Let’s get warmed up:According to David Popenoe, a Rutgers sociology professor… "As society shifts from marriage to

cohabitation — which is what's happening — you have an increase in family instability."

“The United States has the weakest families in the Western world because we have the highest divorce rate and the highest rate of solo parenting," Popenoe says.

Do you agree or disagree with Popenoe? Why or Why not?

Functions of the Family… 1. Regulate behavior 2. Socialization 3. Care and Emotional Support

(socioemotional maintenance) 4. Maintain economic system 5. Social status of members

Nuclear Family Monogamy Polygamy

Polygyny Polyandry

Extended Family Single-Parent

Romantic love is a new concept. The Rules…

Exogamy (outside one’s group) Endogamy (within one’s group) Homogamy (marry similar to oneself) Hetrogamy (marry different to oneself)

Patterns of Residence Patrilocality is when the newly married

couple is expected to live with or near the husband’s parents.

Matrilocality is when the couple is expected to live with or near the wife’s parents.

Bilocality allows the newly married could to choose whether they will live near the husband’s parents or near the wife’s parents.

Most societies practice neolocality which allows the married couple to set up their residence apart from both sets of parents

Authority Patterns In a patriarchal family, the father holds

most of the authority In a matriarchal family, the mother

holds most of the authority In an egalitarian family authority is

shared by both the mother and the father

The vast majority of societies around the world are patriarchal

The U.S. is moving toward more egalitarian authority patterns

The American Family•95% of all adults marry at least once during their lifetimes

•The U.S. has one of the highest marriages rates of any industrialized nation

•Marriage rates are declining slightly among younger Americans

1. Delayed Marriage2. Delayed

Childbearing3. Dual –Earner

Marriages4. One-Parent Families5. Remarriages

Happily ever after? Having parents who are successfully married Having known each other for at least two years Getting married at an older age Holding traditional values Having had an engagement that was relatively free from

conflict Being from the same race and

religion Having a college education Having parental approval of

the marriage

The Cycle of Family Life 1. Prechildren 2. Parenthood 3. Empty nest

According to USA today…

The U.S. divorce rate is 17.7 per 1,000 married women, down from 22.6 in 1980.

The marriage rate is also on a steady decline: a 50% drop since 1970 from 76.5 per 1,000 unmarried women to 39.9

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

In the United States every year, about 1.5 million women and more than 800,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner.

This translates into about 47 IPV assaults per 1,000 women and 32 assaults per 1,000 men

After being abused once 32% of women are abused again.

27% of domestic murders are children. In homes of domestic abuse children

are 1,500 times more likely to also be abused.

4 children are killed every day as a result of abuse or neglect.

82% of those killed are under 5; 42% are under the age of 1.

What do our families look like?

Just under 50% of all marriages end in divorce. 27% of all families are single-parent. 50% of children will live with only one parent. From 1978 to 1996 the number of children born

to unwed mothers went from 500,000 to 2,000,000.

1 out of 25 children lives with neither parent. 550,000 children live in foster care. 4.5 Million mixed race couples.

Between 6-10 million children live with homosexual parents.

1/3 of lesbian and 1/5 of gay male households have children.

71% of all high school drop outs come from fatherless homes.

Children from fatherless homes are 5 times more likely to commit suicide and 20 times more likely to go to jail and 14 times more likely to commit rape.

1 in 3 women will experience at least one physical assault by a partner in their life.

Take a moment to think…

One of the characteristics of families is that families spend time together. As people grow busier and busier, spending time becomes more difficult. How should families make time for one another?

What are some of the traditional roles of the bride and the groom when preparing for a wedding? Should these traditions change?