Chapter 15
Families
In Conflict and Order:
Understanding Society, 11th edition
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The Mythical Family
in the United States
• The family is idealized and mythologized.
– The myth of a stable and harmonious family
of the past
– The myth of the family as a “haven in a
heartless world”
– The myth of the monolithic family form
– The myth of a unified family experience
– The myth of family decline as the cause of
social problems
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Families in Contemporary
U.S. Society
• Families are a product of social structure.
– The have different connections with
institutions that provide resources for family
support.
– Class and race are important determinants of
family life.
– The new economy has generated several
difficulties for families.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Families in Contemporary
U.S. Society
• The Changing Composition of Households
and Families
– The U.S. Census Bureau defines a household
as all persons who occupy a housing unit.
– A family is two or more persons related by birth
marriage or adoption who reside together.
– All families comprise households, but not all
households are families under the Census
Bureau’s definition.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Changes in Marriage
and Family Roles
• Marriage is still very much the norm, with about
90% of the population eventually marrying.
– However, the marriage rate has declined in recent
decades.
• Married people have better physical and mental
health, enhanced sex lives, and more economic
resources.
• Some marriages are abusive.
• Marriage matters but the degree to which it
matters is affected by social class, race and
gender.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Figure 15.2 – Households by Type: 1970 to
2003 (Percent Distribution)
Source: Jason Fields, 2004, “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2003.” Current Population
Reports, Series P20-553 (November). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census, p. 5.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Figure 15.3 – Median Age at First Marriage for the Population 15
Years and Over by Sex 1970 to 2003
Source: Jason Fields, 2004. “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2003.” Current Population
Reports, Series P20-553 (November). Washington, DC U.S. Bureau of the Census, p. 13.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Changes in Marriage
and Family Roles
• Same-sex marriage
– Supporters of same-sex marriage argue that
homosexual couples should have the same
rights as heterosexuals.
– Opponents argue that making same sex
unions legal denigrates marriage and
abandons the basic building block of the
family.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Changes in Marriage
and Family Roles
• Divorce and marital separation are not
evenly distributed through the population
and vary according to social and economic
characteristics.
• The U.S. has the highest remarriage rate
in the world.
• About 1/3rd of Americans will marry,
divorce, and remarry.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Changes in Marriage
and Family Roles
• Work and Family Roles
– Dual-worker marriages have increased.
– The “work-family role system” reinforces
traditional division of labor in both work and
family.
– Employed wives generally have two jobs--work
and family--while employed husbands have only
one.
• Arlie Hochschild calls the additional hours that
working women put in doing housework “the second
shift”.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Changes in Marriage
and Family Roles
• Children and Adolescents
– 17% of all children in the U.S. live in poverty
– Recent changes in family life have altered
childhood and adolescence.
• The Aged
– Aging has produced personal and family
relationships that never existed before.
– New family and household forms have
emerged.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
The Modern Family from the Order
and Conflict Perspectives
• Order theorists view the family as a source
of stability for individuals and society.
– The traditional division of labor by sex
contributes to the social order.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
The Modern Family from the Order
and Conflict Perspectives
• Conflict theorists argue that the traditional
family supports the economy but
individuals and families pay a high price.
– The family is a major source of false
consciousness and the primary agent by
which the system of social stratification is
perpetuated.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Families of the Future
• Trends that are altering families
– Stresses on family functions will continue to
reshape families.
– Economics will continue to drive family
changes.
– Divorce will continue.
– Nontraditional family forms shaped by social
and economic changes will proliferate.
– An aging society will redefine families.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007