Chapters 7 - 12[supplements under revision]
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T7- Social Stratification is the layering of people into hierarchical layers. Although most people consider the issue of class or one’s economic placement in regards to stratification, it is only one type of stratification. More specifically, there are six different types of stratification that exist –
Ø CLASS
Ø SEX
Ø SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Ø RACE/ETHNICITY
Ø RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION
Ø
AGE
Systems of Social Stratification: There are three types of stratification systems, which have a large impact upon the type of social mobility that one can achieve and/or have access to.
Ø SLAVERY; continues to exist in modern society, and is a common occurrence in many developing nations. There are three basic reasons a people/individual may be enslaved: (1) debt (2) crime or (3) war and conquest. It is slightly more open than a caste system, but more closed than a class system.
Ø CASTE: one’s social status is determined at birth and is life long. Thus, sociologically speaking, this is an ascribed status that cannot be altered by one’s personal achievements, which would be a type of achieved status. Of all the systems it is the most rigidly adhered to. Societies with this form of stratification maintain it via elaborate norms and rituals. Three major means of maintaining this system are:
a)
Endogamous marriages – marriage
within one’s own groups and prohibition of intermarriages, which are strongly
adhered to.
b)
Ritual pollution – elaborate
rules that reduces contact
between inferior and superior castes.
Ø India is best known for its caste system, and the primary factor continuing this system is that it is based upon a religious caste system. It has been in place for over 3,000 years. It was officially eliminated in 1949, but continues to exist in a de facto manner.
Ø CLASS: Of all the systems it is the most open, but is also determined by money and material symbols or possessions. In large part when one is born you are given the status of your parents, which is an ascribed status; but one can alter one’s status through personal achievements, thus allowing for achieved statuses to be an inherent component within this system. Although it is the most open and allows for social mobility, it has other factors that may impact your mobility-gender, race/ethnicity, age, and economic status. These factors and one’s social location within a particular system significantly impacts one’s life chances.
Ø Life chances refers to those elements that one has access to within the social structure: mortality, health, health care, education, type of job, and living environment. As can be seen they are all interdependent upon one another.
Theorists:
Ø
Karl Marx:
associated with the conflict perspective and focuses on who has
access to the means of production. Marx
believed that there were only two distinct classes – the capitalist, those who
owned and had access to the means of production; and the proletariat, those who
provided the labor and had little or no access to the means of production.
Ø
Marx discussed the issues of class
consciousness and false consciousness
a)
Class Consciousness –
refers to a shared identity based upon access to the means of production.
He felt that those individuals who belonged to what he called the ‘lumpenproletariat’,
those who were part of the marginal groups (what today we would most commonly
view as the underclass and homeless populations) and the merchants and farmers,
had a false sense of self which led to a divide among the proletariat giving
greater strength and power to those of the capitalist class.
b)
False Consciousness -
refers to the belief by the ‘workers’ who see themselves as capitalists.
A great example of this concept is to look at the upper level management
or CEO officers, and white collar workers who separate themselves from the
average worker.
Marx’s primary focus was on economics and how it impacted
the overall functioning of the social structure.
Ø Max Weber: commonly associated with the symbolic interactionist perspective, agreed with Marx that economics was a key factor regarding the class structure, but that it is more complicated and is based on more than just economics. He stated that there were three components that must be examined:
a)
Property (wealth)- recognized
as an important element by Weber, but he felt that you had to address those
individuals who did not actually ‘own’ the property, but controlled it
(such as managers, vice-presidents, etc.) as if they actually owned it.
b) Prestige – he felt that this was interchangeable with property. In that one can have prestige, but necessarily own property, but as a result of this prestige could gain property and vice versa.
c)
Power – basically this is the
ability to control others and one does not necessarily have to have property to
have power; property and prestige can be equated into power.
