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.