Family

Question 1

nuclear family

Answer 1

parents and their children (living together)

Question 2

extended family

Answer 2

multiple generations or adult siblings, their spouses, and their children (sharing resources and living together)

Question 3

modified extended family

Answer 3

relatives who do not live together but rely heavily on each other

Question 4

census family

Answer 4

married couples/cohabitants who have lived together for 1+ years (with or without children) or single parents

Question 5

household

Answer 5

people living together (whether or not they are related)

Question 6

polygamy

Answer 6

a person having multiple spouses at the same time

expanding the nuclear family horizontally

Question 7

polygyny

Answer 7

having several wives at the same time

Question 8

polyandry

Answer 8

having several husbands at the same time

Question 9

patrilineal

Answer 9

a society in which children take their father’s surname, belong to his kin group, and inherit from him

Question 10

family (professor’s definition)

Answer 10

a social unit/set of social relations that does what families are generally imagined to do (by whatever means)

Question 11

instrumental role

Answer 11

responsible for doing paid labour outside of the home, traditionally performed by men
(Structural Functionalism, Talcott Parsons, 1955)

Question 12

expressive role

Answer 12

responsible for the emotional well being of the family and the socialization of children, traditionally performed by women
(Structural Functionalism, Talcott Parsons, 1955)

Question 13

social reproduction

Answer 13

necessary activities that guarantee reproduction and survival of the population
(Conflict Theory)

Question 14

What were the main ideas of “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” (1844) by Friedrich Engels about the post-industrialization family structure?

Answer 14

• workplaces shifted from homes to factories
• men began working in factories, and were now dependent on business owners
• families shifted from being sites of production to sites of consumption
• women and children earned little to no wages, so they were dependent on men’
• men amassed social power and women’s social position declined

Question 15

What are the main aspects of family studied by symbolic interactionalists?

Answer 15

• how members’ behaviour is shaped by their definitions/interpretations of situations
• how they contribute to children’s development of self
• families as cooperative groups
• roles and role strain

Question 16

Exchange Theory

Answer 16

all relationships are based on giving and taking goods and services (ex. financial stability, affection, care) and individuals aim to maximize their rewards in their exchanges with others
(Symbolic Interactionalism)

Question 17

What do feminist theories examine about families?

Answer 17

• families gender people’s experiences (micro-level)
• families reproduce the gendered structure of society (macro-level)
• families are the primary site for the continued subordination of women
• feminists challenged the assumption that family matters (domestic violence, child abuse, etc) should not be interfered with by the state
• colonization disrupted Aboriginal family structures

Question 18

What do constructionists theorize about families?

Answer 18

• all naturalized models of families/kinship/parenting are questioned (bearing in mind power dynamics and how they produce these norms)
• question how norms that define what a family is came into being
• question normative categories like heteronormativity

Question 19

settler sexuality

Answer 19

A form of colonization in which a white national heteronormativity regulates Indigenous sexuality/gender by supplanting them with the sexual majority. Indigenous people had their own systems of relationships, but were forced into monogamy and state-sanctioned marriage by law after settlers arrived and took over.
(Queer Theory, Constructionist Theory)

Question 20

What are some trends involving marriage and divorce in Canada?

Answer 20

• marriage rate is decreasing
• average age of marriage is increasing
• common-law unions are increasing
• blended families are increasing
• same-sex marriage rate is increasing
• divorce rate increased until the 1970s-80s and is now decreasing

Question 21

What are some trends involving children in Canada?

Answer 21

• single parents are increasing
• amount of children born per mother is decreasing
• average age of mothers is increasing

Question 22

ART

Answer 22

assisted reproductive technologies

technologies that help couples to have children (barring adoption)

Question 23

What are some examples of ART (assisted reproductive technologies)?

Answer 23

• donor insemination
• fertility drugs
• IVF (in vitro fertilization)
• surrogacy

Question 24

What are some issues associated with ART (assisted reproductive technologies)?

Answer 24

• social stratification and inequality affect access to ART (only the rich can afford it)
• legal and human rights debates surrounding donors and surrogacy
• ethical considerations surrounding snowflake children

Question 25

snowflake children

Answer 25

children born from donated and frozen embryos
during the process of IVF, many embryos are created, so a couple may take one and freeze the rest, which many be donated to others

Question 26

anti-natalist

Answer 26

policies/practices used to reduce the population
a form of birth regulation
(one-child policy, forced sterilization)

Question 27

pro-natalist

Answer 27

policies/practices used to increase the population
a form of birth regulation
(outlawing abortion, decreasing access to birth control, monetary rewards for childbirth)

Question 28

What are some trends associated with domestic violence?

Answer 28

• the majority of victims are women and children
• about a quarter of women experience it over their lifetime
• most cases are unreported
• it is an issue related to gender, race, and class