Quiz #2 EDUC 303 PDF

Quiz #2 educ 303 Chapter 4: Intimacy, Commitment & Family Formation Family and marriage have witnessed continuity and change over time Today, there is greater diversity in family forms & living arrangements Sociologists emphasize increasing importance of intimacy & romantic lo...

Quiz #2 educ 303 Chapter 4: Intimacy, Commitment & Family Formation Family and marriage have witnessed continuity and change over time Today, there is greater diversity in family forms & living arrangements Sociologists emphasize increasing importance of intimacy & romantic love to explain increasing trends in family formation Intimacy: “closeness” and a state of being “special” to someone else. It involves self-disclosure How Are Families Configured in Canada Today? Most families (83.6 %) live as married or common-law couples (Statistics Canada 2017) Decrease in marriage rates Significant increase in multigenerational households (i.e. households with at least 3 generations of the same family) Increase in lone-parent homes (women head about 70 per cent of these) (Statistics Canada 2017) The increase in marital breakup: a parallel increase in the likelihood of entering into second or third union Stepfamilies, blended families & cohabitation (especially prevalent among Canadian youth who cohabit before marrying) Regional differences in cohabitation Family demographers: how families are shaped Social theorists: why family change occurs Intimacy: Meanings & Theories Increasing separation of sexuality from the constraints of reproduction à transforms intimacy New reproductive technologies: facilitate, mediate, or hinder reproduction process Emancipatory social movements (e.g., the women’s and LGBTQ rights movements) have challenged traditional gender norms The emergence of the pure relationship defined as “confluent love,” a “relationship of sexual and emotional equality” between partners ( unlike romantic love which requires commitment) Marriage Debates Widespread debate over how to interpret family/marriage transformations - Central concern: the relationship between children’s well-being - Is the nuclear family still considered the most successful pattern? - Research: mixed conclusions The Changing Landscape of Young Adult Relationships Rising age of marriage increased and extended the phenomenon of independent life stage (a period of relative social independence) (Rosenfeld 2007) Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005 Varying cultural practices of marriage pose a challenge to Canadian laws/norms involved in regulating family life Arranged marriages still exist among different cultures in Canada The big change in sexual behaviour came with the Baby Boom generation Baby boomers: more sexually active at younger ages than pre-boomers Today, adolescents often begin dating through involvement with mixed-gender friendship groups Sexual scripts remain present in dating between males and females The cognitive models and cultural patterns that inform desire and influence behaviour (Simon and Gagnon 1986) Bolster the ‘sexual double standard’ Techno Transformations: Internet Dating and Cybersex Online dating in various forms has flourished over the past decades to facilitate dating/sexual encounters Internet gives users more personal control of the process: their best traits are showcased Social exchange theory understands interpersonal relationships according to the social psychological principle of minimizing costs and maximizing rewards (Myers 1993) Online dating mostly follows racialized profiling  Computer-mediated communication has opened new doors for LGBTQ- identified people Cybersex, including sexting, is on the rise Online and electronic communication is shaping the global marketplace of sexual services Living Alone, Families of Choice, and Living Apart Together Larger household sizes are in decline The number of single-person households has increased Singleness generally seen as being “selfish, deviant, immature, irresponsible, lonely, unfulfilled, emotionally challenged, lacking interpersonal ties and strong social bonds” (Budgeon 2008: 309) “ The stigma of being single comes from being an outsider to the idealized norm of coupledom Friendships are an important component of families of choice The importance of kin-like networks which are based on friendship - beyond blood (Donovan & Heaphy, 2001, p.9) “Living apart together” (LAT): another family form on the rise An intimate relationship with a partner who lives elsewhere Chapter 6: Separation & Divorce: the fragmentation and Renewal of Families Historical & legal Contexts of Divorce in Canada Prior to the modern era, divorces were difficult to obtain & rare to obtain in Canada dating back to Confederation Civil Code of lower Canada: “Marriage can only be dissolved by the natural death of one of the parties involved; while both live, it is indissoluble” (McCord, 1867, 28) Until the 20th century, a marriage essentially constituted an econ. transaction involving not just the couple, but had implications for their families too Prior to Parliament’s passage of the Divorce Act in 1968, adultery was the single, universally acceptable reason for divorce The Divorce Act established a unified legal approach giving both spouses equal rights to pursue divorces based on adultery, convictions of sexual offences, bigamy, mental or physical cruelty, a permanent breakdown arising from a three-yr separation, and selected other conditions (Payne, 1968)  With the 1968 Divorce Act, the # of divorces granted increased dramatically The reform of the Divorce Act in 1985 simplified