Ø
Summary:
Both agree that economics are key to the class structure, but Weber takes
a less restrictive view by emphasizing the interrelatedness among what is
commonly referred to as the three p’s – property, prestige, and power
[Weber’s model is the one most commonly used to look at the class structure].
Theoretical
Perspectives:
Ø
FUNCTIONALISM: focuses on the interdepency among all segments and sees that
social inequality is essential for the survival of society.
Ø
Kingsley and Moore were two functionalists who summarized why
inequality was functional and inevitable for society.
They believed that societies maintained stability
by creating positions which
are accessible to those with the necessary credentials to fill and carry out the
expectations associated with authority and power; that in order to keep society
functioning and individuals striving to achieve mobility, you must have a
diversity in these positions (i.e., regarding the differences in salary,
authority, power, prestige, etc. Viewing these differences as motivating factors
for individuals to continue to strive for greater mobility.
Ø
Melvin Tumin criticized the above perspective and stressed
that the negative side of this perspective is that it does not take several
factors into account: (1) Who established the criteria as to what are the most
important positions (2) Does true meritocracy really exist? That is,
having the skills and/or credentials is not a guarantee.
In many situations it is more of who you know than what you know.
Thus, those individuals who have access will network with others who have
access.
Ø
CONFLICT: emphasizes
the ongoing struggle between the privileged and unprivileged.
That those in power will only allow a few ‘outsiders’ to penetrate
and the majority of these positions will be filled by those who part of the
privileged. As a result many individuals who may have the talent, etc., will and
have been prevented access to these positions based on their social location.
Those individuals who may break through the ‘network’ will have less
power and access afforded to them than those who come from and are a part of
this established ‘network’.
Ø
Symbolic Interactionism: focuses on the various symbols associated with an individual’s
status in society. In addressing
the issue of stratification one also has to address the significance of cultural
and social norms, regarding what is viewed as either a prestigious or
non-prestigious symbol of one’s status. Accordingly,
in many of the more industrialized and urban communities of the world, one has
to examine sub cultural components regarding the aforementioned.
Obviously, when examining stratification within this perspective the six
types of stratification are an inherent component of not only access to but
interpretation of what is both accorded and accepted regarding what is termed
status symbols, which are those elements associated with
one’s social prestige. For example, the color purple denotes
‘royalty’; having a yacht versus a boat; owning a BMW versus a Honda; and,
lastly, the overt symbolism of material worth by the novae rich versus
the more subtle symbolism of those from old money (the various
aspects of class and prestige is discussed in detail in chapter 8- Social
Class).
Ø
Stratification
and the Globalization of Poverty: In
addressing the issues of poverty, we must not only look at those in the least
industrialized nations, but the increasing rate of poverty, among women and
children, in the most industrialized nations. Most of the world’s poor is
found in these least industrialized nations, especially among those living in
Sub-Sahara Africa, Asia, and South America. Over two-thirds of the world’s
most impoverished and illiterate people’s reside in these nations.
Why?
q
Majority are underfed and
undernourished
q
Ongoing droughts, famine,
and civil wars
q
Cyclical poverty among
families
q
The less than second class
citizenship of women in the industrializing world
q
High rates of illiteracy
among the average citizen
q
Children are bonded in
slavery, labor, and prostitution
The above are just
some of the mitigating factors that continue to keep the impoverished poor.
Although, many industries have move to these nations the ones benefiting are
those who belong to the elite class. Stratification is rigidly adhered to and in
places that have a caste system, it is almost impossible, if at all, to have any
social mobility.
q
Twice as likely to live in
poverty in comparison to other age groups.
q
Although peaking in 1993,
the recent economic downturns may see a return to increased poverty rates among
children.
q
27 million children (37%)
live in low-income families (the average median income for a family of three is
$27, 722).
q
Over 11 million children
(16%) live in poverty; 17% of these are children under the age of six – 4
million children.
q
In comparison to most
other major Western industrialized nations, the U.S. child poverty rates are
substantially higher – sometimes three times higher than similar nations.
q
For African-Americans
(30%) and Latinos (28%), the child poverty rates are the highest; for White
Americans the child poverty rate is 9%.
q
The poverty lines are
based upon two factors: the overall federal poverty line in 2000, for a family
of three, was $13, 861; and in 2000,the extreme poverty line for a family of
three was $6,930.
q
5 million (6%) of children
in the U.S. live in extreme poverty; those under the age of six, 2 million
children or 8% live in extreme poverty.
