Family_ Sociolgy

• Family


  A social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.
• Murdock's theory of the family


  • The family has four functions
• Parsons' view of the nuclear family


  • The nuclear family best fits modern industrial societies
• Leach and Laing's view

  • The extended family is most ideal
• Radical feminists


  The extremist feminists
• Leonard and Delphy


  Radical feminist thinkers who view the family as an economic unit where the man is in total control
• In patriarchal societies, boys are treated better than girls within the family</b>
• Germaine Greer


  A radical feminist who views the family as a "den of abuse" where women must escape from
• Ann Oakley


  A modern feminist who argues that the liberated woman is more exploited than her ancestors, with a "triple burden" of economic, domestic and emotional labour
• Ann Oakley's view is that the modern woman's life has gotten worse, not better, with liberation
• Ann Oakley argues that even with men contributing more to domestic tasks, the psyche of men must change for true equality to be achieved
• Contributing economically then the man must contribute equally as it relates to domestic tasks and child care
• If the psyche does not change, the result is the constant exploitation of women even with liberation, even if she working
• Many persons have argued that the views of the feminists are outdated, that you know they still see a society where women are dependent on men and that does not exist
• Ann Oakley says that feminism is still very needed and applicable because the modern woman is still being exploited
• Matrifocal family


  A female-headed single-parent family
• Matriarchal

  Female-headed, female-dominated
• Patriarchal

  Male-dominated, male-headed
• Matrifocal families made up over 50% of the family units in the Caribbean, but the statistics have changed somewhat since then
• Men started questioning the definition of matrifocal families, and Herbert Gail started making some inquiries
• Matrifocal family really speaks to a female-headed single-parent family where the woman is the one left with the brunt of the child bearing and rearing responsibilities
• Serial monogamy


  The man moves from one woman to the next, having a child with each
• Melville Herskovitz says the matrifocal family is due to African retention of the culture of polygamous relationships
• When slaves were brought to the Caribbean, they were introduced to Christianity and the concept of monogamy, but the attitude and culture of polygamy still existed in their minds
• The woman also retained the cultural belief that it is okay for the man to have more than one spouse
• M.G. Smith says the matrifocal family emerged due to slavery and the plantation society, where the planters would separate families by selling off the man and leaving the woman to raise the children
• During slavery, there were "breeders" who would impregnate women to produce more slaves, and the man had no responsibility for the child
• We are doing better now, with more fathers signing birth certificates and being present, but the culture from slavery still remains. The man's role is no longer necessarily marginalised
• Oscar Lewis' theory of the culture of poverty


  When a man is poor and can't financially support his family, the woman gets upset and the man runs away, perpetuating the matrifocal family
• Nancy Gonzalez's controversial theory that some women choose to live in a matrifocal family because it makes financial sense to have multiple men contributing
• Nancy Gonzalez says women are unfairly judged for this, as the culture expects men to financially support women
• Oscar Lewis had an interactionist view of the family in his theory "The culture of Poverty"
• Issues facing caribbean families

  Domestic aduse

  Child abuse

  Mental health issues

  Divorce

  Poverty

  Teenage Pregnancy

  Sexual Orientation
• The functionalists believe family has 4 function in society

  1. To perform a socialisation function
  2. An economic function
  3. A reproductive function
  4. A sexual/emotional function