Chapter 11, Section 3

1
Chapter 11, Section 3

• Family and Marriage in the United States

2
The Nature of the American Family

• There are more similarities than differences
  among American families they tend to follow the
  American pattern
• Families are nuclear
• Families are bilateral
• Families are democratic
• Families are neolocal
• Families are monogamous

3
Romantic Love and Marriage

• 83 of the American public rate being in love
  as the most vital reason to marry
• This is, however, seldom the only condition
• People marry for many reasons
• To enter a powerful family
• To advance a career
• Conformity

4
Romantic Love and Marriage

• Many Americans believe a marriage based on
  romantic love will not last
• A couple must build a relationship that goes
  beyond romantic love
• The marriage rate has fluctuated in the US since
  1940
• Peaked immediately following WWII

5
Divorce

• The divorce rate in the US increased for a while,
  then began to level off and has declined slightly
• There are many individual reasons why people
  divorce
• The age of the people when they married
• How many years they have been married
• The nature and the quality of the relationship

6
Divorce

• Sociologists are concerned with how larger forces
  in society affect marriages
• The divorce rate rises during economic prosperity
  and goes down when times are hard
• Baby boomers did not attach a stigma to divorce
  the way earlier generations did
• The increasing financial independence of women
  means they are more willing to end bad marriages
• American values and attitudes about marriage and
  divorce are changing

7
Divorce

• There is a good chance that the recent decline in
  the US divorce rate may continue
• The average age at first marriage in the US is
  increasing
• The average age of the population of the US is
  increasing as baby boomers grow older
• American couples are having fewer children, and
  the children are spaced farther apart

8
Family Violence

• Domestic violence occurs at all social class
  levels
• The family, in some cases, can be a hostile
  environment
• Almost ¼ of adults in the US report having been
  physically abused as children
• At least 4 million women are battered by their
  husbands annually

9
Family Violence

• Husband abuse is frequently overlooked in studies
  of physical abuse
• Family abuse is not always physical verbal and
  psychological abuse also occur

10
Family Violence

• The most frequent and most tolerated violence in
  the family occurs between children
• Sibling violence is on the rise
• Little is known about the abuse of elderly people

11
Assignment

• Section 3 Assessment (p.369) 1-2
• Divorce in America handout