Traditional Families In America
The diversity of family forms in modern American society has many individuals questioning how complex family might be. The United States is made up of diverse groups of people that are constantly changing its culture norms, customs, and traditions. With these changes in culture brings controversies on how we are to define aspects of family and what types of families are healthy and productive. A huge controversy in the American family system is whether or not homosexual couples who are married or raise children should be considered a family. Many Americans argue that children raised by homosexual couples are not well off because they lack a traditional family structure. Others argue that a traditional family structure is no longer needed in our constantly changing society and should be accepted just as single parents, divorced and integrated couples have been. Does having a man and a woman at the head of the household of individuals define a family, or is there more to it than just that? I believe that this description of family is too vague to be able to describe the roles and complex structure of family. Sociologists today define family as a group of people who are tied by legal, biological, or emotional bounds. Sociology dives deeper to understand what the family is in American society, what its function are, why it is changing, and if nontraditional families are able to provide the same tasks that traditional families do. …show more content…
Because families are so diverse, it is more practical to define a family by what it does rather than who it is made of. The controversy of changing families can be easily understood and evaluated once we understand what the purpose of family is. In American sociology, the functions of family are to provide economic assistance, be a socialization agent, produce emotional support, and provide
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864 Words | 4 PagesJean Bethke Elshtain presents a critical perspective about the deteriorating state of the family in contemporary society in her article, “Society's Well-Being Depends upon the Traditional Family”. By employing rhetorical strategies of ethos, logos, and pathos, the author constructs a persuasive case that calls for renewed focus on the family as the fundamental unit of society. Elshtain builds her argument through a combination of rhetorical strategies, including the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Each of these elements contributes to her overall argument and the extent to which her rhetoric succeeds in convincing readers of the urgency in addressing the challenges faced by the family unit.
Annotated Bibliography
1236 Words | 5 PagesThe question of if and how this general pattern extends to same-sex families was then examined. Results proved that children in cohabiting households have poorer health outcomes than those in married households (Reczek, C., Spiker, R., Liu, H., & Crosnoe, R. 2016). Historically, we know married couples in the United States have more socioeconomic resources than cohabiting couples. After comparing different and same sex families, it was shown that some of the same sex families had limited access to valuable socioeconomic resources. This is mainly due to disenfranchisement, fear of homophobic treatment within the community, and discrimination specifically in the workplace (Reczek, C., Spiker, R., Liu, H., & Crosnoe, R. 2016).
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1154 Words | 5 PagesStone writes about three essential functions of family stories– to pass on the family’s standards, to identify family characteristics, and coping strategies. The first of the three functions is the standards of the family since the family act as the “first culture,” teaching people what their family values and their opinions on certain situations like marriage and illness, mental or physical (Stone 384). The second factor is the family’s characteristics and their traits that bind them together, which act as the family member’s confidence boost (384). Furthermore, this boost makes them value themselves more than the next family, so that the family members contently remain together (384). The third factor is influencing how families cope; these “teaching stories” tell each family how to function outside of the family (385).
Derek Thompson A World Without Work
1284 Words | 6 PagesIn the late 19th and early 20th century, family was the foundation and core of society in America (Hussung). During this period of time, the wife was in charge of raising the children and cleaning the house, while the husband worked and provided protection for the family. A strong family unit was something highly regarded and looked upon in society.
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697 Words | 3 PagesWhile family structure has changed dramatically since the 1950’s, what current changes are we seeing; and how is it affecting the roles to which we play in a compromising world. In the 1950’s families consisted of a head of household (the Father), the house wife (or mother); and their offspring (the children). The father’s duty was to bring home the bacon, while making end meets for his family, while the wife stayed home and cared for the children, the elderly; and took on the household duties. These families usually lived in the suburbs, where they raised their children; while teaching them the proper ways of life. During this time in history, young women were expected to find a mate through persuasion, then get hitched; and eventually produce an offspring.
Analysis Of Barbara Kingsolver's Essay 'Stone Soup'
896 Words | 4 PagesIn a recent surveys it is shown that over 27% of children in America are being raised by single parents, and over 2 million children are raised by homosexual couples. The old average image of a middle class white family with two parents, and a stable environment is no longer the normal or highly viewed social standing. Various movies, television shows, books, and other forms of literature depict families of different background and standings. For example, in the popular television show Modern Family depicts two gay men raising their adopted daughter and a blended family, the people on the show are always caring for and show constant love for their children. Even though they are not under normal circumstances the children of these different families are growing up in a loving and stable environment.
