SOCA01- SCP; Chapter 13
- most definitions of families focus on legal obligations and family structures rather than
on feelings of love
- in the past the family was referred to as a monolithic social institution with one
acceptable structure and common behavioral patterns
academics have always differentiated between nuclear and extended families
- most common definition used in policy research is StatCan's census family: includes
married couples and cohabiting couples who have lived together for >1 year, with or
without never-married children, as well as single parents living with never-married
children
Canadian government also uses concept of household in gathering stats
- modified extended family: relatives don’t share a household but still rely heavily on one
another
- nuclear families were always most prevalent in Europe and N.A, also among lower SES
groups
- polygyny (having several wives at a time) practiced in some countries in Africa and Asia,
especially those using Islamic law
- polyandry (having several husbands at a time) practiced to keep family land in one
parcel; husbands are often brothers
- polygny is better preferred due to more children being born, and identification of father
in patrilineal societies
- in some cultures dowry money becomes property of groom's family and in others is
used to establish new household
dowries also used to provide brides with some measure of insurance in case of
partner abuse, divorce, or widowhood, but depends on level of women's control
over the money/property
- in other cultures (ex. eastern Indonesia), groom's family pays a bride price to bride's
parents for permission to marry their daughter, or instead do it through labor
- some black families in Caribbean are matriarchal (women heading society)/matrifocal
(women breadwinners of family)
- bilateral descent system: married couple is considered part of both female's and male's
kin groups and participate in gatherings and inherit from either side
- married couple could also be considered part of patrilineal descent (members of
groom's family) or matrilineal descent (members of bride's family)
- brides are required to retain their family name in Quebec - political economy approach (contributions by Marx)
people's relation to wealth, production, and power influences the way they view the
world and live their lives
family formation, personal life, and well-being all affected by economic cycles,
working conditions, laws, governmental programs, etc.
once production of goods/services took place outside of home, people began to see
family as a private sphere (19 century)
argue that women in workforce resulted for economic reasons- service sector
expanded with changes in different markets new job opportunities, inflation, and
rising living costs pushed women into public sphere
- structural functionalism (contributions by Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales)
behavior is governed more by social expectations and unspoken rules than by
economic changes or personal choices
family is viewed as major social institution maintaining social order
nuclear family as 2 structures: instrumental (taken by husband, breadwinner) and
expressive (taken by wife, maintaining social relations)
gendered division of labour maintained because it was functional for society, when
it may benefit heterosexual men more
change seen as disruptive and individual opposition to social pressure as deviant
systems theory focuses on interdependence of family members, useful in family
therapy
- social constructionist/symbolic interactionism approach (contributed by Charles Cooley
and George Mead)
people construct their own social reality based on their experiences, insights, and
choices; perceptions thought to influence action/behavior more than objective
reality
anticipatory socialization: preparation for taking on a future role
- feminist theories
structural approach to analyze ways in which inequality is perpetuated through
social policies, laws, and employment practices
other approaches focus on interpersonal relations, non-verbal communication,
heterosexual practices, and public discourse about women
gender differences in interests and achievements grow out of psychological and
sexual experiences shaped by peers
- post-structural approaches
argue that knowledge and understanding depend on one's social position, gender,
race, and culture argue that images of gender and family are shaped by everyday language and policy
discourse; deconstruction of origins significant
focus on images of body, media representations of gender and family, sexual
diversity, families of choice, and performance of gender
- older employed women and those without high sch
More
Less
