paper 2 Flashcards
Household
Residential unit with one or more people living in the dwelling and sharing facilities.
Role of state in Defining family
- Legal Norms - Family based laws like marriage, divorce and childcare.
- Moral Values- Shaping the ideas of what a family is and what it does/should be.
Single Person Household
Adult lives alone based on choice, breakdown of a relationship or death of a partner.
Couple Household
Two people without children who chose to remain childless, children left home or have not started a family yet.
Shared Household
Unrelated people living together.
Family Household
Related people living together.
Family
There is no one definition for family. One defining factor of a family is having children.
Foundational Definition: George Murdock
Family is based on meeting the following criteria.
1. Common residence
2. Economic co-operation and reproduction
3. Adults of both sexes and maintain a socially approved sexual relationship
4. One or more children (biological or adopted)
Marriage
A legal union.
Civil Partnership
Usually between same-sex couples and are given some legal rights.
Partnership
A couple, living as married, but no legal ties.
Common-law Marriage
Not official marriage but is co-habitation over a period of time that has legal ties.
Divorce
A legal dissolution of marriage, again, in the U.S., is defined by state law.
Factors considered in a divorce
- Division of Assets
- Alimony
- Child custody
- Child payments
Nuclear Family
Consists of parents and their children.
Isolated Nuclear
Family is not geographically near kin so must be socially and economically self-sufficient.
Lone Parent (broken nuclear)
Single adult plus dependent children - resulting from the end of a two-parent family.
Reconstituted
Families with stepchildren in which one or both of the partners have children from previous relationships.
Single Parent
Single adult plus dependent children - was never a two parent family.
Extended family
When more than parents and children living in the household.
Vertical Extended
Three or more generations in the household.
Horizontal extended
Within generation living in the house hold.
Broadly Extended
Extended family is located in the same geographical area but the kin doesn’t live together.
Modified Extended
Wider family members keep in touch both physically and emotionally but may not have frequent personal contact.
Functional Fit
The family functions to meet the needs of society, thus as society changes the family changes.
How does the family meet the needs of society
- Produces socialized individuals
- Stabilizes adult personalities
- Value Consensus
- Prepares individuals for their working role
- Introduces individuals to religion
- It controls and regulates sexual activity
- Provides economically
- Provides care
- Provides social control of members for society
How does family meet the needs of the family
- Socialization
- Economic functions
- Emotional Support
- Reproductive functions
- Stabilization of adult personalities
- Education
- Sexual Functions
- Welfare Functions
Functionalism based on two main factors
- A dominance thesis - the nuclear family is the main family structure in all societies.
- Structural Convergence - family structures moved to the nuclear norm and thus becomes the primary family form.
Arguments against the functionalism of family
- Societies have changed so has the definition of family.
Neo-functionalists
Look at the micro processes of family and how they function for society and structures.
The family functions as a school for learning social norms for three reasons:
- Rules transmitted and enforced by people with a deep, emotional connection are effectively taught.
- Emotional closeness provides incentives to develop co-operative behavior.
- Rule-learning indirectly through the child observation.
Family Capital
The family enhancing a person’s ability to perform economically.
Social Capital
Ones connections for what people can do for each other. Social capital is now economic and personal.
