Family Structure

Examples of Family Structure in the following topics:

• Family Structures

  • The traditional family structure consists of two married individuals providing care for their offspring, but this is becoming more uncommon.
  • The traditional family structure in the United States is considered a family support system which involves two married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring.
  • However, this two-parent, nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative family forms have become more common.
  • The nuclear family is considered the "traditional" family and consists of a mother, father, and the children.
  • An American family composed of the mother, father, children, and extended family.

• What is a family?

  • How do family structures vary from culture to culture or subculture to subculture?
  • A variety of other family structures exist.
  • Family structures of some kind are found in every society.
  • You can see a good example of the changing nature of families in the family structure of Ancient Rome.
  • A map of the world regions where polygamy is a common form of family structure.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • The conflict perspective views the family as a vehicle to maintain patriarchy (gender inequality) and social inequality in society.
  • When we are analyzing any element of society from this perspective, we need to look at the structures of wealth, power and status, and the ways in which those structures maintain social, economic, political and coercive power of one group at the expense of others.
  • Because inheritance, education and social capital are transmitted through the family structure, wealthy families are able to keep their privileged social position for their members, while individuals from poor families are denied similar status.
  • The traditional family form in most cultures is patriarchal, contributing to inequality between the sexes.
  • The traditional family is also an inequitable structure for women and children.

• The Feminist Perspective

  • Feminists view the family as a historical institution that has maintained and perpetuated sexual inequalities.
  • Second-wave feminism went a step further by seeking equality in family, employment, reproductive rights, and sexuality.
  • Her role in the family is celebrated on Mother's Day.
  • In most family structures, the mother is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.

• Hunger, Malnutrition, and Family

  • Those with weak support structures are more vulnerable to hunger and starvation than those with strong family networks.
  • The family plays an important role in understanding patterns of hunger.
  • Those who have a weak or non-existent family support structure are more likely than those with strong family networks to go hungry.
  • Children and seniors are the most vulnerable to going hungry for lack of familial support.
  • The most at-risk segments of the senior population include those who lack a strong family structure (i.e., those who were never married), live alone, or live with a grandchild (but with no adult child present).

• Family Life

  • Historically, working class rural populations in agrarian regions have had larger families than wealthier urban families.
  • Globally, the birth rate in countries with large impoverished populations is much higher than in wealthier countries, indicating that income and wealth play a role in shaping family structures.
  • Social class has both a cause and an effect relationship with family composition.
  • At the same time, single-parent families can contribute to financial and social instability.
  • Give examples for effects of social class on marriage, birth rates, and family composition

• The Functionalist Perspective

  • Structural functionalism is a framework that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
  • This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole.
  • Structural functionalism also took on the argument that the basic building block of society is the nuclear family, and that the clan is an outgrowth, not vice versa .
  • Structural functionalism also took on the argument that the basic building block of society is the nuclear family, and that the clan is an outgrowth, not vice versa.
  • Explain the social functions of the family through the perspective of structural functionalism

• Gender Roles in the U.S.

  • Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force in distinguishing genders and that sex-differentiated behavior is driven by the division of labor between two sexes within a society.
  • One main thread in discussions about gender roles in the United States has been the historical evolution from a single-income family, or a family unit in which one spouse (typically the father) is responsible for the family income, to a dual-income family, or a family unit in which both spouses generate income.
  • While some claim that this was a sexist structure, others maintain that the structure simply represented a division of labor, or a social system in which a particular segment of the population performs one type of labor and another segment performs another type.
  • Family structures vary across cultures and history, and the term nuclear family refers to a family unit of two parents and their children.
  • Parsons developed two models of gender roles within the nuclear family.

• The Decline of the Traditional Family

  • One parent households, cohabitation, same sex families, and voluntary childless couples are increasingly common.
  • Family structures of some kind are found in every society.
  • Pairing off into formal or informal marital relationships originated in hunter-gatherer groups to forge networks of cooperation beyond the immediate family.
  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of single-parent families.
  • In the 1960s and 1970s, the change in the economic structure of the United States–-the inability to support a nuclear family on a single wage–-had significant ramifications on family life.

• Gender Messages in the Family

  • Families divide responsibilities between parents.
  • In many American families, the father serves as the breadwinner, while the mother maintains the household.
  • Social role theory proposes that social structure is the underlying force behind gender differences, and that the division of labor between two sexes within a society motivates the differences in their respective behavior.
  • Family is the most important agent of socialization because it serves as the center of a child's life.
  • Justify how the family acts as the most important agent of gender socialization for children and adolescents