Sociology of the family
Encyclopedia
The Sociology of the family examines the family
, as an institution
and a unit of socialisation, through various sociological
perspectives, particularly with regard to the relationship between the nuclear family
and industrial
capitalism
, and the distinct gender roles and concepts of childhood
which arose with it. The sociology of the family is a common component on introductory and pre-university academic curricula, as it is perhaps the most simple institution to which one may apply many fundamental sociological approaches.
Examples of specific issues looked at include:
One approach is survey
research of contemporary families. This holds the benefit of leaving statistical data and large and hopefully random samples from which a researcher can interpolate the general traits of a society. However, survey respondents tend to answer as would feel regular or ideal rather than as things might actually be. It also gives a very one-sided explanation view of a larger group which does not sufficiently allow for contention. The information is often out dated, not representing the true statistics of the world that we live in today. The information can also be deceiving and not represent the true points that it looks like the survey's and graphs are representing. For example, if the incomes of same sex marriages are measured it would appear as the heterosexual couples make more than the same sex couples by a long shot. This is not true and the graphs are deceiving because the lesbian income weighs down the income of gay men. It is obvious that in most situation, gay men make more than a heterosexual family but the graph does not display this.
Another method is ethnographic research of families. Where surveys allow for broad but shallow analyses, observation allows sociologists to obtain rich information on a source of a much more limited size. It allows the research an "insider" perspective, and through this closer look a better idea of the actual social framework of families. Where surveys are strong, however, ethnographic research is weak. By reducing the size of a sample size, it may be no longer evident how representative the family being researched is to families at large within a society, and then also does not allow much room in linking the specific traits of the families being observed to a society more generally.
Finally, a researcher can use documented studies of families from the past as a source of information. These sources may include very personal items (such as diaries
), legal records (census
data, wills
, court records), and matters of public record (such as sermon
s).
views interracial
intimacy. 'American Families' by Stephanie Coontz
studies just how horrible it was for immigrants to be in love with a white person and be found acceptable. The fact that Chinese and White intermarriage became criminalized in 1901 was more than just inhumane. It was against the principle that all men are created equal
. If a White man slept with a Black woman and had a child from that relationship, the child would be considered Black under the one-drop rule
as to not threaten the white identity
and privilege. Today the problems of interracial marriage in the US are not as prominent and society has rightfully backed away from those ideas and laws. However internationally the far right
continue to promote ideas of racial purity
.
belief system
marriage is modeled after Adam and Eve
's lifetime commitment between man and woman. The married couple produces children, constituting the nuclear family
. Some sociologists now dispute the degree to which this idealized arrangement has and does reflect the true structure of families in American society. In her 1995 article The American Family and the Nostalgia Trap, sociologist Stephanie Coontz
first posited that the American family
has always been defined first and foremost by its economic needs. For instance, in colonial times families often relied on slaves or indentured servants to support themselves economically. The modern “breadwinner-homemaker
model,” argues Coontz, then has little historical basis. Only in the 1950s did the myth of the happy, nuclear family as the correct family structuration arise.
Yet Coontz argues in Marriage, A History that during the 20th century, marriages have become increasingly unstable in the United States as individuals have begun to seek unions for the ideals of love and affection rather than social or economic expediency. This transition has blurred the division of labor within the breadwinner-homemaker model, such that maintenance of the household and childcare, called the “second shift,” are now topics for debate between marital partners. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild argues in The Second Shift that despite changes in perceptions of the purpose of marriage and the economic foundations for marriage, women continue to do the bulk of care work to the detriment of the American family. Hochschild illustrates the ways in which an unequal division of the second shift undermines family welfare by reducing marital equality and spousal satisfaction.
, a mother is usually the wife
in a married couple
. Her role in the family is celebrated on Mother's Day
. Anna Reeves Jarvis was a woman who originally organized Mother's Work Day's protesting the lack of cleanliness and sanitation in the work place. Anna died in 1905 and her daughter created a National Mother's Day to honor her mother. Mothers frequently have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological mother that fills this role. This is common in stepmothers
(female married to biological father). In most family structures the mother is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.
