SOC 214 EXAM I Study Guide

Chapter 1: Defining Family Variation

I.

Video Lets Get Married

II.

Pew Survey

III.

3 general ideas embodied in family values debate

A. family as we know it is failing

B. failure connected to a change in basic values
C. These basic values and the institution of family based on them are crucial to the continued
existence of a civilized society

IV.

What did Pew Research find when it asked people whether they thought they had old-fashioned
values?

A. 71% yes, 25% no

V.

What did the findings of the Family Values study discussed in class (27 values) indicate
concerning broader cultural changes in our society

A. marriage- the me marriage, focus on love

1. happy marriage (6)
2. being married to the same person for life (12)
3. being married (16)
B. having children (18)
1. have the lowest desire to have children for fulfillment
C. male roles
1. earn a good living (21)
2. financially secure (22)
3. PROVIDING EMOTIONAL SUPPORT TO YOUR FAMILY (1)
4. being able to communicate your feelings to your family (5)
D. personal growth
1. living up to my full potential (9)
2. being independent (20)
3. being free of obligations so i can do what i want to do (28)
E. Which values were most important?
1. emotional support
2. respecting parents and other people

3. personal happiness
F. Which were less important
1. financial security
2. being married
3. culture
VI.

What are the four assumptions of the family decline perspective?

A. erosion of familys importance as a social institution

B. loss of traditional functions:
1. regulate sexual behavior/sexual access
2. childrearing (parental authority)
3. education
4. economic support
C. decline in family leads to social decay
D. we no longer subordinate our individual interests to the interests of the family unit
VII.

What are the three assumptions of the family transformation perspective?

A. Structure of family less important than the relationships and processes that take place within it
B. Problems in the family reflect problems in the society, e.g. economic problems
C. Changes have the potential of increasing equality, democracy, and choice within family
relationships

VIII. What did Pew research find concerning the types of groupings that people considered family (e.g.
married couple w/ children, married couple w/o children, single parent w/ children, etc)?

A. married couple with children (99%)

B. married couple without children (88%)
C. single parent with children (86%)
D. unmarried couple with children (80%)
E. same sex couple without children (45%)
F. unmarried couple without children (43%)
IX.

U.S. Census Bureau statistics on family and Nonfamily households. According to Fig. 2
Households by Type: 1970-2012, what are the trends for various types of family and non- family
households in terms of their percentage of all households? You do not have to know specific
percentages, but you should be able to describe the trends in words.

A. households that increased

1. other family households

2. other non family households

3. women living alone
4. men living alone
B. households that decreased
1. married couples with children
C. households that stayed the same
1. married couples without children
X.

What do the terms structure and function mean in relation to the family?

A. structural definition: definition describing the components and makeup of a family

B. functional definition: definition based on how the family serves their participating individuals
(microfunctional) or how it serves society (macrofunctional)

1. roles and scripts: father, mother, daughter, son <authority, gender roles>
XI.

What are the two functions of the modern family?

A. providing continuing replacements for individuals so that society can continue to

exist=reproduction and child care (macrofunction)

1. ->family of orientation->family of procreation->

B. providing emotional gratification and intimacy to family members (microfunction)
XII.

"traditional" definition of family: a social unit made up of married father and mother and their
children nuclear family

XIII.

Richard Gelle's definition: a social group that possesses structure made up of positions such as

bread winner and child rearer...often involves sharing a residence traditional nuclear family

XIV.

The Census Bureau's:

A. family household: 2 or more persons residing together who are related by blood, marriage, or
adoption

B. non-family household: all persons who occupy a housing unit

XV.

How is a family household different from a non-family household according to the Census
Bureau?

XVI. Lamanna and Reidmann's definitions: any sexually expressive or parent-child or other kin
relationship in which people usually related by ancestry, marriage or adoption(1) form an
economic unit and care for any young, (2) consider their identity to be significantly attached to the
group, and (3) commit to maintaining the group over time

XVII. NY Court of Appeals: family is based on exclusivity and longevity and the level of financial and
emotional commitment of a relationship

XVIII. The controversy over homosexual marriage:

XIX. * Societal opinions -- you do not need to know exact %'s from the polls discussed in class, but you
do need to know the opinion of the majority and how opinions changed for different types of
questions, e.g. marriage versus civil unions, marriage versus parenting, etc. and how opinion is
affected by both age and religion.