the legal process allowing for no-fault divorces after one yr of separation Social stigma associated with divorce gradually declined - Most Canadians currently believe an uncontested divorce should be possible if a relationship lacks love and mutual respect, or certainly if a partner engages in abuse or cruelty Divorce Rates Decline in first marriages more pronounced among women with less ed. & those who have had premarital pregnancies: - Two subgroups with historically higher divorce rates - While fewer young ppl marry or delay the process, those who do end up appear to have higher quality or at least relatively more stable marriages on average - Yet as the divorce rate among younger Canadians has declined, the rate among older canadians has simultaneously increased The Many Determinants of Separation & Divorce Research has shown that people’s childhood experiences of family stability and/or instability directly affect their attitudes and prospects of entering into marriage in the first place, not to mention the likelihood of their unions enduring Risk factors for divorce: - Amato’s (2010) 9 of the most consistent predictors of divorce: teen marriage, poverty, unemployment, low educational attainment, premarital cohabitation, fertility, interracial marriage, previous divorce, and parental divorce - These risk factors vary across cultures The Multifaceted Consequences of Separation and Divorce Changes to one’s daily routines & living arrangements The econ. effects differ for men and women depending on the nature of their partnership Economic impacts of divorce on younger mothers: particularly severe Children’s experiences: - stress & uncertainty - the degree of family conflict has both direct and indirect - effects on children’s well-being-regardless of living arrangements - More likelihood to display anxiety, depression, maladjustment and low-self- esteem Families in Middle and Later Life Patterns and Dynamics of Living Longer, Aging Together Two key demographic trends re-shaping family life: Decrease in fertility rate Increase in life expectancy Adult children and their older parents today spend more years together over the life course than at any other time in history Family life often associated with key transitions that reflect a progression into old age Life course transitions involve home-leaving, marriage, parenthood, grandparenthood, caregiving, etc. Yet, this is no longer the standard. As they age, individuals and families become more varied and diverse Sometimes transitions are delayed, or altered by social realities, individual choice, cultural expectations etc. Family dynamics: more complex and need to be understood Demography, transitions, dynamics, diversity, and policy important in understanding aging Canadian families in mid and later life today Demography: What Aging Families Look Like The profile of aging families today is historically different: Smaller size, fewer marriages, more childless, older first-time parents, and higher life expectancy Difficult to assign distinct structural markers, such as age, to entrance and exit from life-course stages ´ Demographic changes highlight the evolving nature of mid-life Intergenerational co-residence: common The transition to parenthood delayed into the thirties for many Canadians  ´ What Families Look Like in Later Life Living longer in old age Images of physical and mental decline associated with later life are changing: “Seventy is the new fifty” The co-longevity of different generations Decrease in the proportion of one’s adult life spent raising children The phenomenon of “boomerang children” Dynamics in Aging Families ´ A Transition Delayed: Leaving Home Children’s financial needs: a key factor influencing home-leaving Mid-life parents providing financial support to their co-resident children Delayed home-leaving among young adults attributed to the long-term trend towards the postponement of marriage Positive and negative effects of returning home on family relationships? Continued and return co-residence not considered normative by Canadian society ´ Transitions Redefined: Grandparenthood The rise of grandparenting role seen as “redefined” Longevity accounts for more grandparents seeing the adolescents and young adult grandchildren Grandparenthood best understood as mediated in a three-generation context Grandparenthood experienced differently when there are two generations of grandparents in a family at the same time Nature of the dynamics and the concept of ambivalence used to explain the dynamics Caring and support between the generations: Understanding Family Dynamics: Ambivalence Diversity in Family Forms and Perspectives Ethnicity  Gender Sexual Orientation Aging Families and Social Policy The issue of “care gap” The intersection of work and family roles, including caregiving Policy to support workplaces that encourage balancing work responsibilities with caregiving Media rhetoric about the intergenerational acrimony does not represent the experience of many families Research and policy must inform one another in the family domain Changing demographic patterns of families emphasized two key demographic trends re-shaping family life: Fewer children and longer lives In aging families, the nature of life transitions is changing: Leaving home delayed, and home-returning after leaving Grandparenthood redefined Bonds of connection across generations continue to show family dynamics Most care to elderly provided by family members Families are diverse, with greater heterogeneity in structures and practices in the later stages than in earlier ones