***SOURCE:
CHILD POVERTY FACT SHEET (MAR 2002). The National Center for Children in
Poverty. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/ycpf.html
a)
inadequate nutrition
b)
environmental toxins
c)
due to maternal depression
diminished interaction
d)
abuse and trauma
e)
child care will be of a
lower quality
f)
more susceptibility due to
parental substance abuse.
Situational Factors of Child Poverty:
q
Although child poverty has
decreased for those under three, young children are more likely to be poor than
other age groups (older children and the elderly)
q
Two out of five young
children in U.S. have a high risk of living in poor or low-income families.
q
Young children who live
with single mothers are more likely to be poor than those in a two- parent
household.
q
Family structure and
ethnicity have a dramatic affect on poverty rates of young children.
q
Parents that are employed,
does not reduce the risk, greatly, for living in poverty for young children that
are under three years of age.
q
Majority of poor young
children live in working families.
q
Due to the above factors,
the economic costs and basic civil rights of children are staggering and
unsustainable.
*Note:
This issue cuts across all racial and geographical boundaries.
It will and is prohibitive to the ability for the U.S. to remain
competitive and productive. Additionally, child poverty rates are intertwined
with income inequality.
**Source: Song, Younghwan & Lu, Hsien-Hen. March 2002. “Early
Childhood Poverty: A Statistical Profile”, National Center For Children In
Poverty. [Retrieved July 9, 2002] http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/ecp302.html
Summary: As will be discussed in detail in the chapter on social class, the underlying significance of stratification, especially as it relates to the type of system one is born into, has an impact on our life chances and social mobility. Lastly, regardless of which system you are born into the overwhelmingly constant is that gender and the biases and prejudices associated with being a male or female is a common denominator around the world.
As introduced in the preceding chapter, one’s social class and location impact what one has access to. It also is somewhat a predictor of society’s expectations regarding your various statuses and associated roles in society (refer back to chapter four regarding the issues of statuses and roles) and how our interpretations and responses are shaped by our social location.
Ø In looking at class, the primary focus is on that of Wealth, which consists of property and income. What is the difference between property and income?
q Property: refers to the tangible wealth that one may have, such as land, buildings, bonds, cars, etc.
q Income: refers to those things that are less tangible and slightly more abstract in nature, such as rent, wages, proceeds received from royalties, etc.
Ø Karl Marx believed that there were only two classes that existed, the class of capitalists (owned the means of production) and the proletariat (little or no access to the means of production). His primary focus being on the issue of economics, which he felt shaped the cultural and structural components of society. Thus, providing the elites with the majority of the power.
Ø Erik Wright updated Marx’s model and examined what he referred to as contradictory class locations. This refers to people’s position within the class structure can generate contradictory interests. As a result, Wright expanded Marx’s model to include four classes: (1) capitalists (2) petty bourgeoisie (3) managers, and (4) workers. This model symbolizes the complexity that exists when attempting to distinguish persons into specific groups in modern society. Unlike in Marx’s time, there is more of a blurring between the different classes, today. Although HIS MODEL PROVIDES DIFFERENCES, IT STILL DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN THE EMPLOYEE AND THE WORKER.
