Chapter Summary

CHAPTER 11: THE CHANGING FAMILY

Family is perhaps the oldest and most significant of all social institutions. But defining it in the twenty-first century is a matter of debate. Some define family purely along traditional lines that emphasize stability, the presence of an opposite sex couple, and a desire to raise children. Others incorporate more diverse living conditions in their definition of family to include cohabitating unmarried couples and domestic partnerships composed of gay and lesbian couples. In an effort to meet both views, family is a relationship in which people live together with commitment, form an economic unit and care for any young, and consider the group essential to their identity.

The basis for the traditional family structure is kinship. Kinship is very important in the preindustrial society because it serves as an efficient means of producing and distributing food and goods and transferring property from one generation to the next. Extended families are the primary kinship unit in preindustrial societies. In industrial and post-industrial societies the primary kinship unit is the nuclear family. In the United States, the two-parent nuclear family accurately describes only 23.5 percent of all U.S. families.

Although some sociologists argue there is a decline in families in the United States, it may be more accurate to recognize the family as simply changing its patterns. Some of these changing patterns include both men and women waiting longer to get married, fewer marriages, an increase in cohabitation, and more people living alone today.

Just as the concept of family is under debate, so is the concept of marriage. Traditionally marriage is a legally recognized, socially approved arrangement between a man and a woman that involves sexual activity certain rights, and obligations. The “man and woman” section of the definition has come under heated debate in the twenty-first century. Still yet, over 75 percent of high school seniors recognize marriage and family as extremely important to them. Although the high rate of divorce in the United States has been a cause of concern, the rate of divorce peaked in 1996 and has since declined.

The role of family and its impact on society is largely based on the sociological perspective one adopts. Functionalists believe family fulfills important functions for individuals and the entire society. Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons viewed family as a division of labor. Men assumed responsibility for instrumental roles while women accepted the expressive role. Some of the function family provides include the regulation of sexual behavior and reproduction, socializing and educating children, providing economic and psychological support, and providing social status.

Conflict and feminist theorists view family as the primary source of inequality. Family members are compared to workers in a factory. Women are dominated by men, devalued, and forced to take a subordinate role in the relationship.

Symbolic interactionists analyze family-related issues in terms of socialization and social interaction among family members. The communication process is considered as being integral to understanding the diverse roles that family members play.

The greater diversity in intimate relationships and family in the United States has come about due to several factors. Among these are increases in (1) singlehood, (2) postponing marriage, (3) cohabitation and domestic partnerships, (4) dual-earner marriages, and (5) one-parent families.

The number of adults who have never been married has continued to grow since the 1960s and currently numbers over 48 million. The median age at which couples get married has steadily increased since the 1950s. Both men and women marrying for the first time are older than ever before. Cohabitation as a form of trial marriage and an alternative to marriage has drastically increased among heterosexual couples, gays, and lesbians. In dual-earner marriages, both spouses are in the labor force. Women find themselves as not only completing the duties of their employer, but also assuming additional duties as wife and perhaps mother when returning home. In this “second shift” of responsibilities the woman manages the household, cleans, cooks, and if necessary, helps the children with homework.

Child-related family issues include issues related to reproduction, contraception, abortion, adoption, teen pregnancy, and unmarried motherhood. Divorce has been a problem affecting families in any society it is legal. The actual number of divorces in the U.S. is tainted by the skewed statistic that “one out of every two marriages ends in divorce.” Nonetheless, divorce in the United States rose in the twentieth century, peaked in 1981, and has since declined. The rise in divorce in the 1980s can be attributed to some degree to no-fault divorce laws in which neither party accepts blame. Domestic violence in the form of child abuse, child neglect, and spouse abuse are issues qualifying as social problems addressed by sociologists, social workers, psychologists, other social scientists, and the criminal justice system. As many as 5 million spouses, primarily wives, are reportedly abused each year. The Attorney General’s office estimates that at least 94 percent of all cases of spouse abuse involve a man beating a woman.

It is relatively safe to assume that family will continue as a fundamental social institution in the twenty-first century. The belief that the “traditional family” of the mid 1900s will rebound in either structure or function, however, is unlikely. In its place will be a more diverse family structure that will be molded by changes in the law, the economy, religion, and other social institutions.