FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

• Romantic love- attraction and idealizing one another (found in most societies)– Role of love differs from one

society to another– Western life seen as only

basis for marriage– Two components-

emotional (feeling of attraction), cognitive (label we attach to those feelings, being in love)

FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

• Marriage– Patterns follow predictable

patterns– Age, social class, education, race– People with similar

characteristics in these areas marry each other (homogamy)

– Social upheavals of 1960’s brought down race barrier to marriage

DIVERSITY IN U.S. FAMILIES

Trends in U.S FamiliesFamily life in US undergoing a

fundamental shift• Women postpone marriage and

childbirth• One reason it has changed is

because cohabitation has become more accepted

• Level of commitment is major difference between marriage and cohabitation• Easier to end relationship • Couples who cohabitate

before marriage more likely to divorce

DIVERSITY IN U.S. FAMILIES

• Births to unmarried mothers has increased

• Becoming more common for grandparents to raise children (skipped generation families)

• Sandwich generation- people who care for parents and children

• People usually between 40-55, leaves little time for personal interests

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE• Divorce rate depends on where you live• Has increased over the years• Race and ethnicity factor in divorce

CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE LIKELY TO GET DIVORCED

• Marriage at an early age.• A short acquaintanceship before marriage.• Disapproval of the marriage by relatives and

friends.• Limited economic resources• Having a high-school education or less.• Parents who are divorced or have unhappy

marriages.• The presence of children at the beginning of

the marriage.

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

Children of Divorce• More likely to experience emotional

problems• Lower graduation rates, more likely to

divorce themselves• 75-80% do function well• Children close to both parents make

best adjustment• Effects of divorce found across

generations, grandchildren of divorce have weaker bonds with their parents and higher rates of marital discord with their parents

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE• Serial fatherhood new pattern that has emerged• Divorced father maintains contact with children right

after divorce, sees them less as time goes on• Women more likely than men to feel divorce gives

them a “new life’• More likely to cause economic hardship for women,

women’s standard of living drops about a third• Remarriage many remarry, most divorced people

marry other divorced people–Men more likely to remarry

• If you have children, more likely to divorce because of nature of complicated relationships

Two Sides of Family LifeDark side• Battering, rape, incest, child abuse• Battering- likely to occur equally

between men and women• Women injured more often• Related to sexist structure of society• Norms encourage men to use

aggression and violence to control women

• Child Abuse– Most is never brought to our

attention

Two Sides of Family Life• Marital or Intimacy Rape- more common than thought

• Occurs in cohabiting couples (intimacy rape)• Victims suffer from shock, anger, depression after incident

• Incest- sexual relations between certain relatives• Usually occurs in families that are socially isolated• Most common offenders cousins, fathers, brothers

Two Sides of Family Life• Most Americans report that they have a happy marriage

(60%)Factors that make a happy marriage:1. Agree with Spouse Aims and Goals2. Believe Spouse Grown More Interesting3. Want Relationship to Succeed4. Laugh Together5. Spouse is Best Friend6. Like Spouse as Person7. Think Marriage is Long-Term Commitment8. Believe Marriage is Sacred

Two Sides of Family Life

Happy Families1. Spend a Lot of Time Together2. Are Quick to Express

Appreciation3. Committed to Promoting

Mutual Welfare4. Talk and Listen a Lot 5. Are Religious6. Deal with Crises Positively

The Future of Marriage and FamilyFuture of marriage1. Will continue because of its positive functions2. Cohabitation, births to single mothers, age at first marriage

will increase3. Women will continue to gain marital power4. We will continue to see the “sandwich generation”’ until

bay boomers die off5. Distorted myths of marriage will continue

(negative and positive)