nuclear family

Examples of nuclear family in the following topics:

• Family Structures

  • However, this two-parent, nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative family forms have become more common.
  • Those generations, the extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, can all hold significant emotional and economic roles for the nuclear family.
  • The nuclear family is considered the "traditional" family and consists of a mother, father, and the children.
  • The nuclear family is also choosing to have fewer children than in the past.
  • In some circumstances, the extended family comes to live either with or in place of a member of the nuclear family.

• The Functionalist Perspective

  • Functionalists view the family unit as a construct that fulfills important functions and keeps society running smoothly.
  • For functionalists, the family creates well-integrated members of society and teaches culture to the new members of society.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • In 1955, sociologist Talcott Parsons developed a model of nuclear families in the United States that addressed gender roles.
  • 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 national trend toward a total integration of gender roles is reflected in women's education, professional achievement, and family income contributions.

• The Nature of a Family

  • In sociological literature, the most common form of this family is often referred to as a nuclear family.
  • A "matrilocal" family consists of a mother and her children.
  • Common in the western societies, the model of the family triangle, where the husband, wife, and children are isolated from the outside, is also called the oedipal model of the family.
  • This family arrangement is considered patriarchal.
  • As a unit of socialization, the family is the object of analysis for sociologists of the family.

• Replacing Family Functions

  • Family types that are replacing the traditional nuclear family include single parent families, cohabitation, and gay and lesbian families.
  • The sociology of the family examines the family as an institution and a unit of socialization.
  • Sociological studies of the family look at demographic characteristic of the family members: family size, age, ethnicity and gender of its members, social class of the family, the economic level and mobility of the family, professions of its members, and the education levels of the family members.
  • There are various other family forms that are becoming increasingly common.
  • Examine the different types of families and the changing face of family roles

• What is a family?

  • Why do families exist?
  • This notion of parents and children as family is called a nuclear family and is a recent invention of the Western World that has (in some cases) been sold as a form of "tradition. " It is a social construct that does not necessarily reflect the reality of family life for many people.
  • In fact, with recent developments in the U.S., the nuclear family is no longer the primary form of social life in the U.S.
  • Further, historical research suggests the nuclear family has never been the statistical or numeric norm in the United States.
  • The nuclear family emerged during the late medieval period and was formalized during the Council of Trent, in which marriage was defined as, "The conjugal union of man and woman, contracted between two qualified persons, which obliges them to live together throughout life. " While a variety of family structures continue to exist around the world today, including polygamous and polygynous families in many societies (including the U.S., the predominant form is built upon monogamous sexual and emotional relations (though, as noted above, this is no longer the majority form).

• 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.
  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of single-parent families.
  • While somewhat more common prior to the twentieth century due to the more frequent deaths of spouses, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the nuclear family became the societal norm in most Western nations.
  • 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.

• Kinship Patterns

  • Descent, like family systems, is one of the major concepts of anthropology.
  • The Western model of a nuclear family consists of a couple and its children.
  • The nuclear family is ego-centered and impermanent, while descent groups are permanent and reckoned according to a single ancestor .
  • Family tree showing the relationship of each person to the orange person.
  • Family chart.

• Stages of Socialization Throughout the Life Span

  • Context: In earlier periods, the socializee (the person being socialized) more clearly assumes the status of learner within the context of the initial setting (which may be a family of orientation, an orphanage, a period of homelessness, or any other initial social groups at the beginning of a child's life), the school (or other educational context), or the peer group.
  • Some of the more significant contributors to the socialization process are: parents, guardians, friends, schools, siblings or other family members, social clubs (like religions or sports teams), life partners (romantic or platonic), and co-workers.
  • By the time individuals are in their preteen or teenage years, peer groups play a more powerful role in socialization than family members.
  • The nuclear family serves as the primary force of socialization for young children.

• New Developments in Families

  • One recent trend illustrating the changing nature of families is the rise in prevalence of single-parent or one-parent households.
  • While somewhat more common prior to the 20th century due to the more frequent deaths of spouses, in the late 19th and early 20th century, the nuclear family (husband, wife, and kids) became the societal norm in most Western nations.
  • (i.e., the inability to support a nuclear family on a single wage), had significant ramifications on family life.
  • In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, cohabitation is very common; roughly 50% of all children are born into families of unmarried couples.
  • In late 2005, 21% of families in Finland consisted of cohabiting couples (all age groups).