SOC 101 Chapter 10-12: Chapter Outline
Document Summary
What is the family: the u. s. census bureau defines family as two or more individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption living in the same household. Kin is defined as relatives or relations, usually those related by common descent. A nuclear family is a heterosexual couple with one or more children living in a single household. Polygamy, a system of marriage that allows people to have more than one spouse at a time, is practiced among some subcultures around the world but is not widely acknowledged as a legitimate form of marriage. Structural functionalism views the family as one of the basic institutions that keeps society running smoothly by providing functions such as producing and socializing children, economic production, instrumental and emotional support, and sexual control. Conflict theorists believe that society revolves around conflict over scarce resources, and that conflict within the family is also about the competition for resources: time, energy, and the leisure to pursue recreational activities.
