FAMILY

Traditional Families Heterosexual relationship between 2 parents Married (preferably first marriage) Children (2.4) Live together Father head of the family Division of labor by sex Father = breadwinner Mother = homemaker Wife and Children take father’s name More than merely a social unit. It is given almost “holy” status. Any questioning of this unit is rejected

The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults’ Murdoch 1949 a now-married couple (with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both spouses), a couple living common-law (again with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both partners), or a lone parent of any marital status, with at least one never-married son or daughter living in the same dwelling. Statistics Canada

A Family is a social unit characterized by economic cooperation, the management of reproduction and child rearing, and common residence. It includes both male and female adults who maintain a socially approved sexual relationship. Family members, both adults and children, recognize certain rights and obligations toward one another” Ferraro 2003

Is the nuclear family Universal? ‘The nuclear family is a universal human social grouping. Either as the sole prevailing form of the family or as the basic unit from which more complex forms compounded, it exists as a distinct and strongly functional group in every society’. Murdoch 1949 Is the nuclear family Universal?

Kibbutz children’s house The early idealists felt that the nuclear family unit was obsolete, and the entire kibbutz should be one big family unit. Children slept in communal children's houses with a caretaker to tend to their night needs. Parents and children alike found it distressing. Today, children on every kibbutz live and sleep with their parents, at least into their teen years The children's houses have become day care and activity centers. Most of their waking hours are still spent with their peers in facilities adapted specifically for each age group. Kibbutz children’s house

The Mundurucu live in isolated communities in Brazil. Men all live together in a single house with all boys over the age of 13. Women live together with their children and younger boys in 2 or 3 houses grouped around that of the men When boys are 13 they move in with the men of the village Because men and women do not live together as members of discrete residential units, it cannot be said that families are present in their society.

What is meant by “family” is culturally, socially and historically defined and therefore cannot be universal all the time and in all places. The functions of the nuclear family can be equally performed in different family structures. SO What are the functions of the family And what are the various family structures

Functions of the Family Sexual: the family provides environment for regulating sexual desires. Reproduction: essential for survival of human society Socialisation and education: learning the norms and values of society. Economic: shelter, division of labour. To give emotional security Care of the sick and aged Recreation and companionship protection

Functionalist Perspective Focuses on stability and cooperation Each partner performed certain functions Husband worked outside the home Wife did housework and childcare Breadwinner-Homemaker Model

Functionalists often seen as pessimists (the family is “in decline”) Functionalists believe that the traditional/nuclear family is essential for performing these functions Functionalists often seen as pessimists (the family is “in decline”) What functions of the family are now handled by other institutions in our society? From a functionalist perspective, such changes have weakened the family unit. The fewer functions that family members have in common, the fewer are their ‘ties that bind.’ With these bonds removed, or weakened, the family more fragile. Divorce, then, is common—the inevitable consequence of eroded functions in a context of great social strain” (Henslin 2002:376).

ALTERNATE FAMILY FORMS: NUCLEAR SINGLE PARENT BLENDED and RECONSTITUTED EXTENDED COHABITING COUPLES POLYGAMY (GROUP MARRIAGE, POLYANDRY, AND POLYGYNY)

Nuclear family adapted to a life that requires high mobility. neolocal residence tends to isolate husbands and wives from their kin. kin unavailable to help look after the children and so arrangements must be made to have the children looked after by non-kin. an independent unit that must fend for itself; this creates a strong dependence of individual members on one another                       

Nuclear family nuclear family is impermanent - goes through a cycle. nuclear family disintegrates with the death of the senior members once children gone, who cares for parents in their old age? problem does not arise in extended families where care is from womb to tomb.

The Single Parent Family Majority are female headed households Generally poorer than other family types for comparative purposes the basic domestic unit from which others constructed consists of mother and her children

The Reconstituted Family formed by adults who have married previously and who bring children from their previous marriage to the new marriage, forming a new family unit

Extended family based on common descent consists most commonly of a married couple and one or more married children all living in the same house or household. the constituent nuclear families are linked through the parent-child tie. newlyweds are assimilated into an existing family unit. in-marrying spouses must conform to the expectations of the family in which they now live.

