Introduction to Families and Households Flashcards
Family, kinship and cohabitation…
What is a family might seem like quite an easy question but when you think a little deeper it is a little more complicated than that. Sociologists link family to the idea of kinship. By this they mean a link between people that is based on blood, marriage, civil partnership or adoption.
However in recent years there has been a growing number of people choosing to cohabit it has been argued that cohabiting couples should also be considered a family type.
Households…
A household is either one person or a group of people that live together and share living arrangements such as bills and/or food, therefore a family live in a household but not all households are families.
Examples of a household that is not a family could include students sharing a house whilst at university. Also households in pre-industrial Britain were much larger than they are today due to many upper class families having domestic servants who were not family members.
Social construction…
They have been created by people in society through shared interpretations and assumptions. This is shown in the way that many of these concepts are not universal but are instead understood differently in different societies or at different points in time.
The family as a social construct…
For example, (Kroulek 2018) found that the UK has a family structure that tends to consist of two parents and biological children (two generation nuclear family) whereas countries Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America and parts of Africa have a more extended family base and often live with grandparents, or even aunts and uncles.
The 2015 World Family Map study found that at least 40% of children in these regions live in households that include adults other than their parents.
Types of marriage…
> Monogamy - Two individuals who are exclusive to each other sexually.
> Arranged Marriages - Arranged by parents to match their children with partners of a similar background and status.
> Civil partnership - Legal recognition given to the relationships of same-sex couples, in which they are given the treatment in terms of legal matters as heterosexual couples.
> Gay marriage - In 2014 homosexual couples were legally enabled to marry on the same basis as heterosexual couples.
> Polygamy - Marriage to multiple people at the same time.
> Polygyny - One husband with a number of wives.
> Polyandry - One wife with a number of husbands.
Types of family structure…
> Nuclear Family - Two generations: parents and children living in the same household.
> Reconstituted Family (Step or Blended family) - one or both partners have previously been married, with children from the previous relationship.
> Gay / Lesbian Family - Same sex couple with children.
> Extended Family -All kin including and beyond the nuclear family.
> Classic Extended Family - An extended family sharing the same household or living near each other.
> Modified Extended Family - An extended family living far apart, but keeping in touch via phone, email and social networks.
> Bean Pole Family - A multi generational extended family, which is long and thin, with few aunts and uncles, reflecting fewer children being born in each generation, but people living longer.
> Patriarchal Family - Authority is held by the males.
> Matriarchal Family - Authority is held by the females.
> Symmetrical Family - Authority and household tasks shared between male and female partners.
> Lone Parent Family - A single parent with dependent children, most commonly from divorce or separation, but could also be due to death.
> Single Person Household - An individual living alone.
