Choices in Relationships
Introduction to Marriage and
Family
Chapter 1
An Introduction
Chapter Outline
Choices in Relationships—The View of This Text
• Marriage
• Family
• Differences between Marriage and Family
• Changes in Marriage and the Family
• Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and
the Family
• Evaluating Research in Marriage and the Family
•
True or False?
•
Based on the new trend toward single hood,
it is estimated that less than 60% of adults
will eventually marry.
Answer: False
•
Over 95% of U.S. adult women and men
aged 65 and older have married at least
once.
Choices in Relationships
Not To Decide Is To Decide
– Not making a decision is a decision by
default.
• Some Choices Require Corrections
– Once a choice is having consistent
negative consequences, it is important to
make new choices, and move forward.
•
Choices in Relationships
Choices Involve Trade-offs
– Every relationship choice you make will
have a downside and an upside.
• Choices Include Selecting a Positive or
Negative View
– In spite of an unfortunate event in your life,
you can choose to see the bright side.
•
Choices in Relationships
Choices Produce Ambivalence
– Choosing among options and trade-offs
often creates conflicting feelings as to what
course of action to take.
• Most Choices Are Revocable; Some Are Not
– Most choices can be changed.
•
Choices in Relationships
•
•
Choices are Influenced by the Family Life Cycle
– Before marriage, individualism characterizes most
thinking and decisions.
Choices Are Facilitated with Decision-Making Skills
– Steps in decision making include evaluating the
issues involved, identifying courses of action,
weighing the consequences and being attentive to
your motivations.
Institutions
The largest elements of society are social
institutions.
• These include:
– Family
– Economy
– Education
– Religion
•
Social Groups
Two or more people who have a common
identity, interact, and form a social
relationship.
• Social groups may be categorized as primary
or secondary.
– Primary groups are characterized by
interaction that is intimate and informal.
– Secondary groups are characterized by
interaction that is impersonal and formal.
•
Statuses
The status we occupy largely define our
social identity.
• The statuses in a family may consist of
mother, father, child, sibling, stepparent, and
so on.
•
Roles
Every status is associated with many roles, or
sets of rights, obligations, and expectations
associated with a status.
• Social statuses identify who we are; roles
identify what we are expected to do.
• Roles guide our behavior and allow us to
predict the behavior of others.
•
Question
•
The social structure of a society consists of
institutions, social groups, statuses and
A. choices.
B. roles.
C. social skills.
D. beliefs.
Answer: B
•
The social structure of a society consists of
institutions, social groups, statuses and roles.
Culture
•
Two central elements of culture are beliefs
and values.
– Beliefs refer to definitions and
explanations about what is true.
– Values are standards regarding what is
good and bad, right and wrong, desirable
and undesirable.
Elements of Marriage
•
•
•
•
•
Legal Contract
Emotional Relationship
Sexual Monogamy
Legal Responsibility for Children
Announcement /Ceremony
Choosing a Spouse
•
Pg. 2
•
Your choice of a spouse
is one of the most
important choices you
will ever make.
Benefits of Marriage
Health
Spouses have fewer hospital admissions,
see a physician more regularly, are sick
less often.
Longevity
Spouses live longer.
Happiness
Spouses report being happier.
Sexual
Spouses report being more satisfied with
satisfaction their sex lives.
Benefits of Marriage
Money
Spouses have more economic
resources
Lower expenses Two can live more cheaply together
than separately.
Drug use
Spouses have lower rates of drug
use and abuse.
Connectedness
Spouses are connected to more
individuals.
Benefits of Marriage
Children
History
Crime
Rates of high school dropouts, teen
pregnancies, and poverty are lower.
Spouses develop a shared history across
time.
Spouses are less likely to be involved in
crime.
Loneliness Spouses are less likely to report
loneliness.
Types of Marriage
Polygyny
• Polyandry
• Polyamory
• Pantogamy
•
Polygyny
•
Pg. 13
•
The HBO program Big Love gave visibility to the
issues involved with multiple wives/plural marriage
among some polygynous Mormon families.
Types of Families
•
•
•
•
•
Family of Origin
Family of Procreation
Nuclear Family
Binuclear Family
Extended Family
Family
•
This man views
the family dog as
a member of the
family.
•
Pg. 16
Question
•
The family into which you were born is
called the
A. family of procreation.
B. family of origin.
C. binuclear family.
D. birthright family.
Answer: B
•
The family into which you were born is called
the family of origin.
Differences Between
Marriage and Family
Marriage
•
•
•
•
•
Involves two people.
Individuals usually choose
each other.
Ends when spouse dies or is
divorced.
Sex between spouses is
expected and approved.
Procreation expected.
Family
• Usually involves more than
two people.
• Members are born or
adopted into the family.
• Continues beyond the life of
the individual.
• Sex between near kin is
neither expected nor
approved.
• Consequence of procreation.