A. opinions of majority:
1. more people support allowing gays to have many of the same legal agreements as marriage
than for marriage itself

2. gay marriage would undermine traditional family (56%)

3. gay marriage goes against religious beliefs (62%)
4. gay couples can be good parents
5. society should put no restrictions on sex between consenting adults (80%!!)
6. more favor towards allowing adoption than gay marriage
7. higher prevalence of gay support in younger, unreligious populations
XX.

* What are the benefits of being married in our society?

A. sign of commitment
1. one that is supported by family, friends, community
B. legal benefits
1. medical, tax, inheritance, and guardianship rights
*

Concerning the issue of children, what is the basic assumption of the opposition to allowing gays
and lesbians to marry?

* purpose of family is bearing children

*

What are the arguments given by the opposition for allowing gays and lesbians to marry?

* gays cant have children by themselves

* biological parent of opposite sex is missing
* children would be adversely affected by teasing
* children likely to become homosexual also
*

What are the counter arguments used by proponents for gay and lesbian marriage?

* Heterosexual couples who can not (or will not) bear children are allowed to marry
* Children often do not live with both biological parents
* Children teased over many things problem is external
* Children are more likely to experiment but not
* more likely to become homosexual

XXI. Know the following terms:

A. nuclear family: a 2 generation group that includes parents and their children
B. extended family: a family composed of the nuclear family, plus additional relatives, usually a third
generation (e.g. grandparents)

C. family of orientation: the family unit that includes ones parents and siblings
D. family of procreation: family unit that includes ones spouse and, at least potentially, ones children
XXII. How do functional definitions of the family differ from structural definitions?
A. functional (what a family does)
B. structural (what components a family has)
XXIII. What is a macrofunctional definition?
A. focusing on consequences for institutions or societies
B. how the family is affecting society
C. treats the family as a social institution
XXIV. Microfunctional?
A. focusing on consequences for individuals or small groups
B. how members affect each other
XXV. What is a kin group?
A. network of persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption
B. can include uncles, aunts, grandparents, and others but DO NOT NEED TO LIVE UNDER THE
SAME ROOF

XXVI. What does fictive kin mean?

A. persons treated as if they were related
B. THE GRANDMA MARTHA the old women who lives next door that takes of family
C. fictive kin counted as family by functional definition, but NOT NOT NOT by a structural
definition

XXVII.

pronuptialism: a belief system that encourages marriage. a societal norm

A. What is an ideal type?

1. a hypothetical construct used for comparisons
B. What characteristics are usually included in the ideal-type family (top of page 13)?
1. intimate personal relationships
2. all participants have kinship names for one another (mom, dad)
3. persons reside in same household

4. includes more than one generation

5. includes a conjugal unit (the husband-wife pair)
6. sharing basic assets is a norm
7. members identify common ancestors or descendants
8. members share similar social status
9. responsibility for socialization of children to societal norms and values
XXVIII.

Why is the real world better characterized as a continuum than a dichotomy?

A. continuum: unbroken degrees of measurement between two extremes

B. dichotomy: one divided into two parts; the division of a continuum into two mutually exclusive
parts

C. the world is seldom easily categorized: families do not usually fit into a category, but somewhere
in between

XXIX. How can families be organized differently in terms of authority, decent and inheritance, and
residence patterns?

A. authority: patriarchy or matriarchy

B. decent and inheritance: patrilineal or matrilineal, bilateral (decent of both mom and dad)
C. residence patterns: patrilocal or matrilocal or neolocal (find entire new location)
XXX. Know all the terms in the grey boxes on the top of pages 14-15.
A. patriarchal family
1. all men have power over all women
2. men own all property
3. women are treated as property
4. women have no decision making authority
B. egalitarian family
1. power equally shared
2. property equally shared
3. property treated as property
4. equal decision making
C. matriarchal family
1. all women have power over all men
2. women own all property
3. men treated as property

4. men have no decision making

D. archy: authority
E. lineage: decent
F. local: residence
XXXI. How can families be organized differently along the gender role continuum? (p. 15)
A. Point A: all tasks assigned by gender
B. Point C: androgyny, no tasks are assigned by gender
C. What is the difference between point A on the continuum and point C?
1. the role of gender in task assignment
XXXII.

sex-irreducible gender roles: basic differences in expectations that define the differences

between men and women (things the opposite gender CANNOT do)

A. men impregnate women

B. women menstruate, gestate (carry baby), lactate (make milk)
XXXIII.

Sex-influenced gender roles: expectation influenced, but not fully determined, by

secondary sex characteristics and other biological differences of men and women

A. less strictly determined

B. mom will always be present for birth of children, dad might not be
C. men hunt, women raise children
XXXIV.

Sex-arbitrary gender roles: expectations that could as easily be the opposite

A. hair and clothing styles

XXXV.

