Marriages and Families, 9e

1. Marriages and Families, 9e Lamanna Riedman

2. Chapter 1Family Commitments Making Choices in a Changing Society

3. Chapter Outline • Defining Family • The Freedom and the Pressure of Choosing • Making Choices • A Family of Individuals • Marriages and Families: Four Themes

4. Defining Family • Law and Science • People related by blood, marriage or adoption. • U.S. Census Bureau • Two or more persons who share a household and who are related by blood, marriage or adoption.

5. Which of These Is a Family? • A husband and wife and their offspring. • A single woman and her three children. • A 52-year-old woman and her adoptive mother. • A man, his daughter, and the daughter’s son. • An 84-year-old widow and her dog, Fido. • A man and all of his ancestors back to Adam and Eve.

6. Which of These Is a Family? • Two lesbians and their children from a previous marriage of one woman and a previous relationship of the other woman with a male friend. • Two children, their divorced parents, the current spouses of their divorced parents, and the children from previous marriages of their stepparents.

7. Which of These Is a Family? • Two adult male cousins living together. • A 77-year-old man and his best friend. • A childless husband and wife who live 1,000 miles apart. • A divorced man, his girlfriend, and her child. • Both sets of parents of a deceased married couple. • Six adults and their 12 young children, all living together in a communal fashion.

8. American Households, 2000

9. Facts: U.S. Families Today • Fewer people are currently married. • People are postponing marriage. • Cohabitation has emerged as a lifestyle intermediate between marriage andsinglehood. • Some cohabitants maintain gay and lesbian domestic partnerships.

10. Facts: U.S. Families Today • The number of people living alone is substantial. • Many adult children live with their parents. • A much higher proportion of older men than older women are married.

11. Facts: U.S. Families Today • Parenthood is increasingly postponed and fertility has declined. • More births are to unmarried mothers than in the past. • There are now fewer children and more elderly. • Divorce rates have stabilized, but remain high.

12. Facts: U.S. Families Today • Remarriage rates have declined, but remain high. • Most children live in two parent households. • Over the last five years the proportion of children living in singleparent families has stabilized.

13. Facts: U.S. Families Today • There is considerable variation in children’s living arrangements. • Children are more likely to live with a grandparent today than in the recent past. • Most parents are working parents. • Children are more likely than the general population or the elderly to be living in poverty.

14. New Definition of Family • Any sexually expressive or parent–child or other kin relationship in which people related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption: • Form an economic unit and care for any young. • Consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group. • Commit to maintaining that group over time.

15. Making Choices • People make choices even when they are not aware of it. • There are two forms of decision making • choosing by default • choosing knowledgeably

16. Making Choices Knowledgeably • Recognizing as many options or alternatives as possible. • Recognizing the social pressures that influence personal choices. • Clarifying one’s own values. • Choosing knowledgably

18. Choosing by Default • Choices people make when they are not aware of alternatives or when they pursue the path of least resistance. • Sometimes, college students choose their courses or even their majors by default. • Many decisions concerning marriages and families are made by default.

19. Choosing Knowledgeably • Two components in choosing knowledgeably: • Recognizing as many options or alternatives as possible. • Recognizing the social pressures that may influence personal choices. • An important aspect of making knowledgeable choices is considering the consequences of alternatives rather than gravitating toward the one that seems most attractive.

20. A Family of Individuals • 91% of Americans report that family relations are extremely important to them. • Family values such as family togetherness, stability, and loyalty focus on the family as a whole. • Placing family wellbeing over individual interests and preferences is termed familism.

21. Families Boundaries • Families create boundaries between themselves and the rest of the world. • Families mark off physical space that is private and theirs alone. • Family members determine what is allowed to enter the family space and under what conditions. • Family boundaries create a space in which members can relax and be themselves.

22. Archival Family Function • Families create, store, preserve, and pass on objects, events, or rituals. • Archives contain a variety of symbols: • Snapshots of happy times • Family movies • Artifacts from infancy or childhood • Symbols of recognition and achievement • Anecdotes which reinforce an identity as the reckless one, the helpful one, etc.

23. Marriages and Families: Four Themes • Personal decisions must be made throughout the life course. • Decision making is a trade-off; once we choose an option, we discard alternatives. • No one can have everything. • The best way to make choices is knowledgeably.

24. Marriages and Families: Four Themes • People are influenced by the society around them. • Cultural beliefs and values influence our attitudes and decisions. • Societal or structural conditions can limit or expand our options.

25. Marriages and Families: Four Themes • We live in a changing society, characterized by increased ethnic, economic, and family diversity; by increased tension between familistic and individualistic values; by decreased marital and family permanence; and by increased political and policy attention to the needs of children. • This situation can make personal decision making more difficult and more important.

26. Marriages and Families: Four Themes • Personal decision making feeds into society and changes it. • We affect our social environment every time we make a choice. • Making family decisions can mean choosing to become politically involved in order to effect family-related social change. • Making family choices according to our values gives our family lives greater integrity.

27. Quick Quiz

28. Placing family well-being over individual interests and preferences is referred to in the text as • familism. • modified individualism. • kinship focusing. • primokinship.

29. Answer: a • Placing family well-being over individual interests and preferences is referred to in the text as familism.

30. 2. The archival family function refers to: • cataloging family heritage. • family lineage. • maintaining the family as a unique experiential reality or group. • family tradition.

31. Answer: c • The archival family function refers to maintaining the family as a unique experiential reality or group.

32. 3. According to the text, the best way to make decisions about our personal lives is to make them • by default. • according to the principles of familism. • according to the principles of individualism. • knowledgeably.

33. Answer: d • According to the text, the best way to make decisions about our personal lives is to make them knowledgeably.