FAMILY
Backbone of society and a crucible of social inequality
o Both are partial perspectives and both are partially true
U.S. Census Bureau
o Two or more individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption living in the
same household
Missing people who live together but aren't married and fictive kin
Other sociologists
o Group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or emotional ties, or
a combination of all three
o How we define the family is important because it affects who we include
in definition
Main Types of Family
o Nuclear Family
Heterosexual couple with one or more children living in a
single household
Higher footprint than the actual numbers behind it
Became the model for the family through ideology- never been
the majority of families in the U.S.
o Kin
Relatives or relations, usually those related by common
descent
o Extended family
Large group of relatives, usually including at least three
generations living either in one household or in close
proximity
Diversity in Families
o Endogamy
Marriage to someone within one's social group (race, ethnicity,
class, education, religion, region, or nationality)
People in U.S. tend to marry this way
o Exogamy
Marriage to someone from a different social group
In 1967- antimissegination laws were outlawed with Supreme
Court case Loving v. Virginia
o Monogamy
Marrying (r being in a relationship with) one person at a time
U.S.- serial monogamy- one marriage at a time but multiple
marriages over the course of a lifetime
o Polygamy
More than one spouse at a time
Polygyny-multiple wives
Polyandry- multiple husbands
, Very uncommon globally because
polygamy is usually common in
patriarchal societies
Most likely to see this when there's a
shortage of women in an egalitarian
context
Residential Patterns
o In preindustrial societies, most newlyweds live with one set of parents
Patrilocality- a married couple lives with or near the husband's
family
Matrilocality- a married couple lives with or near the wives
family
Exogamous groups
U.S. is different- Nuclear Ideal
Patterns of Descent
o Descent- system by which members of a society trace kinship over
generations
Patrilineal descent- tracing kinship through men
Matrilineal descent- tracing kinship though women
Bilateral descent- tracing kinship through both men and
women
U.S. is rather bilateral
Structural Functionalism on the Family
o Social functions of the family
Socialization
Regulation of sexual activity
Defines who you can and can't have sex with
Can't have sex within your family and husband and
wife can't cheat
Regulates sexual activity during adolescence
Social Placement
Class of your parents determine the class you will
start out as
Ethnic group, race
Gives you a track in society
Some would say this is a social dysfunction
Material and Emotional Security
Families are supposed to provide for each other
o Society depends on families
If we didn't have the family we would have to meet these needs
in other ways
Sci Fi- different thoughts about how different institutions
could
Social Conflict Theorists
o Conflict within the family is due to the competition for resources: time,
energy, and the leisure to pursue recreational activities
Backbone of society and a crucible of social inequality
o Both are partial perspectives and both are partially true
U.S. Census Bureau
o Two or more individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption living in the
same household
Missing people who live together but aren't married and fictive kin
Other sociologists
o Group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or emotional ties, or
a combination of all three
o How we define the family is important because it affects who we include
in definition
Main Types of Family
o Nuclear Family
Heterosexual couple with one or more children living in a
single household
Higher footprint than the actual numbers behind it
Became the model for the family through ideology- never been
the majority of families in the U.S.
o Kin
Relatives or relations, usually those related by common
descent
o Extended family
Large group of relatives, usually including at least three
generations living either in one household or in close
proximity
Diversity in Families
o Endogamy
Marriage to someone within one's social group (race, ethnicity,
class, education, religion, region, or nationality)
People in U.S. tend to marry this way
o Exogamy
Marriage to someone from a different social group
In 1967- antimissegination laws were outlawed with Supreme
Court case Loving v. Virginia
o Monogamy
Marrying (r being in a relationship with) one person at a time
U.S.- serial monogamy- one marriage at a time but multiple
marriages over the course of a lifetime
o Polygamy
More than one spouse at a time
Polygyny-multiple wives
Polyandry- multiple husbands
, Very uncommon globally because
polygamy is usually common in
patriarchal societies
Most likely to see this when there's a
shortage of women in an egalitarian
context
Residential Patterns
o In preindustrial societies, most newlyweds live with one set of parents
Patrilocality- a married couple lives with or near the husband's
family
Matrilocality- a married couple lives with or near the wives
family
Exogamous groups
U.S. is different- Nuclear Ideal
Patterns of Descent
o Descent- system by which members of a society trace kinship over
generations
Patrilineal descent- tracing kinship through men
Matrilineal descent- tracing kinship though women
Bilateral descent- tracing kinship through both men and
women
U.S. is rather bilateral
Structural Functionalism on the Family
o Social functions of the family
Socialization
Regulation of sexual activity
Defines who you can and can't have sex with
Can't have sex within your family and husband and
wife can't cheat
Regulates sexual activity during adolescence
Social Placement
Class of your parents determine the class you will
start out as
Ethnic group, race
Gives you a track in society
Some would say this is a social dysfunction
Material and Emotional Security
Families are supposed to provide for each other
o Society depends on families
If we didn't have the family we would have to meet these needs
in other ways
Sci Fi- different thoughts about how different institutions
could
Social Conflict Theorists
o Conflict within the family is due to the competition for resources: time,
energy, and the leisure to pursue recreational activities
