•People who cohabitate include:

college students

working couples

the elderly

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Divorce Lifestyles

Remaining Single

•More people are postponing entry into first marriages.•The trend toward maintaining a single lifestyle for a longer period of time is related to the growing economic independence of young people, especially women.•Remaining single represents a clear departure from societal expectations.

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Divorce Lifestyles

Lesbian and Gay Relationships

•Lifestyles of lesbians and gay men vary greatly. They:

live in long term monogamous relationships

live in relationships and have adopted children.

live with children from former heterosexual marriages

•Many lesbians and gay men do not publicly acknowledge their homosexuality.

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Divorce Lifestyles

Marriage Without Children

•An increasing number of couples today choose not to have children.

•They consider themselves to be child-free, not childless.

•Many practices in the workplace like childcare and scheduling are being questioned by child-free couples.

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Social Policy and The Family

Reproductive Technology

The Issue

--Today we are witnessing aspects of reproductive technology that were regarded as so much science fiction just a generation ago.

--To what extent should policy encourage or discourage innovative reproductive technology?

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Social Policy and The Family

Reproductive Technology

The Setting

--While using technology to enhance the ability to reproduce is a recent phenomenon, the first successful artificial insemination actually took place in 1884.

--The ability to preserve sperm, beginning in the 1970s, made the process much simpler.

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Social Policy and The Family

Reproductive Technology

Sociological Insights

--Advances in reproductive technology allow childless couples to fulfill their personal, and societal, goals.

--Conflict perspective analysts would note that available technologies are often accessible only to the most affluent.

--Conflict theorists further note the irony that while lower-class women have broad access to contraceptive coverage, they have limited access to infertility treatments.

Continued…

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Social Policy and The Family

Reproductive Technology

Sociological Insights

--Feminist theorists are concerned that in societies where men enjoy a higher status, use of this technology will effectively reduce the presence of women.

--Interactionists observe that the quest for information and social support connected with reproductive technology has created new social networks.

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Social Policy and The Family

Reproductive Technology

Policy Initiatives

--The legal and ethical issues connected with reproductive technology are immense.

--Industrial societies are hard-pressed to deal with present advances in reproductive technology, much less future ones.