Ø Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl updated Weber, who agreed with Marx that economics was a primary factor, but felt that the issue of class was a little more complex in nature. Thus, Gilbert and Kahl took his three dimensions of class, property (wealth), power, and prestige and developed a six-class model of the class structure in the U.S. These six classes are based upon one’s economic standing (the main determiner of class status), and they are as follows: (1) Capitalists, which are divided into old money (the ‘blue bloods’) and new money (nouveau rich). The main differences being the first is associated with inherited monies and membership in the elitist circles; and the last is associated with those who earned their monies via sports, entertainment, etc., but do not have the same type of membership and access to the elitist groups and their subsequent networks. Examples would be the differences between a Dupont, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Getty, Rockafeller, or Kennedy [old money] versus Donald Trump, Michael Jordan, Madonna, or Oprah Winfrey [new money]. (2)Upper Middle Class, one most shaped by education (3) Lower Middle Class, low level management jobs. The division between this class and the next class is the most blurred of all the classes (4) Working Middle Class, the average member has only a high school diploma and works at unskilled blue-collar and white-collar jobs (manual and clerical jobs), which are usually closely supervised and routinized (5) The Working Poor, many may have high school diplomas, but belong to the growing number of individuals are referred to as ‘functional illiterates’, individuals who have about a 7th or 8th grade reading level and comprehension. The majority may little if any education and work at seasonal and temporary jobs, which require very little skill, and the last group (6) The Underclass, are on the lowest rung and typically concentrated in the inner cities. Many work when able, but their main income comes from Welfare.
Ø The Homeless: This group is so far beneath the ladder that they have no ‘assigned class’. This population does not fit the traditional description of the homeless (i.e., mentally ill, drunkards, drug addicts, etc.), but a growing segment consist of children and adults who find themselves in this situation due to structural occurrences (e.g., farmers, divorcees, etc.). Their situation is a latent dysfunction of the fallout from industrialization.
Ø Social Mobility: An individual’s mobility, upward (movement up the social ladder) or downward movement (movement up the social ladder) is impacted by the stratification system they are born into and their resulting social location, which determines what they may have access to within the social structure.
Ø Three Type of Social Mobility:
q A) Intergenerational Mobility: examines the changes which occur in a family from one generation to the next.
q B) Intragenerational Mobility: examines the changes in mobility that an individual may experience within their lifetime (e.g., Lee Iocca, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton) s
q Structural Mobiltiy: societal changes that causes large numbers of people to move up(e.g., technological developments which created new jobs and opportunities) or down (e.g., the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the resulting Depression that followed) the social ladder.
q Exchange Mobility: a large number of people move up and down the social ladder, but it is in balance where the proportions of the social classes remain about the same (e.g. with technological advancements large number of people were able to move upward, and many individuals may have moved downward, but maintained a job, resulting in the class system remaining balanced or basically untouched).
Ø Issues of Poverty: As stated earlier, this is a global issue and in the U.S. children are increasingly making up larger portions of the poor, along with females, which in great part is due to what has been termed the feminization of poverty, which addresses the growing phenomenon of women and children living in or just above the poverty level due to divorce, widowhood and single parenting(see the Globalization of Poverty section under chapter 7).
q Poverty Line- is established by taking a third of the money (assumed) to be spent on food and multiplying by three. This is an unrealistic definition, as other costs are not taken into account. For example, child- care for mothers who work.
What is the difference between Race and Ethnicity? How does the normative structures impact the relationships of diverse groups?
Ø Race: (1) A social categorization, which is commonly based upon culturally defined physical characteristics: skin color, hair, physical characteristics, and body types. (2) It is a category of people who share biological traits, which are socially ascribed as being significant.
Ø Ethnicity: refers to a collective identity and group membership, which is typically based on the following cultural characteristics: language, religion, dress, music, food stuffs, and common ancestry.
