Sociology Chapter 18

Front 1

what is the traditional image of the ideal american family

Back 1

monolithic image in which the family is rigidly nuclear, suburban middle class, traditional gender roles
-only about 10% of american families fit this image

Front 2

what is a kinship

Back 2

social relationships based on blood, marriage or adoption

Front 3

what is family

Back 3

a relative permanent social group of 2 or more people who share a kinship

Front 4

how do social conservatives typically view family?

Back 4

much more narrow terms, legal marriage between a man and a woman

Front 5

what is a family of origins

Back 5

the family one is born into

Front 6

what is a family of procreation

Back 6

the family one forms, typically to have kids

Front 7

what is marriage

Back 7

a socially approved mating arrangement that is expected to be relatively permanent

Front 8

how do industrial societies view the family?

Back 8

as a nuclear family, where there are only the parent and the children living under one roof (middle class)

Front 9

how do non-industrial societies view family?

Back 9

as the extended family, where the parents and kids live with or very close to other kinfolk (lower class)

Front 10

why are nuclear families so typical of industrial societies?

Back 10

1. geographic mobility: work and family are differentiated institutions*
2. social mobility: socially mobile with a fair amount of upward mobility*
*tend to weaken extended family ties
3. american values: individualism and privacy
4. the rise of a large middle class brought more affluence: made it possible to afford to live independently

Front 11

comparison of american and iraqi families

Back 11

american: romantic love is basis of marriage, nuclear, egalitarian with democratic authority, individualism
iraqi: arranged marriage (50% b/w cousins for clan solidarity), patriarchal authoritarian, familism

Front 12

what regulates whom an individual is allowed to marry

Back 12

cultural norms, vary across cultures

Front 13

what is endogamy vs exogamy

Back 13

endogamy: marriage b/w people of the same group/ category
exogamy: marriage b/w people of different groups or categories such as me and trey!

Front 14

what is monogamy vs polygamy

Back 14

monogamy (industrial societies): tend to favor monogamy {one partner has one mate}
-high divorce rate brings serial monogamy where one mate is replaced with another
-only 1/4 of the worlds societies limit marriage to monogamy but most marriages are monogamous
polygamy (non-industrail societies): more norms of polygamy {one partner has multiple mates}
-polygon (one man multiple women)
-polyandry (one women multiple men, rare)

Front 15

family authority patterns: patriarchy vs matriarchy

Back 15

patriarchy: male social dominance, found all over the world, most societies are patriarchal
matriarchy: female social dominance, so rare that some argue it doesnt exist

Front 16

what is an egalitarian society

Back 16

societies where women are relatively equal to men

Front 17

what are the four historical forces that help women toward equality

Back 17

1. industrial revolution changed standards
2. decline of religious codes and the rise of secular society
3. decreasing size of the family gave women time
4. technology change like the pill gave women control

Front 18

describe family as haven

Back 18

with differentiation of work from family, work became associated with cold competitive conditions while family was linked to a warm haven o glove

Front 19

describe family as fun

Back 19

post wwii affluence brought new expectations of family recreation which raised expectations about family life as fun

Front 20

describe family an encumbrance

Back 20

more family conflicts came out in the open, rise of a distinct youth culture brought a generation gap b/w teens and parents and rising feminism increased women's frustration with patriarchal families

Front 21

four key functions of family

Back 21

socialization: repsonsible for primary socialization
regulation of sex: regulate sex and all have an incest taboo, helps define family boundaries while protecting the diversity of the biological gene pool
-social placement: social status and social identity
-material and emotional security: people in families tend to be happier and healthier

Front 22

describe courtship in non-industrial societies

Back 22

considered too important to be left alone to the two individuals, tend to favor arranged marriages set up by the parents often when the children are very young
- marriage represents an alliance b/w 2 families

Front 23

what is homogamy

Back 23

means that the couple have similar characteristics, promotes marital strength and thats why arranged marriages tend to be relatively strong

Front 24

describe courtship in industrial societies

Back 24

-extended families decline due to individualism, rise of personal choice means that the marriage will be between 2 individuals who choose each other
-courtship tends to be extended because they need to get to know each other on their own terms and men to become financially stable
romantic love

Front 25

what is romantic love

Back 25

western ideal associated with the tiny aristocratic class if oast monarchies, emphasizing erotic passion as the basis of marriage
-american are heavily socialized into the value of erotic romance and view romantic love as the single most important element in courtship

Front 26

what does romantic love emphasize?

