HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS
LOOK AT MARRIAGE AND
THE FAMILY??
WHAT IS A FAMILY??
Every human group in the
world organizes its
members in families, but
the world’s cultures display
so much variety that the
term family is difficult to
define….
WHAT IS A FAMILY??
For the purposes of our examination a
family will be defined initially as “a
social institution that unites people in
cooperative groups to oversee the
bearing and raising of children”
Additional terms
Family unit: a social group of two or
more people related by blood,
marriage or adoption who usually live
together
Additional terms
Kinship: a social bond based on
blood, marriage or adoption; all
societies have families but who
people call their kin has varied
through history and varies from one
culture to another
Additional terms
Extended family: family unit that
includes parents and children as well
as other kin-also called the
“consanguine family” because it
includes everyone with “shared blood”
Additional terms
Nuclear family: family unit composed
of one or two parents and their
children-also called the “conjugal
family” meaning “based on marriage”
What is Marriage?????
In this country and in many areas
around the world, families form
around marriage
What is Marriage?????
Marriage: a legal
relationship usually
involving economic
cooperation as well
as sexual activity
and childbearing,
that people expect
to last
Different ways of looking at
marriage
Today, some
people object to
defining only
married couples
and children as
families because
it endorses a
single standard of
behavior as moral
Different ways of looking at
marriage
Because some
businesses and
government entities still
use conventional
definitions, people who
are unmarried but are
committed partners of
same or opposite sex
are excluded from
certain benefits
The family is a social institution
When stable sets of statuses, roles
groups and organizations form, they
provide the foundation for addressing
fundamental societal needs. These
enduring patterns of social life are
called “social institutions”.
The family is a social institution
Sociologists typically think of
institutions as the building blocks that
organize society. They are the
patterned ways of solving the
problems and meeting the
requirements of a particular society.
The family is a social institution
Key social
institutions include
the family,
education,
economics,
politics, law and
religion as well as
health care, the
military and the
mass media.
New definitions of families
Another definition of
family that can be
used is “those sharing
economic property,
sexual access among
the adults and a
sense of commitment
among
members…………..”
Theoretical Analysis of the Family
Functional Analysis
Conflict Analysis
Symbolic Interactionist Analysis
The structural-functional analysis of
the family
All societies must have a way of
replacing their members and
reproduction is essential to the
survival of human society as a whole.
The following are some of the specific
functions of family:
socialization
The family is the first and most
important setting for child-rearing.
Ideally, parents help children become
will-integrated and contributing
members of society; family
socialization continues throughout the
life cycle and is not a one way
street…
Sexual relations among adults are
regulated
Social placement
Families are not
needed for people to
reproduce, but they
help maintain social
organization ; parents
pass on their own
social identity in terms
of ethnicity, religion and
class to their children
Social-conflict analysis focuses on
ways the family perpetuates social
inequality
Property and
inheritancefamilies
concentrate
wealth and
reproduce the
class structure in
each new
generation
patriarchy
Race and ethnicity
Symbolic Interactionist analysis
Symbolic interactionist approach
Social exchange approach/
Exchange theory
Symbolic Interactionist theory
Explains how individuals learn their
particular behavior patterns and ways
of thinking
Social construction of reality
The definition of a situation
Exchange Theory
Suggests that we evaluate the costs
and rewards of engaging in
interaction
Exchange Theory
Patterns in the family are reinforced to
the extent that exchanges are
beneficial to members; when costs
outweigh rewards, the relationship is
unlikely to continue