CHAPTER 15: FAMILIES AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS
I. What is Marriage and the
Family?
II. How Do Families Change? The Family Life Cycle
III. How Are U.S. Families Changing?
I. WHAT ARE MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY?
A. _____________: a group of individuals related to one another by blood
ties, marriage, or adoption, who form an economic unit, the adult members
of which are responsible for the upbringing of children
1. _____________ Family: a family group consisting of a wife, a husband
(or one of these), and dependent children
2. _____________ Family: a family group consisting of more than two
generations of relatives living either within the same household or very
close to one another
A.3. Family of __________________: the family into which an individual is
born
4. Family of ____________________: the family an individual initiates
through marriage or by having children
B. __________________: a socially approved sexual relationship between two
individuals, usually marked by a ritual
C. Cross-cultural Similarities in Families:
1. ____________ to govern who can and cannot marry
a. ______________: marrying within one’s own group
b. ______________: marrying outside one’s own group
C.2. three patterns of tracing descent:
a. ___________: both sides of the family
b. _____________: father’s side of the family
c. ______________: mother’s side of the family
3. descent is regulated to provide a way to pass on ______________
(bilateral, patrilineal, and matrilineal)
C.4. patterns of authority:
a. historically, almost all societies have been a _______________:
authority vested in males; male control of a society or group
b. no records of a true ________________, but many societies have given a
high degree of authority to females, especially those with matrilineal
patterns of descent and inheritance
C.4.c. many countries are becoming more _________________ and recognizing
women’s rights: authority more or less equally divided between husband and
wife
d. examples of increasing _____________________: wives keeping their own
last names; creation and enforcement of laws against domestic abuse;
increasing male role in household labor (but still not equal division of
tasks)
C.5. general trend toward the _____________________ of a spouse, rather
than arranged marriages or kin marriages
6. higher levels of _______________________ are developing, even in
societies that historically were very restrictive, especially about
women’s sexual behavior
7. general trend toward recognizing the rights of _______________
8. declining __________________ of extended families, clans and kin groups
over individual and family behavior
C.9. __________________________: traditions that families maintain over
time and that can result in severe sanctions if violated
a. very common for holidays and other special events
b. Robert Earl Keen “Merry Christmas from the Family”: What family rituals
and other family characteristics are portrayed in this song?
Robert Earl Keen: Merry Christmas from the Family
Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk at our Christmas party
We were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn’t know what to think of him ‘til he sang “Feliz Navidad”
Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay
Who talks all about A.A.
Chainsmoking while the stereo plays “Noel, Noel, the first Noel”
Carve the turkey, turn the ballgame on
Mix margaritas when the eggnog’s gone
Send somebody to the Quikpak store
We need some ice and an extension cord
A can of beandip and some Diet Rites
A box of tampons, some Marlboro Lights
Hallelujah, everybody say “Cheese”
Merry Christmas from the family
Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can’t remember how I’m kin to them
but when they tried to plug their motorhome in, they blew our Christmas
lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw a breaker and the lights came on
And we sang “Silent Night, oh silent night, oh holy night”
Carve the turkey, turn the ballgame on
Make Bloody Marys ‘cause we all want one
Send somebody to the Stop and Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprites
A box of tampons, some Salem Lights
Hallelujah, everybody say “Cheese”
Merry Christmas from the family
Feliz Navidad!
Group Assignment:
What family rituals and other family characteristics are portrayed in this
song?
C.9. family rituals and characteristics:
extended families
activities:
social channels of love and marriage:
blended families:
D. Why Live in a Family? Six Functions:
1. _______________ production
2. ________________ of children
3. care of the __________________
4. __________________
5. ________________ control
6. __________________
E. ______________________ Societies: extended families working on family
farms
F. ______________________ and the Family: men in the workplace, women in
the home (e.g. “Leave it to Beaver”)
G. _______________________ Society and the Family: more women work outside
the home
1. Arlie Hochschild and the _____________________: women often work full
time jobs and then face another full time job taking care of the home and
family
G.2. Men’s strategies to ______________ sharing the second shift
a. __________________: incompetent
b. _________________: don’t volunteer
c. _______________________: “I don’t mind wrinkles”
d. __________________________: appreciation and encouragement to “keep it
up”
3. Any evidence of the second shift in your families?
II. How Do Families Change? The Family Life Cycle
A. How Do Marriages Take Place?
1. ________________ Marriages: parents choose mates for their children
a. examples: ____________
2. ________________________: feelings of erotic attraction accompanied by
an idealization of the other and a feeling of being “in love”
a. example: __________
B. How would your family and friends react if:
a. you are 18, fall in love with, and want to marry some who is 55?
b. you are white, fall in love with, and want to marry an AfricanAmerican?
