Sociology 1201:
Week Two
1.
Monday and Wednesday: Video—
”Legacy”… Worksheets as a basis for
group discussion
Sociology 1201
Theoretical perspectives in sociology:
Functionalism
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Analyze social patterns in terms of the contribution they make
to the well-being of society as a whole
Institution: a complex social pattern that meets a societal
need
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Family
Religion
Political System
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Criminal Justice
Military
Educational system
Economic System
Should we also include the mass media?
Sociology 1201
Characteristics of institutions
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Supported by tradition
Have moral authority
Institutions are interdependent
Usually change slowly because of these first
three characteristics… the family as an
institution has been quite a surprise in that
regard over the course of the last 50 years or so
Sociology 1201
“Surprises” in family as an institution
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Divorce revolution
Births outside marriage
Feminist Movement
Women in the work force
Gay/lesbian rights movement
Battered women’s movement
Sociology 1201
Sociological approaches to family
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The scientific method: theory and research
Objectivity and the community of scholars
Science: the process of creating (and
modifying) theories that are tested through
systematic research. E.g. what are the
consequences of divorce for children? (not
primarily a matter of opinion or political
views)
Sociology 1201
Research methods
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Experiment: NOT FEASIBLE OR ETHICAL
EXCEPT IN EVALUATION RESEARCH
Quantitative research methods: censuses,
surveys and samples, government statistics
Qualitative research methods: field study,
in-depth interviews
Cross cultural and longitudinal studies
Sociology 1201
Family history: the colonial period
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Patriarchy: e.g. letter from Abigail Adams to
husband John : “Remember the ladies”
Broad range of functions
Nuclear, not extended, both in norms and
in reality
High death rates and low life expectancy
Children as miniature adults
African-American families: By 1790, 1 in 5
Americans were slaves
Sociology 1201
History: The
Breadwinner/Homemaker family
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Beginning in about 1820 although not the majority
pattern until 1920
Industrial capitalism and the division of labor by
sex
Women as spiritual, men as practical/rational
(legal powers, sexuality, voting)
Childhood and the need for nurture
Adolescence as a stage
White immigrant families (peak of immigration in
late 19th/early 20th century)
Sociology 1201
20th century and the rise of the
companionate family
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Less gender separation (e.g., my
grandparents decision to sit together in
church)
More emphasis on emotional intimacy
Attention to female sexuality, beginning
with the middle and upper classes
Sociology 1201
1950s family (really, 1946-1965)
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Exception to longer trends of the 20th
century (age at marriage, % who marry,
birth rates, women in the workforce)
A golden age? Extra helping factors:
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U.S. domination of the world economy
Peak of unionization in U.S.
Low death rates AND low divorce rates
Suburbs and family life… home ownership
Rapid increase in college education (GI Bill)
Sociology 1201
What was less golden in the 1950s?
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Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique—
”the problem that has no name”
The sexual double standard
Homosexuality as both a crime and a
mental illness
The high rate of teen pregnancy
Battering and child abuse largely hidden
Can we define the “health” of society as a
whole, apart from values?
Sociology 1201
Groups
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Meet in groups to discuss your questions
on the chapters 1 &2 in Promises I Can
Keep
Remember to attach your questions to the
project report sheet (your questions must
be word processed; I don’t want you to be
able to write them after you get to class)
Sociology 1201