FAMILY AND MARRIAGE

1. FAMILY AND MARRIAGE

2. After studying this chapter, you should
be able to do the following
 Explain the functions of the family.
 Describe the major variations in family structure.
 Define marriage and describe its relationship to
the phenomenon of romantic love.
 Describe the various rules governing marriage.
 Explain the ways in which mate selection is not
random.

3. FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS
 FAMILY – DEF: A social group
characterized by common residence,
economic cooperation, and reproduction.
 TRADITIONAL FAMILY includes adults
of both sexes, at least two of whom
maintain a socially approved sexual
relationship, and one or more children, of
the sexually cohabiting adults.

4. Do you agree with this definition?
How would you define a family?

5. FAMILY STRUCTURES
Nuclear family
 The most basic family form and is made
up of a married couple and their biological
or adopted children.
 The nuclear family is found in all societies,
and it is from this form that all other
(composite) family forms are derived.

6. FAMILY STRUCTURES
Polygamous families
 Nuclear families linked together by multiple
marriage bonds, with one central individual
married to several spouses.
 - Polygynous when the central person is
male.
 - Polyandrous when the central person is
female.
 Common family arrangement around the world

7. FAMILY STRUCTURES
 Extended families
 Other relations and generations in addition to the
nuclear family. Along with married parents and their
offspring, there may be:
 - parents’ parents
 - siblings of the parents
 - siblings’ spouses and children

- in-laws.

8. Functions of a family

9. FAMILY FUNCTIONS
 Family is a universal institution that fulfills
the functions listed before, the methods
used will vary by culture
 Not all functions are seen in all societies


10. GENERATIONAL RELATIONS
Patrilineal system
 Generations are tied together through the males
of a family; all members trace their kinship
through the father’s line.
 Matrilineal system
 The generations are tied together through the
females of a family.
 Bilateral system
 Descent passes through both females and
males of a family.

11. FAMILY AUTHORITY
 Patriarchal family
• Describe situations in which most family affairs are
dominated by men.
 Matriarchal family
• Most family affairs are dominated by women, is
relatively uncommon but does exist.

12. MARRIAGE
Marriage DEF: An institution found in all
societies, is the socially recognized,
legitimized, and supported union of
individuals of opposite sexes.
Marriage is the binding link that makes the
institution of family possible.

13. MARRIAGE
Romantic love as the reason for marriage is
a value in American Society
- 81% of U.S. women express that deep
feelings are more important than money.
Most cultures do not value romance, they
focus on economic and social relations.

14. MARRIAGE RULES
 Endogamy
 Limit the social categories from within which one can
choose a marriage partner.
 Exogamy,
 Require an individual to marry someone outside his or
her culturally defined group.
 Monogamous
 Each person is allowed only one spouse at a time.
 Polygamy
 an individual may have more than one spouse

15. MARITAL RESIDENCE
Marital residence rules govern where a couple
will live after marriage..
- Patrilocal residence - Calls for the new couple to
settle down near or within the husband’s father’s
- Matrilocal residence - Calls for the new couple to
settle down near or within the wife’s mother’s
- Bilocal residence - New couples choose whether
to live with the husband’s or wife’s family of origin.
- Neolocal residence - The couple may choose to
live virtually anywhere,

16. HOMOGAMY
 Is the tendency to marry those that are like
ourselves.
 Although the U.S. does not have actual rules
about this, homogamy is still very prevalent.

17. The Transformation of the
Family
Families of industrialization faced
three pressures

18. FAMILY TRANSFORMATION
 Industrialism demands that workers be
geographically mobile so that a workforce
is available wherever new industries
emerge.
 Industrialism requires a certain degree of
movement between the social classes.
 The modern nuclear family is more open
to inheritance and descent through both
sides of the family, allowing all children
opportunity to rise in society.

19. FAMILY TRANSFORMATION
 Decline of the traditional family structure
can also be attributed to the
postponement of marriage high divorce
rates.
 Marriage rate may be down but
cohabitation is up.
 Cohabitation
 Unmarried couples living together out of wedlock

20. AMERICAN NUCLEAR FAMILY
 By early 1900s, American Nuclear Family:
 - Child-centered
 - Greater equality for women
 - Decreased link with extended families
 - Greater social mobility
 - Greater geographical mobilit
 - Marriage based on romantic ideal
 - Clear separation of work and leisure

21. NUCLEAR FAMILY CHANGES
 In the modern era there has been a
transfer of family functions from the family
to outside institutions (school, courts, etc)
 Childlessness among married couples has
been increasing in recent years.
 Couples are marrying older and bearing
children at an older age

22. NUCLEAR FAMILY CHANGES
 Divorce became easier as most states
passed laws that allowed “no fault”
divorces.
 Statistics suggest co-habitation before
marriage increases divorce rates.
 - or is this due to the demographics of
those who cohabitate (young, poor, low
education)

23. STEPFAMILIES/BLENDED FAMILIES
 Stepfamilies, also known as blended
families, are transforming basic family
relationships.
 The largest group of stepfamilies is
composed of families formed by the
remarriage of divorced men and women.
 Today 17% of families involve a step-child

24. SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES
 The growth in single parent households
has been influenced by three trends:
 - High divorce rates
 - A increase in the percentage of
babies born to unwed mothers
 - The rapid growth of cohabitation

25. GAY AND LESBIAN FAMILIES
 A phenomenon that is not new but one
that has become more and more visible is
the household consisting of a gay or
lesbian couple.
 - In some states these couple have the
same ability to adopt children as
“traditional families”

26. SINGLES
 The proportion of households having one
person living alone increased from 17% to
26% between 1970 and 2005.
 - This could reflect a delay in living with
others or a trend towards single lifestyles
 or it could reflect the aging population.

27. CONCLUSION
 The traditional family is being replaced, in
part, by new family arrangements that may
better suit today’s lifestyles.
 There is little evidence that the family as a
institution is in decline or weakening. The
functions it serves are vital to society.

28. GROUP EXERCISE
 GOING BACK TO THE FUNCTIONS OF
THE FAMILY, HOW IS THE NUCLEAR
FAMILY VARIANT YOU’RE GIVEN,
MORE ABLE, LESS ABLE OR EQUALLY
ABLE TO PROVIDE EACH OF THESE
FUNCTIONS?
 EXPLAIN!!