B. Social Channels of Love and Marriage:
1. ________
2. _________________
3. _____________________ (e.g. Garth Brooks “Friends in Low Places”)
4. ____________________
5. _________________
C. Becoming a Family: _________________
1. having children usually results in a _______________ in marital
satisfaction
2. child care is expensive, worrisome, and often ________________ (whose
responsibility is it to take care of different tasks)
3. women are still stereotyped as the primary caregiver who is responsible
for _____________________________ (part of Second Shift)
C.4. however, over half of U.S. children are cared for by ________________
a parent
5. quality ________________ has become a political issue and a source of
concern, debate and media attention
6. ___________________ childcare increasingly common because of 24/7
workweeks and consumer and business expectations of unlimited availability
D. ________________ Order:
1. ____________________ children receive more discipline and attention
from parents
2. after other children are born, __________________ compete to retain
attention by striving for success (e.g. studying hard)
3. later children may be less successful, but are less anxious about being
successful and __________________________ in their relationships
E. The ____________________:
1. children leave home, creating a difficult transition for parents, but
may make mothers and couples ________________ in the long run
2. in the past decade, many children are forced by their economic
circumstances to return home, creating a new type of difficult family
situation often filled with ____________________
F. Textbook on Diversity in U.S. Families
III. How Are U.S. Families Changing?
A. High _____________________________
1. Impacts on _________________:
a. initial period of intense _____________________________: confusion,
insecurity, siding with one parent
b. most resume _____________________________ without serious problems
within two years after separation
c. only a _______________ of children experience some long-term problems,
e.g. mental health issues, fear of commitment, fear of making the same
mistake in their own relationships
A.2. ______________________________ for Women: women’s standard of living
falls by 27% after divorce, but men’s improves by 10%
3. Remarriage and __________________________: a family whose members were
once part of other families
4. _____________________________: a father, after divorce, reduces contact
with his own children, serves as a father to the children of the woman he
marries or lives with, then ignores them after moving in with or marrying
another woman
B. __________________ Families:
1. due to high divorce rate and rising number of kids born to ____________
mothers
2. single parent households are more likely to live in _______________
because of the difficulty of supporting a family on one income
3. can become a ___________________________ in which children from single
parent families become single parents themselves
C. Postponing Marriage and _________________________: living together as
an unmarried couple, rather than getting married right away or ever
1. ________________ against cohabitation has declined dramatically
D. Increasing Acceptance of ____________________ and Families
1. about 594,000 same-sex-couple households in U.S. in 2010; about 20% of
these households had _______________________
D.2. growing _____________________________________ for gay marriage
3. all but 2 states (Utah and Mississippi) allow gay people to ________
children
4. research shows that children of __________________ equally happy,
healthy, and academically successful as children of heterosexual parents
E. _________________ Marriages: marriages in which the partners live
and/or work in different cities, states or countries
F. Increased Role of ____________________
1. _____________________ Specialists: activities and outings with
grandchildren
2. __________________: only a symbolic relationship with grandchildren via
letters and gifts
3. ________________________: provide routine care for grandchildren on a
daily basis; this is becoming increasingly common for single parent
families
G. ________________________ Generation: people who find themselves
sandwiched between two generations, caring for their parents and their
children
1. because people live longer today due to medical advances, many people
face this situation every day
H. _____________ Within Families
1. _______________: serious physical harm (trauma, sexual abuse with
injury, or willful malnutrition) with intent to injure
a. 695,000 confirmed cases in 2010
b. millions of cases of abuse or neglect reported each year in the U.S.
2. ______________________: severely underreported; probably only 25% of
cases reported
a. 1 in 4 women estimated to experience domestic violence during their
lives
I. Marriage and Family in the Future
1. marriage and the family remain essential for ____________________,
despite the sensationalized and negative portrayals in the media
2. overall, most Americans report being happy in their marriages