The Industrial Revolution and
Family Change
Dual-income family
• Urbanization
• Transportation
• The demise of familism and the rise of
individualism
•
Changes in the Last Half Century
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Divorce as marriage endpoint
Changes in gender roles
Delay in age at marriage
Acceptance of singlehood
Cohabitation
Childfree marriages
Living amid a context of terrorism
Families Amid a Context of
Terrorism
•
Pg. 21
•
As citizens, we are constantly reminded that we live
in a context of terrorism.
Theoretical Frameworks
for Marriage and the Family
Structural-Functional
– Views the family as an institution with
values, norms, and activities meant to
provide stability for the larger society.
• Conflict
– Recognizes that family members have
different goals and values that result in
conflict.
•
Theoretical Frameworks
for Marriage and the Family
Family life Course Development
– Emphasizes the process of how families
change over time.
• Feminist
– Women and men will experience life
differently because there are different
expectations for the respective genders.
•
Theoretical Frameworks
for Marriage and the Family
Symbolic Interaction
– The process of interpersonal interaction.
• Systems Framework
– The basic premise is that each member of
the family is part of a system and the family
as a unit develops norms of interacting,
which may be explicit or implied.
•
Theoretical Frameworks
for Marriage and the Family
Human ecology
– The study of ecosystems, or the interaction
of families with their environment.
• Biosocial Framework
– Emphasizes the interaction of one’s
biological/genetic inheritance with one’s
social environment to explain and predict
human behavior.
•
Theoretical Frameworks
for Marriage and the Family
•
Stratification
– Refers to the ranking of people into strata
according to their socioeconomic status or
social class, usually indexed according to
income, occupation, and educational
attainment.
Question
•
The framework which points out that
interactions between spouses, parents and
children are understood as each individual
seeking the most "benefit" at the least "cost"
is the
A. family development framework.
B. social exchange framework.
C. symbolic interaction framework.
D. family systems framework.
Answer: B
•
The framework which points out that
interactions between spouses, parents and
children are understood as each individual
seeking the most "benefit" at the least "cost"
is the social exchange framework.
Question
•
Which framework provides a valuable
approach to understanding the family and its
members' development of rules of
interaction?
A. family systems framework
B. symbolic interactionist framework
C. social exchange framework
D. operative framework
Answer: A
•
The family systems framework provides a
valuable approach to understanding the
family and its members' development of rules
of interaction.
Households by Social Class
Class
Upper Upper
Class
Lower Upper
Class
% of Population
1%
2%
Income
$500K+
$200K+
Education
Prestigious
schools
Prestigious
schools
Kennedys
Bill Gates,
Donald Trump
Example
Households by Social Class
Class
Upper-middle
Class
Lower-middle
Class
% of Population
23%
27%
Income
$75K - $200K
$40K-$75K
Education
Post graduate
degrees
College degrees
Your physician
High School
English teacher
Example
Households by Social Class
Class
Working Class
Working poor
% of Population
25%
15%
Income
Education
Example
$20-40K
High school
diploma
Employee at fast
food restaurant
Below poverty
line of $14,680
for family of 3
Some high
school
Janitor
Households by Social Class
Class
Under class
% of Population
10%
Income
-
Education
Unemployed/
Unemployable
Example
Bag lady
Research on Marriage and
Family: Samples
Some of the research on marriage and the
family is based on random samples.
• In a random sample, each individual in the
population has an equal chance of being
included in the sample.
•
Research on Marriage and
Family
•
Any study that concludes that an abortion
(or any independent variable) is associated
with negative outcomes (or any dependent
variable) must include two groups:
1. Women who have had an abortion
2. Women who have not had an abortion.
Research on Marriage and
Family: Age and Cohort Effects
In some research designs, different cohorts or
age groups are tested at one point in time.
• One problem is the difficulty of discerning
whether differences between the subjects
studied are due to the research variable of
interest, cohort differences, or a variable
associated with the passage of time.
•
Potential Inadequacies of
Research Studies
Weakness Consequences
Sample not Cannot
random
generalize
findings
Example
Opinions of college
students differ from other
adults.
No control
group
Study on effect of divorce
needs control group of
married people.
Inaccurate
conclusions
Potential Inadequacies of
Research Studies
Weakness
Consequences
Example
Age
differences of
respondents
Inaccurate
conclusions
Effect may be due to
passage of time or to
cohort differences
Unclear
terminology
Can’t measure
what is not
clearly defined
What is living
together, marital
happiness, sexual
fulfillment, good
communication,
quality time?
Potential Inadequacies of
Research Studies
Weakness
Consequences
Example
Researcher
bias
Slanted
conclusions
Time lag
Outdated
conclusions
Male research making
assumptions about
women based on male
responses.
Often-quoted Kinsey
sex research is over fifty
years old.
Distortion
Invalid
conclusions
Research subjects
recall facts or events
inaccurately.