Week 15 Lecture 1 PowerPoint (the family) Flashcards
Family
Blood vs Law
Blood - shared genetic heritage
Law - social recognition and affirmation of the bond (e.g., birth certificates)
Kinship
state of being related to others, culturally learned, not fully determined by biological ties
*Aunts, cousins, culturally learned, not always biological
Principle of Decent (3)
BILATERAL – both sides of the family are equally important
PATRILINEAL – the father’s relatives are important in terms of property, inheritance, and emotional ties
MATRILINEAL – the mother’s relatives are more significant than the father’s
Defining Families in Canada
A married or common-law couple, either opposite or same sex, with or without
children
(83%)
(Half have children)
OR
A lone parent living with at least one child, in the same dwelling
(16%)
Why pull census data in Families in Canada?
*Policy changes
*Shifting welfare prioririties as population shifs
How sociologists may be interested in studying aspects of the family:
*Poverty, lack of employment, indigenous communities, history of intergenerational trauma.
Marriage types (4)
Monogamy – a form of marriage in which two people are married only to
each other
Serial Monogamy – when a person has several spouses in their lifetime,
but only one spouse at a time
Polygamy – when an individual has several husbands or wives
simultaneously
* Polygyny – marriage of a man to more than one wife
* Polyandry – marriage of a woman to more than one husband
Polyamory – multiple partners, but not marriage
Functionalism & Family
What families do for society
- role and function of families
William F. Ogburn 6 functions of family
- reproduction
- socialization - key agents of socialization process
- protection - primary protector of children in societies
- regulation of sexual behaviour - what’s not appropriate, what is, when
- Affection and companionship - humans are social creatures, families are main place this takes place
- Provision of social status - who your are related to can afford you capital
Critical Perspectives & Family
What families do TO societies
- power both within and outsied of the home has been distributed according to gender, in a patriacal structure.
*How is gender inequality reproduced inside and outside of the home - Goin to depend on society’s familial structures
Patriarchy
society in which men dominate in family decision making
Matriarchy
society in which women dominate in family decision making
Egalitarian
authority pattern in which spouses are regarded as equal
Engels Argues Family is ultimate source of social inequality
Play role in the transfer of power, property, and privilege
*men still tend to make family decisions and find it easier to divorce (stay at home mothers financially depend on men) Women have less power and privilege in family
**THIS IS SHIFTING: Egalitarian families shifting into egalitarian
***Apparent social class influences children socialization experiences - degree learning and education is pushed at home… do parents read with children
Interactionism & Family
How relationships form to begin with - patterns of courtship and how this shifts
*Dating process
*Internet changed the way we date
(Tinder)
*Shifts dating norms
Sociology & the family
- interests on shifting norms within institutions, ex families
- social differences, ex. social class. (socialization processes becoming more similar between different social classes)
- Gender roles, women now hold different posisions within the family with increased financial independance and decision-making power.
- shifts in makeup of family, same-sex, interracial, families look more diverse
- changes to marriage trends, people are waiting longer to get married
- child rearing shifts, BOOMERANG GENERATION, kids go back home after moving out
