Page 377 - Sociology and You

U S I N G
Your Sociological Imagination
Test your knowledge about the American family by identifying the following statements as true or false.
1. About half of the couples in the United States who marry will divorce.
2. A new family structure develops after divorce.
3. High school sweethearts who marry have a less than 10 percent chance of being together twenty years later.
4. In more than half of all marriages, both the husband and wife work outside
the home.
5. The divorce rate has been steadily climb- ing since 1960.
If you thought the first four questions were true and the last question was false, then you probably have a good sense of what is happening with marriage and families in the United States. It is true that the divorce rate is higher in the United States than in many other industrialized nations. However, re- cent data on divorce provide some grounds for optimism. Although the divorce rate rose dramatically from 1960 to 1985, the last fif- teen years have actually seen a decline in the rate of divorce.
The next five chapters in this unit will look at family, education, economics, poli- tics, religion, and sports. Sociologists refer to each of these as a social institution—a system of statuses, roles, norms and social structures that are organized to satisfy some particular basic needs of society. Chapter 11 focuses on the most important of these institutions—the family.
Sections
1. Family and Marriage Across Cultures
2. Theoretical Perspectives and the Family
3. Family and Marriage in the United States
4. Changes in Marriage and Family
Learning Objectives Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to
❖ describe types of family structure and norms for marriage arrangements.
❖ compare and contrast views of the family proposed by the three major perspectives.
❖ outline the extent and cause of divorce in America.
❖ give an overview of family violence in the United States.
❖ discuss the future of the family in the United States.
Chapter Overview
Visit the Sociology and You Web site at soc.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 11— Chapter Overviews to preview chapter information.
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