Evolution of Families: Structures, Functions, and Theories

Posted on Feb 28, 2024 in Psychology and Sociology

Families through time:

  • Hunter-Gatherers: Early human societies relying on hunting, fishing, and gathering for survival.
  • Agricultural: Emergence of settled farming communities.
  • Pre-Industrial: Society characterized by agrarian economy and extended family households.
  • Urban-Industrial: Industrial revolution and urbanization leading to changes in family structure.
  • Modern Consumer: Shift towards consumer-oriented societies.
  • Contemporary: Current family structures and dynamics.

Family forms:

  • Nuclear family: Two parents and their children.
  • Extended family: Several generations living together.
  • Blended family: Two families merging through marriage.
  • Single-parent family: One parent raising the children.
  • Same-sex family: Family with same-sex parents.
  • Childless family: Couples without children, by choice or circumstance.

6 Functions of the family:

  • Reproduction
  • Socialization
  • Economic cooperation
  • Emotional support
  • Status placement
  • Regulation of sexual behavior

Social norms:

Shared expectations and rules that guide behavior within a society.

Social roles:

Expected behaviors, rights, and obligations associated with a particular position in society.

Role strain:

Stress or tension experienced when the demands of a particular role become overwhelming.

Role conflict:

Conflict arising from the competing demands of different social roles.

Parenting license:

The idea of requiring a license or qualifications to become a parent, ensuring readiness and competence.

Theoretical perspectives:

  • Functionalism: Emphasizes the functions and contributions of different aspects of society to its overall stability.
  • Conflict Theory: Focuses on social inequality, power dynamics, and conflict between different groups in society.
  • Feminist Theory: Analyzes gender inequality and advocates for gender equity and social change.
  • Symbolic Interactionism: Examines how individuals interact and communicate through symbols and shared meanings.
  • Systems Theory: Views society as a complex system of interconnected parts.

Developmental theories:

Theories that explain human development across the lifespan.

Psychosocial Development (Erik Erikson):

  • Erikson’s theory proposes that individuals go through eight stages of psychosocial development from infancy to old age.
  • Each stage presents a unique psychosocial crisis that must be resolved for healthy development.
  • Successful resolution leads to the acquisition of positive virtues and contributes to a well-rounded personality.

Seasons of Life (Daniel Levinson):

  • Levinson’s theory suggests that individuals go through distinct stages or seasons in their adult lives.
  • Each season is characterized by specific tasks, challenges, and transitions.
  • These stages include early adulthood, midlife transition, and late adulthood, each with its own psychological adjustments and changes.

Hierarchy of Human Needs (Abraham Maslow):

  • Maslow’s theory posits that human needs can be arranged in a hierarchical order, with basic physiological needs at the bottom and higher-level needs at the top.
  • The hierarchy includes physiological needs, safety needs, love and belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.
  • Individuals strive to fulfill lower-level needs before moving on to higher-level needs.

Psychosexual Development (Sigmund Freud):

  • Freud’s theory suggests that individuals pass through distinct stages of psychosexual development during childhood.
  • These stages include the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.
  • Each stage is associated with specific conflicts and focuses on different erogenous zones of the body.

Symbolic Interactionism (George H. Mead):

  • Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the importance of symbols, language, and social interactions in shaping individual behavior and constructing meaning.
  • Individuals develop a sense of self through social interactions and take on the perspectives of others.
  • It highlights the role of communication, interpretation, and shared symbols in the formation of social reality.

Generational cohorts:

Groups of people born around the same time who share similar experiences and cultural influences.

Coming of Age

Coming of Age (slideshow):

  • Coming of age refers to the transition from adolescence to adulthood, often marked by important milestones or ceremonies.
  • It represents a period of increased responsibilities, independence, and identity formation.

Early adulthood:

  • Early adulthood is the life stage typically spanning from late teens to mid-30s.
  • It is characterized by various life changes such as completing education, entering the workforce, establishing relationships, and starting families.

Boomerang children:

  • Boomerang children are young adults who move back to their parents’ home after a period of living independently.
  • This trend has become more common in recent years due to economic factors, changing societal norms, and the pursuit of higher education.

Failure to Launch:

  • Failure to Launch refers to a situation where young adults struggle to achieve independence and face difficulties in transitioning to adulthood.
  • It may involve challenges in areas such as finding employment, establishing stable relationships, or taking on adult responsibilities.

Challenges in early adulthood:

  • Early adulthood presents various challenges, including career choices, financial independence, building a stable identity, and establishing intimate relationships.
  • These challenges can be accompanied by uncertainty, stress, and the need to make important life decisions.

Leaving home (trends):

  • Leaving home refers to the process of young adults moving out of their parents’ house to live independently.
  • Recent trends suggest that young adults are leaving home at later ages compared to previous generations, influenced by factors like economic conditions, educational pursuits, and changing cultural norms.