The Family Structure Of The African American Family
1677 Words | 7 PagesProblem Statement With the advancing lifestyles and further developments in personal mobility that defines today’s society, the family still plays a crucial role of contemporary life. Families offer many benefits such as companionship, protection, security, encouragement and other relative social components. The term family has been changed over the past few decades. The total number of households in the United States increased from 63 million in 1970 to 113 million in 2008 (Weeks, 2012). The traditional structure of the family (nuclear family) began branching to other structures especially in the United States follow World War II.
American Middle Class Research Paper
1532 Words | 7 PagesThe traditional American family consisted of the father as the breadwinner, the mother that was in charge of raising children and doing domestics, and their biological children, all living together. However, that image has been replaced with a diversity of other images “Family structure in the United States”. The source of weakness is the breakdown of the structure of the family. It is when children leave their parents` house searching for an autonomous life before they are financially and emotionally self-sufficient. After departing parents’ house, children will have a lack of social support which results in an unstable life for the young individual when exposed to life new challenges.
Traditional Family Myth Essay
1356 Words | 6 PagesThe structural aspect of a family is that since laws and rights have come into fruition, it has led to an increase in couples having civil marriages and partnerships. Currently, the frequency of partners who are gay and lesbian has also increased and has therefore wilted of what was once recognised a ‘traditional family’. Parents who live on their own and taking full responsibility of their children has taken a gradual rise in and around the World, this has also the paved the way towards a lesser representation on how a traditional family would look like to a certain
The Importance Of Family Inequality
1429 Words | 6 PagesFamilies can be regarded as the foundation of society. For Fleetwood (2012: 1), the importance of families is highlighted by the fact that it would be difficult to comprehend a society that could function without them. In addition, even though families and their compositions vary across societies and cultures, the family can be viewed as a universal social institution (Macionis & Plummer, 2012: 625. Specifically, according to Macionis and Plummer (2012: 625) and Neale (2000:1), it has the ability to unite individuals into cooperative groups via social bonds (kinship) and is ultimately experienced differently from individual to individual. However, the family can be a source of conflict, tension and inequality, which is why one of the key practices
Sociological Perspective Family
1672 Words | 7 PagesThe family can be defined as ‘any combination of two or more persons who are bound together by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption and who, together, accept responsibility for the care and maintenance of group members through procreation or adoption, the socialisation of children and social control of members’ (UN, cited in McDonald 2003:80). However, the ‘family’ is
Advantages And Disadvantages Of American Families Today
1040 Words | 5 PagesAmerican Families Today The American family has undergone many changes since the 1900’s. More so, in the past 40 years, the nuclear family seen dramatic changes and has been described as deteriorating. There has been a dramatic rise in divorce, single parent households and child poverty. Studies have shown that children growing up in poverty-stricken single parent households are more likely to be affected well into adulthood. While this is the case, people are also living longer, and families are accommodating this change by living with relatives allowing for more bonding time then in previous generations.
Family Definition Essay
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Individualisation And Its Effects On Families And Relationships Essay
541 Words | 3 Pages58). Marriage is no more about social status or an economical arrangement and individuals are able to deconstruct the orthodox notion of intimate life by liberalizing sexual relations with the same sex and commit to cohabitation (Allan and Crow 2001, p. 81). Homosexual relationships are another form of the nuclear family frame where artificial insemination and surrogacy are ways for both lesbian and gay couples to become parents. This notion of individualisation is reflected in television series such as “Modern Family” where there is a typical nuclear family but with a homosexual gay couple as parents to a girl. The family in the series has been constructed to resemble a nuclear family but their homosexuality in itself is a form of
Modern Family Case Study
1217 Words | 5 PagesFamily members may or may not be biologically related, share the same household, or be legally recognized” (Raney, 2015:6). In the series Modern family, it shows the dynamics of a 21st century family and how traditions and culture has evolved over the years. As opposed to “nuclear family” “No longer does the traditional family consist of two parents and two children; instead, more diverse and shifting family structures are becoming the norm.
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