Sociology of Family

Family, Marriage, Children and Parenting, and other forms of close relationships. The social, cultural, political and economic impacts of changing families. Contemporary society is changing rapidly and we are seeing some relatively new forms emerge.

The "ideal image" of two biological parents and children living in harmony, is not realistic anymore. The family has many forms, like the two-parent family, single-parent family, blended family, same-sex family and adoptive family.

As an insitution family socializes individuals to be productive members of society. Family has within its boundaries a set of norms, values, statuses, and roles which are organized or designed to guide or meet specific goals for the overall society.

As a social system, the family is viewed as an entity which consists of various interrelated parts or statuses that perform particular functions or roles. Further, the family as a system is part of a larger system or society and contributes to its functioning.

As a social group, the focus is on each individual members of the family in question. What each person brings to the family and how each person contributes to the relationships with other individuals in the family determines the reality within each family.

Everyone looks to his family for guidance, support, and a sense of belonging. Family is the most important social institution as it is our first encounter with socialization processes.

Whether we examine the family as an institution, system, or group, the interest of sociologists who study the family begins with a fascination of the family entity and the relationships within its boundaries. One of the big issues or challenges within family studies lies in its definition.

There are growing numbers of so-called "variant family forms" in society. The family has many forms, like the two-parent family, single-parent family, blended family, same-sex family and adoptive family.

Marriage & Family Processes - Part of Trinity University's A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace, this resource is organized into: the Spectrum of Families Relations across Cultures and Time; Cultural Factors Shaping Family Striker & Processes; Stages of Coupling; Relations between Husbands & Wives Through Time; Parenting; Singlehood and Alternative Family Forms; Other Family Players, Beyond the Nuclear Cast; Marital Disunions; Institutions Affecting and Affected by Family Systems; and general resources. This site includes overviews, statistics, and references to sources used. - trinity.edu/~mkearl/family.html

Sociology of Children and Youth Section - The purpose of the Section on Children and Youth is to encourage the development and dissemination of sociological perspectives on children in the areas of research, theory, policy, practice, and teaching. Here, the term "children" includes every human being from infancy to the legal majority. asanet.org/sections/children.html

Child labour is simply the single most important source of child exploitation and child abuse in the world today. But there are grounds for optimism. The world we now know is radically different from what it was some 15 years ago. dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat5/chap1.htm

Journal of Family Issues examines professional issues, research developments, and practical applications from an interdisciplinary perspective, encompassing such areas as: * Family Studies * Family Violence * Gender Studies * Psychology * Social Work * Sociology - sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=163

Journal of Family History
Articles Sorted according to Geography - afhs.ab.ca/data/journalfamilyhistory/

Journal of Family History - Published in association with the National Council on Family Relations - Editor - Roderick Phillips Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada - is an interdisciplinary journal which publishes scholarly research from an international perspective concerning the family as an historical form, with contributions from the disciplines of history, demography, anthropology, sociology, liberal arts and the humanities. - sagepub.com/journal.aspx?pid=91

The Journal of Comparative Family Studies provides a unique cross-cultural perspective on the study of the family. It promotes the interaction between different cultures and life styles. It provides the latest trends and research. - ucalgary.ca/~sociolog/5/jcfs.html

The Journal of Marriage and the Family (JMF), published by the National Council on Family Relations, is the leading research journal in the family field and has been so for over 60 years. JMF features original research and theory, research interpretation and reviews, and critical discussion concerning all aspects of marriage, other forms of close relationships, and families. The Journal also publishes book reviews. - jstor.org/journals/00222445.html

Journal of Family Psychology - ISSN: 0893-3200, Published quarterly, Editor: Anne E. Kazak - apa.org/journals/fam.html

SOC 281, Sociology of Families, Glenda Gross - Maxwell School - Syracuse Univ.
This class focuses on the study of American families. We will look at a variety of ways of defining family, how families operate as public and private institutions, the formation and dissolution of families, and some of the issues facing families today. The course will emphasize the interpretation of the family as a social institution and we will use sociological theories and methods to guide our discussions. Grading will be based on weekly quizzes, two short papers, and a final take-home essay exam. Meets Liberal Arts core critical reflection requirement. - http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/

Georgetown University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Family Interaction - Professor Hall
Although this course includes a careful consideration of broad social influences on families, a major emphasis is placed on family dynamics between family members in at least three different generations of the same families. We will also examine the usefulness of conceptualizing families as relatively closed social systems, with repeated patterns of behavior, in different social classes, races, and ethnic groups, and with different sexual orientations.
Life history data will be collected and used to illustrate varied patterns of family interaction. Each class member is responsible for collecting data from at least three generations of one family for class presentation, discussion, and group project research. Substantive topics examined include:

“Vertical” relationships between different generations in the same families;

Differences in socialization in the same families and among different families;

The impact of death and other kinds of loss on family members;

Profiles of behavior of different sibling positions and sibling rivalry;

Family life cycle events (growth and development, courtship and marriage, parenting and old age, etc.);

Health and disability of family members;

Conformity and deviance in patterns of family interaction;

Family processes and religious affiliation;

Ethnic group and social class differences and similarities in family exchanges;

Individual responsibility and family membership.

