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Life at Home: Families and
Relationship
Chapter 12
Marriage and Family Defined
• Family - a group of people related by marriage,
blood, or adoption and living in the same household
(US Census Bureau.
– According to sociologists, a family is defined as a social
group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or
emotional ties, or a combination of all three.
• Marriage - a legal union based on mutual rights and
obligations.
– In the U.S., marriage traditionally involves a legal
relationship between a man and a woman.
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Family and
Marriage
• Nuclear family – wife (mother), husband
(father), and children
• Extended family – nuclear family plus other
relatives – like grandparents, cousins, aunts,
uncles, etc. (usually include 3 generations in one
household or close proximity)
• Marriage = wedding - culture
Dimensions of Family Structure
• Patrilineal – descent and inheritance are passed from the
father to his male descendants.
• Matrilineal – descent and inheritance are passed on from
the mother to her female descendants.
• Patriarchal control – oldest man living in household has
authority over the rest of the family members.
• Matriarchal control – oldest woman living in the
household holds the authority.
• Democratic/Egalitarian control – authority is split evenly
between husband and wife.
Mate Selection
• Romantic Love – idea of people being sexually
attracted to one another and idealizing the other
– Ex. Soul mate
– 2 components:
1) Emotional – feeling of sexual attraction
2) Cognitive – feeling we describe as being “in love”
• Homogamy –the tendency to marry someone
similar to oneself based on personal preference.
• Heterogamy – partners are dissimilar with respect
to some important social characteristics.
– Interracial marriage
Types of Marriages
• Monogamy – marriage of one man to only one
woman at a time.
• Polygamy – marriage of a male or female to
multiple partners of the other sex at the same time.
– Polygyny – marriage of one man to two or
more women at the same time.
– Polyandry – marriage of one woman to two or
more men at the same time (found in South
Asian countries. e.g. Tibet, Nepal).
Functionalist Theory of Families
- Views the family as one of the basic (most important)
institutions that keeps society running smoothly by
providing functions such as producing and socializing
children, economic production, instrumental and
emotional support, and sexual control.
- Stresses how family is related to other parts of
society and how it contributes to the well-being of
society
Functions of the Family
–
Economic production, socialization of children, care of
sick and aged, recreation, sexual control, and
reproduction.
Conflict Theory and Family
• Draws attention to the struggles, conflict, and
competition of scarce resources:
– Housework = time, energy, leisure
– “second shift”
• Examines women’s oppression and how the family
has been used to maintain male domination of
females.
Symbolic Interaction and Family
• Examine the types of social dynamics and interactions
that create and sustain families, emphasizing the ways
that our experiences of family bonds are socially
created rather than naturally existing.
• Understanding behavior within the family based on the
interactions among family members and in the
meanings that members assign to these interactions.
– How each sex experiences marriage differently
• Ex. housework
• Socialization begins within the family.
• Relationships within the family are constantly being
redefined.
Theoretical Perspectives
Nature of the American Family
• Marriage rate – the number of marriages per year for every
one thousand members of a population.
– The U.S. marriage rate has fluctuated since 1940.
Relationship Trends
Divorce
• Divorce rate – the number of divorces annually for every
thousand members of the population.
• Research – people who go to college, belong to a religion, wait
to get married, and have children have a much better chance of
their marriage lasting.
• Working with co workers of opposite sex and working with
people who are recently divorced, increase one’s risk of divorce
• Divorce and children
STATS:
• In 2014, 127 million persons (50 percent) were married while about
25 million (10 percent) were divorced.
• Remarriage is common; 64 percent of previously married men
remarry, compared to 52 percent of previously married women.
The Work of Family
• Many types of paid and unpaid work are necessary to
keep a family operating.
– Instrumental tasks include the practical physical tasks
necessary to maintain family life (such as washing dishes and
cutting grass).
– Expressive tasks refer to the emotional work necessary to
support family members (such as remembering a relative’s
birthday or playing with the children).
• Men and women have always performed different roles to
ensure the survival of their families, but these roles were
not considered unequal until after the Industrial
Revolution.
• Women nowadays have two jobs: paid labor outside the
home and unpaid labor inside the home.
The Work of Family (cont'd)
• Second shift: unpaid
labor inside the home
that is often expected
of women after they
get home from
working at paid labor
outside the home
Trouble in Families
• Domestic abuse is by far the most common form of
family violence. It includes behaviors abusers use to
gain and maintain power over their victims.
• Forms of Abuse:
– Physical
– Verbal
– Emotional
– Financial
– Sexual
– Psychological
Cycle of Violence in Abusive Relationships
• Stage one: relationship seems
normal.
