Lec 2. Chapter 1. The Meaning of Marriage and the Family

III. Who is in the Family: emot. closeness may be more important than biology in def.

A. Affiliated Kin: unrelated individuals who feel and are treated as if relatives

B. Bio kin sometimes excluded: divorced parent, absent parent, even bro or sis

C. Latinos include godparents: compadres as family members

D. Japanese Americans’ ie: members extended family+deceased+yet to be born

E. Native American clan:group of related families regarded as fundamental unit

F. Nuclear family: Murdock’s 1949 term for mother, father, children; ideal

G. Traditional family: MC nuclear fam; fem—wife,mom; male—breadwinner

H. Contemporary: adults rel blood or marriage or affiliation coop economically

I. Iroquois Matrilineal Line: import. relatives, names, inherit., titles from mom

IV. 4 Functions of Family: intimacy, econ coop/consume, socialize, give roles/status

1. Most intimate: w/ spouse than anyone; Pets—single adults more attached to

a. When married: pet becomes more “animal” and less “someone”

2. Econ coop: roles vary: Namibikwara (African) dads watch babies,clean poop

a. chief’s concubines prefer hunting over domestic activities

b. couvade:ritualized childbirth male gives to spirit while female in labor

c. productive unit:household work val=sum wages paid by all U.S. corp

a. housework =44% of GDP, value double women’s reported pay;

worth $50,000/yr if paid as cooks, doctors, therapists, etc.

3. Socialization: of children shifting from family—sig change—to nonfam mem.

4. Assign roles/status: in family orientation—sis,son,etc.; family of procreation/

cohabitation—breadwinner, parent, once lifelong roles, but now divorce shortens

V.Why Live in Fams: emot. continuity & expectations; proximity facilitates coop and

communication; intimate familiarity/knowledge; economies of scale & pool resources

VI Extended family& Kin: majority of non-European countries regard basic family unit

A. father not needed?:some anthropologists see mother-child dyad as basic unit

B. 1990 12% Americans: in extended family households—up from 10% 1980

a. cause: economic necessity and family structures of immigrants

C. genogram: diagrams emotional relationships of several generations of fam

a. use: may help to understand present relationships

D. conjugal vs. consanguineous relationships: by law or marriage vs. by blood

E. rights/obligations: in a Cantonese marriage form, 3 years+ until woman lives

with husband, as primary obligation remains with own extended family.

a. Role-less role: no clearly defined rules—as with ex-kin role

VII. Trends among Contemporary American Marriages and Families

A. cohabitation: has increased dramatically over the past 40 years

B. divorce: rate 2-3X higher than for parents;½ marriages end in divorce in 7 yrs

C. remmariages: half of all recent marriages for at least 1 partner

a. blacks: rates dropping last 20 yrs; about ¼ rate of whites

b. Latinos: about ½ the rate for Anglos

c. Divorce rate: about the same as those who marry for the first time

D. Traditional family: no longer dominant; majority are member alternate form