In East Asia
n and Western
traditional families, fathers were the heads of the families, which meant that his duties included providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must have been obeyed without question by the rest of the family members. "Some Asian American men are brought up under stringent gender role expectations such as a focus on group harmony and filial piety, carrying on their family name and conforming to the expectations of the parents."
As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a mother's role vary according to cultural mores
. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is often considered the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother
or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is reflected, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have corresponding "paternity leave."
Some often view mother's duties as raising and looking after their children every minute of everyday. Mothers are often criticized for not contributing to the family income but the lack of money that they contribute is due to the time that is put into raising the children, which allows no time for the mother to go out and work. If the family is really struggling and the mother does have to go out and seek work, she is also criticized. If the mother is out working, many people view her as abandoning her children and not giving them the best life. In this situation, it truly is a lose lose for the mother.
However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave.
Families are often influenced by the media portrayal of the way women should run their families. In the book Media and Middle Class Moms by Descartes, women are often influenced by the social norms and is often the reason as to why they believe staying home or working is the right thing to do while having a family. See Ideology of Motherhood.
In the United States, 82.5 million women are mothers of all ages, while the national average age of first child births is 25.1 years. In 2008, 10% of births were to teenage girls
, and 14% were to women ages 35 and older. In the US, a study found that the average woman spends 5 years working and building a career before having children, and mothers working non-salary jobs began having children at age 27, compared to mothers with salary positions, who became pregnant at age 31. The study shows that the difference in age of child birth is related to education, since the longer a woman has been in school, the older she will be when she enters the workforce. Other factors determining age of first child birth include infertility
rates, when women meet their partners, and the age of marriage.
, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans' closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos
), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their "father" connection.
In many cultures, especially traditional western, a father is usually the husband in a married couple
. Many times fathers have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological father that fills this role. This is common in stepfathers
(males married to biological mothers). In most family structures the father is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.
In East Asia
n and Western
traditional families, fathers are the heads of the families, which means that their duties include providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must be obeyed without question by the rest of the family members.
As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a father's role vary according to cultural folkways
. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is considered by some the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother
or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is enforced, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have a corresponding "paternity leave."
However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave.
and the USA (but also throughout Europe
) in the 1920s. "Male adjuncts to Maternity
and Infant Welfare Centers - reacted to the maternal dominance in infant welfare and parenting in interwar Britain by arguing that fathers should play a crucial role in the upbringing of children." Were such a study to be conducted into the science of female parenting, it would be called mother craft.
The words "Ma Ma" and "Mom", usually regarded as terms of endearment
directed towards a mother figure, are generally one of the first words a child speaks. While 'da da' or 'dad' often precede it, this does not reflect a stronger bond between the father and child than that of the mother and child, it is merely simpler to pronounce than "Mummy" or "Mum" which require greater control over the mouth muscles. Children tend to remember daddy more because, according to research, they are more exciting to the child.
, cultural studies
, ethnomethodology
, and pedagogy
.
The child as a social actor: This approach derives from youth sociology as well as ethnography. Focusing on everyday life and the ways children orientate themselves in society, it engages with the cultural performances and the social worlds they construct and take part in. Theory and research methodology approach children as active participants and members of society right from the beginning. Thus they are neither analyzed as outsiders to society nor as merely ‘emergent’ members of society.
Therefore, the sociology of childhood distinguishes itself from the established concepts of socialization
research and developmental psychology
of the last decades.
The generational order: The second approach centers on socio-structural and socio-theoretical questions concerning social equality
and social order
in a society, which categorizes their members by age and segregates them in many respects (rights, deeds, economical participation, ascribed needs etc.). These issues can be summarized under the overall concept of the “generational order”. Thus the categorization of societal members by age is far from being an innocent representation of natural distinctions, but rather a social construction of such a “natural truth”. It is, therefore, a relevant component of social order
and deeply connected to other dimensions of social inequality.
