Exploring Family Dynamics: Roles, Perspectives, and Challenges

1. The Family Chapter 11

2. The Family • What is a family? • What is the role of the family or family members?

3. Family • A family is a group of people linked by blood, marriage, or adoption. • Family of orientation…the one we are born into. • Family of procreation…the family established by marriage. • Marriage… an institutionalized social structure that provides a framework for regulating sexual behavior and childbearing • the legal contract between two people.

4. Universal Aspects of Family • Reproduction/population replacement • Regulating sexual behavior • Caring for dependents • Socialization • Emotional support and caring

5. Family Patterns • Nuclear family…parents and children. • Extended family…a couple and their children live with other relatives in the same household. • In-laws • Uncle • Grandparent

6. Who “wears the pants?” • Patriarchy…controlled by male. • Matriarchy…controlled by the female. • Never existed as a dominant societal structure. • Equalitarian…authority is evenly shared between the husband and wife. • Rate your parents…pg. 358

7. Family Over Life Course • Childhood • Sheltered time • Adolescence • Period of high strain • Adulthood • Rites of passage • Seeking romance • Marriage market • Middle Ages • Busy time • 65 and beyond

8. Functionalist Perspective: Four Functions of Families • Sexual regulation • Socialization • Economic and psychological support for members. • Provision of social status and reputation.   

9. Conflict Perspective • Families in capitalist economies are similar to workers in a factory: • Women are dominated at home the same way workers are dominated in factories. • Reproduction of children and care for family members reinforce subordination of women through unpaid labor.

10. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective • How family problems are perceived and defined depends on: • Patterns of communication. • The meanings people give to roles and events. • Individual interpretations of family interactions.

11. Marriage

12. Marriage Arrangements • Monogamy…between 2 people. • Most common today • Polygamy…married to more than one at a time. • Polygyny…man to many women. • Legal in parts of India, Africa, and the Middle East. • Polyandry…woman to many men.

13. Why People Get Married • Being "in love." • Desiring companionship and sex. • Wanting to have children. • Social pressure. • Attempting to escape from their parents' home. • Believing they will have greater resources.

14. Divorce • The legal process of dissolving a marriage that allows former spouses to remarry if they so choose. • Recent studies have shown that 40%-50% of first marriages end in separation or divorce • Main reason…Irreconcilable differences

15. Characteristics of Those Likely to Get Divorced • Marriage at an early age. • A short acquaintanceship before marriage. • Disapproval of the marriage by relatives and friends. • Limited economic resources. • Having a high-school education or less. • Parents who are divorced or have unhappy marriages. • The presence of children at the beginning of the marriage. • Race/Religion

16. Family Life

17. Blended Families • Some people become part of blended families, which consist of a husband and wife, children from previous marriages, and children (if any) from the new marriage. • The Brady Bunch • Represent about 40% of U.S. households. • Problems facing blended families: • Financial difficulties. • Stepchildren antagonism…children do not approve. • Unclear roles…stepparents are not sure of their place.

18. Single Parent Families • 1 out of 4 American families is a single parent family. • Only 24% of which are headed by males (Pew, 2013) • Women are more likely to win custody or are left by husbands. • As women become more educated and advance in the workplace, more are choosing to be unwed single parents.

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20. Single Parenting • 25% of white children and 66% of African American children spend part of their childhood in a single parent household (2014). • 35% of total child population. • Children of single parent households are more likely to be deviant.

21. Teen Pregnancy • The United States has among the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the Western industrialized world but they are declining • In 2014 the total number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19 was 24.2 (CDC).

22. Primary Reasons for Teen Pregnancy • Many sexually active teens don’t use contraceptives. • Teenagers may receive little accurate information about the use of contraception. • Some teenage males believe females should be responsible for contraception. • Some teenagers view pregnancy as a way to gain adult status.

23. Childless Marriages • Historical norms and values viewed women as failing to fulfill their duty as wives if they did not have children. • More married women are choosing not to have children: • Stigmas are being removed • Pursuing careers • No longer THE reason to get married • Fear of raising children in immoral world • Financial constraints

24. Dual-Employed Marriages • Marriages in which both members work put additional strains on the couple. • Women do double duty and work about 15 hours more a week than men • Women face role conflict • May hurt man’s ego • Positive attributes: • Provides higher independence for women • Provides greater financial stability • Greater options for both members • Role models for children

25. Cohabitation • Refers to two people who live together, and think of themselves as a couple, without being legally married. • A recent study of 11,000 women found that there was a 70% marriage rate for women who remained in a cohabiting relationship for at least 5 years. • Of the women in that study who married their partner, 40% became divorced within a 10-year period.

26. Cohabitation • Most who cohabitate are either: • Under age 45 and previously married • Older individuals who do not want to lose financial benefits by re-marrying

27. Single Life • Career opportunities • Excitement and Freedom • Individualistic values and independence • Economic reasons (can’t afford a family)

28. Boomerang Kids • Young adults who leave home and return or always live with their parents. • More than 25% of adults age 18-34 live with their parents. • Why? • Marrying later • Attending school is cheaper • High cost of living • Failed marriage

29. Boomerang Kids • Problems associated with Boomerang Kids. • High costs for parents • Parents lose privacy and their own life • The kids returning home feel guilt and depression

30. Families and Violence • Although the family is assumed to provide a warm and safe haven, it may sometimes provide for a hostile environment. • Family violence occurs at all levels. • 25% of adults report being abused as children • 25% of girls are victims of sexual aggression (not always physical abuse) • 10% of boys are victims.

31. Families and Violence • 4 million women are battered by husbands annually. • 3-4 times more likely than males to be abused • Abuse is not always physical. • 9 million children suffer from neglect. • Men towards men happens in 23% of homosexual relationships (22% in men towards women), 7% women towards women • Point…men are more likely to be abusive in relationships • Abuse of elderly…2.5 million annually.