Sociology 2152A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Louis Wirth, Primogeniture, Talcott Parsons

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2152A/B
• Professor: William Marshall

Document Summary

Kinship system: the cultural norms and social relations followed by individuals tied by common descent (or marriage). i. e. the rules that guide your relationships with relatives. Primogeniture familial farms used to be divided up between children, but as farms got smaller and smaller, they started giving the whole farm to just one child (usually the first born) because its just so small. The first big change in the family is that the function of the family was reduced. Louis wirth talked about how the family was forced to take on a different role in the city, and that the family was weakened. The majority of education was done in the family home, but in an urban area, most of the education of children was taken over by formal organizations. Employment the families would employ the children, but in urban areas families didn"t operate as a business anymore.