Back 26

non-rational appeal of erotic passion as the basis of the relationship and this can lead to intense initial bonding
-however it is highly unstable, romantic love tends to decrease over time, american use non-rational considerations as primary basis of commitments

Front 27

what are the other types of love

Back 27

affection (family based), friendship and spiritual love

Front 28

how is romantic love functional today?

Back 28

a nuclear family bonded by romantic passion functions to make it easier to leave ones parents, siblings and friends behind to pursue a job

Front 29

how is romantic love dysfunctional?

Back 29

-studies of couples that move away from family and friends reveal that after a year one of the partners will become overly depndent on the attentions of the other and the relationship will become stressful
-high level of emotional intensity (aggression and violence)

Front 30

what is the overall point of marriages based on romantic love?

Back 30

marriages based solely on romantic love are less strong than marriages based on practical considerations

Front 31

what are the strongest marriages charcaterized by

Back 31

homogamy: where the couple shares similar social characteristics involving age, social class, ethnicity, religion, core values
-people tend to be attracted to others by this

Front 32

what is gendered intimacy?

Back 32

whereas men use intimacy to get sex, women use sex to get intimacy
-partly related to male and female biology (higher sex drive in males young and females older)
-women tend to blend sexuality with emotional intimacy and men tend to separate sex and intimacy
-marriage brings responsibilities that passion alone cannot conquer

Front 33

what is the key to marital bliss

Back 33

everyday quality of spousal interaction not just in the bedroom

Front 34

what does research suggest about romantic love?

Back 34

involves a high level of fantasy, people fall in love with others for what they would like them to be not as they are

Front 35

what are women more than men socialized to fall in love with

Back 35

the idea of marriage, women tend to have higher expectations about marriage and therefore more likely to become disappointed with the reality of marriage
-must learn to be realistic about their expectations of their partners

Front 36

what are the 2 significant periods in a marriage that involve re-neogtioation of roles that bring conflicts?

Back 36

the first baby and when the last child leaves home

Front 37

what are the 3 problems of childrearing?

Back 37

economic stress: economic liability and very expensive to raise a child
social stress: mother tends to lose much of her social life and -becomes more dependant on the man
-experience more role conflicts due to conflicting expectation as a parent versus a wage earner
psychological stress: not uncommon for men to feel jealous toward new babies

Front 38

what is role buffering in relation to social stress of having a child

Back 38

when the women has a role outside the family, benefits from this because family stress can be buffered by having enjoyable non-family roles

Front 39

about what age can couples expect to live and what can they readjust at this point in their lives?

Back 39

into their mid to late 70s, by the age of 50 the children have typically left home leaving the couple home alone to readjust their relationship
-can be stressful and not uncommon for divorce to occur, learn they have nothing in common besides the kids
-also stressful for wife b/c she was mainly involved in motherhood

Front 40

what is one way that family life varies from one to the next?

Back 40

-social class: the lower the social class the greater the economic stresses and the more difficult to sustain a family
>people in lower class are less likely to marry
>less nuclear and more extended, offer more support (only exception involves upper class so they can keep the money in the family)

Front 41

what is the second way that family life varies

Back 41

ethnicity and race
-hispanics: more emphasis on familism, lean toward extended family, support traditional gender and family roles
-blacks: highest percentage of single mothers (almost 50%), strongly shaped bu the legacy f racism and the poverty brought by racism (income only 2/3 of whites)
less likely to marry, nuclear in middle class, MORE THAN 1.3 OF ALL BLACK CHILDREN GROW UP IN POVERTY

Front 42

black fertility rates

Back 42

birth rate for black women has generally been higher than for the rest of the population (91 births per 1000 women)
-more children greater economic stress

Front 43

why is the fertility rate higher among poor black families?

Back 43

education factors: less education, less likely to use birth control
emotional factors: parenthood confers at least some respect for the mother and it produces feeling of being productive in society, wants love
economic factors: hope that one of her children will become affluent and help her
cultural factors: not uncommon for her to see other girls having babies as see it as normal behavior and for young black men to feel pride by having babies from different
women

Front 44

what does american culture promote in relation to marriage?

