Sociology Of Family In The Family

“The Sociology of Families and Households”,
The film, “The Sociology of Families and Households”, examines families from a sociological perspective, as it discusses the ways in which the meaning of family has changed throughout history. To better understand how families have changed throughout several decades, the film discusses how structural functionalism, Marxist theory and feminist theory have played a role in defining what a family is, or was at that time in history. The film also examines a few key challenges facing families, such as divorce, single parent households, finding a balance between work and the family and the formation of stepfamilies. Conclusively, the film discusses how the changes in society affect how families function

Marriage was once for the sole purpose of procreation and financially intensives. Living up to the roles that society had placed on married couples, more so women, is no longer the goal in marriage. Being emotional satisfied, having a fulfilled sex life and earning money is more important in marriage (Cherlin, 2013). Couples no longer feel the obligation to put the needs of their partner in front of their own needs. In the 1960’s and later it was the woman’s job to ensure that the house was clean, the children were bathed and dinner was prepared before the husband came home work. However, once more and more women began to enter the workplace and gain more independence, a desire for self-development and shared roles in the household lead way the individualistic marriage that is present in today’s society (Cherlin,

A major strength in the film was interviewing both the adults in the families and the adolescents in the families. By doing so, it gave the viewer a better understanding of how the meaning of family changes over time. The adolescents in the film had more individualistic meaning of family, they were more concerned with being personally satisfied then their parents had felt. Another strength in the film was interviewing a diverse group of families, such as, a single parent family, a blended family, and a family with parents who have not divorced. By hearing the stories of families from this diverse group, the viewer was able to see how different families functioned and the different roles that families