Social and economic changes and socio-political interventions thus become central topics in childhood sociology. The analysis of these issues has increased awareness of the generational inequality of societies.
and civilization
of the offspring. In addition, the strategies of habitus formation and the practices of status
(re-)production are considered. The sociology of social inequality and the sociology of the family and private life are, therefore, important fields for childhood sociologists. Children's own action, their resistance, cooperation, and collective action among peers
has to be taken into account. Meanwhile widespread anthropological assumptions concerning a universal human nature, based on a view of individual and society as opposed to each other, should be omitted from the conceptual repertoire of sociological childhood research. They are the legacy of the older socialization approach and they legitimate some forms of childhood and education practices as indispensable and even as a “natural” requirement of society, while devaluing others. In this way they generally legitimate western middle class
childhood and mask inequality
and the interests of social order
.
and the first focal socialisation agency
. The values which are learnt during childhood are considered to be the most important in the development of a child which if they are not present may lead a child to become feral
.
(Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage Harvard University Press 1981)
(Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well Being National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family)
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
, as an institution
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
and a unit of socialisation, through various sociological
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
perspectives, particularly with regard to the relationship between the nuclear family
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
and industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, and the distinct gender roles and concepts of childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
which arose with it. The sociology of the family is a common component on introductory and pre-university academic curricula, as it is perhaps the most simple institution to which one may apply many fundamental sociological approaches.
Focus
Sociological studies of the family look at:- demographicDemographyDemography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
characteristic of the family members: family size, ageAgeingAgeing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...
, ethnicity and genderGenderGender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
of its members - social classSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
of the family, the economic level and mobilitySocial mobilitySocial mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
of the family, professions of its members, the educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
levels of the family members - what spheres of life are important in and to the family unit
- the effect of social changeSocial changeSocial change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
on the family - the interactions of the family with other social organizations.
- diversityMulticulturalismMulticulturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
of family forms in contemporary societies in relation to ideologyIdeologyAn ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
, gender differencesGender differencesA sex difference is a distinction of biological and/or physiological characteristics associated with either males or females of a species. These can be of several types, including direct and indirect. Direct being the direct result of differences prescribed by the Y-chromosome, and indirect being...
, and stateState (polity)A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
policies such as those concerned with marriageMarriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found... - Interaction between family members within the family. How they rely on one another. How they work together/rely on the work of someone in the family.
Examples of specific issues looked at include:
- changing roles of family members. Each member is restricted by the sex roles of the traditional family, these roles such as the father as the worker and the mother as the homemakerHomemakerHomemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
are declining, the mother is becoming the supplementary provider and she retains the responsibilities of child rearing. Therefore the females’ role in the labour force is “compatible with the demands of the traditional family”. Sociology studies the adaptation of the males role to caregiver as well as provider. The gender roles are increasingly interwoven. - increase in sole occupancy dwellings and smaller family sizes
- average age of marriage being older
- average number of children decreasing and first birth at later age
- the historical pattern of fertility. From baby boom to baby bust (instability)
- the ageing population. The trend towards greater life expectancy.
- rising divorce rates and people who will never marry.
- How the choices of the parents affect their children.
- Same Sex Couples and Marriages
- Children of same sex couples
Methodology
Research methods in the sociology of the family can be broken down to three major approaches, each with its own strengths and weaknesses; which need be employed in a study, then, relies largely on the subject of, and questions posed by, the research.One approach is survey
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
research of contemporary families. This holds the benefit of leaving statistical data and large and hopefully random samples from which a researcher can interpolate the general traits of a society. However, survey respondents tend to answer as would feel regular or ideal rather than as things might actually be. It also gives a very one-sided explanation view of a larger group which does not sufficiently allow for contention. The information is often out dated, not representing the true statistics of the world that we live in today. The information can also be deceiving and not represent the true points that it looks like the survey's and graphs are representing. For example, if the incomes of same sex marriages are measured it would appear as the heterosexual couples make more than the same sex couples by a long shot. This is not true and the graphs are deceiving because the lesbian income weighs down the income of gay men. It is obvious that in most situation, gay men make more than a heterosexual family but the graph does not display this.
