UNIT 4: The Family Flashcards
Household Unit
The group of people living together in the same residence and sharing living space.
Nuclear Family
Made up of an adult man and an adult woman who are married, or in a relationship, and living together with dependent children.
Extended Family
A nuclear family living with other relatives such as grandparents or great grandparents or aunts, uncles and cousins.
Kinship
When the ties between people are related by descent (having a common ancestor) by marriage and by adoption.
One-parent or Single-parent family
One parent and their dependent children living together.
Divorce
The formal, legal ending of a marriage.
Reconstituted Family
After the death of a partner or a divorce, a new family that is created by someone remarrying.
Step-parent
After remarriage a step-parent shares with their new partner parental responsibility for children from previous marriages.
Step-child
A child who lives with one biological parent and one step-parent.
Civil Partnership
A relationship between two people usually of the same sex that has been formally registered giving them similar rights to married couples.
Family Diversity
The increase in the number of different types of families.
Matrifocal Family
One in which the mother heads the family and the father has a less important role in the family and in bringing up children.
Matriarchy
When the mother is the head of the household, with authority over the men and children in the household.
Arranged Marriage
Marriage partners are chosen by older family members rather than people choosing their own marriage partner.
Primary Socialisation
The process by which infants and young children absorb the basic norms and values of their culture.
Cereal Packet Family
The stereotypical nuclear family of mother, father and children with traditional gender roles that is often shown in advertisements.
Family Functions
The functions the family has, that is, what roles it plays and for whom, according to functionalist theory.
Feminism
A theoretical perspective that is mainly interested in issues of gender inequality and on the position of women in the family and in society.
Patriarchy
A term used by feminists to describe societies and organizations (including the family) in which men are dominant and women are subordinate.
Commune
A group of people who choose to live together and share at least some of their property.
One-person household
When only one person lives in a residence.
Traditional Societies
Non-modern societies, contrasted with modern industrial societies.
Monogamy
Being married to one person at a time.
Serial Monogamy
When someone has more than one marriage partner during their life, but only one at any given time.
Polygamy
Being married to more than one person at the same time; for example, a man with several wives or a woman with several husbands.
Polygyny
When a man has more than one wife at the same time.
Polyandry
When a woman has more than one husband at the same time.
Divorce Rate
The number of divorces per year per 1,000 people.
Cohabitation
Two people who are not married to each other living together in an intimate relationship.
Marriage
The formal joining of a man and a woman in a relationship with rights and responsibilities; some countries now allow same sex marriage, that is, of to men or two women.
Marital Breakdown
When a marriage has broken down so that the couple are no longer living as husband and wife; some breakdowns lead to divorce.
Empty shell marriage
A married couple continue to live together but without love or affection.
Secularisation
The process by which religion has become less important in the daily lives of many people in modern industrial societies.
Family Roles
The parts played by different members of the family.
Conjugal Roles
The roles taken by the husband and wife within the family resulting from the domestic division of labor.
Joint Conjugal Roles
The husband and wife carry out many tasks and activities together, so that there is no clear separation of roles; the opposite of segregated roles.
Traditional Conjugal Roles
The segregated roles assumed to be normal in the traditional nuclear family.
Symmetrical Family
A family in which the conjugal roles have become more equal.
Dual Worker Families
Families in which both the man and woman do paid work.
Gender Equality
When men and women have equal roles, status and rights.
Child-centredness
When the child’s needs and wishes are the most important considerations.
Empty-nest Families
Parents living at home together after their adult children have moved out.
Boomerang Family
A family in which the adult children have left home but then return.
Segregated Conjugal Roles
The husband and wife have clearly different roles within the family and different interests and activities; the opposite of joint roles.
Domestic Division of Labor
The way in which tasks in the home (such as cooking, cleaning, childcare and repairs) are divided between the man and woman.
Dual Burden
Women who do paid work as well as look after the home and family are said to have a dual burden - the term ‘triple burden’ or ‘triple shift’ is also sometimes used, adding to work and the home the expressive role of looking after the emotional needs of family members.
Dark side of family
The negative aspects of family life such as arguments, abuse, neglect, and violence.
Dysfunctional Family
A family that fails to carry out the functions expected of it; for example, where the children are neglected.
Domestic Violence
Violence within the family, usually but not always by males against females; refers not only to physical violence but also to patterns of controlling behaviour that may include emotional manipulation.
Modern Industrial Societies
Created by industrialization; Societies that today have industrial economies and high urban populations.
Industrialisation
The process in history in which societies changed from being mainly rural and based on agriculture to being urban and with more people working in industries.
Urbanisation
The growth of cities, so that a higher proportion of the population live in cities.
Demographic Trends
Patterns in the changes of demographic measures such as the birth rate and death rate.
Birth Rate
The number of live births per 1,000 people in the population in one year.
Fertility Rate
The number of live births per 1,000 women of child bearing age in the population.
Beanpole Family
A family with only one child or very few children; combined with rising life expectancy this leads to family trees that look very tall and thin with few people in each generation, rather than bushy, with lots of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Death Rate
The number of deaths per 1,000 people in the population in one year; also called the mortality rate.