Frames of reference used for class discussions and research are based on Murray Bowen’s family systems theory as well as on established sociological perspectives.

Required Readings
Anderson, Stephen A. and Ronald M. Sabatelli, 1999 (2nd edition), Family Interaction: A Multigenerational Developmental Perspective, Needham Heights, MA, Allyn and Bacon.

Hall, C. Margaret, 1981 (2nd edition), Individual and Society: Basic Concepts, Boonsboro, MD, Antietam Press.

Scanzoni, John, 2000, Designing Families: The Search for Self and Community in the Information Age, Thousand Oaks, CA, Pine Forge Press.

This course introduces students to an historical overview of the American family, the
intersections of class, gender, and race within the family, and issues impacting families.

Program Objectives:
Students will be able to demonstrate competency in the core areas of sociology and
critical thinking.

Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to apply sociological theories to a variety
of sociological phenomena and human behavior.

Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively in writing (including
following directions, the use of proper grammar, spelling, and citations).

Required Texts:
The Family, 9th Ed. by J. Ross Eshleman.
Marriage and Family: An Introduction Using MicroCase, 2nd ed., by Kevin Demmitt.
Tentative Course Schedule
Unit 1: Chs.: 1-2, 8, 11
Introduction; overview of family theory and methods; family images; the family of the past, industrialization; inequality; economic and demographic changes
Unit 2: Chs.: 9-10, 3, 13
Minority families; work and family; gender roles; socialization
Unit 3: Chs.: 4-7
Dating; singlehood; mate selection; marriage, marital success, and power/decision making
Unit 4: Chs.: 12, 16, 15, 14, 17
Parenting and childhood; divorce and remarriage; family violence; lifestyle variations; family of the future; and social policy

Georgetown University - Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The Power of Kinship: Family and Politics in the Modern World
Professor Ossman

The passage of state power through blood ties is generally perceived as a relic of our political past. Yet all we need to do is turn on our televisions or open newspapers around the world to observe new forms of family power are taking shape before our very eyes. This might appear unsurprising in the context of monarchies like Morocco and Jordan. It might provoke snickers with respect to a Republic like Syria or a communist regimes such as North Korea, where it seems simply another manifestation of the ways that such regimes contradict their stated precepts. It can appear puzzling in situations like India, where an Italian-born woman can assume an important political role through marriage. It might seem simply the result of the need for gossip for the tabloids in England or in the United States. But everywhere, it seems, the importance of family ties persists in spite of what some sociologists theorized would be the end of diminution of the importance of the family with the advent of modern democratic individualism. This class will examine the persistence and development of forms of family power today. It will ask students to examine relationships between kinship and power from a comparative perspective in order to come to a better understanding of how the media, state formations and personal practices are related to emerging forms of kin politics.
In the course of examining a number of case studies drawn from the Arab World, Europe, the United States and Asia, students will be introduced to classical texts on kinship and family and read a series of important recent studies on the subject of kinship and power by anthropologists, media studies scholars, historians and political scientists. They will gain practice in textual and social analysis in the context of class assignments and then, by conducting a personal research project.

SOC 206: SOCIOLOGY OF FAMILY
Fall, 2003 - GettysburgCollege - Instructor: Jean L. Potuchek

Readings

The following required readings for the course are either available for purchase at the College Store or on reserve (in Musselman Library and as electronic reserves):

Books to Purchase:

Susan J. Ferguson (editor), Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families (2nd edition) (Ferguson)

Laurel Ulrich, A Midwife's Tale (Ulrich)

Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., et al., Managing to Make It: Urban Families and Adolescent Success (Furstenberg Et Al.)

Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Wife Rape: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers (Bergen)

Anita Ilta Garey, Weaving Work & Motherhood (Garey)

Reserve Readings:

Phillip Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz, American Couples, excerpts (Blumstein & Schwartz)

Tamara Hareven, Family Time and Industrial Time: The Relationship between the Family and Work in a New England Industrial Community, pp. xi and 154-188 (Hareven)

Assignments
Integrative Essay:
In lieu of a mid-term exam, each student will write an "integrative essay," designed to help you think about and integrate course material. The integrative essay will be 5-7 typed pages (1200-1800 words), will cover Parts 1 and 2 of the course and is due on Monday, October 20. The topic for the essay is as follows:
Evaluate Tilly and Scott's theory about the relationship between family change and economic change. How well do the substance and sequence of Tilly and Scott's three stages fit what you know about families from various times and places? How would you extend or revise the theory to explain the relationship between family change and economic change at the beginning of the twenty-first century in the United States?