Another method is ethnographic research of families. Where surveys allow for broad but shallow analyses, observation allows sociologists to obtain rich information on a source of a much more limited size. It allows the research an "insider" perspective, and through this closer look a better idea of the actual social framework of families. Where surveys are strong, however, ethnographic research is weak. By reducing the size of a sample size, it may be no longer evident how representative the family being researched is to families at large within a society, and then also does not allow much room in linking the specific traits of the families being observed to a society more generally.
Finally, a researcher can use documented studies of families from the past as a source of information. These sources may include very personal items (such as diaries
Diaries
As a proper noun, Diaries, the plural of diary, can refer to:*Diaries: 1971-1976, an 1981 documentary by Ed Pincus*Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years, a 2006 book by Michael Palin...
), legal records (census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
data, wills
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, court records), and matters of public record (such as sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s).
Sociology of Interracial Intimacy
Over many years it has been observed that there is a major problem in the way civilizationCivilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
views interracial
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
intimacy. 'American Families' by Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz is an author, historian, and faculty member at The Evergreen State College. She teaches history and family studies and is Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families, which she chaired from 2001-2004. Coontz has authored and co-edited...
studies just how horrible it was for immigrants to be in love with a white person and be found acceptable. The fact that Chinese and White intermarriage became criminalized in 1901 was more than just inhumane. It was against the principle that all men are created equal
All men are created equal
The quotation "All men are created equal" has been called an "immortal declaration", and "perhaps" the single phrase of the United States Revolutionary period with the greatest "continuing importance". Thomas Jefferson first used the phrase in the Declaration of Independence as a rebuttal to the...
. If a White man slept with a Black woman and had a child from that relationship, the child would be considered Black under the one-drop rule
One-drop rule
The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
as to not threaten the white identity
Identity
-Philosophical topics:* Identity , also called sameness, is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable* Law of identity, principle of logic stating that an object is the same as itself...
and privilege. Today the problems of interracial marriage in the US are not as prominent and society has rightfully backed away from those ideas and laws. However internationally the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
continue to promote ideas of racial purity
Racial hygiene
Racial hygiene was a set of early twentieth century state sanctioned policies by which certain groups of individuals were allowed to procreate and others not, with the expressed purpose of promoting certain characteristics deemed to be particularly desirable...
.
Sociology of Marriage
In the Judeo-ChristianJudeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...
belief system
Belief system
A belief system is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs may be religious, philosophical, ideological or a combination of these.The British philosopher Stephen Law has described some belief systems as "claptrap" and said that they "draw people in and hold them captive so they become...
marriage is modeled after Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
's lifetime commitment between man and woman. The married couple produces children, constituting the nuclear family
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
. Some sociologists now dispute the degree to which this idealized arrangement has and does reflect the true structure of families in American society. In her 1995 article The American Family and the Nostalgia Trap, sociologist Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz is an author, historian, and faculty member at The Evergreen State College. She teaches history and family studies and is Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families, which she chaired from 2001-2004. Coontz has authored and co-edited...
first posited that the American family
American Family
American Family is a photographic artwork exhibition by Renée Cox.-External links:* *...
has always been defined first and foremost by its economic needs. For instance, in colonial times families often relied on slaves or indentured servants to support themselves economically. The modern “breadwinner-homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
model,” argues Coontz, then has little historical basis. Only in the 1950s did the myth of the happy, nuclear family as the correct family structuration arise.
Yet Coontz argues in Marriage, A History that during the 20th century, marriages have become increasingly unstable in the United States as individuals have begun to seek unions for the ideals of love and affection rather than social or economic expediency. This transition has blurred the division of labor within the breadwinner-homemaker model, such that maintenance of the household and childcare, called the “second shift,” are now topics for debate between marital partners. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild argues in The Second Shift that despite changes in perceptions of the purpose of marriage and the economic foundations for marriage, women continue to do the bulk of care work to the detriment of the American family. Hochschild illustrates the ways in which an unequal division of the second shift undermines family welfare by reducing marital equality and spousal satisfaction.
Sociology of motherhood
In many cultures, especially in a traditional western oneWestern world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, a mother is usually the wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
in a married couple
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
. Her role in the family is celebrated on Mother's Day
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May...
