1. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Chapter 15 Families In Conflict and Order: Understanding Society, 11 th edition This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

2. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 The Mythical Family in the United States The family is idealized and mythologized. –The myth of a stable and harmonious family of the past –The myth of the family as a “haven in a heartless world” –The myth of the monolithic family form –The myth of a unified family experience –The myth of family decline as the cause of social problems

3. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Families in Contemporary U.S. Society Families are a product of social structure. –The have different connections with institutions that provide resources for family support. –Class and race are important determinants of family life. –The new economy has generated several difficulties for families.

4. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007

5. Families in Contemporary U.S. Society The Changing Composition of Households and Families –The U.S. Census Bureau defines a household as all persons who occupy a housing unit. –A family is two or more persons related by birth marriage or adoption who reside together. –All families comprise households, but not all households are families under the Census Bureau’s definition.

6. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Changes in Marriage and Family Roles Marriage is still very much the norm, with about 90% of the population eventually marrying. –However, the marriage rate has declined in recent decades. Married people have better physical and mental health, enhanced sex lives, and more economic resources. Some marriages are abusive. Marriage matters but the degree to which it matters is affected by social class, race and gender.

7. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Figure 15.2 – Households by Type: 1970 to 2003 (Percent Distribution) Source: Jason Fields, 2004, “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2003.” Current Population Reports, Series P20-553 (November). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census, p. 5.

8. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Source: Jason Fields, 2004. “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2003.” Current Population Reports, Series P20-553 (November). Washington, DC U.S. Bureau of the Census, p. 13. Figure 15.3 – Median Age at First Marriage for the Population 15 Years and Over by Sex 1970 to 2003

9. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Changes in Marriage and Family Roles Same-sex marriage –Supporters of same-sex marriage argue that homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexuals. –Opponents argue that making same sex unions legal denigrates marriage and abandons the basic building block of the family.

10. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Changes in Marriage and Family Roles Divorce and marital separation are not evenly distributed through the population and vary according to social and economic characteristics. The U.S. has the highest remarriage rate in the world. About 1/3 rd of Americans will marry, divorce, and remarry.

11. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Changes in Marriage and Family Roles Work and Family Roles –Dual-worker marriages have increased. –The “work-family role system” reinforces traditional division of labor in both work and family. –Employed wives generally have two jobs--work and family--while employed husbands have only one. Arlie Hochschild calls the additional hours that working women put in doing housework “the second shift”.

12. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Changes in Marriage and Family Roles Children and Adolescents –17% of all children in the U.S. live in poverty –Recent changes in family life have altered childhood and adolescence. The Aged –Aging has produced personal and family relationships that never existed before. –New family and household forms have emerged.

13. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 The Modern Family from the Order and Conflict Perspectives Order theorists view the family as a source of stability for individuals and society. –The traditional division of labor by sex contributes to the social order.

14. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 The Modern Family from the Order and Conflict Perspectives Conflict theorists argue that the traditional family supports the economy but individuals and families pay a high price. –The family is a major source of false consciousness and the primary agent by which the system of social stratification is perpetuated.

15. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007 Families of the Future Trends that are altering families –Stresses on family functions will continue to reshape families. –Economics will continue to drive family changes. –Divorce will continue. –Nontraditional family forms shaped by social and economic changes will proliferate. –An aging society will redefine families.