Ø What is meant by a :
o Minority: refers to individuals that are collectively discriminated against due to their ascribed status and group membership. Inclusive in this population, are women, of all race/ethnicities. Secondly, being a member of a minority group does not mean that they are lesser in numbers, but that they have little or no access to the means of production. For example, think of South Africa, India, which was under British rule, and women who represent more than half of the U.S. population.
o Majority: refers to those individuals who belong to the dominant group (the term more commonly used by sociologists), which has greater access to the means of production and its associated power, privileges, and social status. Secondly, they are not necessarily larger in number, but uses their positions to discriminate against those with different and supposedly inferior traits.
o Prejudice and Discrimination: commonly occur throughout the world in a variety of ways. Interethnic conflicts, issues of sexism, ageism, homophobia, and racism. Discrimination is the overt action that is directed against someone, and results in racism, when the discriminatory act is based upon race. Prejudice, which is less overt and is a prejudgment based upon ignorance or negative stereotypes, is an attitude, which often leads to discrimination. Although most prejudice is negative, it can be positive, when people tend to exaggerate the virtues of their group or other groups as being more capable than others. For example, when people make the assumption that because one is Asian, that you will automatically be good in science and math; if one is Black, that you are gifted in song, dance and a natural at athletics; or you are tall, so you must play basketball.
o Individual and Institutional Discrimination: Sociologists have begun to stress the need to move away from a total focus on individual discrimination, the negative treatment of one individual by another. Although this is still problematic in society, that more focus should be on the macrolevel occurrences of discriminatory practices. Extensive focus is being placed on institutional discrimination, that is, discrimination that is built into the institutional fabric of society. For example, the ongoing controversy concerning the difference in the age old practice of ‘redlining’ by banks and other lending institutions regarding mortgage rates, etc. to blacks and other ethnic groups, in comparison to whites.
Ø There are three ways that minorities may be accepted by the Majority or dominant group:
(1) Cultural Pluralism: refers to a peaceful co-existence between the minority and majority group. Members of the minority group do not have to take on the characteristics of the dominant group, but can maintain their cultural identities and freely participate in the social institutions of the society.
(2) Assimilation: minority group has to take on the cultural characteristics of the dominant group in order to participate in the social and cultural structures of the society. There are three types of assimilation process, which can occur-
(a) Forced Assimilation: in order to be functional, they must adopt the characteristics, norms/values of the dominant group.
(b) Acculturation or Cultural Assimilation: members of the minority group choose to take on the cultural characteristics of the group, but still do not have full social and cultural participation in the society.
(c) Structural Assimilation: members of various ethnic group interact socially with one another- (1) Primary-involves informal social interaction, which ultimately leads to intermarriage. (2) Secondary-more formal in nature and is the result of social situations one may participate in-work, school, membership in social organizations, etc.
(3) Amalgamation: the formation of a new subculture, which is the result of
Group intermarriage over a consistent period of time; but unlike assimilation, members continue to demand respect for the original culture. For example, think of the Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana.
Ø There are five ways that the minority may be rejected by the dominant group:
(1) Genocide: dominant
group tries to destroy or kill the minority group. There are five ways this can
be accomplished and in most cases one or more occur simultaneously.
(2) Expulsion(Population Transfer): Indirect- the use of subtle forms of harassment, which make the lives of the minority so unbearable they appear to leave ‘voluntarily’. Direct- the overt use of force, usually through governmental forces, like the military, to forcibly remove or expel the minority group from a selected area. Examples being the Trail of Tears and the Internment of the Japanese Americans during WWII.
(3) Exclusion:
minority group is refused entrance into the dominant groups society, in order
to maintain ethnic homogeneity, which is the maintenance of
ethnic balance. Examples would be some of the Immigration Acts, which were
passed to refuse the further entrance of existing groups into the host
societies.
(4) Oppression: the minority group’s physical existence is recognized by the dominant group but they have little or no access to social, economic, and political institutions. Also, they are relegated to the most degrading type of ‘dirty’ work in the society.
(5)Segregation- the formal separation of racial and ethnic groups that typically includes both physical and social segregation between the dominant and minority populations.
