Sociology Article: Family and Marriage
Society has many things that make it up. The one thing that is important to society is family and marriage, especially in the United States. Even though it is important does not mean that it stays the same throughout time. There are even different forms of marriage and family but they are all important to society.
The different forms of marriage and family are the nuclear family, extended family, monogamy, polygamy, and blended families. The nuclear family is composed of a husband, wife, and child. The extended family is when a grandparent or other relative is added into the group. Blended families are composed of children and a combination of biological parents. Monogamy is when you are married to one person at a time. Polygamy is when you have more than one spouse at time. Even though there is lots of different types of families everyone strives to be the ideal family.
The "ideal" family was formed from a stay-at-home mom and a working dad that were middle-class. The image of a perfect family is when a couple has a brief courtship and then gets married. They would then have sex and start a family. Once this was done they would purchase a house with the father being the breadwinner and the wife would stay at home as a homemaker. Although there are many factors in relationships and this can be seen in the social exchange theory.
The social exchange theory says that there are three stages in which we pick our friends and close partners. Each of the stages is used to weed out the people who do not fit. The first stage is the stimulus stage and in this stage two people are attracted to each other because of superficial characteristics. The second stage is the value stage and this is when people see how much they have in common on beliefs and values like politics and religion. The third stage is the role stage which is comprised of dating and sexual behavior. The exchange theory also states that people are seeking to maximize rewards in a relationship and minimize the cost. Even with many people in relationships the traditional family is not doing so well.
Popenoe’s erosion of the family theory says that the traditional nuclear family has been declining. Families have strengths that have weakened over the years. The strengths of family are cohesion, performance of family functions, and the power family has over other social institutions. These have been weakened because individuals have become more autonomous. This makes families have less cohesion and that also leads to the families functions being compromised.
Family and marriage may be changing but they will still be a part of society for some time to come. They may not be the conventional families and marriages that people are use to seeing. Although no matter what happens sociologists will be there to study and learn from what happens next.
The different forms of marriage and family are the nuclear family, extended family, monogamy, polygamy, and blended families. The nuclear family is composed of a husband, wife, and child. The extended family is when a grandparent or other relative is added into the group. Blended families are composed of children and a combination of biological parents. Monogamy is when you are married to one person at a time. Polygamy is when you have more than one spouse at time. Even though there is lots of different types of families everyone strives to be the ideal family.
The "ideal" family was formed from a stay-at-home mom and a working dad that were middle-class. The image of a perfect family is when a couple has a brief courtship and then gets married. They would then have sex and start a family. Once this was done they would purchase a house with the father being the breadwinner and the wife would stay at home as a homemaker. Although there are many factors in relationships and this can be seen in the social exchange theory.
The social exchange theory says that there are three stages in which we pick our friends and close partners. Each of the stages is used to weed out the people who do not fit. The first stage is the stimulus stage and in this stage two people are attracted to each other because of superficial characteristics. The second stage is the value stage and this is when people see how much they have in common on beliefs and values like politics and religion. The third stage is the role stage which is comprised of dating and sexual behavior. The exchange theory also states that people are seeking to maximize rewards in a relationship and minimize the cost. Even with many people in relationships the traditional family is not doing so well.
Popenoe’s erosion of the family theory says that the traditional nuclear family has been declining. Families have strengths that have weakened over the years. The strengths of family are cohesion, performance of family functions, and the power family has over other social institutions. These have been weakened because individuals have become more autonomous. This makes families have less cohesion and that also leads to the families functions being compromised.
Family and marriage may be changing but they will still be a part of society for some time to come. They may not be the conventional families and marriages that people are use to seeing. Although no matter what happens sociologists will be there to study and learn from what happens next.
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