SOC 1100 Lecture 1: unit 10 - looking forward, family issues, looking backwards

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1100
• Professor: Karyn Freedman

Document Summary

Families: basic concepts: all societies are built on kinship. The family varies across cultures and over time: In industrialized societies, marriage is monogamous: pre-industrial societies recognize the extended family; industrialization gives rise to the nuclear family, many pre-industrial societies permit polygamy, of which there are two types: polygamy and polyandry. In global perspectives, patrilocality is most common, but industrial and a few societies have matrilocal residence. Industrial societies use bilateral descent; pre-industrial societies are either patrilineal or matrilineal. Transitions and problems in family life: divorce, the divorce rate is four times what it was a century ago; 4 in 10 of today"s marriages will end in divorce. With or without formal marriage, same sex couples have been forming lasting relationships - often involving child rearing. New reproductive technology and the family: although ethically controversial, new reproductive technologies are changing conventional ideas of parenthood.