Chapter 13: Family Paths and Types

Increasing diversity in the structure of American families and in the pathways to family formation and outcomes. Nuclear families were the most common, married early, and had high numbers of children. In today's society family life has become more diverse. Extended households, single-parent families, individuals living alone, and groups of unrelated individuals has become more common.

Chapter 13: Responses to Family Change

Family change is happening all around the United States. The change that we make can be either good or bad. Change is okay to have and it is what shapes us in society. No matter what change is coming. It is changing in our culture, our values, morals, etc.

Chapter 13: Age Structure

Age Structure is the relative number of people of each age in a population. The most common way of visualizing the age structure is with a population pyramid. The age structure has molded our world to see if a lot of children are being born and people don't live to be very old or vice versa. One is shaped as a pyramid which is how it got its name and the other like a pillar.

Chapter 13: Religion

Religious identity is important for families because traditions and practices associated with religion affect how people behave and interact with families. Every stage of family life such as birth, marriage, parents, and end of life. This is a Buddist Temple I visited in Hawaii and was interesting on how they practiced their religion and how it takes place in their lives.

Chapter 13: Social Diversity

Social Diversity is the condition of difference in experiences or characteristics of people in a population. It depends on the number of categories we use to describe people. We see the differences in diversity all around the world.

Chapter 11: Paid Work

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, men increasingly working away from home, in urban factories and offices, while women worked in increasingly isolation at home without pay. My dad in the family was the only one that had a steady income while my mom stayed at home and made sure the kids were fed and the house was clean. Not until later my mom started working and brought more money into the household.

Chapter 11: Gender Division of Labor

Gender Division of Labor is the allocation of work between men and women in society. Women at home do the nursing, child care, teaching, food service, and cleaning. In the paid market jobs are very different. Here at home I mow the lawn which is heavy work while the girls in my family do the cleaning and cooking inside the household.

Chapter 11: Single Parents

My cousin is a single parent raising his girl by himself and providing for her. He finds it tough raising her by himself, but does everything he can to make her happy. Luckily he has a stable job and has a good income coming in to support her and himself. Those without the ability to earn higher incomes, struggle to earn money, do housework, and take care of children without a time conflict.

Chapter 11: Market Work

Market Work is work done by employees for pay. Wingstop was my first market work and got paid minimum wage. This job helped me realize how tough the work environment is.

Chapter 11: Housework

Housework is work to maintain a household's functions. This can pile up quickly if the house isn't maintained constantly. It can be anything from washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc.

Chapter 10: Stepchild

Stepchild is the child of one's spouse or committed partner. Step-relations have no biological relationship, but are related by the marriage or similar commitments of adults. Here we see my aunt with her husband and son which makes her son her husbands stepchild due to marriage.

Chapter 10: Blended Family

A Blended Family is any family that includes stepparents, stepsiblings, or half-siblings. The word blended means more than one family is mixed together. We see here a blended family. On the left is my aunt with her biological son and on the right her husband with his biological son.

Chapter 10: Half-Sibling

Half-Sibling is the biological child of one's parent and another person. These three kids have the same mother but different fathers.

Chapter 10: Divorce

Divorce is the legal dissolution of marriage according to the laws of the state. This is more difficult when there is children involved in the relationship. Today we see divorce more acceptable although some cultures don't permit it. 

Chapter 10: Stepparent

A Stepparent is the spouse or committed partner of one's biological or adoptive parent. Here we see the stepparent and her stepchild (kid in green sweater). 

Chapter 9: Involved Father Ideal

Involved Father Ideal is the father as an emotional, nurturing companion who bonds with his children as well as providing for them. This ideal is nearly universally accepted. Here is a father who shows his children companion and comfort while also providing for them. 

Chapter 9: Adoptive Parents

Adoptive Parents are parents to a child they did not produce biological. They both have children from prior relationships they had and are now step parents to those children. 

Chapter 9: Biological Parents

Biological Parents are the adults whose bodies including the father' sperm and the mother's egg produce a child. These are my wonderful parents who I care for dearly. They are my support system and always there when I need their help and advice. These are the people who brought me into this world. 