(a)
de jure segregation –upheld by law.
(b)
De facto segregation – no longer upheld by the law,
but the customs and norms associated with it continue to occur (e.g., South
Africa’s apartheid system and the old Jim Crow Laws)
Ø In 1967, Loving vs. Loving, the federal Supreme Court passed the law stating that the miscegenation laws, which decreed that interracial marriages were unconstitutional, and were not recognized as being legal in many states throughout the U.S. were no longer legal. Although these laws were passed many states, such as Louisiana had laws that stipulated that anyone who had one-thirty second of African blood (i.e., one African-American great-great-great grandparent) was considered ‘colored’. Many of those immigrants who are referred to as ‘white ethnics’, individuals who belong to the majority of immigrants who came in the second wave and were from eastern and western Europe, i.e., Ireland, Poland, Italy, Lithuania and the like in the late 19th century, primarily Catholic and some of the Jewish faith, encountered and more subtlety, today, various forms of prejudice and discrimination commonly associated with those racial and ethnic groups of color. The first wave of immigrants, who came from northern and southern Europe (e.g. England and Scotland), and are referred to as W.A.S.PS (White Anglo Saxon Protestants), established the norms and values of the U. S. and due to their numbers and power were not subject to prejudice and discrimination experienced by other groups of immigrants.
The Ideology of
Sexism, the belief that males are superior to females continues to exist
worldwide, and perpetuates Gender Stratification, the unequal
distribution of wealth, power, and privilege based upon sex.
Gender, which refers to the socially and culturally ascribed characteristics of what is considered appropriate for male and females. Sex, is the biological characteristics that distinguish us as male or female. Gender cuts across all societies and stratification systems. Worldwide women are considered a minority group, which their membership is an ascribed status. Like other minority groups they are collectively discriminated against based upon their involuntary membership, and are not necessarily lesser in number. Women who are also minorities have twice the issues to contend with compared to those who are part of the dominant group.
Ø Feminization of Poverty: this is a growing phenomenon worldwide and is especially crucial for women in the industrializing and least industrialized nations were they are treated as less than second -class citizens.
Ø Worldwide women have a higher proportionate number to be found among the illiterate, the poor, the underemployed and the unemployed.
Ø The significant differences between the concerns of women in industrialized nations versus those in the industrializing nations are as follows:
(1) women in developing nations are more concerned with issues of mortality and having enough food to eat versus women of industrialized nations which are more concerned with pay equality and board memberships.
(2) the average female in industrializing nations spends about 80% of her life in pregnancy compared to women in other nations.
(3) in industrializing nations males have a longer life span than the average female.
Ø Female Infanticide killing of female infants and young girls is still a major occurrence in many Asian and African countries. Women in Islamic and African countries have to undergo some form of Female Genital Mutilation, which is the removal of some or most of a female genitilia. In many Indian, Arabian and Iranian countries women encounter a gamut of situations from honor killings, suttee, a now illegal practice in India were women are expected to throw themselves on the burning pyres of their husbands, and dowry deaths, killing of young brides due to what is seen as an insufficient dowry.
Ø Max Weber identified three types of authority:
(1) Traditional: found most commonly in tribal societies and is based custom. Tradition states dictates that one’s birth makes you a queen or chief. This type of authority has declined with industrialization.
(2) Rational-Legal Authority: is based on written
rules and not custom. Rationale
which means reasonable, and legal, which means a part of the law. This
is sometimes referred to as bureaucratic authority because
bureaucracies are based on written rules.
(3) Charismatic Authority: individuals who have the ability to draw others to them without force, and has qualities of leadership that many people may be viewed as a gift from god or the individual possesses extraordinary qualities.
Ø
Weber also referred to the transfer of authority from a
charismatic leader to either a Traditional or Rational-legal authority as the routinization
of charisma.
Ø ECONOMY: a system of producing and distributing goods and services. It is divided into three sectors.
