Families Flashcards
DefinitionS of Family- excludes?
Excludes:
- Same sex marriage
- More then 2 parents (polyamory)
- Single parents
- Parents that do not reside together
What makes up a family?
- Common residence
- Husband and wife
- Children
- Married
Nuclear Family
Is composed of an adult male, adult female and their offspring
Extended Family
Includes multiple generations of adults living with their spouses and children
Family of orientation
Is the family into which one is born
Family of procreation
Is the family a couple created by having children or adopting children
According to Statistics Canada, what are the two types of family?
1) Census family = includes married couples, common law couples (with or without kids) or lone parents (with kid); includes homosexuals
2) Economic family = includes people living in the same house related by blood, marriage, common-law or adoption; includes homosexuals; includes foster kids
As of 2006, who is now considered in the Statistic Canada definition of Family? (2)
1) Same-sex married couples
2) Previously married children that are now living back with their parents
What does Margrit Eichler argue?
That we operate with a monolithic bias when we think in terms of “the family”…. We consider one ideal type of family to be ‘normal’
What are the seven biases of family research according to Margrit Eichler?
1) The ageist bias
2) The conservative bias
3) The heterosexual bias
4) The microstructural bias
5) The monolithic bias (1 traditional way of seeing family, other are deviant… married then kids after)
6) The racist bias
7) The sexist bias
What are the six important aspects of family according to Margrit Eichler?
1) Socialization
2) Emotional relationships
3) Residence
4) Economics
5) Sexuality
6) Reproduction
Is it possible to have a universal definition of family? Why?
Non because thoughts on family are different everywhere due to law, government, policy, religious doctrine, etc.
What has happened over the past quarter-century with married couples?
The proportion has declined, more couples are choosing to live in common-law relationships
1961 - 92% of families were married couples
2011 - 67% of families were married couples
What are two factors associated with the rise in cohabitation (common-law = not married, living together)?
1) Increased labour force participation
2) Increased education levels
What did the Divorce Act in 1968 imply?
Divorces were granted only on the basis of adultery, desertion, or imprisonment
- or after living separately for over 3 years
- It established grounds for divorce*
What happened as a result of the 1968 Divorce Act?
The number of divorces continued to rise until it leveled off in the early 2000s
What was established in1985? What was the effect?
“No fault” divorces, lead to a huge increase in the number of divorces
- decrease in waiting time period
- state control (dangerous)
- only needed one spouse to make the decision of leaving
Pronatalist society
It is normal for a married couple to have kids, it is expected
Involuntary Childlessness
Want to have kids, but are unable to reproduce
Voluntary Childlessness
Want to be child free, done by choice
What are the two factors influencing voluntary childlessness? Examples for each
1) Pull factors = pull you towards wanting to be child free -> focus on work, travel, don’t want to sacrifice their relationship
2) Push factors = push you away from becoming a parent -> loss of time, energy, identity, don’t want to change diapers
Which are the 4 stigma’s of childlessness?
1) Passing = pretend they want to have, but in reality they don’t (young women)
2) Identity substitution = ‘claim’ that they are unable to have kids so they don’t have to confront the normative expectations
3) Justification: Condemn the Condemners = saying having kids is selfish (overpopulated, using kids to take care of them)
4) Excuses: Appeal to Biology = “I wouldn’t be a good mom”, doesn’t challenge the normative expectations
From 1961 to 2011, what has happened to the type of lone parents?
Never married, divorced, widowed
1) Never married = # increased
2) Divorced = # increased
3) Widowed = # decreased
Who tends to be more satisfied with their marriages?
Men
Which 5 forces shape marital satisfaction?
1) Economic forces
2) Divorce laws
3) The Family life cycle
4) Housework and childcare
5) Subjective aspects of the marital experience (love, affection, friendship, sex)
How do Economic forces increase/ decrease marital satisfaction?
Decrease - when struggling financially = more tension
Increase - when women works = more satisfied because there is more money
How do Divorce laws increase/ decrease marital satisfaction?
Increase - feel happier knowing they could leave if they needed to
How does the family life cycle increase/ decrease marital satisfaction?
- dips and peaks in marriage
- renegotiate their roles a few years in
- most divorces happen after 7 years
How does Housework and Childcare increase/ decrease marital satisfaction?
Increase - when domestic work is shared
How do Subjective aspects of the marital experience increase/ decrease marital satisfaction?
Increases happiness, and sexual satisfied
When do couples feel more like a family?
When they become parents, which turns them to be more conventional in their gender roles
Which two types of labor do families depend on?
1) Income generating work
2) Unpaid domestic labour
What are two big changes in recent decades that have affected families?