Chapter 9: Opportunity Cost

Opportunity Cost is the price one pays for choosing the less lucrative of the available options. Gerald Gillum also known as G-Eazy a rapper from the Bay Area speaks about his young adulthood and the struggle he goes through with his mother. 

Chapter 9: Parent

A Parent is an adult intimately responsible for the care and rearing of a child. This is a beautiful mother. She is the person that takes care of me as well as my father and is the women who brought me into this world.

Chapter 8: Weddings And the Price of Perfection

A wedding may be a religious or civil ceremony, marked by a consumer spending binge, or just a party with friends and family. The cost of hosting an ideal wedding is a barrier to many people considering marriage. Some people want a unforgettable wedding they will remember their whole lives while others just want to sign a paper stating them husband and wife. 

Chapter 8: Benefits of Marriage

People rarely explain their reasons of marriage be describing how they will save money or taxes. Marriage could bring happiness, health and wealth, but these things comes with responsibility and cooperation. Social status is also a reward for marriage. One difference that may set married couples apart is religion. 

Chapter 8: Same-Sex Marriage

The federal government provides many benefits to married people. This type of marriage is being seen more today and has become accept in different states in the U.S and around the world. The largest in same-sex marriage are Brazil, France, England, South Africa, Spain, and Argentina. It has been more accepted and people are aware that everyone should be treated with the same rights. 

Chapter 8: Cohabitation

Cohabitation is living together as a sexual or romantic couple without being married. This stage has become rapidly in relationships for the majority of couples. They may or may not be engaged to marry, have children, or be sexually exclusive. Here we see a couple that have been cohabiting for years but not yet married. 

Chapter 8: Marriage Market

Marriage Market is the social space in which people search for potential marriage partners. We can see these spaces as the neighborhood, campus, or city. Online dating is the social space may be a group with some common interest or quality. ChristianMingle is a dating site where people have the same religion in common. 

Chapter 7: Hooking Up

Hooking Up is a casual sexual or romantic encounter without explicit commitment or exclusively. This could mean different things to different people. Some people include all forms of sexual interaction, while others specifically exclude intercourse. 

Chapter 7: Mate Selection

Mate Selection is the process by which people choose each other for sexual or romantic relationships. By understanding inequality, inclusion versus exclusion, and family dynamics are the things that form a path to family formation. People use dating sites such as eharmony to find a mate they have similar interests with. 

Chapter 7: Romantic Love

Romantic Love is the passionate devotion and attraction one person feels for another. The modern version of romantic love is "mythical" because it involves an imaginary perfection. This love is not always attainable. Here we see a couple and understand the meaning of romantic love. 

Chapter 7: Romantic Relationships

Romantic Relationships is mutually acknowledged, ongoing interactions featuring heightened affection and intensity. Although romantic relationships don't need to be sexual, these types don't seem to last very long. People have different views of love in romantic relationships. 

Chapter 7: Love

Love is a deep affection and concern for another, with whom one feels a strong emotional bond. This could happen many times during a lifetime, it's just part of human nature. 

Chapter 6: Coming Out

Coming Out is the process of revealing one's gay sexual orientation to the significant people in one's life. This process can be difficult to some people and are afraid to come out of the closet and reveal their true selves. Some are afraid that they won't be accepted by their friends and family. Today we see coming out happening more and people just wanting to show who they really are. 

Chapter 6: Sexual Double Standard

Sexual Double Standard is the practice of applying stricter moral or legal controls to women's sexual behavior than to men's. Women could not initiate sex and limited their sexual behavior to a monogamous marriage. Whereas men were expected to be more promiscuous even if married. This standard has become less universal over the years. 

Chapter 6: Homophobia

Homophobia is fear of or antipathy toward homosexuality in general and gays and lesbians in particular. The fear contributes to the stigma, creating a social cycle that has proved show to change. In today's society we see homosexuality being more expressed and open. 

Chapter 6: Adolescence

Adolescence is the period of development between childhood and adulthood. This is the period of the "teens" from ages 13 to 18. During this period we go through stages that will shape us the the adult we will turn out to be. Here we see a young man going through adolescence. 

