The Prompt
Intimate relationships, marriages, and families in the twenty-first century
Chapter 1
Family
What is family?
Family: Any group of people united by ties of marriage, blood, or adoption or any sexually expressive relationship in which (1) the adults cooperate financially for their mutual support, (2) the people are committed to one another in an intimate interpersonal relationship, (3) the members see their individual identities as importantly attached to the group, and (4) the group has an identity of its own.
Family Forms
Voluntarily childless family: A couple who decide not to have children.
Single-parent family: A parent (who may or may not have been married) and one or more children.
Nuclear family: A father, a mother, and their children.
Family of origin: The family into which you are born and in which you are raised.
Family of procreation: The family you establish if you have children of your own.
Family Forms
Extended family: An individual, possibly a partner, any children the individual might have, and other relatives who live in the household or near by.
Blended, or reconstituted, family: A family formed when a widowed or divorced person, with or without children, remarried another person who may or may not have been married before and who may or may not have children.
Stepfamily: A remarried man and/or women plus children from a former marriage.
Binuclear family: An original family divided into two families by divorce.
Family Forms
Polygamous family: A single family unit based on the marriage of one person to two or more mates.
Polygynous family: A man married to more than one man/husband.
Patriarchal family: A family in which the father is head of the household, with authority over other family members.
Family Forms
Matriarchal family: A family in which the mother is head of the household, with authority over other family members.
Gay or lesbian family: Two people of the same sex who are living together and sharing sexual expression and who are committed to their relationship without formal legal marriage.
Cohabitating family: Two people of the opposite sex who are living together and sharing sexual expression and who are committed to their relationship without formal legal marriage.
Changes in Family Philosophy and Emphasis
From institution to companionship:
Instrumental role: The role of the family in meeting the needs of society or the physical needs of family members.
Expressive role: The role of the family in meeting the emotional and social needs of family members.
From patriarchy to democracy
Changes in Family Philosophy and Emphasis
Patriarchal
Patrilineal descent: Inheritance that is traced through the male line.
Patrilocal residence: A residential patten in which a newlywed couple reside with or near the man’s family.
Changes in Family Philosophy and Emphasis
Matriarchal
Matrilineal descent: Inheritance that is traced through both the female line.
Matrilocal residence: A residential patten in which a newlywed couple reside with or near the woman’s family.
Changes in Family Philosophy and Emphasis
Bilateral descent: Inheritance that is traced through both the male and female line.
Neolocal residence: A residential pattern in which newlyweds leave their parents’ homes and reside in a new location of their choice rather than with either family.
Median Age at Marriage
Fertility Rate
Percentage Distribution of Families by Number of Own Children and by Ethnic Group
Cohabitation
Increase in cohabitation
Cohabitating family: Two people of the opposite sex who are living together and sharing sexual expression and who are committed to their relationship without formal legal marriage.
Gay and Lesbian Families
Growing numbers of gays and lesbian live in stable couple relationships, such as marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships – some with children.
Changes in laws and policies regarding rights of marriage
Civil union: A legally recognized union similar to marriage.
Domestic partnership: A legal or personal relationship between two people who live together and share a common domestic life but are not joined by marriage or civil union.
Changes in Divorce and Remarriage
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Families
Theories that Help Explain Family Behavior
Theory: A tentative explanation of facts and data that have been observed.
Structural-functional theory: A theory that emphasizes the function of the family as a social institution in meeting the needs of society.
Family developmental theory: A theory that divides the family life cycle into phases, or stages, over the life span and emphasizes the developmental tasks that much be accomplished by family members at each stage as well as the importance of normative order.
Symbolic interaction theory: A theory that describe the family as a unit of interacting personalities communicating through symbols.
Theories that Help Explain Family Behavior
Systems theory: A theory that emphasizes the interdependence of family members and how those member affect one another.
Social learning theory: A theory that suggests that children learn how to behave in relationships by modeling their parents’ behaviors and attitudes.
Exchange theory: A theory that people choose relationships in which they can maximize their benefits and minimize their costs.
Equity theory: A subcategory of exchange theory holding that people seek a fair and balanced exchange in which the partners can mutually give and receive what is needed.
Theories that Help Explain Family Behavior
Conflict theory: A theory that family conflict is normal and that the tasks is not to eliminate conflict but to learn to control it so that it becomes constructive.
Feminist theory: A theory (or perspective) hat focuses on male dominance in families and society and examines how gender different are related to power differentials between men and women.
International family strengths model: A model that proposes that all families- from around the world- have basic qualities that make them strong and that can be used to promote success in relationships.
The Study of Marriage and Families
Longitudinal study: A research design with repeated observations of the same individuals at various points in time.
Cross-sectional study: A research design where individuals are selected at various stages of the life course and compared to one another for similarities or differences.
Validity: The degree to which the instrument being used is measuring what it is intended to measure.
Reliability: The degree to which a measurement technique produces similar outcomes when it is repeated.