FAMILIES AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS Nick.’s family is one of millions around the glqbe experiencing major change as a result of divorce, death, or some other significant event. In this chapter, we examine the increasing complexity and diversity of contemporary families in the United States and other nations. Pressing social issues such as divorce, child care, and new reproductive technologies will be…

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Families in Global Perspective As the nature of family life kd work has changed in high-, middle-, and low-income nations, the issue of what constitutes a “family’ has been widely debated. For many years. the standard so.:topological den nit ion of family has been a group of people who are related to one another by bonds of blood, marriage, or adoption and…

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Families of Orientation and Procreation During our lifetime, many of us will be members of two different types of families-a family of orientation and a family of procreation. The family of orientation is the family Into which a person is born and in which early socialization usually takes place. Although most people are related to members of their family of orientation by…

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Extended and Nuclear Families Sociologists distinguish between extended and nuclear families based on the number of generations that live within a household. An extended family is a family unit composed of relatives in addition to parents and children who live in the same household. These families often include grandparents. uncles, aunts, or . other relatives who live close to the parents and…

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Family Structure and Characteristics In preindustrial societies. the primary form of social organization is through kinship ties. Killship refers to a social network of people b••sed on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption. Through kinship networks, people cooperate so that they can acquire the basic necessities of life, including food and shelter. Kinship systems can also serve as a means by which property is…

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Marriage Patterns Across cultures, families are characterized by different forms of marriage. Marriage is a legally recognized and/or socially approved arrangement between two or more individuals that carries certain rights and obligations and usually involves sexual activity. In most societies, marriage involves a mutual commitment by each partner. and linkages between two individuals and families are publicly demonstrated. In the United States, the…

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Patterns of Descent and Inheritance Even though a variety of marital patterns exist across cultures, virtually all forms of marriage establish a system of descent so that kinship can be determined and inheritance rights established. In postindustrial societies, kinship is usually traced through one parent (uni lineally). The most common pattern of uni lineal descent is patriarchate descent-a system of tracing descent…

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Power and Authority in Families Descent and inheritance rights are intricately linked with patterns of power and cuthority in families. The most prevalent forms of familial power and authority are patriarchy, matriarchy, and egalitarianism. A patriarchal Hamill is a family structure in which author ity is held by the eldest male (usually the father). The male authority figure acts as head…

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Theoretical Perspectives  on Families The sociology of family is the sub discipline of sociology that attempts to describe and explain patterns of family life and variations in family structure. Functionalist perspectives emphasize the functions that families perform at the macro level of society. whereas conflict and feminist perspectives focus on families as a primary source of social inequality. Symbolic interactionists examine microlevel interactions…

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Residential Patterns Residential patterns are interrelated with the authority structure and method of tracing descent in families. Patriotically residence refers to the custom of a married couple living in the same household (or community) as the husband’s family. Across cultures, patriotically residency is most common. One example of contemporary patriotically residency can be found in al-Barbra, a lower-middle-class neighborhood in the Jordanian city…

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