PART 1: DEFINITIONS OF THE FAMILY
Introductions

Discussion – What is Family?
Ferguson: Introduction to Part I, Readings 1, 3

Discussion – Family Definitions Applied
Blumstein & Schwartz

Lecture – Family as a Social Institution
Ferguson: Introduction to Part II

Discussion – Diversity in Family Forms and Functions
Ferguson: Readings 2, 6, 7, 8

PART 2: THE MAKING OF THE MODERN FAMILY

Lecture - Family, household, and work
Ferguson: Reading 5

Discussion - Family, work, and the preindustrial household
Ulrich, pp. 36-101

Discussion - Gender and marriage in the preindustrial family

Lecture - Industrialization and family ideology

Discussion - Changing family functions and intimacy
Ulrich, pp. 162-234

Discussion - Work and family in the industrial economy

Lecture - The historical creation of childhood
Discussion - Parent/child relationships in the family economy
Ulrich, pp. 262-308

PART 3: RELATIONSHIPS IN FAMILIES
Lecture - Family Roles and Childrearing
Discussion - Becoming Parents
Ferguson: Readings 17, 23, 24

Discussion - Social Context and Parenting Practice
Furstenberg et al., Chapter 4
Ferguson: Readings 19, 21, 22

Discussion - Parent-Child Relationships
Furstenberg et al., Chapters 5 & 6
Ferguson: Readings 33, 34

Discussion - Social Context and Parenting Outcomes
Furstenberg et al., Chapters 7, 8, & 9

Lecture - Courtship and Mate Selection

Ferguson: Introduction to Part III,

Discussion - The Pair Bond: Spouses and Partners
Ferguson: Introduction to Part IV,

Lecture - Family Power
Ferguson: Reading 11

Discussion – Family Violence
Ferguson: Introduction to Part VIII, Readings 30, 31, 32

Discussion – Marital Rape
Bergen, pp. 1-63

Lecture - Power and marital violence
Ferguson: Reading 29

Discussion – Responses to Marital Rape
Bergen, pp. 64-109

PART 4: THE FAMILY IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

Work-Family Links
Lecture – The gendered connections of family and work
Ferguson: Introduction to Part X, Readings 36, 38

Discussion - The Meanings of Women's Work
Garey, Chapters 1 and 2

Discussion - Social Class, Gender, and Work
Garey, Chapters 3 and 4

Lecture – The Cult of True Womanhood and family economic strategies
Ferguson: Reading 37

Discussion - Family economic strategies
Garey, Chapters 5, 6, and 7

Garey, Chapter 8
Families, Public Policy and the Future

Lecture - Families and public policy
Ferguson, Introduction to Part XII

Discussion - Divorce and public policy
Ferguson: Introduction to Part VII,

Discussion - Family poverty and family policies
Ferguson: Introduction to Part XI,

Discussion - Family policies and family ideologies
Ferguson: Readings 18, 44, 45

Lecture – The future of families
Ferguson: Readings 4, 35

Discussion - Family definitions and policies for the future
Ferguson: Readings 15, 43

SO/WS 223 Marriage and the Family Spring 2004
University of North Alabama - Department of Sociology

Professor: S. Alexander Takeuchi, Ph.D. (aka "Dr. T")
Phone: (256) 765-4527 / e-mail: satakeuchi@una.edu
Web:www2.una.edu/Takeuchi/

DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
This course examines the origin and evolution of the family as a social group, social system and social institution. It also examines the relationship of the family to the larger society. Particularly, the course focuses on the interrelationships among family members and how the family as a social system affects such interrelationships. Simultaneously, the course also focuses on the process of mate selection which brings individuals together to form a core of the family system as well as the adjustments of its members to different marital and family roles over the life cycle of the family.

Although the study of marriage and the family is an interdisciplinary field of social/behavioral science, our primary theoretical orientation is placed on the paradigms and concepts developed in the field of sociology. Therefore, the course also introduces the students to some of the fundamental theories, principles and concepts of sociology. We will do this by examining various family related issues we encounter in our daily life.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Eshleman, J. R. (2003). The Family. (10th Ed.). Allyn and Bacon.

Week 1 Course Introduction

Week 2 Defining the Family and Marriage Ch 1

Week 3 Marriage & the Family: Theoretical Approach Ch 1

Week 4 Marriage, Family and Kinship Organization Ch 2

Week 5 The Family and Work Roles Ch 3

Week 7 Patterns of Marriage Ch 8

Week 8 Religious and Racial/Ethnic Inter-Marriage Ch 8

Week 9 Explanations of Partner Selection Ch 9

Week 10 More Issues on Partner Selection (Lecture only materials)

Week 12

3/31 (Wed) Exam #2 (Ch 8, 9 and lecture materials)

4/2 (Fri) Exam #2 returned and intro. to the next chapter.

Week 13&14 Sexual Norms and Relationships Ch 10

Week 15 Parenthood and Marital Quality Portions of Ch 11

Week 16 Parental Roles Portions of Ch 12

Week 17 Parent-Child Relationship Portions of Ch 13