. Anna Reeves Jarvis was a woman who originally organized Mother's Work Day's protesting the lack of cleanliness and sanitation in the work place. Anna died in 1905 and her daughter created a National Mother's Day to honor her mother. Mothers frequently have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological mother that fills this role. This is common in stepmothers
Stepfamily
A stepfamily, also known as a blended family or reconstituted family, is a family in which one or both members of the couple have children from a previous relationship...
(female married to biological father). In most family structures the mother is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.
In East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n and Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
traditional families, fathers were the heads of the families, which meant that his duties included providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must have been obeyed without question by the rest of the family members. "Some Asian American men are brought up under stringent gender role expectations such as a focus on group harmony and filial piety, carrying on their family name and conforming to the expectations of the parents."
As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a mother's role vary according to cultural mores
Mores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is often considered the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is reflected, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have corresponding "paternity leave."
Some often view mother's duties as raising and looking after their children every minute of everyday. Mothers are often criticized for not contributing to the family income but the lack of money that they contribute is due to the time that is put into raising the children, which allows no time for the mother to go out and work. If the family is really struggling and the mother does have to go out and seek work, she is also criticized. If the mother is out working, many people view her as abandoning her children and not giving them the best life. In this situation, it truly is a lose lose for the mother.
However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave.
Families are often influenced by the media portrayal of the way women should run their families. In the book Media and Middle Class Moms by Descartes, women are often influenced by the social norms and is often the reason as to why they believe staying home or working is the right thing to do while having a family. See Ideology of Motherhood.
In the United States, 82.5 million women are mothers of all ages, while the national average age of first child births is 25.1 years. In 2008, 10% of births were to teenage girls
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
, and 14% were to women ages 35 and older. In the US, a study found that the average woman spends 5 years working and building a career before having children, and mothers working non-salary jobs began having children at age 27, compared to mothers with salary positions, who became pregnant at age 31. The study shows that the difference in age of child birth is related to education, since the longer a woman has been in school, the older she will be when she enters the workforce. Other factors determining age of first child birth include infertility
Infertility
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
rates, when women meet their partners, and the age of marriage.
Sociology of fatherhood
According to anthropologist Maurice GodelierMaurice Godelier
Born in Cambrai, France in 28 February 1934, Maurice Godelier is one of the most influential names in French anthropology. Directeur d'études at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales...
, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans' closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos
Bonobos
Bonobos is a dub band from Osaka, Japan. They formed in August of 2001. Their current lineup includes; Chunho Sai , Yasuyuki Sasaki , Natsuko Morimoto , Bondo Tsuji and Izumi Matsui...
), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their "father" connection.
In many cultures, especially traditional western, a father is usually the husband in a married couple
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
. Many times fathers have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological father that fills this role. This is common in stepfathers
Stepfamily
A stepfamily, also known as a blended family or reconstituted family, is a family in which one or both members of the couple have children from a previous relationship...
(males married to biological mothers). In most family structures the father is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.
In East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n and Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
traditional families, fathers are the heads of the families, which means that their duties include providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must be obeyed without question by the rest of the family members.
As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a father's role vary according to cultural folkways
Folkways
Folkways can refer to:*Folkways —theory by the sociologist William Graham Sumner.*Folkways Records—a record label founded by Moe Asch....
. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is considered by some the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is enforced, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have a corresponding "paternity leave."
However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave.
Science of parenting
Described as 'the science of male parenting', the study of 'father craft' emerged principally in BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the USA (but also throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
) in the 1920s. "Male adjuncts to Maternity
Maternity
Maternity or motherhood is the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a mother and her child.It is specially related with the protection of the baby and the mother within and after the childbirth.-See also:...
and Infant Welfare Centers - reacted to the maternal dominance in infant welfare and parenting in interwar Britain by arguing that fathers should play a crucial role in the upbringing of children." Were such a study to be conducted into the science of female parenting, it would be called mother craft.