9. Why is the pessimistic view (family decline perspective) of the family pessimistic?

A. the family is in decline and that is screwing society over

B. Erosion of family's importance as a social institution
C. Loss of traditional functions:
1. Regulate sexual behavior/sexual access
2. Child rearing (Parental authority)
3. Education
4. Economic support
D. Decline in family leads to social decay
E. We no longer subordinate our individual interests to the interests of the family unit
F. traditional structure promotes traditional functions
XXXVI.

Why is the optimistic view (transformation) perspective optimistic?

A. Society is changing, and that is effecting the family

B. Structure of family less important than the relationships and processes that take place within it
C. Problems in the family reflect problems in the society, e.g. economic problems
D. Changes have the potential of increasing equality, democracy, and choice within family
relationships

E. different structures can function well and change in functions is not automatically bad
AGREEMENT: STABILITY IS THE IMPORTANT FACTOR
Chapter 2: Studying the Family

XXXVII.

What is anecdotal data?

A. anecdote a short story of individual experience

B. When is it appropriate to use?
1. can be a starting point for scientific research
2. used as an illustration of data
3. CAN NOT BE DATA: can not prove or disprove a scientific study
XXXVIII.

What is science?

A. characterized not so much by a list of findings as by the methods used to make those discoveries
B. collect data using agreed upon methods
1. surveys
2. field research
3. unobtrusive research
C. What does it mean to say that science looks for regularities?
1. those things that happen over and over in more or less the same way
a) Behavior of groups of individuals
b) What is true for the group may or may not be true for any specific individual who shares
the groups characteristics

c) Does this make the data wrong? NO

d) Data is Probablistic
D. Exceptions?
1. events that do not follow the predicted pattern
XXXIX.

Why is it important to understand that much social science data is probabilistic?

A. life isnt a predicted pattern

XL.

What are the basic assumptions of (Structural) Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic
Interactionism (Thomas Theorem), and Social Exchange Theory?

A. structural functionalism
1. One part of system affects other parts of system
2. * Functions & dysfunctions
B. conflict theory
1. Power and inequality
2. Some benefit at the expense of others
3. Family: Age, Gender, Social Class
C. symbiolic interactionism
1. Society (family) is made up of day-to-day interactions
2. Roles are constructed, played out, revised through interaction
3. How we define events is important
4. Thomas Theorem, If (people) define situations as real, they are real in their consequences
(p. 43)

D. exchange theory
1. focus is on relationships
2. motivation: maximize benefits and minimize costs=profit
XLI.

What does it mean to say sociology is a science?

A. it follows the scientific method

XLII. Why are sociologists wary of using anecdotal data?
A. cannot be proven true
When are they useful?

B. they can serve as starting point for broader research

C. used to illustrate points
XLIII. How are surveys done?
A. select a random sample from population
B. ask question
XLIV. What do surveys do well?
A.
XLV. What are their limitations?
A. not always certain

B. people do not always tell truth

C. questions interpreted differently
D. cannot study as in depth understanding of human interaction
XLVI. How is field research/ethnography done?
A. research observes in real life setting
XLVII.

What does field research do well?

A. first hand experience

XLVIII.

What are its limitations?

A. difficult to apply to modern families because of modern day privacy

B. people act differently in front of researcher
C. data is qualitative
XLIX. How does finding regularities help social scientists make predictions?
L.

What are the basic assumptions of (Structural) Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic
Interactionism(Thomas Theorem), and Social Exchange Theory?

Chapter 3: Families in Preindustrial Context

LI.

What is the sociological imagination?

A. a way of understanding ourselves through locating our positions in society, and the social forces
that affect us

B. To understand the changes that affect our personal lives, we must look beyond our private
experiences to examine the larger political, social, and economic issues that affect us

LII.

The Colonial Family

A. What was the economy of the time?

1. Pre-industrial agriculture.
B. What was the family structure of the dominant group (ethnic whites)?
1. Nuclear (conjugal) BUT with dependent kin, hired help, indentured servants, apprentices,
and slaves.

