1. The Family in History

2. Defining “Family” According to the Vanier Institute, FAMILY is:
Any combination of two or more people who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, adoption or placement and who together assume the responsibilities for various combinations of the following tasks:

3. Physical maintenance & care of its group members;
Addition of new members through procreation or adoption/placement;
Socialization of Children;
Social control of its members;
Production, distribution, and consumption of goods & services;
Affective nurturance (i.e. LOVE)

4. How have families changed in just the last 50 years?
Two parent nuclear family = higher divorce rates
Increased women in the workforce = males taking over more of the caregiver role (paternity leave)
Shift in importance of the child in the family unit = “helicopter parenting” due to changes in the WAY we parent
Same-sex unions & shifts in marital values (decline in religiosity)

5. How have families changed throughout history?

6. The Hunter Gatherers
The first groupings may have occurred because of a unique human characteristic
OUR LARGE BRAINS
Non-human primate social organization does not help explain our earliest ancestors
WHY?

7. Non-human primates No dominant male
Do not co-operate in systematic food sharing
Do not regulate sexual activity

8. The first groupings of humans may have been hordes or bands
These consisted of loose groupings of males and females
Roles of all individuals based on daily need for food
Who provided the most food?
Women – small game,
vegetables and plants
Men – large game

9. Agricultural families
Hunter gatherers became stationary as food became more available through farming and fishing
Trend was toward couples marrying
Man could support own children and spend time with individual female
More people required to
work the land and tend
to animals

10. What was now the role of women?
Children
Domestic work
Work the fields

11. New family organization
Families now highly organized
“Head” of the family was typically the oldest male
Patriarchy (male as head of family)
Matriarchal systems
are rare

12. Types of organization Monogamy – having one marital partner
Serial monogamy – having a series of single partners
Polygamy – practice of having several spouses
Polygyny – man has more than one wife
Polyandry – wife has several husbands

13. Pre-Industrial families
Villages and towns began to emerge
Associated trade and service economies arose
Fewer families were relying on agriculture
What impact did this have?
Not as many children needed
Less than 50% reached adulthood

14. Urban Industrial Families
The family became a consumer instead of a producer
Men were the providers
Women were the nurturers

15. Age of Innocence for children
Compulsory education until the age of 14 was introduced

16. 1915
World War I

17. 1920
Roaring Twenties

18. 1930
The Great Depression

19. 1940 World War II ends Mass migration of families to Canada
Post-war was the beginning of the consumer family
Adolescence emerged as a distinct age

20. 1950 People wanted to live as industrial nuclear families
Baby boom continues

21. 1960 Weakening influence of the church Women’s rights Civil rights

22. 1970’s More women were joining the workforce
Recession in the late 70’s

23. 1980's Most families were duel-income
Technology boom – birth of the internet creating a “culture of fear”
Divorce rates on the rise
“Sex Sells” mentality
“Materialism” ideology
Androgyny (combo of
masculine and feminine characteristics