The words "Ma Ma" and "Mom", usually regarded as terms of endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
directed towards a mother figure, are generally one of the first words a child speaks. While 'da da' or 'dad' often precede it, this does not reflect a stronger bond between the father and child than that of the mother and child, it is merely simpler to pronounce than "Mummy" or "Mum" which require greater control over the mouth muscles. Children tend to remember daddy more because, according to research, they are more exciting to the child.
History
In the last two or three decades the sociology of childhood has gained increasing attention and triggered numerous empirical studies as well as intensive theoretical disputes, starting in the Scandinavian and the English-speaking countries. Up to this time, sociology had approached children and childhood mainly from a socialization perspective, and the emergence of the new childhood sociological paradigm ran parallel to the feminist critique of sociological traditions. Childhood sociologists attacked the “adultocentric” approach and the “separative view” of sociology towards children. Not surprisingly, then, the key works in the sociology of childhood are quite interdisciplinary, linking historyHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
, ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology is an ethnographic approach to sociological inquiry introduced by the American sociologist Harold Garfinkel . Ethnomethodology's research interest is the study of the everyday methods people use for the production of social order...
, and pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
.
Recent Trends
The current Sociology of childhood is organized around two central discussions:The child as a social actor: This approach derives from youth sociology as well as ethnography. Focusing on everyday life and the ways children orientate themselves in society, it engages with the cultural performances and the social worlds they construct and take part in. Theory and research methodology approach children as active participants and members of society right from the beginning. Thus they are neither analyzed as outsiders to society nor as merely ‘emergent’ members of society.
Therefore, the sociology of childhood distinguishes itself from the established concepts of socialization
Socialization
Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies...
research and developmental psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
of the last decades.
The generational order: The second approach centers on socio-structural and socio-theoretical questions concerning social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
and social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
in a society, which categorizes their members by age and segregates them in many respects (rights, deeds, economical participation, ascribed needs etc.). These issues can be summarized under the overall concept of the “generational order”. Thus the categorization of societal members by age is far from being an innocent representation of natural distinctions, but rather a social construction of such a “natural truth”. It is, therefore, a relevant component of social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
and deeply connected to other dimensions of social inequality.
Social and economic changes and socio-political interventions thus become central topics in childhood sociology. The analysis of these issues has increased awareness of the generational inequality of societies.
Current Tasks
Questions about socialization practices and institutions remain central in childhood research. But, they are being dealt with in a new, more sociological way. To analyze socialization processes means, therefore, to reconstruct the historically and culturally varying conceptions, processes and institutions of discipliningDiscipline
In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
and civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
of the offspring. In addition, the strategies of habitus formation and the practices of status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
(re-)production are considered. The sociology of social inequality and the sociology of the family and private life are, therefore, important fields for childhood sociologists. Children's own action, their resistance, cooperation, and collective action among peers
Peers
Peers is a surname, and may refer to:* Donald Peers* Edgar Allison Peers, an English academician* Gavin Peers* Kerry Peers* Michael Peers* Teddy Peers , Welsh international footballer...
has to be taken into account. Meanwhile widespread anthropological assumptions concerning a universal human nature, based on a view of individual and society as opposed to each other, should be omitted from the conceptual repertoire of sociological childhood research. They are the legacy of the older socialization approach and they legitimate some forms of childhood and education practices as indispensable and even as a “natural” requirement of society, while devaluing others. In this way they generally legitimate western middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
childhood and mask inequality
Inequality
In mathematics, an inequality is a statement how the relative size or order of two objects, or about whether they are the same or not .*The notation a b means that a is greater than b....
and the interests of social order
Social order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
.
Socialization
The family is considered to be the agency of primary socialisationPrimary socialisation
Primary socialisation in sociology is the acceptance and learning of a set of norms and values established through the process of socialisation...
and the first focal socialisation agency
Focal socialisation agency
Focal socialisation agency in sociology is the name given to the agency which is most influential in process of socialisation upon an individual. Typically the first focal socialisation agency is the family but is usually succeeded in this role by the education system upon the entering of education....
. The values which are learnt during childhood are considered to be the most important in the development of a child which if they are not present may lead a child to become feral
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
.
