Chapter 12, Families and Religion

1. Chapter 12, Families and Religion Families • Defining the Family • Sociological Theory and Families • Diversity Among Contemporary American Families • Marriage and Divorce • Changing Families/Changing society

2. Chapter 12, Families and Religion Religion • Defining Religion • The Significance of Religion in American Society • Sociological Theories of Religion • Diversity and Religious Beliefs • Religious Organizations • Religion and Social Change

3. Features of Kinship Systems • Number of marriage partners permitted at one time. • Who is permitted to marry whom. • How descent is determined. • How property is passed on. • Where the family resides. • How power is distributed.

4. Functionalism and the Family Families exist to meet particular societal needs: • Socializing the young. • Regulating sexual activity and procreation. • Providing physical care for family members. • Giving psychological support and emotional security to members.

5. Functionalism and the Family • When society undergoes rapid change, families become disorganized and break down. • The high divorce rate and the number of single parent households are the result of social disorganization.

6. Conflict Theory and the Family • Family relationships reinforce and reflect inequalities in society. • Families in American society are shaped by capitalism. • Families socialize children to be obedient, subordinate to authority and good consumers.

7. Feminist Theory and the Family • Family is one of the primary institutions producing gender relations in society. • The family is a system of power relations and social conflict. • The family is a gendered institution and critical of perspectives that take women's place in families for granted.

8. Symbolic Interactionand the Family • Analyze how people define and understand family experience and negotiate family relationships. • Emphasizes the construction of meaning within families. • Roles within families evolve as participants define their behavior toward each other.

9. Diversity Among Families • Increase in female-headed households which are more likely than others to live in poverty. • Gay and lesbian households are more common and challenge traditional definitions of the family. • Single people make up more of the population, partly because people marry at a later age.

10. Female-headed Households • Teen mothers are less likely to marry today than in the past. • Social problems are caused by economic stress rather than the absence of a husband. • Single fathers tend to get more help, typically from women, than do single mothers.

11. Married Couple Families • Most significant change has been the participation of women in the labor force. • Both men and women are working a month more per year than they did in 1970. • Women work a “double day” of paid employment and unpaid work in the home.

12. Stepfamilies • About 40% of marriages in the U.S. involve stepchildren. • Blended families demand the learning of new roles for both parents and children. • The lack of institutional support systems cause stress resulting in high probability of divorce among remarried couples with children. 

13. Gay and Lesbian Households • Tend to be less gender-stereotyped in household roles than heterosexual couples. • Negatively affected by the denial of benefits and privileges accorded legally recognized marriages. • Only Hawaii and Vermont legally recognize gay marriage.

14. Singles • Number has increased from 29% of the population in 1970 to 42% today. • People are marrying later partly due to longer life expectancy, higher educational attainment and cohabitation. • Changes in sexual attitudes and removal of stigma of being single have contributed to the happiness of singles.

15. Marriage • The U.S. has the highest rate of marriage of any Western industrialized nation. • Most marital conflicts are about finances and housework, not sexual jealousy. • Most couples agree that childcare should be shared, but only 38% of couples think that housework should be shared.

16. Marriage • Women continue to do more work at home and have less leisure time than men. • Men are working longer hours, but primarily in paid employment. • The majority of women in all social classes experience stress over the amount of work they have to do and their lack of free time.

17. Divorce • Sociologists estimate that 1 in every 2 marriages made today will end in divorce. • Divorced men are more likely than women to remarry and to remarry faster. • Despite the emotional pain and economic struggle women experience following divorce, most are glad that their marriages ended.

18. Family Violence • The majority of domestic violence cases go unreported. • It is currently estimated that 1 in 3 women will be physically assaulted by her husband. • Belief that the batterer will change, financial constraints, and mandatory arrest laws keep the victim in the relationship.

19. Six Defining Elements of Religion • Religion is institutionalized. • Religion is a feature of groups. • Religions are based on beliefs that are considered sacred, as distinguished from profane.

20. Six Defining Elements of Religion • Religion establishes values and moral proscriptions for behavior. • Religion establishes norms for behavior. • Religion provides answers to questions of ultimate meaning, as distinguished from secular beliefs.

21. Durkheim: The Functions of Religion Religion is functional for society: • Reaffirms the social bonds between people. • Creates social cohesion and integration through religious rituals. • Binds individuals to society by establishing a collective consciousness.

22. Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism • The Protestant faith supported the development of capitalism. • Material wealth meant one was favored by God, motivating Protestants to work to confirm their salvation. • Value judgments about those who haven’t succeeded can be traced to influence of religion.

23.  Marx: Religion, Social Conflict, and Oppression • Religion legitimates the social order and supports the ideas of the ruling class. • Oppressed people develop religion to soothe them and it prevents them from rising up against oppression. • Religion can be the basis for social change or social continuity.

24. Three Types of Religious Organizations • Churches - formal organizations that are seen by society as primary and legitimate religious institutions. • Sects - groups that have broken off from an established church. • Cults - religious groups devoted to a specific cause or a leader with charisma.

25. Religion and Social Change • Evangelical groups linked to conservative political causes have influenced national elections. • Religion has had an important part in the civil rights movement and feminism.