C. Why is the myth of the great extended family a myth?

D. What were the functions (purpose) of the colonial family?
1. Basic economic unit (farming, small business, trade)
2. Education (scripture, literacy, vocational)
3. Religion (worship IN family)
4. Health care

5. Reform (criminals sentenced to stay with a respectable family)

6. Welfare (orphanage, poor house, old persons home

E. What is the familial mode of production?

1. The family makes the house, food, clothes, etc.)
2. more or less self-sufficient
3. all members take part
F. What did this mean for family life and the role of women?
1. Womens economic role is just as important as their child rearing role.
a) Household management
b) Some agricultural duties
G. What was the family's relationship to the community?
1. Highly integrated
2. Little privacy (EVEN INSIDE HOME)
3. Government intervention (could be fined for not maintaining happy marriage)
H. What was the authority structure of the family and why?
1. Patriarchial, because of the doctrine of coverture.
2. father was in control of property/money=control of family
3. inheritance was left to sons
I. What is the doctrine of coverture?
1. the doctrine that a man and women become one flesh at marriage, with the consequence that
a wifes property rights are controlled by her husband

J. What role did love individual choice, economics, and custom play in colonial marriage?
1. Individual choice: individual choice with parental approval
a) statute, inheritance
2. Economics:
a) strong economic component: English proverb (1670) who marrieth for love without
money hath good nights and sorry days

b) Focus on character. Who would be a good supporter?

3. Custom: Divorce was very rare. Separation was more common, which meant men kept
children and poverty for woman

K. What was childhood like?

1. Contributing to the family
2. not hidden from adult matters

L. What were children expected to do?

1. Begin work based on physical ability
2. Apprenticeship at 14.
M. What did childrearing consist of?
1. instilling religion and discipline
2. parental sentiment thought to be bad for children (ideal to be stern)
LIII. What was the Roman concept of familia?
A. Originally referred to the groups of servants and slaves in a household and came to mean
everyone in the household whether related or not.

B. thought of as a house or household rather than a group of specifically related persons

LIV.

What is the concept of concordia and how did it relate to Roman marriages?

A. state of tranquility rather than passionate love

B. lack of disagreement between roman husband and wife
C. Romans strove for concordia in their marriages.
LV.

How did Christianity influence marriage and divorce?

A. Marriage became a sacrament: gave church the authority over marriage

B. Monogamous marriage only
C. Divorce was banned.
D. Sex limiting: couples could have sex if it resulted in possible childbirth
E. Contraception, abortion, and infanticide were banned.
LVI.

Quale (1988) 5 characteristics of the Western European marital script

A. Men and women both married in their mid 20s, which was relatively late compared to other
systems.

B. Many did not mary at all. In 1700, as many as half of the women never married.
C. Age difference between the partners was relatively small.
D. Because of the widespread practice of apprenticeship, the boarding out of children as servants,
and other factors, most men and women had lived outside their parents home for some period
before marriage. This made them more independent and provided them with alternative models
for setting up their own households.

E. Childbearing began relatively late for women. This slowed population growth at a time when life
expectancy was increasing.

LVII. Know the characteristics of the Puritan family.

A. household composition:

1. basic social unit

2. included fluctuating numbers of servants, apprentices, and boarders who interacted
much like family members

B. relationship between parents and children: parents felt love and affection toward their children,
but expressed it through strong discipline. (childrens tendancy to sin had to be forcefully
combated)

C. roles of men and women:

1. women: child rearing, household management, some agricultural duties.
2. men: head of household; cleared land, handled livestock, dealt with natives, politics and
religion.

D. characteristics of marriage:
1. doctrine of coverture
2. young persons had choice in marriage partners; no one was forced to marry against their
will

3. strength of character and compatibility important in choice of spouse (men looked for
women who could raise children and contribute economically and women looked for hard
workers and good providers)

4. spouse chosen by location (those who lived nearby)

5. rejected that marriage should be a sacrament
6. marital intercourse was forbidden only when it would interfere with specific religious
duties

LVIII. What were households like in European families?

A. One room for eating sleeping, making love.
B. did not contain large numbers of persons
LIX.

Why was there little privacy? ONE ROOM.

LX.

Why was the ideal of the extended family not a reality?

A. High mortality and relatively late marriages.

LXI.

What was childhood like in the preindustrial European family?

