Why bother? 1. Regulate Sexual behavior 2. Socialization 3. Care and Emotional Support 4. Maintain economic system 5. Social status of members

Who’s your Daddy? Nuclear Family –Monogamy –Polygamy Polygyny Polyandry Extended Family Single-Parent

Match-dot what? Romantic love is a new concept. The Rules… –Exogamy –Endogamy –Homogamy –Hetrogamy

Patterns of Residence Patrilocality is when the newly married couple is expected to live with or near the husband’s parents. Matrilocality is when the couple is expected to live with or near the wife’s parents. Bilocality allows the newly married could to choose whether they will live near the husband’s parents or near the wife’s parents. Most societies practice neolocality which allows the married couple to set up their residence apart from both sets of parents

Authority Patterns In a patriarchal family, the father holds most of the authority In a matriarchal family, the mother holds most of the authority In an egalitarian family authority is shared by both the mother and the father The vast majority of societies around the world are patriarchal The U.S. is moving toward more egalitarian authority patterns

The American Family 95% of all adults marry at least once during their lifetimes The U.S. has one of the highest marriages rates of any industrialized nation Marriage rates are declining slightly among younger Americans 1.Delayed Marriage 2.Delayed Childbearing 3.Dual –Earner Marriages 4.One-Parent Families 5.Remarriages

Happily ever after? Having parents who are successfully married Having known each other for at least two years Getting married at an older age Holding traditional values Having had an engagement that was relatively free from conflict Being from the same race and religion Having a college education Having parental approval of the marriage

The Cycle of Family Life 1. Prechildren 2. Parenthood 3. Empty nest

What do our families look like? Just under 50% of all marriages end in divorce. 27% of all families are single-parent. 50% of children will live with only one parent. From 1978 to 1996 the number of children born to unwed mothers went from 500,000 to 2,000, out of 25 children lives with neither parent 550,000 children live in foster care. 4.5 Million mixed race couples.

Between 6-10 million children live with homosexual parents. 1/3 of lesbian and 1/5 of gay male households have children. 71% of all high school drop outs come from fatherless homes. Children from fatherless homes are 5 times more likely to commit suicide and 20 times more likely to go to jail and 14 times more likely to commit rape. 1 in 3 women will experience at least one physical assault by a partner in their life. 47% of men who abuse their intimates will do so at least 3 times a year.

After being abused once 32% of women are abused again. 27% of domestic murders are children. In homes of domestic abuse children are 1,500 times more likely to also be abused. 4 children are killed every day as a result of abuse or neglect. 82% of those killed are under 5; 42% are under the age of 1.