CHAPTER 12
The Family
Section 1: The Family in Cross-Cultural
Perspective
Section 2: The American Family
HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Section 1: The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Objectives:

Describe the norms that influence the ways
in which marriage patterns are organized
around the world.

Identify the basic societal needs that the
institution of the family satisfies.
2
Norms & Marriage Patterns
Around the World
Four Basic Questions
How a culture or society answers these
questions determines the organization
of their families
1.
Number of Marriage Partners
2.
Residential Patterns
3.
Descent Patterns
4.
Authority Patterns
3
1.Number of marriage partners
in industrialized nations marriages are usually
monogamous whereas in pre-industrial
societies the normal pattern is polygyny
4
2. Residential Patterns

once individuals are married they must decide
where to live

the most important determining factor is the
specific type of kinship system.

economic concerns and personal factors are
usually of secondary importance
5
Residential Patterns

Patrilocal residence - newlyweds establish
their home near or in the groom's father's
house. (~69%)

Matrilocal residence - newlyweds
establish their home near or in the bride's
mother's house. (~13%)

Bilocal residence - newlyweds have the
choice of living with or near the groom's or
the bride's family. (~9%)
6
Residential Patterns

Neolocal residence- newlyweds establish their home
independent of both sets of relatives. (~5%)

Popular and common in urban North America today suits the cultural emphasis on independence.

Economic hardship can make neolocal residence a
difficult goal to achieve

Elsewhere, neolocal residence is found in societies in
which kinship is minimized or economic considerations
require moving residence periodically.

Employment in large corporations or the military often
calls for frequent relocations, making it nearly
impossible for extended families to remain together.
7
3. Descent Patterns

in some societies people trace kinship through
the father’s side of the family (patrilineal), in
others descent is traced through the mother’s
side of the family (matrilineal) or through both
parents (bilineal)
8
Matrilineal Descent – the Mosuo Tribe

Near the border with Tibet in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China

political decisions in the tribe are made by men, almost everything else such as
inheritance, business decisions and the final word at the dinner table are often
found with women in this tribe.

A unique feature of this tribe is that it does not have a word for ‘father’ and even
for ‘husband’ as the concept of marriage does not exist in their tribe.

Women have children through a concept called zou hun (walking marriages) in
which the female raise the offspring they beget.
9
4. Authority Patterns

the three basic types are patriarchy, matriarchy
and egalitarian
10
Basic Needs Provided by the Family

Regulation of Sexual Activity

enforce incest taboo which is a norm
forbidding sexual relations or marriage
between certain relatives
11
Basic Needs
Provided by the Family

Incest

All U.S. states and most countries bar
marriages within the nuclear family, but
there is far less agreement about half
siblings or first cousins

Legal in France (Napoleonic code)

Preferred form of marriage in some
cultures

Some call the laws genetic discrimination
12
Basic Needs
Provided by the Family

Reproduction

societies establish norms governing
childbearing and child rearing
13
Basic Needs
Provided by the Family

Socialization

children must be taught the ways of the
society into which they were born
14
Seeing Sociology in Everyday Life
Who’s Minding the Kids?
HOLT,
RINEHART
WINSTON
Working mothers report that a majority of their young
children
receive careAND
in the
home.
Basic Needs
Provided by the Family

Economic and Emotional Security

family acts as the basic economic unit in
society and in most cases labor is divided
on the basis of gender
16
Section 2: The American Family
Objectives:

Explain how American families begin and
describe some of the disruptions they might
face.

Analyze some of the trends in American
family life currently being examined by
sociologists.
17
Beginnings of the American Family
and Disruptions

Marriage begins with courtship and
marriage between either homogamous or
heterogamous couples

Disruptions include family violence,
divorce, empty nest, return of adult
children and death of a spouse
18
SECTION 2
The American Family
delayed childbearing
delayed marriage
childlessness
dual-earner families
Trends in
American
Family Life
remarriage
one-parent families
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

Delayed Marriages – current trend is to marry
later in life and being single has become an
acceptable alternative to being married
Some effects include:
• More children born out of wedlock
• Decrease in overall life satisfaction
among those waiting later to marry
• More excessive drinking &
depression among 20 somethings
• Decreased divorce rate
(National Marriage Project,
University of Virginia)
20
Parental Involvement in Children’s Lives: Cohabiting and
Married Parents
Marriage increases the odds that parents will share the same household with their
child. Source: Phillips (2001).
HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

A key part of the explanation for the struggles of today's
working and lower middle classes in the U.S. is delayed
marriage but not delayed childbearing

58% of first births among mothers without college degrees
are now to unmarried women.
22
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

Delayed Childbearing – women are
delaying childbirth to complete their
education and establish a career
23
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

Childlessness – couples are making the
conscious choice to remain voluntarily
childless
24
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

Dual-Earner Marriages – increase in the
number of dual-earner marriages due to
the increased number of women entering
the workforce
25
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

One-Parent Families – come about in various
ways such as divorce, death of a spouse, births
to unwed mothers or adoption by unmarried
individuals
26
Family Form in the United States, 2005
All racial and ethnic categories show variations in family form.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2006).
HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON
Sociologists Examine Trends in
American Family Life

Remarriage – the majority of
people who get divorced about 80%- get remarried,
most within 5 years

Subsequent Divorce - the
majority of people who get
remarried – about 60% – get
divorced again
28
Divorce


In the US, nine out of 10 people will marry.
Four in 10 marriages end in divorce. Why?

Individualism on the rise

Romantic love often subsides.

Women are less dependent upon men.

Many of today’s marriages are stressful.

Divorce is socially acceptable.

Legally, a divorce is easier to get.
Divorce Rate for the United States,
1890-2005
HOLT, RINEHART
AND WINSTON
Blended Families

Remarriage often creates blended families.

Offer both young and old the chance to relax
rigid family roles
Family Violence
Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse of one family
member by another

Against women

Women are more likely to be injured by a family member
than to be mugged or raped by a stranger or hurt in an
automobile accident.

All states have marital rape laws; half have “stalking
laws.”
Family Violence

Against children

Child abuse and neglect are
most common among the
youngest and most
vulnerable children.

Abusers are more likely to
be women than men.
Looking Ahead

Divorce rates remain high.

More equality between sexes

All kinds of units will be seen as families.

Men will continue to play a limited role in child
rearing.

Many will remain absent from household scenes.
Looking Ahead

Economic changes will affect families and
reform marriage.


Less quality time as work demands more from
parents
New reproductive technologies

Ethical concerns about what can and what
should be done
CHAPTER 12
Chapter Wrap-Up
1. How are families structured around the
world?
2. What four basic questions help to
determine how a society or group within a
society organizes families?
3. What functions does the family fulfill?
4. How do sociologists explain the high rate of
divorce in the United States?
5. Why has the number of married women in
the workforce increased?
CHAPTER 12
The Family
Section 1: The Family in Cross-Cultural
Perspective
Section 2: The American Family
HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON