Family Exam Notes Essay

Sociology & Family

Theorizing and Researching
1. Structural Theories
a) Materialism & Conflict theory Marx & Engles
-changes in family lives reflect material change (ex, the mode of production, industrialization) macro-micro focus
-power differences characterize society at all levels (ex, capitalism creates: exploitation of men in the workforce; oppression of women
b) Political Economy
-assumes the power of the one class over another (social control), capitalist relations of production
-a more concentrated focus on how economic and political processes shape society and history and therefore family, families
c) Structural Functionalism Parsons & Bales
-the social institution of the family
- family is seen as a function, and different parts of society helps it move along
-the nuclear family performs functions
-they saw the families as a main faction, economic support, these functions that happen in nuclear families include economic support
-equilibrium, all parts help it work as a whole
-hierarchical generations and role specialization within families produces harmony
-the different roles that men and women take on, allows the family be a harmony
-parsons and bales, gendered perspective on families, families having instrumental roles such as achieving income, feed the family, cloth the family, this would be men
2. Symbolic Interactionism Mead & Cooley
- individuals create their own family realities through micro level interactions
-from this perspective families are created and understood and practiced through symbolic communication by meanings that are shared
- the meanings people have for family the definition of families, reflect their families, and their experiences and practices of family
-this perspective is very much micro, relationships with others
-when it comes to looking at the family, feminism share a lot of qualities..
3. Feminist Perspectives
-correct for androcentric biases, biases in favor of men
-assume inequalities and argue for their correction
-women who have different ethnicity and everything, they all have different experiences and opinions
-see gender and family relation as variable linked to socio-historical context and other intersections
-families are public and political institutions
-childcare and housework are work
4. Life Course Approach
-families are micro social groups situated within macro context Michel said
-four key assumptions
a) Life is longitudinal
-from child till we die, we experience different events and transitions that are apart of our life course, key events such as finishing school, getting married, having a baby
b) Life is multi-faceted
-means each and every one of us, interact with institutions with people every day, we live our lives in terms in having great personal experiences,
c) Lives are linked
-mothers choice in putting her daughter in music lessons, are linked to the other children, do they support it , does she have enough money for the other children research methods
-researcher sits with a timeline, and talk about the different events, and do it for each of the family members, and they can tell how lives are linked
d) Lives unfold in multiple context
-simply the idea that you have your local context, in Toronto, so you experience of being apart of Toronto,
-this is a really nice blend of the micro and macro

Review Discussion Boys n’ the Hood
1. (re-) Defining the Family: Other and Newer Developments
- Since family is a legal term, inequalities arise in terms of how families are defined
-Standard definitions of family focus on a social unit or structure (e.g. nuclear family) rather than family relationships
-Newer definitions are important because they are more inclusive and can be used by government and in law and policy
Canadian Census Definition
-a now married couple (with or without children of either or both spouses)
-a couple living common-law (with or without children of either or both spouses; same sex couple)
-a lone parent of any marital status

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