FAMILY SOCIOLOGY
SUMMARY OF FAMILY!
The institution of family has three important functions:
1. To provide for the rearing of children
2. To provide a sense of identity or belonging among its members
3. To transmit culture between generations
In Western societies, we tend to think of a family as consisting of a mother, father, and children living under one roof: a nuclear family. Before societies modernize, families usually consist of several generations and branches of extended family living in the same dwelling, or in the same village. As modernization occurs, young people tend to move away from the villages in which they were raised in search ofjobs, leaving the older generations behind. They relocate to cities and meet people they probably never would have met had they stayed home. People in modernized, urbanized societies meet spouses on their own, rather than being introduced by family members, and marry and settle down in locations that are often far from their original communities.
Marriage
Marriage, a foundation of family life, exists in all cultures, with some variations:
Endogamy: Marriage between members of the same category, class, or group
Exogamy: Marriage between members of different categories, classes, or groups
Monogamy: Marriage between one man and one woman
Polygamy: Marriage between one man and more than one woman
Polyandry: Marriage between one woman and more than one man
In some cultures, after marriage, a couple lives in the wife’s family’s household—a practice called matrilocality. When couples live in the husband’s family’s household, the practice is called patriolocality. If they go out and get their own place to live, they practice neolocality.
Divorce and Remarriage
Once taboo, divorce is now common in the United States. Many factors have contributed to the tenfold increase in the U.S. divorce rate over the past century. Women have become less economically dependent on men, which means they are now able to leave unhappy marriages and support
The institution of family has three important functions:
1. To provide for the rearing of children
2. To provide a sense of identity or belonging among its members
3. To transmit culture between generations
In Western societies, we tend to think of a family as consisting of a mother, father, and children living under one roof: a nuclear family. Before societies modernize, families usually consist of several generations and branches of extended family living in the same dwelling, or in the same village. As modernization occurs, young people tend to move away from the villages in which they were raised in search ofjobs, leaving the older generations behind. They relocate to cities and meet people they probably never would have met had they stayed home. People in modernized, urbanized societies meet spouses on their own, rather than being introduced by family members, and marry and settle down in locations that are often far from their original communities.
Marriage
Marriage, a foundation of family life, exists in all cultures, with some variations:
Endogamy: Marriage between members of the same category, class, or group
Exogamy: Marriage between members of different categories, classes, or groups
Monogamy: Marriage between one man and one woman
Polygamy: Marriage between one man and more than one woman
Polyandry: Marriage between one woman and more than one man
In some cultures, after marriage, a couple lives in the wife’s family’s household—a practice called matrilocality. When couples live in the husband’s family’s household, the practice is called patriolocality. If they go out and get their own place to live, they practice neolocality.
Divorce and Remarriage
Once taboo, divorce is now common in the United States. Many factors have contributed to the tenfold increase in the U.S. divorce rate over the past century. Women have become less economically dependent on men, which means they are now able to leave unhappy marriages and support