Class: Family

Class Notes

A family, according to the U.S. Census, is two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption.  A household is people who occupy the same housing unit. A family can be a nuclear family or an extended family.  A family isn't just blood, marriage, or adoption, but it is the activities involved with acting like a family. "Doing Family" captures the interactive aspect family life, most often characterized by kinwork.

Sociological Perspectives on Marriage: 1) Structural-Functional: marriage serves many functions, and the rising divorce rates is the result of people finding other sources of such functions; 2) Conflict: in patriarchal societies, men wield greater power than women, both inside and outside the family.  Divorce is a way that women can take power that they relied on men for.  3) Interactionist: the meaning of family, as well as families themselves, are created and maintained in interaction.  Divorce occurs when ideas about what a marriage is don't match reality.

Required Reading: 

"Love Knows No Reason," Ruane and Cerulo (Second Thoughts, pp. 41-46)

"The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love," Coontz (Sociology Reader, pp. 158-168)

"Coping with Commitment: Dilemmas and Conflicts of Family Life," Gerson (Sociology Reader, pp. 169-182)

Recommended Reading: 

"Building Social Relationships: Intimacy and Families," Newman (Sociology, pp. 183-215)

Keywords: family, household, nuclear family, extended family, "doing family," kinwork, sociological perspectives on marriage, trends in American families.