Extended family Advantages: Disadvantages extended perpetuates itself family is always adding new members who eventually become the senior members of the household. extended families prevent the ruinous division of property especially land found where the work a woman must do makes it difficult to look after the children and also other household chores. i.e. it makes for an effective division of labour. Advantages: Companionship Economic stability Help with elder care and child care Flexibility Capital accumulation Disadvantages Loss of privacy Authority of elders

Household: Consists of people who occupy the same housing unit; Apartment, house, etc. While most families live in households, not all households correspond to a family unit

Complex Households co-wives's economic and political interests, especially with regards to their children, their labour, and their allegiances to their kin, often conflict. causes organizational problems Thomas Arthur Green, loving father and husband to five women, was charged with four counts of bigamy April 2000.

Complex Households most common solution is for each wife to have her own household husband plays a secondary role in each. households seldom fully independent economically a principal motive for polygyny is to create a joint work force and pool the productive efforts (as well as the reproductive efforts) of several women. Each household may be a partly separate unit in production and consumption. in many ways they are separate social units. polygynous households represent a control by the established senior men over both the labour and the fertility of women and over junior men.

Family is... a cross-culturally universal social institution cross-culturally variable in its constitution the basic unit of social organization in terms of identity construction economic production distribution of goods labor demands inheritance reproduction biological cultural

A Brief History of the Family 4th Century AD Christian church prohibited close marriages, discouraged adoption, condemned polygyny, concubinage, divorce, and remarriage this strengthened the conjugal tie between a man and a woman at the expense of blood ties. also ensured many people would be left with no male heirs, since many families have only female children and others have no children at all. By eliminating polygyny, concubinage, divorce and remarriage and by discouraging adoption, the church removed the means by which people overcame these odds and made sure that they would have male heirs. result was to facilitate the transfer of property from families to the church.

Economic Primacy in the Pre-Industrial Family Marriage was a contract that revolved around economic concerns. Having children was an economic decision based on need (for labor) or old age support. All family members had an economic importance to the family’s survival. everyone worked Family represented the main mode of production—mostly farming—and it used what it produced.

Who Had Power in the Pre-industrial Family Patriarch of family—oldest male—controlled land, the most valuable resource This power commanded veneration—profound respect—but not necessarily love Power of patriarch was based on resources that would flow to younger generations. Sons could only marry when father turned over some land to them Cornelis de Vos c 163-35 Family portrait Relations between parents and children were autocratic and based on control of this valued resource Children were viewed more in instrumental than in sentimental terms (as “little adults”)

Types of Family Structures Conjugal family: mother, children,and usually father Extended family: conjugal family plus other relatives such as grandparents, aunts/uncles Stem family: parents and one adult child who remains at home

Extended Family: Over-idealized? Three-generation household were common, but less common than you would think Children waited until they could be independent before marrying Parents didn’t live long enough to live with grandchildren Unmarried child was usually living with parents Only about 20% of households in pre-industrial North America were extended

Family and the Industrial Revolution “The single most significant event to affect the family is the industrial revolution.” (Henslin 2003:362). 1. Fathers now worked outside the home 2. Children became economic liabilities 3. Demand for education makes children more dependent on parents for a longer period of time 4. Lower birth rate vulcanized rubber 5. Settlement patterns 6. Loss of traditional functions

7. Traditional role of women changed 8. Greater Equality emerges between men and women 9. Increase in divorce 10. Increased health and decline in mortality rates 11. Women join the work force

Postmodern Family No form of family is best No pattern of gender division of labor No one person is left to parent the children – parenting is among many caring others Greater acceptance of daycare/fathers at home Both parents may want to have careers

How have family relationships changed?                                                                                                           Father Knows Best 1954-1958 Ozzie and Harriett 1952-1966 How have family relationships changed? Malcolm in the Middle –2000-2004

Is the family dead (or dying)?

The family is not “dying,” but it is changing 2001 census showed a continued decline of the traditional family - mom, dad and the kids,“ Households consisting of four or more people - typically mom, dad and their two kids - accounted for only a quarter of all Canadian households in 2001. Two decades earlier, they accounted for a third The decrease would be even steeper if only married moms and dads with kids considered

According to Statistics Canada's Census (1996) THERE ARE 7.8 MILLION FAMILIES IN CANADA 45% are married couples with children 29% are married couples without children 5% are common-law couples with children 6% are common-law couples without children 15% are lone-parent (83% of lone-parents are female)