Statistics on American Families
- Single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18.
- One in two children will live in a single-parent family at some point in childhood.
- The number of single mothers increased from three million to 10 million between 1970 and 2000.
- Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.
- The 2000 US Census found that 2.4 million grandparents are the primary caregivers for the children in their families.
- More than 100,000 children are adopted each year.
- There are more than 4.5 million married and unmarried couples in the United States who are mixed racially or ethnically.
- Estimates show that approximately 2 million American children under the age of 18 are being raised by their lesbian and gay parents.
- One-third of lesbian households and one-fifth of gay male households have children.
- During the past decade, the number of same-sex households “grew significantly” in 10 states for which figures have been released: more than 700 percent in Delaware and Nevada; more than 400 percent in Vermont, Indiana, Louisiana and Nebraska; and more than 200 percent in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and Montana.
- In 1942, the American Psychiatric Association declared that Homosexuality was a disease.
- As many as 7.2 million Americans under age 20 are lesbian or gay.
- In January 1980 there were 5 openly gay or lesbian elected officials in the United States of America.
- In a 1992 study, 55.5% of gay men and 71.2% of lesbians were in steady relationship.
- 46.6% of the unmarried population aged 18 and older are male and 53.4% are female - U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), 2008
- In 2005, unmarried households became the majority of all U.S. households. - U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005.
- 23.0% of the unmarried population aged 18 and older are people of color and 77.0% are white.- U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), 2007.
- 49.9% of the married population are women, compared to 56.4% of unmarried population. - U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005.
- More than two-thirds of women have family income at 200% of the federal poverty level or more.In this income group, unmarried women are more likely to be uninsured than married women. - CDC, 2008.
- Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. (Wade, Horn and Busy, Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform Hudson Institute Executive Briefing, 1997)
- Studies in the early 1980s showed that children in repeat divorces earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around.
(Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage Harvard University Press 1981)
- Children of divorce are at a greater risk to experience injury, asthma, headaches and speech defects than children whose parents have remained married.
(Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well Being National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family)
- 794,000 children were victims of maltreatment. The rate of victimization was 10.6 per 1,000 children in the population.(U.S. Dept HHS, Admin, Children, Youth and Families, "Child Maltreatment, 2007," Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009)
- As of 2003, 43.7% of custodial mothers and 56.2% of custodial fathers were either separated or divorced. And in 2002, 7.8 million Americans paid about $40 billion in child and/or spousal support (84% of the payers were male). (U.S. Census Bureau)
- 8.1% of coupled households consist of unmarried heterosexual partners, according to The State of Our Unions 2005, a report issued by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The same study said that only 63% of American children grow up with both biological (National Center for Heath Statistics
- The marriage rate in 2005 (per 1,000) was 7.5, down from 7.8 the previous year. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- The divorce rate in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6 -- the lowest rate since 1970, and down from 4.2 in 2000 and from 4.7 in 1990. (The peak was at 5.3 in 1981, according to the Associated Press.)
Journals
- Family Matters by Australian Institute of Family StudiesAustralian Institute of Family StudiesThe Australian Institute of Family Studies is an Australian Government statutory agency in the portfolio of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
, ISSN: 1030-2646 - International Journal of Sociology of the Family
- Journal of Family History
- Journal of Marriage and Family
- Journal of Family Issues
See also
- Child abuseChild abuseChild abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
- Domestic violenceDomestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
- Extended familyExtended familyThe term extended family has several distinct meanings. In modern Western cultures dominated by nuclear family constructs, it has come to be used generically to refer to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, whether they live together within the same household or not. However, it may also refer...
- Family economicsFamily economicsThe family, although recognized as fundamental from Adam Smith on, received little systematic treatment in economics before the 1950s. A significant exception was Thomas Malthus's model of population growth. The work of Gary Becker and others initiated contemporary research on family economics ...
- Family lawFamily lawFamily law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:*the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;...
- Family studies in eugenics
- Father's rights
- HypergamyHypergamyHypergamy is the act or practice of seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status, or caste status than oneself....