Back 44

that marriage is more beneficial for women then for men, this is a myth that is related to traditional gender role expectations that women give up their jobs upon marriage and childbirth to assume to role of full time mother
-people feel more fulfilled when they have a variety of productive roles

Front 45

what does research prove contrary to the previous myth?

Back 45

marriage tends to be more beneficial for men than women
-women are more likely than men to feel trapped in marriage, more illness and lower levels of happiness (high expectations)
-egalitarian marriages show the highest levels of happiness

Front 46

how much housework do men do compared with women

Back 46

1/3 of the housework, men are socialized to not be as clean-oriented, key issue is whether women accept the relatively less amount of labor done by men, if she doesn't it often means conflict

Front 47

family problems: divorce
what country has the highest marriage and divorce rate in the world

Back 47

MERICA. roughly 90% of all americans eventually marry however today about 40 to 45% of american marriages end up in divorce

Front 48

what explains the high divorce rate?

Back 48

-romantic love: unstable relationships
-increase in individualism and the privatization of marriage: become more individualistic, television and less time with family
-women are less dependent on the wages of the husband making it easier to leave
-children are more expensive and bring new stresses
-divorce is no longer stigmatized today: values are changing
-the american economy has become less stable

Front 49

who divorces?

Back 49

-teens and younger people
-lower social classes
-marriage due to unexpected pregnancy
-less homogamy b/w spouses
-women have successful careers

Front 50

what are the 4 adjustments of divorce?

Back 50

-emotional adjustment: sadness, depression, sense of loss
>women generally have better coping strategies than men, more likely to seek support from friends/family
-legal adjustments: new legal burdens
-community adjustments: individuals must redefine themselves and become single again
-economic adjustments: women tend to suffer a drop in living standards

Front 51

what do more than half of all divorces involve?

Back 51

parents who must resolve child custody issues

Front 52

what is the traditional pattern of custody?

Back 52

awarding custody to the mother because women have been traditionally viewed as the primary parent
-however recently fathers have sought custody and now joint custody (where both parents retain child care responsibilities)

Front 53

what is the feminization of poverty?

Back 53

where women are more likely to be poor than men`

Front 54

what is the percentage of divorced people remarrying?

Back 54

80% (men are more likely)

Front 55

what does remarriage often create?

Back 55

blended families composed of children from different marriages
-must make special efforts to establish new family boundaries to include the children
-very difficult and stressful

Front 56

what does our society promote in relation to family and the image of it?

Back 56

promotes the ideal image of family as a source of haven, fun and fulfillment
-also promotes the family as sacred and private
-hide the reality of the family experience
-the american nuclear family is characterized by high levels of emotional intensity b/w the spouses (family violence)

Front 57

what factors contribute to our cultures high family violence rate?

Back 57

american emphasis on romantic love, love affair with alcohol and the american stressful living

Front 58

where does spousal abuse occur?

Back 58

in all social classes although it is more likely to occur in the most stresses out social class the lower class

Front 59

what is the relationship between stress and physical aggression

Back 59

whenever there is chronic stress, there is a greater liklihood of family abuse

Front 60

what causes spousal abuse

Back 60

romance and passion create an intense atmosphere
psychological sense of feeling trapped or caged
patriarchy: women are devalued in patriarchal societies
traditional masculinity
immaturity
the american society encourages aggressive behavior
alcohol
family experiences growing up

Front 61

why doesn't she leave him?

Back 61

lacks sufficient family and wage resources to get out
self esteem is low
become passive and tries to endure the violence
she loves him and hopes he will change
she feels she is dependent on him

Front 62

what are the lasting effects of child abuse

Back 62

they may blame themselves
learn to distrust others
have difficult loving others
freqeuntely abuse themselves with drugs, or other behaviors

Front 63

who are the abusers of child abuse?

Back 63

largely learned behavior
-roughly 58% of child abusers are women, almost all of whom were themselves abused
-incest abusers are about 90% men
-one common trait of child abuse is that the abusers themselves were more likely to have been abused when they were children

Front 64

what are the primary causes of non-incest child abuse

Back 64

stress such as feeling trapped in a relationship, children, bad job
authoritarianism (expects too much of the child)
immaturtiy
alcohol
learned via experience
absence of family and other social support