• Stage two: the victim “walks on eggshells” to
avoid arguments.
• Stage three: acute battering and violence
occur, lasting for seconds, hours, or even days.
The abuser blames the victim.
• Stage four: the abuser apologizes profusely
and promises that it will never happen again.
Family Violence
• Over 1/5 of all reported cases of aggravated assault involve domestic
violence, however many episodes go unreported.
• Domestic violence involves children, spouses, siblings, and older people.
• As many as ½ of married women in the U.S. are victims of spousal
violence.
• At least 4 million women are battered by their husbands annually.
• 4,000 women each year are beaten to death.
• 14% of married women are sexually attacked by their husbands every
year.
• ¾ of spousal violence occurs during separation or after divorce.
• Rates of domestic abuse are about equal across racial and ethnic groups,
sexual orientations, and religious groups.
• People are more likely to be killed or attacked by family members than
anyone else.
Family and the Life Course
• Children’s experiences are shaped by family
size, birth order, presence or absence of
parents, socioeconomic status, and other
sociological variables. In turn, the presence of
children affects the lives of parents.
Trouble in Families
• Children may also suffer at the hands of abusive family
members.
– A child witnessing domestic violence is considered a child abuse
• Child abuse is underreported, due in part to the relative
powerlessness of the victims and the private settings of the
abuse.
• Neglect―a form of abuse in which the caregiver fails to
provide adequate nutrition, sufficient clothing or shelter, or
hygienic and safe living conditions, affects children accounts for 80 percent of child abuse (common in DV
households).
Family Resiliency
• Family resiliency – refers to the family’s
capacity to emerge from crises as stronger
and more resourceful.
• Families that flourish despite distress are
resilient.
Factors Promoting Family Resiliency
1. Individual characteristics such as: self-esteem,
autonomy, sense of humor, problem-solving skills
2. Family characteristics such as: emotional support,
commitment, warmth, affection, cohesion
3. Community characteristics such as: opportunities
for participation in community life, emphasis on
helping others
4. Family-friendly public policy.
New Family Forms
• Blended Families - Families formed when
at least one of the partners in the marriage
has been married before and has one or
more children from a previous marriage.
Childless Marriages
• In the past, there was a stigma attached to marriages
without children.
• In 2008, one in five American women ages 40–44 was
childless, up 80 percent since 1970
– Highest rates among White women, highly educated
women.
• Reasons to remain childless:
–
–
–
–
–
–
less stigma
importance of careers
Independence
do not enjoy children
too much delay
physical or mental limitations.
Dual-Employed Marriages
• Dual-employed marriages are where
both the husband and wife are in the labor
market.
• A relatively new trend, it is now considered
the norm.
Cohabitation
• Cohabitation – living with someone in a marriagelike arrangement without the legal obligations and
responsibilities of formal marriage.
– While cohabitation is more common among people with
less education, it is increasing at higher educational
levels.
– Cohabitation is on the rise. In 2009, cohabitation
increased by 13 percent, twice the average annual
increase of the preceding few years.
– Cohabitation has almost doubled since 1990.
Adult Children Returning Home
• “Boomerang kids” –
– young adults (18-34) have a much higher probability of living in
their parents’ home than they did 30 years ago.
• Contributing factors:
– Young adults are marrying later.
– More young adults are continuing their education, and live at
home while doing so.
– Due to the high cost of living, young adults return home after
completing their education.
– High divorce rate also increases the proportion of young adults
living at home.
Adult Children Returning Home:
Consequences
• An added financial burden for older parents.
• Many parents complain that their adult children do
not share in expenses, fail to help around the house,
invade privacy, and prevent them from developing
relationships with spouses and friends.
• Adult children living at home forfeit some freedom
and are subject to some unwanted parental control.
The Sandwich Generation
• More middle-aged adults are finding mothers and fathers
living with them.
• Sandwich generation – term applied to those adults caught
between caring for their parents and caring for the family
they formed after leaving home.
– Elderly parents receive better care from those who love them and
feel responsible for them.
– Aging parents also offer emotional support and financial resources.
– Taking care of an elderly parent is not easy, physically or emotionally.
– The burden of caring for an aging parent falls much more heavily on
women.
– About 2/3 of unpaid caregivers are female.
Looking Forward
• Is the nuclear family deteriorating?
– Family Decline Perspective – Sees changes as
negative and as a decline of the family.
– Family Change Perspective – Sees changing as
natural and naturally evolving to preserve the family
as an institution
• The nuclear family remains the most popular
choice among Americans.