Choices in Relationships

1. Choices in Relationships Chapter One: An Introduction

2. Marriage • Elements of Marriage • Legal Contract • Emotional Relationship • Sexual Monogamy • Legal Responsibility for Children • Announcement /Ceremony

3. Marriage • Types of Marriage • Polygyny • Polyandry • Polyamory • Pantogamy

4. Family • Definitions of Family • A group of two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption. • Rather than view family members as partners exclusively related by blood, marriage, or adoption, courts now more often look at the nature of the relationship between the partners.

5. Family • Types of Families • Family of Origin • Family of Procreation • Nuclear Family • Binuclear Family • Extended Family

6. Marriage Involves two people. Individuals usually choose each other. Ends when spouse dies or is divorced. Sex between spouses is expected and approved. Procreation expected. Family Usually involves more than two people. Members are born or adopted into the family. Continues beyond the life of the individual. Sex between near kin is neither expected nor approved. Consequence of procreation. Differences between Marriage and Family

7. Changes in Marriage and the Family • The Industrial Revolution and Family Change • Dual-income family • Urbanization • Transportation • The demise of familism and the rise of individualism

8. Changes in Marriage and the Family • Changes in the Last Half Century • Divorce as marriage endpoint • Changes in gender roles • Delay in age at marriage, • Acceptance of singlehood • Cohabitation • Childfree marriages

9. Choices in Relationships —The View of This Text Five major choices in relationships: • Whether to marry • Whether to have children • Whether to have one or two earners in one marriage • Whether to remain emotionally and sexually faithful to one’s partner • Whether to use a condom.

10. Choices in Relationships —The View of This Text • Facts about Choices in Relationships • Not to Decide Is to Decide • Some Choices Require Corrections • Choices Involve Trade-offs • Choices Include Selecting a Positive or Negative View

11. Choices in Relationships —The View of This Text • Facts about Choices in Relationships (cont.) • Choices Produce Ambivalence • Most Choices Are Revocable; Some Are Not • Choices Are Influenced by the Stage in the Family Life Cycle • Making Choices Is Facilitated with Decision-Making Skills

12. Choices in Relationships —The View of This Text • Personal Choices: Will You Make Choices Deliberately or by Default? • Some of us believe we can avoid making decisions in reference to relationships, marriage, and the family. • We cannot, because not to decide is to decide by default.

13. Social Structure Institutions Social groups. Statuses Roles Culture Beliefs Values Choices in Relationships —The View of This Text • Structural and Cultural Influences • on Choices

14. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Structural-Functional Framework • Functionalists view the family as an institution with values, norms, and activities meant to provide stability for the larger society. • Conflict Framework • Conflict theorists recognize that family members have different goals and values that result in conflict.

15. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Feminist Framework • According to feminist theory, gender structures our experiences. (i.e., women and men will experience life differently because there are different expectations for the respective genders)

16. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Symbolic Interaction Framework • Marriages and families represent symbolic worlds in which the various members give meaning to each other’s behavior. • Definition of the Situation • Looking-Glass Self • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

17. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Family Life Course Development Framework • The family life course development framework emphasizes the process of how families change over time • Social Exchange Framework • The social exchange framework operates from a premise of utilitarianism — that individuals rationally weigh the rewards and costs associated with behavioral choices.

18. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Systems Framework • Systems framework’s basic premise is that each member of the family is part of a system and the family as a unit develops norms of interacting, which may be explicit or implied.

19. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Human Ecological Framework • Human ecology is the study of ecosystems, or the interaction of families with their environment.

20. Theoretical Frameworks for Viewing Marriage and the Family • Stratification /Race Framework • Though not formal theoretical frameworks, stratification and race provide ways of viewing and understanding choices in relationships.