Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

Residence patterns Authority patterns

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Descent and inheritance patterns Family Forms: Traditionally, extended families have played an important role in societal makeup. An extended family is one that consists of more than two generations living as a unit either under one roof or in close proximity. Now, however, nuclear families (or conjugal families) is the American ideal. The nuclear family consists of a couple and their children living separately from their other family members. This nuclear family has some advantages and disadvantages as the following chart illustrates. Advantages Disadvantages Geographic mobility Smaller support structure Social mobility Death or prolonged illness of breadwinner can lead to crisis Economic advantages Figure 8: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Nuclear Family Multiple families of related individuals make up a wider network of relatives or kin. Kinship is a network of families who are related by common ancestry, adoption, marriage or affiliation. Cultural norms dictate the relationships and the exact membership of the kinship. While the members may not all live together, they share certain responsibilities and obligations. Inmodern societies, the family unit tends to become more isolated from all but the closest kin. Single-parent families , families with only one parent, have emerged as a result of disease anddeath historically. Today, many choose to be a single parent rather than to give their child up for adoption or marry someone they do not feel they want to share a life with. More single-parent household are evolving after divorce proceedings as well. In the case of divorced couples, the binuclear family is another family pattern that has evolved. In this case, the couple divorces and each create their own family with the child. When joint custody is ordered, both parents still share responsibility for the child(ren) equally. In this case both parents try to focus not on family disintegration, but on redefining and reorganizing their family. The reconstituted family, also known as stepfamilies, consists of those in which one of theparents has included children from a previous marriage into their household. Blended families, also known as combined families, consist of parents and children from each of the parents’ previous marriages. Death and divorce charge a high toll to today’s families.

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