C8: THE FAMILY
C8: THE FAMILY
Learning Objectives
1. Define the concepts of marriage and family and understand how these institutions vary in society.
2. Assess the major changes in the Canadian family and the causes of these changes.
3. Discuss and assess social policies and programs for dealing with perceived issues in the family,
such as high or low fertility or family violence.
4. Compare and contrast how each of the three main theories (structural functionalism, conflict
theory, and symbolic interactionism) make sense of the role of family in society and potential
issues within the family.
5. Examine dating and understand how changing gender norms and norms of sexuality alter
expectations around dating and partnering..
The Family
Key Terms
● Families: groups of people related by birth, affinity, or cohabitation.
● Family Household: group of people who share a relationship by blood, marriage, or legal adoption
living together.
● Marriage: legal union of two people, allowing them to live together and to have children.
● Nuclear Family: consists of two adults living with one or more children.
● Extended Family: consists of two or more generations who share the same residence.
Deinstitutionalization of Marriage
● Andrew Cherlin (2004) argues that modern society is characterised by the deinstitutionalization of
marriage
● Our understanding of the norms and rules surrounding marriage has changed
○ People are increasingly questioning the role of marriage in lives and society as a whole
● 5 ways marriage is becoming deinstitutionalized:
○ Fewer people are getting married because they are choosing to remain single or to cohabitate
(same-sex or opposite-sex couples live together w/o being legally married)
■ EXAMPLE: Quebec (cohabitation is very popular because of Quiet Revolution -
period of significant social and cultural upheaval, rejection of the Catholic Church,
greater access to contraception, strength of women’s movement, high rate of women
in paid labour force)
○ Roles of individuals in couples (married or not) have become increasingly questioned in
modern society
■ As women enter the labour force in larger numbers the division of labour in the
home can be challenged
■ Traditional gender roles in marriage are being questioned (more women working
and more men staying home)
■ Understanding of what men and women do in a r/s is eroding → lack of clarity
about how marriages and the family work in modern society
■ Increased flexibility of gender roles in marriage → greater diversity of family
arrangements (increase in single parents and same-sex marriages)
○ Norms about having children have changed
■ Before it was only socially acceptable to have children after marriage but now many
people are single parents or unmarried and have children, or childless
○ Divorce rates rose b/w 1970 and 1990 but it is now stabilised
■ Challenges the idea that individuals should remain married even if they are unhappy
■ Declining stigma associated w/ divorce & decrease in religious influence
○ Rising diversity in the form of marriages in modern society
■ Diverse marriages (sex, ethnic, religious, class) increasing
, C8: THE FAMILY
Teen Mom & The Reality of Teen Pregnancy
● Teen Pregnancy: pregnancy of a woman who is under the age of 20 at the time the pregnancy ends.
● Argued that shows like “Teen Mom” and “Pregnant” glorify teen pregnancy
● HOWEVER, teen pregnancy rates have been declining or stabilising
○ US: study showed that the shows resulted in decrease of teen pregnancy
○ Canada: rate has been declining (½ of US). Factors resulting in this decrease include rising
gender equality, universal healthcare system, easier access to contraception, more sex
education, lower rates of youth poverty.
● BUT a study found that teenage girls are more likely to get pregnant when they have fewer education
and employment aspects, or live in places w/ economic problems
Larger Social Changes that Impact the Family
● Rise of women’s rights
○ The Social Change:
■ Results in rising rates of university enrolment and graduation among women
■ Increased number of women in the paid workforce
○ Impact on the Family:
■ These changes result in lower levels of marriage
■ Later age at the birth of a first child
■ Higher divorce rate (more likely among women who are financially independent)
● Increasing tolerance of diversity
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Rise of marriages b/w people from different racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds
■ Mobilisation for legalising same-sex marriage
● Declining levels of religiosity in Canada & other Western nations
○ The Social Change:
■ Religions are strong supporters of a traditional view of marriage and childrearing
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Higher rates of cohabitation w/o marriage
■ More children raised by unmarried parents
■ Rise in divorce rates
● Rise of individualism
○ The Social Change:
■ We are more concerned w/ individual happiness and fulfillment
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Canada: most people pick jobs and romantic partners based on their own interest and
preferences
■ Young people resist the idea that they are expected to perform the same job as their
parents
Types of Marriages
1. Institutional Marriages
● Institutional Marriages: focus on how a marriage will solidify ties b/w families and communities and
benefit society as a whole.
● About the needs of society not the individual’s needs being happy and fulfilled
2. Companionate Marriages
● Companionate Marriages: makes a clear division of labour b/w breadwinner (usually the husband)
and homemaker (usually the wife)
● Husbands and wives are expected to be each other’s companions
● Romantic love is very important
● r/s is based on the satisfaction of the couple, the family as a whole, the roles the couple plays within
the family
C8: THE FAMILY
Learning Objectives
1. Define the concepts of marriage and family and understand how these institutions vary in society.
2. Assess the major changes in the Canadian family and the causes of these changes.
3. Discuss and assess social policies and programs for dealing with perceived issues in the family,
such as high or low fertility or family violence.