- Islamic family relationsIslamic family relationsIslamic family relations concerns both the close family as well as the more distant families. Several hadith stress the importance of keeping family relations alive and recommend that even distant relations are to be visited, even if would take a year to travel to them. Brothers and sisters at home...
- MasculismMasculismMasculism may refer to political, cultural, and economic movements aimed at establishing and defending political, economic, and social rights and participation in society for men and boys. These rights include legal issues, such as those of conscription, child custody, alimony, and equal pay for...
- Men's healthMen's healthMen's health refers to health issues specific to human male anatomy. These often relate to structures such as male genitalia or to conditions caused by hormones specific to, or most notable in, males....
- Men's movementMen's movementThe men's movement is a social movement that includes a number of philosophies and organizations that seek to support men, change the male gender role and improve men's rights in regard to marriage, child access and victims of domestic violence...
- Men's rightsMen's rightsMen's rights is an umbrella term, encompassing the political rights, entitlements, and freedoms given or denied to males within a nation or culture....
- Men's studiesMen's studiesMen's studies, sometimes called masculinity studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning men, masculinity, gender, and politics...
- Mother's rights
- Nuclear familyNuclear familyNuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
- OthermotherOthermotherFor the fictional character "Other Mother", see CoralineAn othermother is a woman caring for children who are not biologically her own.- Scope :Othermothers are women, including mothers, who provide care for children who are not biologically their own...
- Paternity fraudPaternity fraudPaternity fraud refers to a paternal discrepancy or a non-paternity event, in which a mother names a man to be the biological father of a child, particularly for self-interest, when she knows or suspects that he is not the biological father. The term entered into common use in the late 1990s. It...
- Sociology of childhood
- The WAVE Trust
- Youth studiesYouth studiesYouth studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the development, history, culture, psychology, and politics of youth. The field studies not only specific cultures of young people, but also their relationships, roles and responsibilities throughout the larger societies...
- Women's healthWomen's healthWomen's health refers to health issues specific to human female anatomy. These often relate to structures such as female genitalia and breasts or to conditions caused by hormones specific to, or most notable in, females. Women's health issues include menstruation, contraception, maternal health,...
- Women's movement
- Women's studiesWomen's studiesWomen's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
- Work-Family Balance in the United StatesWork-Family Balance in the United StatesWork-family balance in the United States refers to the specific issues that arise when men and women in the United States attempt to balance their occupational lives with their family lives...
Further reading
- The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Families, Wiley-Blackwell, 2003, ISBN 0631221581
Literature
- Alanen, L. and Mayall, B. (Eds.) (2001): Conceptualizing Child-adult Relations, London.
- Bass, L. (Ed.) (2005): Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 10, Amsterdam.
- Buehler-Niederberger, D. (1998): The Separative View. Is there any Scientific Approach to Children. in D.K. Behera (Ed.), Children and Childhood in our Contemporary Societies. Delhi: Kamla-Raj Enterprises, pp. 51–66.
- Corsaro, William (2005). The Sociology of Childhood. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
- Edgar, Don & Patricia (2008), The New Child: in search of smarter grown-ups, Wilkinson Publishing, Melbourne, Australia
- Jenks, Chris (2005): ChildhoodChildhoodChildhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
(2nd edition), New York - Parsons, Talcot. (1955). Family, Socialization and Interaction Process. Robert F. Bales and James Olds. Free press.
- Prout, A. (2004): The Future of Childhood. Towards the Interdisciplinary Study of Children, London.
- Prout, A. and Hallett, Ch. (Eds.) (2003): Hearing the Voices of Children: Social Policy for a New Century, London.
- Qvortrup, J. et al. (Eds.) (1994): Childhood Matters. Social Theory, Practice and Politics. Wien, Avebury.
- Zelizer, Vivianne A. (1985): Pricing the Priceless Child. The Changing Social Value of Children. New York.
External links
- American Sociological Association Family Section
- Research network on families and intimate lives of the European Sociological Association
- Kearl's Guide to the Sociology of the Family
- Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion (a Heritage Foundation site)
- The Family Inequality Blog by Philip N. Cohen