Chapter 11: The Family Flashcards
Definition of Family
A relationship in which people: live together with commitment form an economic unit care for any children consider the group critical to their identity
But is this reflective of today’s realities?
Contemporary Definition of Family
Any combination of 2 or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, and/or adoption/placement, and who together, assume responsibilities for variant combinations of some of the following:
physical maintenance and care of group members
addition of new members through procreation or adoption
socialization of children
social control of members
production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services
and affective nurturing love
Transitional Family
The nuclear family arose in urban-industrial societies where (a) the family ceased to serve as the unit of production; (b) the state assumed a number of key functions related to the socialization of children; (c) a social security system made kin less important; (d) geographical mobility became central.
Now we have: (a) more respect for women’s rights; (b) shared sexual division of labour; (c) more egalitarianism in marriage; (d) marriage not centered on procreation; (e) same-sex marriage since 2005
Factors contributing to Change
Economic = urbanization vs need for large families; industrialization created a gendered division of labour; most women participate in the labour force smaller family size, postponement of marriage, or opting out of marriage
Cultural = secularization; individualism; egalitarianism
Trens in Canadian Families
families that contained a married couple in 2011 = 67%; 2001 = 70.5%; 1981 = 83%; 1961 = 92% common-law families in 2011 = 16.7%; 2001 = 13.8% lone-parent families in 2011 = 16.3%; 2001 = 15.7% (mothers head 81%; fathers head 19%) same-sex couples who were married; 2011 = 33%; 2006 = 17% stepfamilies in 2011 =12.6% of all couple families with children mixed unions (re “visible minority status”) in 2011 = 4.6%; 2001 = 3.1%; 1991 = 2.6 Singlehood = 26.8% live in one-person households in Canada Older women are choosing to have children on their own reflecting “the declining importance of marriage as a social prerequisite for reproduction” (Kendall, p. 242) Postponing marriage: Mean age of first marriage for men = 29.5, and for women, 26.9 years Common-law and cohabitation = fastest growing family category today: 18% of all couples Living Apart Together (LAT): 7% of couples do not live in the same residence (Kendall, 237) Dual-earner marriage = more than 60% of all marriages Second shift = women still do more of the domestic work despite men’s growing participation
Same Sex Couples
2005 Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage.
implies equal treatment and legal rights, eg. spousal entitlements
The main difference between families led by hetero couples and those led by same-sex couples is families of lesbians and gay men is the stigmatization by the public, the law, and the state. (O’Brien & Goldberg 1999: 116)
“Despite the recent progress made by same-sex families in Canada, and countless studies that have shown that kids of LGBTTQ parents are as well-adjusted and psychologically healthy as those of opposite-sex couples, children in these families continue to face social discrimination.” (Vanier Institute 2013)
Child Related Issues
Divorce Reproductive freedom, contraception, and abortion New reproductive technologies Adoption Parenting style Unmarried motherhood The “boomerang” phenomenon
The “Boomerang” Generation
Barbara Mitchell, 2005, The Boomerang Age.
Adult offspring return to the family household or delay leaving when job opportunities are limited.
Among those aged 20 to 24, the proportion co-residing with their parents rose from 58.3% in 2001 to 62.6% in 2016. (Statistics Canada, 2017. Census in Brief. Young adults living with their parents in Canada in 2016 http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016008/98-200-x2016008-eng.cfm)
factors = high cost of housing; failed marriages; delayed marriages; the cost of higher education; difficulty in finding a stable job; family needs (Vanier Institute, 2014. Family Living Arrangements: All Under
Domestic Violence
Child abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, and/or neglect; mothers are almost equally likely to abuse their children as fathers (Kendall: 264)
Parental abuse: physical, psychological, and financial abuse by children; mothers are the more likely victims
Spousal abuse is declining but women are 4-5 times more likely than men to be victims of domestic violence
Female victims are 6/million women
Male victims are 2/million men
Functionalism Perspective
The family is a key social institution in maintaining the stability of society
Families perform essential functions for members
Critical of divorce, non-traditional family forms
Conflict Perspective
Families are sources of social inequality
Women do more unpaid work in the home than men
This benefits the capitalist class by socializing more workers and supporting family members
But it subordinates women
Feminism
overlaps with Conflict Theory, but notes that male domination occurred before capitalism
even as women’s freedoms have grown, they still struggle in a male-dominated family structure
The idealization of the traditional family conceals another reality: violence
Interactionism
Partners develop a shared reality through interaction
Focus on roles, socialization, changing family patterns and forms of families, and their impacts
Family
Is an institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups to care for one another, including children
Kinship
A social netwrok of people based on the common ancestry, marriage and adoption
Very important in preindustrial societies
In many societies the primary kinship unit is the extended family
Extended family
A family unit composed of relatives in addition to parents and children, all f whom live in the same household - very important in pre industrial societies
Nuclear Family
A family unit composed of one or two parents and her/his/their dependent children who live apart from their children
Functions in industrialized society to regulate sexuality, socialize children, and provide family members with affection and companionship
Lone-Parent Families
Have existed in the past often because of a death of one of the parents, and common law and growing numbers for the last half the century.
Substantial change occurred in the structure of families until the turn of the century
Are Canadian Families in Decline
One person is the highest category, followed by two person