4. Compare and contrast how each of the three main theories (structural functionalism, conflict
theory, and symbolic interactionism) make sense of the role of family in society and potential
issues within the family.
5. Examine dating and understand how changing gender norms and norms of sexuality alter
expectations around dating and partnering..
The Family
Key Terms
● Families: groups of people related by birth, affinity, or cohabitation.
● Family Household: group of people who share a relationship by blood, marriage, or legal adoption
living together.
● Marriage: legal union of two people, allowing them to live together and to have children.
● Nuclear Family: consists of two adults living with one or more children.
● Extended Family: consists of two or more generations who share the same residence.
Deinstitutionalization of Marriage
● Andrew Cherlin (2004) argues that modern society is characterised by the deinstitutionalization of
marriage
● Our understanding of the norms and rules surrounding marriage has changed
○ People are increasingly questioning the role of marriage in lives and society as a whole
● 5 ways marriage is becoming deinstitutionalized:
○ Fewer people are getting married because they are choosing to remain single or to cohabitate
(same-sex or opposite-sex couples live together w/o being legally married)
■ EXAMPLE: Quebec (cohabitation is very popular because of Quiet Revolution -
period of significant social and cultural upheaval, rejection of the Catholic Church,
greater access to contraception, strength of women’s movement, high rate of women
in paid labour force)
○ Roles of individuals in couples (married or not) have become increasingly questioned in
modern society
■ As women enter the labour force in larger numbers the division of labour in the
home can be challenged
■ Traditional gender roles in marriage are being questioned (more women working
and more men staying home)
■ Understanding of what men and women do in a r/s is eroding → lack of clarity
about how marriages and the family work in modern society
■ Increased flexibility of gender roles in marriage → greater diversity of family
arrangements (increase in single parents and same-sex marriages)
○ Norms about having children have changed
■ Before it was only socially acceptable to have children after marriage but now many
people are single parents or unmarried and have children, or childless
○ Divorce rates rose b/w 1970 and 1990 but it is now stabilised
■ Challenges the idea that individuals should remain married even if they are unhappy
■ Declining stigma associated w/ divorce & decrease in religious influence
○ Rising diversity in the form of marriages in modern society
■ Diverse marriages (sex, ethnic, religious, class) increasing
, C8: THE FAMILY
Teen Mom & The Reality of Teen Pregnancy
● Teen Pregnancy: pregnancy of a woman who is under the age of 20 at the time the pregnancy ends.
● Argued that shows like “Teen Mom” and “Pregnant” glorify teen pregnancy
● HOWEVER, teen pregnancy rates have been declining or stabilising
○ US: study showed that the shows resulted in decrease of teen pregnancy
○ Canada: rate has been declining (½ of US). Factors resulting in this decrease include rising
gender equality, universal healthcare system, easier access to contraception, more sex
education, lower rates of youth poverty.
● BUT a study found that teenage girls are more likely to get pregnant when they have fewer education
and employment aspects, or live in places w/ economic problems
Larger Social Changes that Impact the Family
● Rise of women’s rights
○ The Social Change:
■ Results in rising rates of university enrolment and graduation among women
■ Increased number of women in the paid workforce
○ Impact on the Family:
■ These changes result in lower levels of marriage
■ Later age at the birth of a first child
■ Higher divorce rate (more likely among women who are financially independent)
● Increasing tolerance of diversity
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Rise of marriages b/w people from different racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds
■ Mobilisation for legalising same-sex marriage
● Declining levels of religiosity in Canada & other Western nations
○ The Social Change:
■ Religions are strong supporters of a traditional view of marriage and childrearing
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Higher rates of cohabitation w/o marriage
■ More children raised by unmarried parents
■ Rise in divorce rates
● Rise of individualism
○ The Social Change:
■ We are more concerned w/ individual happiness and fulfillment
○ Impact on the Family:
■ Canada: most people pick jobs and romantic partners based on their own interest and
preferences
■ Young people resist the idea that they are expected to perform the same job as their
parents
Types of Marriages
1. Institutional Marriages
● Institutional Marriages: focus on how a marriage will solidify ties b/w families and communities and
benefit society as a whole.
● About the needs of society not the individual’s needs being happy and fulfilled
2. Companionate Marriages
● Companionate Marriages: makes a clear division of labour b/w breadwinner (usually the husband)
and homemaker (usually the wife)
● Husbands and wives are expected to be each other’s companions
● Romantic love is very important
● r/s is based on the satisfaction of the couple, the family as a whole, the roles the couple plays within
the family
