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400 CHAPTER 12 Marriage and Family

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CHAPTER 12 Summary and Review

Marriage and Family in Global The Family Life Cycle
Perspective
Summarize research on love and courtship, marriage,
12.3
childbirth, child rearing, and family transitions.
12.1 Define marriage and family and summarize their common
cultural themes.
What are the major elements of the family life
What is a family—and what themes are cycle?
universal? The major elements are love and courtship, marriage, child-
birth, child rearing, and the family in later life. Most mate
Family is difficult to define because there are exceptions
to every element that one might consider essential. Conse- selection follows patterns of age, social class, and race–
quently, family is defined broadly—as people who consider ethnicity. Child-rearing patterns vary by social class.
themselves related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Uni- Pp. 374–381.
versally, marriage and family are mechanisms for governing
mate selection, reckoning descent, and establishing inheri- Diversity in U.S. Families
tance and authority. Pp. 367–371.
Summarize research on families: African American, Latino,
Marriage and Family in Theoretical Asian American, Native American, one-parent, couples without
12.4
Perspective children, blended, and gay and lesbian.

How significant is race–ethnicity in family life?
12.2 Contrast the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic
The primary distinction is social class, not race–ethnicity.
interactionist perspectives on marriage and family.
Families of the same social class are likely to be similar,
What is a functionalist perspective on marriage regardless of their race–ethnicity. Pp. 381–384.
and family? What other diversity do we see in U.S. families?
Functionalists examine the functions and dysfunctions Also discussed are one-parent, childless, blended, and gay
of family life. Examples include the incest taboo and and lesbian families. Each has its unique characteristics, but
how weakened family functions increase divorce. social class is important in determining their primary charac-
P. 371. teristics. Poverty is especially significant for one-parent fami-
lies, most of which are headed by women. Pp. 384–388.
What is a conflict perspective on marriage and
family? Trends in U.S. Families
Conflict theorists focus on inequality in marriage, espe-
cially unequal and changing power between husbands
and wives. P. 372. 12.5 Discuss changes in the timetable of family life, cohabitation,
and elder care.
What is a symbolic interactionist perspective
on marriage and family? What major changes characterize U.S. families?
Symbolic interactionists examine the contrasting experiences Three major changes are postponement of first marriage,
and perspectives of men and women in marriage. They stress an increase in cohabitation, and having the first child at
that only by grasping the perspectives of wives and husbands a later age. With more people living longer, many middle-
can we understand their behavior. Pp. 372–374. aged couples find themselves sandwiched between rearing