Sociology of the Family/SS-330 Course Outline
| Topic 1 | Topic 5 |
| Topic 2 | Topic 6 |
| Topic 3 | Topic 7 |
| Topic 4 | Topic 8 and 9 |
Topic 1: What is a family?
- Unit 1: The family as a social (and biological) institution.
- Unit 2: Theories of family development: conjugal kinship systems and the nuclear family.
- Unit 3: Alternative family and household forms.
Read:
Library Reserve: S. Mintz, “New Rules: Post-War Families”; Tricarico, The Italians of Greenwich Village (two chapters on the ethnic family).
Kearl’s Guide to the Sociology of the Family: http://www.trinity.edu/nmkearl/fam-inst.html#mm
Topic 2: The Demography of Living Arrangements in America
- Unit 1: Family households
- Unit 2: Nonfamily households
Internet Lab: Research data bases at http://www.uscensus.gov
Topic 3: Family Dynamics: The Social Construction of Family Life
- Unit 1: The rules and activities that create a family microculture; ethnic and class variation.
- Unit 2: Age and sex as a basis for allocating roles within family microculture.
- Unit 3: Individuation within family microculture.
- Unit 4: Family microculture reflected in the spatial properties of the “home”.
Read: Library Reserve: M. Devault, “The Meaning(s) of Family”; E. Pleck, Celebrating the Family.
Topic 4: Dating and Mate Selection
- Unit 1: Historical and cross-cultural variations: social arrangements and romance.
- Unit 2: Contemporary strategies for finding partners.
- Unit 3: Social pressures and marital endogamy.
- Unit 4: The social calculus of relationship satisfaction and commitment.
Read:
Library Reserve: Michael et al., “Finding A Partner”; Sacher and Fine, “Predicting Relationship Stability after Six Months among Dating Couples”; Tricarico, “Personals Ethnicity”.
Kearl’s Guide: Dating and Courtship
Topic 5: Marriage
- Unit 1: Erotic friendship: the ideals of romance and companionability.
- Unit 2: Spouse-centered kinship.
- Unit 3: Partnership and pragmatism.
Read: Kearl’s Guide: Marriage
Topic 6: Working and Family
- Unit 1: Structural and historical determinants of household division of labor.
- Unit 2: Gender and age variation within the household division of labor.
- Unit 3: Reconciling work and family.
Read:
Library Reserve: J. Bernard, “The Good Provider Role: Its Rise and Fall”
A.L. Hochschild, “Work: The Great Escape”.
Kearl’s Guide: Work and Family
Topic 7: Divorce and Remarriage
- Unit 1: Statistical patterns in the divorce rate.
- Unit 2: High divorce rates as a function of changing sex roles, “cultural narcissism”, and new marital ideals.
- Unit 3: Divorce and changes in legal and religious norms.
- Unit 4: Patterns of remarriage.
Read:
Kearl’s Guide: Divorce
Internet Lab: Research census data to track trends in divorce and remarriage.
Topic 8: Parent and Parenting
- Unit 1: Economic and cultural determinants of low fertility; “priceless” children and lifestyle liabilities.
- Unit 2: The social construction of parenting ideals.
- Unit 3: Social origins and implications of parenting practices in cross-cultural perspective.
- Unit 4: Transition to Parenting.
- Unit 5: Parent-child relationships through the life cycle.
Read:
Library Reserve: Hymowitz, “Why Parents Fail”; A. Lareau, Unequal Childhoods; Kearl’s Guide: Parenting
Internet Lab: Survey sites devoted to parenting advice (e.g., National Parenting Center,http://www.tnpc.com)
Topic 9: Child Care
- Unit 1: Types of Child Care in Modern Society
- Unit 2: The Social Basis for Alternative Child Care
- Unit 3: Child Care and Social Values
- Unit 4: Supplying Daycare
Read:
Early Head Start National Resource Center (Zero to Three), http://www.ehsnrc.org/InformationResources/rmfamily.htm
