1. Family Global perspective Family difficult to define Western view
Polygyny- husband has more than one wife
Polyandry- wife has more than one husband
Trobriand Islanders

2. Family= 2 or more people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage, or adoption
Household= people who occupy the same housing unit or living quarters
Nuclear family
Extended family
Family of orientation
Family of procreation
Marriage= a group’s approved mating arrangements, marked by a ritual

3. Mate selection- norms of who marries whom
Endogamy
Exogamy
Incest taboo
Descent- how related to relatives
System of descent
Bilateral system
Patrilineal system
Matrilineal system

4. Inheritance- rights of inheritance follow lines of descent
Authority
Patriarchy- authority vested in males
U.S. patterns becoming more egalitarian
Naming patterns reflect patriarchy

5. Functionalism Family is universal b/c it fulfills basic needs
Economic production
Socialization of children
Care of the sick and aged
Recreation
Sexual control
Reproduction

6. Functions of the incest taboo
Avoid role confusion
Exogamy
Extends social networks of bride and groom
Dysfunctions
Isolation of nuclear family
Emotional overload

7. Conflict theory Gender and power Power struggle over housework
Arlie Hochschild- “the second shift”
Affects marital relationship and wife’s self-concept
Men engage in strategies of resistance
Waiting it out
Playing dumb
Needs reduction
Substitute offerings

8. Symbolic interactionism
Gender and meanings of marriage
Closer husband and wife’s earnings, more likely share housework
Husband earns less than wife, does least amt. of housework

9. The family life cycle Love and courtship in global perspective
Romantic love- 88% of societies
Role of love differs from one society to another
Sexual attraction and labels
Love and arranged marriage in India

10. Marriage
Love is socially channeled
Homogamy- tendency of people w/ similar characteristics to marry one another
Propinquity (spatial nearness)
94% of Americans marry someone from same racial background

11. Education and income relationship Marital satisfaction
Childbirth
Education and income relationship
Marital satisfaction
Social class affects how couples adjust to arrival of children
Working class vs. middle class

12. 3 of 5 U.S. mothers work for wages
Child rearing
3 of 5 U.S. mothers work for wages
Married vs. single mothers similar child care arrangements
Day care
Nannies
Social class- parents socialize their children into the norms of their work worlds
Birth order- tendencies
First vs. second or later born

13. Family in later life The Empty Nest
Married couple’s domestic situation after the last child has left the home
Difficult time of adjustment for women?
Rubin found that women’s satisfaction generally increases when last child leaves the home

14. The not-so-empty nest
Prolonged education
Household costs
42% of all U.S year olds live w/ their parents (boomerang children)
Widowhood
Women more likely than men
Deal w/ “who am I” again

15. Diversity in U.S. families
Social class is primary distinction
African American families
Upper vs. middle class
Poverty- men unemployed, have few skills, women likely single mothers
45% of families headed by women
Fictive kin- stretching of kinship
Marriage squeeze- imbalance in sex ratio

16. Latino families
Social class and country of origin significant
Cubans more likely headed by married couple than Puerto Rican families
Culture- language, religion, and family orientation
Machismo- emphasis on male strength and dominance

17. Asian American families
Structure almost identical to white families
80% married couples, 13% female-headed
20 countries and cultures
Nuclear family w/ Confucian values
More permissive than Anglos in child rearing
Native American families
Conflict- traditional values or assimilate
Permissive parenting
Elders play active role in family life

18. One-parent families
% lived w/ both parents
% lived w/ both parents
High divorce rate and increase in births to unmarried women
Strain and poverty- most one parent families headed by women
Kids more likely drop out of school, get arrested, have emotional problems
Cycle of poverty

19. Families w/out children
About 20% of married women do not give birth
Education
Race-ethnicity
Why remain childless by choice?
Not by choice- adoption, surrogate mothers, high tech reproduction

20. Members were once part of other families Gay and lesbian families
Blended families
Members were once part of other families
Gay and lesbian families
1989- Denmark first to legalize same sex marriage
2000- Vermont first legalized “gay unions”
Uneven distribution in U.S.
1/5th previously married to heterosexuals
Have children?
22% lesbian couples, 5% gay couples

21. Trends in U.S. families Postponing marriage Cohabitation
Adults living together in a sexual relationship w/out being married
Change in views on sexual morality
High divorce rate= marriage is fragile
8 X more common today than 30 yrs ago
Essential difference?
Substitute for, step towards, trial, coresidential dating

22. Grandparents raising grandkids Skipped generation families
Unmarried mothers
Industrialized nations experienced sharp increases in births to single women
Customs/values play large role
Grandparents raising grandkids
Skipped generation families
Parents are ill, homeless, incarcerated, addicted to drugs
Sandwich generation and elder care
Responsible for own kids and aging parents

23. Problems in measurement
Divorce
Problems in measurement
½ as many divorces are given each year as marriages performed
When look at entire pool, divorce rate is 2%
Varies by where you live and race-ethnicity
Symbolic interactionism and the misuse of statistics
Self-fulfilling prophecy

24. Children of divorce
More hostility, anxiety, don’t do as well in school (accurate study?)
Conflict ridden intact families vs. kids of divorce
Live w/ same sex parent= better adjustment
As adults, less likely marry, more likely divorce

25. The Absent Father/ Serial Fatherhood
Divorced father maintains high contact 1st year or two after divorce-> meets new wife
Only 1/6 of kids who live apart from dad see him every week
Most divorced fathers stop seeing their kids altogether

26. The Ex-Spouses
Spouse who initiates divorce gets over it sooner
Cost of living increases
Remarriage
Most who divorce remarry, likely remarry other divorced people
Men more likely than women to remarry
Bring kids into new marriage, more likely to divorce again

27. Two sides of family life
Battering (spouse abuse)
Husbands and wives equally likely attack one another
Wives more often seek medical attention
Why stay in abusive relationship?
Child abuse
Each year about 3 million U.S. kids are reported as victims of abuse/neglect

28. Marital rape (intimacy rape)
14% of married women report that their husbands have raped them
Most commonly occur during a separation or break up of a marriage
3 types- nonbattering rape, battering rape, perverted rape
Incest
Sexual relations between certain relatives
More common when socially isolated
Most common offenders?

29. 2/3 married Americans report they are “very happy” w/ their marriages
Successful marriages
2/3 married Americans report they are “very happy” w/ their marriages
Long term marriages- 15+ years
351 couples interviewed
300 happy, 51 unhappy
Why stay together?
What makes a happy marriage?
Spend time together, express appreciation, committed to promoting one another’s welfare, religious, deal w/ crisis in positive manner