1) We need more paid labour hours to maintain the average standard of living then in the past
2) Major cutbacks in government support to schools, health care, and social service agencies
What does Marilyn Waring argue in her book If women counted (1990)?
She argues that unpaid domestic labor should be calculated and valued such that women could be compensated and have their work socially recognized
According to Stats Can, unpaid domestic labor is valued at over _______/ year
Over $300 billion/year
Who coined the term the second shift? What does it mean?
Arlie Hochschild
It refers to the domestic labor performed by employed women at home after finishing their paid workdays
What is the Feminine Mystique according to Betty Friedan?
Women voluntarily give up their own aspirations because there is a mystique that the ‘normal’ woman finds all her satisfaction through the achievements of her husband and children
Is family violence a social or private trouble?
Social Trouble
Women account for ___% of victims of family violence
85%
Women aged ____ to _____ experience the highest rates of violence committed by a spouse
25 to 44
Intimate Femicide
The killing of women by their intimate male partner
Who are victims of intimate femicide?
Women from all social classes, age groups, and cultural and ethnic origins… with the average age of death being 37.
1/2 employed, 80% with kids, 76% born in Canada
Why isnt intimate femicide incidental?
It is violence that occurs and takes particular forms because its target is a women, a women who has been intimately involved with her killer
What are the interventions made to help stem violence against women? (3)
1) Shelters
2) Treatment programs for violent men
3) Police practises (arrests)
___% of intimate femicide takes place in the victims home
75%
What is the view of Functionalism on family?
*They view family as a major societal institution* Social institutions (Families) are understood to be interdependent and to exist in harmony with one another
Functionalism: What are the five functions of family?
1) Sexual regulation = or else we would have sex whenever and wherever
2) Reproduction = have kids with your partner only
3) Socialization = teach kids values and norms of the larger society
4) Economic cooperation = men’s role
5) Emotional support = women’s roles
Functionalists approaches are concerned with which four things?
Order, Consensus, Equilibrium, and Harmony
What did Talcott Parsons argue? (Functionalist)
Industrialization led to functions associated with families becoming more specialized
- Special roles for men, women, and children
In which two ways did Parsons differentiate adult roles?
1) Instrumental roles (Men)
2) Expressive roles (Women)
What is important for groups to run smoothly?
A task leader and an emotional leader
Instrumental roles
Men are responsible for engaging in paid labour outside the home
Expressive roles
Women are responsible for the emotional well-being of family members and the socialization of children
What are Functionalist being criticized for regarding their view on family?
1) Their conservative approach to gender with expected roles in families
2) Not adequately dealing with social conflict
3) Not adequately dealing with social change
What do Conflict Theorists argue about family?
How people are situated in relation to the means of production, wealth, and power fundamentally shapes the ways in which they experience and see the world
How do Conflict Theorists think family is organized?
To meet the needs of capitalism and to serve the ruling class interests
How can conflict be minimized or resolved?
Through reform or revolution
The Conflict Theory has its roots in the work of which two people?
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
What does Engels argue?
Along with the other changes of the Industrial Revolution, family forms were altered
- Material conditions determine family life
What do Marxist Feminist theorists (Conflict theory) call attention to?
They call attention to social reproduction; all that goes into the daily and generational reproduction (survival) of the population
What have Marxist Feminist theorists (Conflict theory) been criticized for?
Taking for granted the division of domestic labour = the activities required to maintain a home and care for the people who live in it
What is the view of Symbolic Interactionism Theorists on family?
They take a micro approach investigating how family members’ behaviours are shaped by their definitions and interpretations of particular situations
- They tend to explore families as co-operative groups with shared interests
Symbolic Interactionism Theorist Goffman says what?
That our actions will fluctuate depending on the situation, setting, and expectation of those with whom you interact
Role Strain (Symbolic Interactionism) EX?
Stress that results when someone does not have sufficient resources to play a role or roles
EX. mothers that enter the labour force feel a strain between their responsibilities as a mother and as an employee
What is the view of Feminist Theorists on family?
Families remain primary sites for the continued subordination of women
What do Feminist argue about family?
That family forms are specific to both time and place (no one family is natural)
According to Feminists, what does imposing one family model do?
It privileges men and subordinates women
What do Feminists challenge in face of family?
That it is a private sphere
What is the view of Post-Structuralist Theorists on family?
- They seek to dismantle prevailing discourses about families
- Categories such as ‘problem families’ or ‘good mother’ are saturated in power relations
What is the notion of Post-Structuralist Theorists towards good mothers and good fathers?
They operate as normalizing discourses; they set the boundaries of what is acceptable and appropriate, and work to govern people’s behaviour
What do Post-Structuralist’s examine within family?
The relations of power
What is the view of Queer Theorists on family?
They question heteronormativity and the assumption that all families are formed through heterosexual unions
