The Family
Sociology 100
March 10, 2004
What is a family?
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The oldest social institution
Crucial to socialization, raising of children, & survival
Members are biologically linked or have other close ties
A sharing of common culture and experiences across generations
Conventional & Alternative Families
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Census definition: A social group of two or more people, related by
blood, marriage, or adoption, who usually live together.
Families of affinity: people with or without legal or blood ties who
feel they belong together or identify as a family.
Functions of a Family
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Reproduction
Contribute to the continuation of society through the replacement
of passing generations
Regulation of Sexual Behavior
Exogamy = the cultural norm in which people marry outside a
particular group
- Endogamy = people marry within the same lineage, group, class,
village, or race
Socialization
Provide primary socialization of children
Learn gender roles and other behavioral norms
Protection, affection, and companionship
Economic and social provider
A buffer to the harsh realties of everyday life—A place to
recharge
Social placement
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Provide an ascribed status in the social hierarchy greatly
affecting future life chances
(e.g., cultural capital)
Kinship forms reflect mode of production & culture
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Traditionally families were a source of production.
Patrilineal descent – property flows from father to sons. Father’s
blood relatives count as kin.
Matrilineal descent – property flows from mothers to daughters;
women are the primary food producers (usually horticultural
societies). Mother’s relatives are kin. Mother’s brother may be the
more important male relative.
Bilateral (bilineal) descent – both sides are considered kin; property
divided equally.
Modern Family Forms
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Structure
– Extended families – Family as producer
 Multiple generations
 Typically in rural areas or underdeveloped nations
 Re-emerging in urban spaces across the United States that
are experiencing a growing concentration of poverty
– Nuclear families – Family as consumer
 Usually two generations within one household (Parents and
Children)
 Accelerated in numbers during industrialization and
urbanization
 Continued modernization still reshaping the nuclear family
form
Theoretical Perspectives on the Family
 Functionalism
 Conflict Analysis
 Symbolic Interaction
Functionalism
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Family provides socialization of children as productive members of
society
Regulation of sexual activity
– Forbids incest
– Protects the young against sexual exploitation
– Prevents sexual competition within families
– Exogamy integrates members into larger society
– Rationalizes inheritance
Helps regulate society and reinforces traditional roles
Conflict Theory
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Family reproduces inequality
– Emphasis on the social placement function of the family
– Reproduces social inequality within a society
 Inheritance
 Determines life chances
– Argues that traditional family form contributes to the inequality of
the sexes (patriarchy)
 Traditional roles of husbands and wives are differentially
valued in favor of husbands
Symbolic Interactionism
Focus on the subjective experiences of family life
 The changing meanings attached to family
– Over time
– Across groups
– Across cultures
 The changing roles that are performed within families
– What are the roles to be performed by men and women?
– What roles do children play and how are they valued?
Changing American Families: 1950
(green), 1970 (purple), 1980 (orange),
1990 (blue), 2000 (red)
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Lindsey & Beach 2003
Race & The American Family
12
Lindsey & Beach 2003
Percentage of College Students who say they are
willing to marry without romantic love:
Pakistan
India
Thailand
Philippines
Mexico
England
Australia
U.S.
51%
49%
18%
12%
10%
8%
5%
4%
International Divorce Rates
14
Lindsey & Beach 2003
Divorce in the U.S.
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The average length of a marriage ending in divorce 7 to 8 years
Nearly half of all new marriages end in divorce
Over half of all second marriages end in divorce
Risk of divorce is greatest in the first couple of years of marriage
Divorced women are much more likely to live in poverty than men