1. Sociology 1201 Sociology 1201: Week Two 1. Tuesday: Complete “Legacy” and meet in groups

2. Sociology 1201 Theoretical perspectives in sociology: Functionalism Analyze social patterns in terms of the contribution they make to the well-being of society as a whole Institution: a complex social pattern that meets a societal need Family Religion Political System Criminal Justice Military Educational system Economic System Mass media????

3. Sociology 1201 Characteristics of institutions Supported by tradition Have moral authority Institutions are interdependent Usually change slowly because of these first three characteristics Arlene Skolnick, Embattled Paradise: Look magazine invited a panel of scholars in 1962 to predict what America would be like in 25 years (1987)…They were very wrong; why?

4. Sociology 1201 “Surprises” in family as an institution Divorce revolution Births outside marriage Feminist Movement Women in the work force Gay/lesbian rights movement Battered women’s movement

5. Sociology 1201 Groups Meet in groups to discuss your questions on the first three assignments in Promises I Can Keep Remember to attach your questions to the project report sheet (these must be typed or initialed by me before class)

6. Sociology 1201 Family history: the colonial period Patriarchy Broad range of functions Nuclear, not extended, both in norms and in reality High death rates and low life expectancy Children as miniature adults African-American families: By 1790, 1 in 5 Americans were slaves (see “Africans in America”)

7. Sociology 1201 History: The Breadwinner/Homemaker family Beginning in about 1820 although not the majority pattern until 1920 Industrial capitalism and the division of labor by sex Women as spiritual, men as practical/rational (legal powers, sexuality, voting) Childhood and the need for nurture Adolescence as a stage White immigrant families (peak of immigration in late 19 th /early 20 th century)

8. Sociology 1201 20 th century and the rise of the companionate family Less gender separation (e.g., my grandparents decision to sit together in church) More emphasis on emotional intimacy (beginning with middle and upper classes) Attention to female sexuality, again beginning with the middle and upper classes

9. Sociology 1201 1950s family (really, 1946-1965) Exception to longer trends of the 20 th century (age at marriage, % who marry, birth rates, women in the workforce) A golden age? U.S. domination of the world economy Peak of unionization in U.S. Low death rates AND low divorce rates Suburbs and family life… home ownership Rapid increase in college education (GI Bill)

10. Sociology 1201 What was less golden in the 1950s? Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique— ”the problem that has no name” The sexual double standard Homosexuality as both a crime and a mental illness The high rate of teen pregnancy Battering and child abuse largely hidden Can we define the “health” of society as a whole, apart from values?