SOC 210 Sociology of the Family

Lecture Hours: 4
Credits: 4

Offers a sociological perspective of the family, marriage, partnerships, and family life in the U.S. Treats the family as a social institution and focuses on structural arrangements, social inequalities, social problems, and socialization processes that impact family forms and experiences.

Prerequisite: Placement into WR 115 (or higher), or completion of WR 090 (or higher) with a grade of C or better; or consent of instructor.
Student Learning Outcomes:

Distinguish the sociological and social scientific study of the family from other ways of knowing.
Discuss the characteristics of the family using microsociological and macrosociological approaches.
Explain how the family as an institution has changed over time in relation to purpose and form.
Examine the outcomes of socialization and micro-level processes found in families and familial matters.
Discuss how structural arrangements and social inequalities shape and constrain behaviors in family relationships.
Discuss how structural arrangements and social inequalities impact family diversity (i.e., cultural variations and structural forms).
Analyze the relationship between gender, household obligations, and employment.
Identify and examine social problems of the family and marriage.

Statewide General Education Outcomes:

Apply analytical skills to social phenomena in order to understand human behavior.
Apply knowledge and experience to foster personal growth and better appreciate the diverse social world in which we live.

Cultural Literacy Outcomes:

Identify and analyze complex practices, values, and beliefs and the culturally and historically defined meanings of difference.

Content Outline

Sociological Study of the Family
- Family as an institution and a social construction
- Characteristics of the family, marriage, partnerships, and kinship systems
- Theoretical perspectives of the family
- Human agency and structural forces
U.S. Families in Historical Context
- Societal types, social change, and the function of families
- Myth of the monolithic family form
- Demographic profile of the modern family
- Immigration and change
- Racial and ethnic variations
- Family and its relationship with other institutions
- Families across the globe
Structured Inequalities and Categories of Difference
- Social locations and categories of difference
- Cultural approach to social class
- Structural approach to social class
- Race and ethnicity
- Gender
- Sexual identity
- Intersectionality
- Impact of institutional arrangements and hierarchies of power
Explanations and consequences of family diversity
Family, Gender, and Work
- Employment by gender and age
- Gender and family constraints
- Household division of labor
FMLA
Mate Selection and Intimacy
- Structural constraints and courtship
- Sexuality
- Intimacy and varying social locations
- Social construction of love
Parenting and Socialization
- Fertility and fecundity
- Parenting styles and child outcomes
- Socialization throughout the life course
- Gender identity and gender role socialization
- Single parent and dual-earner families
- Impact of children on parents
Marriage and Non-marital Relationships
- Private and public nature of families
- Marriage trends
- Benefits to and unintended consequences of marriage
- Power, decision making, and communication
- Same-sex marriage and partnerships
- Cohabitation
Divorce
- Trends, rates, and predictions
- Legal and social grounds for divorce
- Consequences of divorce for children, women, and men
- Remarriage
Social Problems
- Family violence
- Spousal abuse
- Child abuse
- Elderly abuse and neglect
- Incest
- Stress
- Economic constraints
- Poverty and the feminization of poverty
Family Policy
- Conservative and progressive ideologies
- Welfare
- Definition of marriage
- Child care
- Work-related policies and gender inequality