A. Raising children was womens responsibility, but not always that of the mother
B. practice of hiring a wet nurse was common
C. Usually apprenticed at young ages by their parents.
LXII. Know the characteristics of the African American slave families.
A. household composition:

B. characteristics of marriage: no legal authority

C. relationship of parents to children: parents had no control over children. masters did.
D. importance of kin groups: important support group (most were fictive)
LXIII. What factors made establishing families in the south more difficult than in the north?
A. population more widely dispersed
B. Demographic factors. People married later, died a lot.
Chapter 4: industrialization and families

LXIV. The Modern Family:

A. What was the economy of the time?
1. Industrial capitalism: work for wages.
2. leave home to find work
3. urbanization: rise of large cities
4. immigration: new traditions about family
5. Labor market mode of production: buy goods and services
B. What was the family structure of middle class whites?
1. Nuclear
2. Begin to lose unrelated family members (maid is just a maid)
a) upper classes: retained servants
b) working class: took in boarders
C. What were the functions (purpose) of the modern family?
1. family life and work were separate
2. Private Retreat
3. Focus on child care
4. consumption rather than production
a) labor market mode of production: buy goods and services
D. What was the family's relationship to the community?
1. separation from community
2. reflected in architecture: hallways, singe purpose rooms, multiple bedrooms
E. What was the authority structure of the family and why?
1. Patriarchial
2. repeal of doctrine of coverture: replaced with ideology of separate spheres

3. Patriarchy as benign despotism: husbands should remember that in order to have the
submission of their wives they must temper their authority with live, prudence, and wisdom

4. Cult of true womanhood:

a) women no longer economic partners
b) work and education harmful to women
F. What was the cult of true womanhood (4 virtues)?
1. religious piety: morally superior to men
2. sexual purity
3. submissiveness
4. domesticity: comfort husband, raise children.
5. the very nature and instinct of woman incline her to the private and the domestic rather than
the public walks of life; to oppose this tendency of her nature would be both absurd and
useless

G. How did men's roles become more narrow?

1. Breadwinners and leisure father
H. What new model of marriage began to emerge at this time?
1. emotional/romantic but MORAL is still important (religion, character)
2. old model: moral, economic relationship: true love is founded on esteem, and esteem is
the result of intimate acquaintance and confidential intercourse

3. new model: primarily an emotional relationship focused on (romantic) love: no woman

should marry unless she loves; marriage which is not a union of hearts as well as hands
must always be a virtual failure

I. What was the new ideal of childhood like?

1. child-centered/nurturing
2. children are innocent and dependent on care
3. mothering children is important
4. no working (no chores)
LXV. What were the characteristics of the Industrial workforce?
A.

work was dangerous, difficult, and generally undesirable

B.

women in working class families contributed monetary income: worked in factories, as

servants, or performed chores for outside factories

LXVI. How did education change over time?

A.

public schools arose to socialize immigrants to the American way and to provide the
education necessary for an effective democratic citizenry and productive workforce

LXVII.

Describe the following demographic changes:

A.

population growth: significant overall growth in population

B.

migration/urbanization: migration to western frontier and urbanization (increase in the

percentage of a population living in cities

C.

life expectancy: better nutrition, living conditions, and sanitation significantly increased life
expectancy

LXVIII.

According to Goode, how did the need for geographic mobility, increased social mobility,

an increased focus on achieved occupational status, and the increase in specialization and functional
differentiation affect family life?

A.

industrial economies require geographic mobility

1.

a conjugal family, with only one major earner, was in a better position to relocate than
was an entire extended family

B.

industrialization produces, and requires, social mobility

1.

individuals had to be socially mobile enough to move into the new occupational niches,
which often led to lifestyles different from those of their parents

C.

industrialization is associated with achieved occupational status

1.

individualism increased and reliance on parents status decreased

D. industrialization increases specialization and functional differentiation

1.

house was no longer the center of all aspects of life

LXIX. What are the five characteristics of the conjugal family form?
A.

family becomes more nuclear and less extended

B.

kinship becomes more bilateral (inheritance)

C.

mate selection is based on choice

D. end of economic exchanges at marriage

E.

became more egalitarian (both in charge)

LXX. What factors affected the movement toward this ideal-type?

LXXI. How did industrialization change the way children were perceived and treated?
A.

discipline changed its focus from harsh to developing creativity and spontaneity

B.

families became more child-centered