Education (trends):

  • Trends in education for early adulthood include an increasing emphasis on higher education and professional qualifications.
  • Pursuing advanced degrees, vocational training, or lifelong learning has become more common to enhance career prospects and adapt to evolving job requirements.

Attraction and mate selection theories:

Theories explaining how individuals choose romantic partners.

  • Evolutionary psychology: It examines how natural selection has influenced human mating preferences, aggression, parenting, and other behaviors.
  • Social homogamy: The tendency for individuals to form relationships or marry someone who shares similar social characteristics.
  • Ideal mate theory: The concept that individuals have a set of preferences or criteria for an ideal romantic partner.
  • Exchange theory: A social theory that views relationships as a series of exchanges or transactions.

Healthy vs. unhealthy relationships:

Characteristics of healthy relationships and signs of unhealthy or abusive relationships.

Reasons for marriage:

  • Social: Marriage provides a legal and social framework for the formation of a family unit, recognition and acceptance by society, and the ability to access various legal and financial benefits.
  • Psychological: Marriage can fulfill emotional and psychological needs, such as companionship, intimacy, emotional support, and a sense of belonging. It can contribute to personal happiness, well-being, and a sense of purpose in life.

Terms

  • Endogamy – the custom of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe.
  • Exogamy – the custom of marrying outside a community, clan, or tribe.
  • Kinship – blood relationship.
  • Fictive kinship – an individual who is not related by birth, adoption, or marriage to a child.
  • Monogamy – the practice or state of being married to one person at a time.
  • Polygamy – the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time.
  • Polygyny – in which a man has more than one wife.
  • Bigamy – the act of going through a marriage ceremony while already married to another person.
  • Patrilocality: residence of a couple especially of the newly married with the husband’s family or tribe.
  • Matrilocality: a pattern of marriage in which the groom resides with the bride’s parents.
  • Matrilineal: of or based on kinship with the mother or the female line.
  • Patrilineal: inheriting or determining descent through the male line.
  • Neolocality: a type of post-marital residence in which a newly married couple resides separately from both the husband’s natal household and the wife’s natal household.
  • Taboo: a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.
  • Anti-miscegenation laws: laws that enforce racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races.
  • Intermarriage: marriage between people from different ethnic, religious, or social groups.

Big Theories of Intimate Relationships:

Theories explaining the dynamics and functioning of romantic relationships.

Evolutionary perspective:

  • Explains behavior and psychological traits through the lens of evolution and natural selection.
  • Emphasizes the role of adaptation, reproductive success, and survival in shaping human behavior and psychological mechanisms.

Attachment theory:

  • Focuses on the emotional bond between individuals, particularly the attachment formed between infants and their primary caregivers.
  • Suggests that early attachment experiences influence later social and emotional development, impacting relationship patterns and behaviors.

Social exchange theory:

  • Views relationships as a series of exchanges or transactions, where individuals seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs.
  • Emphasizes the importance of perceived benefits, equity, and the evaluation of outcomes in maintaining relationships.

Social learning theory:

  • Proposes that individuals learn behaviors through observation, imitation, and reinforcement from their social environment.
  • Highlights the role of modeling, social cues, and rewards and punishments in shaping behavior, including relationship patterns.

Social ecological models:

  • Examines the interplay between individuals and their social and physical environments in influencing behavior and relationships.
  • Considers multiple levels of influence, including individual, interpersonal, community, and societal factors, in understanding human behavior.

Sternberg’s Triangular Love Theory:

  • Developed by psychologist Robert J. Sternberg.
  • Describes love in terms of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
  • Different combinations of these components result in different types of love, such as romantic love (passion and intimacy), companionate love (intimacy and commitment), and consummate love (all three components).
  • The theory emphasizes the dynamic and evolving nature of love relationships and the importance of balance and mutual fulfillment of these components.

Online dating:

  • Online dating refers to the use of internet platforms and applications to meet and interact with potential romantic partners.
  • It offers a convenient and accessible way to connect with a large pool of individuals, providing opportunities for relationship formation and exploration.

Arranged marriage:

  • Arranged marriage is a marital union where the selection of a spouse is primarily orchestrated by family members or matchmakers, often based on cultural or traditional practices.
  • The couple may have limited or no prior acquaintance before the marriage arrangement, and the decision-making process involves considerations of compatibility, family background, and shared values.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Theory:

Four parenting styles characterized by different levels of demandingness and responsiveness.

  • Baumrind’s theory proposes four parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful.
  • The authoritarian style is strict and controlling, with high demands and low responsiveness.
  • The authoritative style combines high demands with warmth and responsiveness, providing structure and guidance while also encouraging autonomy.
  • The permissive style is lenient and indulgent, with low demands and high responsiveness.
  • The neglectful style is characterized by low levels of both demands and responsiveness, resulting in a lack of parental involvement and supervision.
  • Baumrind suggests that authoritative parenting is associated with positive outcomes in children, such as higher self-esteem and better social skills, while authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting may have negative effects on child development.

6 types of families:

Nuclear, extended, blended, single-parent, same-sex, and childless families.