Chapter 6: Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation is the pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to others in relation to one's own gender identity. The pattern of attraction exists on a continuum that ranges from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual, with variations in between that represent degrees of bisexuality. 

Chapter 5: Gender Identity

Gender Identity is the identification with the social category boy/man or girl/woman. The identification is internal to the individual, although it is developed through interaction with others. It's a lifelong project even though the category to which people belong rarely changes. Here we see Jackie and she realizes her gender identity. 

Chapter 5: Gender

Gender is the social realization of biological sex. Gender can be split into two parts gender identity and gender expression. Here we see a young man who knows his biological sex. 

Chapter 5: Sexual Identity

Sexual Identity refers to the recognition, or internalization, of a biological sex category. One's sexual identity usually matches ones sex category. Most people are identified by both other's and themselves as either male or female however, this sometimes isn't the case. 

Chapter 5: Peers

Peers are people in a similar social situation and of similar status with whom an individual interacts. Peers are generally about the same age, usually in the same neighborhood, school, or other social settings. I have made a lot of peers by soccer and has gave me the most memorable memories that I will never forget. 

Chapter 5: Transgender

Transgender is a term to describe individuals whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex. The crossover may be apparent by their gender expression, such as wearing clothes of the opposite sex. However, this doesn't indicate an attraction to people of the same sex. For example, Bruce Jenner but now known as Caitlyn Jenner struggled with her gender identity. 

Chapter 4: Social Capital

Social Capital is the access to resources one has by virtue of relationships and connections within a social network. I got the opportunity to get my first job at Wingstop by my uncle who is the supervisor. He was my connection and putting a good word in for me by speaking with the manager. I wanted to protect the reputation and put in my effort to land the job. 

Chapter 4: Social Mobility

Social Mobility is the movement, up or down, between social classes. The issue is people's class origin versus their class destination. The social class status of their parents compared with their own class position in adulthood. My social mobility will maybe remain the same as my parents social class because of the difficulty of moving up from that class. Many people do rise but then also many more don't. 

Chapter 4: Class Identity

Class Identity is the awareness of, and sense of belonging to, a specific social class. While poor families have one car and might not have stable incomes, upper class family have multiple expensive cars and don't struggle economically. The higher the class you are in, the more durable your class identity. The more persisting for years, if not generations. 

Chapter 4: Life Chances

Life Chances is the practical opportunity to achieve desired material conditions and personal experiences. A family that is upper class with a high income have children with higher possibilities of success. Whereas a family with low income has a lower chance of being successful. I was grateful to be born in a family that has enough to become successful with the resources to do so. 

Chapter 4: Poverty Line

Poverty Line is the level of income below which the federal government defines a family or individual as poor. This was created in the 1960s based on a formula that simply multiplied a family "economy food plan" times three. Shown that I have no money in my wallet I would be considered in the poverty line. 

Chapter 3: Familism

Familism is a personal outlook that puts family obligations first, before individual well-being. I consider my dad to be familism because he always puts his family first before himself. He sacrifices a lot for our family and makes sure that we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs. I see him as my hero and will follow in his footsteps and provide for my own family the same way as he did for ours.

Chapter 3: Minority Group

Minority Group is a racial or ethnic group that occupies a subordinate status in society. Minority groups can American Indians, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. Some groups are usually, but not always, smaller than the dominant group. Here we see a minority enjoying a baseball game at Dodger Stadium which in this game they lost. 

Chapter 3: Race

Race is a group of people believed to share common descent, based on perceived innate physical similarities. Racial identity is passed from parents to children within families. My grandma and father are the same race because they share common descent and have the same physical similarities with one another.  

Chapter 3: Endogamy

Endogamy is marriage and reproduction within a distinct group. My parents are from the same country and share many common traits with each other. The contribute to endogamy by their traits and places them in a distinct group with the same backgrounds. 

Chapter 3: Exogamy

Exogamy is marriage and reproduction outside one's distinct group. My aunt married outside of her distinct group and is living happily with her husband.