(1) Primary- predominated in preindustrial societies and included fishing, mining, agriculture, and forestry. This aspect of the economy generates raw materials from natural resources.
(2) Secondary- is the product of industrialization and produces goods that are transformed from raw materials into manufactured goods. For example, turning metal into automobiles and tools.
(3) Tertiary- dominates high-income nations and grows with industrialization. This is the service sector which generates less goods and more services. For example, clerks, lawyers, teachers, advertisers, etc.
Ø Global Economy: the economic activity that includes many nations worldwide and has little regard for national borders. There are four basic consequences:
1st: different regions of the world have specialized in one sector of the economy.
2nd: the majority of the products pass through the economies of more than one nation.
3rd: the economic activity is no longer controlled within the borders of the various national governments. Currency is also affected due to the financial centers around the world able to trade 24 hours, continuously.
4th: a vast share of the world’s economic activity is shared by a small number of businesses, who operate internationally.
Ø Three Basic Economic Systems:
(1) Capitalism: the means of producing goods and services
can be privately owned. It has three features- a) private ownership of poverty
b) the pursuit of personal gain, and c) free competition (a pure market system
with no governmental interference is referred to as a laissez-faire system)
(2) Socialism: the means of producing goods and services is through collective ownership, that is, no private ownership of goods. It has three features- a) collective ownership of property b) collective goals c) the economy is controlled by the government.
(3) Welfare and State Capitalism: Welfare capitalism is found in Western Europe and combines a primarily market based economy with government programs that provides for the people’s needs. State Capitalism- companies are privately owned, but have regulations and guidelines set and determined by the government.
The definition of ‘family’ has changed and is loosely defined within cultural norms. Family is defined in broader terms and is defined as people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
Ø Nuclear-husband, wife, and children
Ø Extended- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins in addition to the nuclear family members
Ø Family of Orientation- the family one is born into or grows up in
Ø Family of Procreation- the family that is created with the birth/adoption of a child
Ø Forms of Marriage vary from culture to culture-
(1) Polgamy- having more than one spouse
(2) Polygny – men who have more than one wife
(3) Polyandry – women who have more than one husband
(4) Monogamy – having only one spouse at a time
Mate Selection/Courthsip
Ø
Exogamy- the norms of the group demand marriage outside of the group
Ø
Endogamy- the norms of the group prohibit
marriage outside of the group and members must marry only within their group.
Ø
Homogamy- people marrying people with
similar characteristics and is the result of spatial nearness(propinquity).
Ø
Matrilineal- kinship is only looked at on
the mother’s side of the family, and children are not considered to be related
to their father’s side of the family.
Ø
Patrilineal- kinship is traced only on
the father’s side, and children are not considered related to their mother’s
side of the family.
Ø
Bilateral- children are viewed as related
to both the mother and father’s sides of the family.
Ø
Matriarchy- no historical record of a
true matriarchy can be found, but this is a social system in which women
dominate men.
Ø
Patriarchy – a common thread that runs
through all societies and the framework in which marital and family customs has
been founded upon. It is a social
system in which males dominate women.
Ø
Egalitarian- found in the emerging
customs of the U.S., wherein family patterns are becoming more equal.
Theoretical Perspectives;
Ø
Functionalism: the family system has several
basic functions, which have changed over the years, primarily due to
industrialization. It remains universal due to six basic needs that are basic
to the survival of society.
Ø
Conflict Perspective: focuses on the inequalities that occur in
marriage.
Although more women are working, men still resist housework and as described by Arlie Hochshild, women in two paycheck families experience the ‘second shift’, the household duties which were still viewed as the wife’s responsibility.
Ø Symbolic Interactionism: the more equality in pay between male and female, the husband is likely to share in some of the household duties. This decreases if the husband is laid off and/or has lower pay than their wives. Gender role identity is at play, in which males feel that their masculinity is threatened.