Family Flashcards
Industrialized Societies
Marriage is monogamous; gives rise to nuclear family; favour neolocality; use bilateral descent; courtship based on romantic love is central; Family size decreased (cost, women in labour force)
Pre-industrial Societies
Recognize the extended family; permit polygamy; either patrilineal or matrilineal; Arranged marriages are common; large families are necessary because children are a source of needed labour
Marriage
A legal relationship, usually involving economic cooperation, sexual activity, and childbearing
Polygyny
Marriage that unites one man and two or more women
Matrilocality
A residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the wife’s family
Extended Family
A family consisting of parents and children as well as other kin; also known as a consanguine family
Exogamy
Marriage between people of different social categories
Family
A social institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups to care for one another; including any children
Bilateral Descent
A system tracing kinship through both men and women
Matrilineal Descent
A system tracing kinship through women
Endogamy
Marriage between people of the same social category
Descent
The system by which members of a society trace kinship over generations
Nuclear Family
A family composed of one or two parents and their children; also known as conjugal family
Patrilineal Descent
A system tracing kinship through men
Kinship
A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption
Monogamy
Marriage that unites two partners
Neolocality
A residential pattern in which a married couple lives apart from both sets of parents
Polygamy
Marriage that unites a person with two or more spouses
Polyandry
Marriage that unites one woman with two or more men
Patrilocality
A residential pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband’s family
Functions
Socialization of children; Regulation of sexual activity in order to maintain kinship organization/property rights; Giving children a social identity; Providing material/emotional support
Social-Conflict Theory
Families perpetuate social inequality; Families ensure continuation of class structure by passing on wealth; perpetuate gender roles; Tendency of those to marry others like themselves supports racial/ethnic hierarchies
Symbolic-Interaction Theory
Family members build emotional bonds in course of everyday family life
Social-Exchange Theory
Sees courtship and marriage as a process of negotiation in which each person weighs the advantages/disadvantages of a potential partner
“Family Values” Debate
Revolves around who cares for children when both parents work outside the home
“Empty Nest”
Departure of children; requires adjustments to family life
Sandwich Generation
Middle-aged couples care for children and aging parents
Infidelity
Sexual activity outside one’s marriage
Homogamy
Marriage between people with the same social characteristics
Social Class
Determines a family’s financial security and opportunities available to family members
Gender
Husbands dominate in most marriages; marriage provides more benefits for men than for women; men are more likely to remarry after divorce
Causes of Divorce
Individualism; romantic love fades; women are less dependent; many of today’s marriages are stressful; divorce is socially acceptable; legally, a divorce is easier to get
Family Violence
Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse of one family member by another; Is more common than records indicate; most adults were themselves abused as children
Common-Law Marriages
Proportion increased from 8-20%
Cohabitation
The sharing of a household by an unmarried couple
