Social Institutions Social institutions are established or standardized
Social Institutions
• Social institutions are established or standardized patterns of rule-governed behavior. They include the family, education, religion, and economic and political institutions.
Functions of Institutions • Simplify social behavior • Provide social relationships and roles • Act as agencies of coordination and stability for total culture • Control behavior • Example – Government
Global Trends – Age at marraiage
Total Fertility rate - global
Fertility rate – US
Age at marriage- US
How have these changes affected marriage and family?
Traditional idea of marriage Is idea of marriage changing? A permanent relationship Common law marriage A legal and social contract Polygamy Reproduction Gay couples • Marriage is a key social institution in all societies because marriages create families
Sociologist define family as… • Socially organized group (joined by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption) that forms an emotional connection • Basic economic unit of the society • Provides security
Two basic forms of family • 1. A family of orientation – determined by birth • 2. Family of procreation – formed through marriage
What constitutes a family? • The American view – 2010 Survey found • • • 98% - traditional family 83% Unmarried couples with children 40% unmarried couple without children 64% gay couples with children 33% gay couples without children
Symbolic interactionist view • If you consider yourself as a family, you are a family (social construction of reality) • Census definition “ A group of two people or more, related by birth marriage or adoption and residing together”
What constitutes marriage
Changing norms about marriage • 2010 Survey • 39% agreed that marriage is becoming obsolete • Why? ? • Cohabitation is on a rise
Marriage partners – Cultural norms • Monogamy – most common form (78% cultures) • Polygamy – parts of Africa and Asia and middle east – Polygyny – although sanctioned by culture – not common – Polyandry – very rare
Polygamy is felony in most US states
Residency and line of descent • Unilateral or bilateral? • Unilaetral – Partilineal – Partilocal residence – Matrilineal – Martilocal residence – Ambilinieal – Why is this important? ? - Inheritance
A snapshot of changing family in media
Variation in family life • Ideal family (Census 2010) – 99. 8% believe in traditional family However 66% live in household with two parents 3% children live with cohabitating parents 27% single parent families
Single parents • Census data (2010 • 27% children live in single parent households – 23% live with mother (10% - cohabitating boyfriends) – 4% live with fathers (20% cohabitating girlfriends) – Living with stepfather/ mother – 4% (3 million children) live with guardians – 54% are guardians are grandparents) Why is this relevant ?
Cohabitation
Cohabitation • Estimated 7. 5 million people in 2011 • Changing perceptions – Only 38% think cohabitation negatively society (2010) Who are those cohabitating Majority non-Hispanic with no high school diploma and grew up in a single-parent households (census 2010)
Impact of cohabitation • Motivation – Save money – Trial run for marriage – Outcome • 85% marry • Little effect on success of marriage • Delay in getting married
Same-sex couples • Since 2000, 50% increase in same sex marriages – Better reporting – Greater acceptance – 1% US household are same-sex – Variation by sate
Same-sex couples – how different are they? • What does the data show – Average income – Raising kids – No negative impact on children
Staying Single • 25 -29 age group - never married (2010) – 62% women (11% of total population of this age group) – 48% men (19% of total population of this age group) – More acceptance for men than women • Labels for women – “Old maid” • Racial differences
Challenges family face • Divorce and remarriage – Steady increase in divorce, peaked in 1980 – Greater acceptance – Trend towards decline • Increase in age at marriage • Increased education levels for those who marry
Intersection of Race and Class • Southern states have higher marriage and divorce rate • Highest among Native Americans and Alaskan natives, followed by African Americans and Whites • Highest among lower education level and those who marry young
Reasons for Divorce • Financial stress • Births of children – financial and emotional stress (having twins) • Decline in marital satisfaction • Impact on children – They are more like to divorce
Remarriage • 19% have second marriages • 91% after divorce, 9% after death of spouse • Most marry within 5 years of marriage • Who remarry – more men or more women?
How divorce and remarriage affects children? • Generally negative impact on children – Confused – Guilt – Feel responsible to bring parents together – Most difficult for school-age kids – Joint custody helps, specially for boys High-conflict marriages are not good for children
Problems within marriage and family • Domestic violence – Intimate partner violence – More women are victimized – 1 in 4 women have experienced some IPV in lifetime – IPV often starts are emotional abuse and leads to other forms of abuse – Structural Functionalism cannot explain such events
Profile of IPV victims • Who are they? – Race – Income (unemployment) – Income – High rates of depression Where it happens? - mostly home Often involves substance abuse • IPV is grossly underreported
2010 - 3. 3 million reported cases of child abuse (5. 9 million children) • Forms of Abuse – Neglect (78%) – Physical abuse (11%) – Sexual abuse (8%) – Psychological maltreatment(7%) – Medical neglect (2%) – Most neglected are infants – high dependencyshaken baby syndrome – 81% perpetrators are parents
Causes • • Age of parents Financial stress Drug and alcohol use Social isolation Depression Low parental education History of child abuse
Effects • Effects on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing – injury, poor health and mental instability – 80% will display depression, anxiety abd sucidal ideation by age 21 – 25% will suffer from poor academic performace, teen pregnancy and other risky behaviours
• U. S. High School Graduation Rate Hits New Record High • The nation's high school graduation rate hit 82 percent in 2013 -14, the highest level since states adopted a new uniform way of calculating graduation rates five years ago.
The achievement gap changes
College graduates- retention • About 59 percent of students who began seeking a bachelor's degree at a 4 -year institution in fall 2007 completed that degree within 6 years. The graduation rate for females (62 percent) was higher than the rate for males (56 percent).
Race and education
Institution type and graduation
Graduation rate in 2 year colleges • At 2 -year institutions overall, as well as at public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit 2 -year institutions, the completion rate was higher for females than for males. At private nonprofit 2 -year institutions, for example, 58 percent of females versus 46 percent of males completed a certificate or associate's degree within 150 percent of the normal time required.
Poverty and graduation rate
Cost of education • Sharp increase in the cost of college degrees since mid-1980 s • No matching increase in Pell Grants • Student loans – 2013 the average was $29, 000 • Only 27% had jobs related to their major
Yet, education is important • Graduates earn more • Students gain “cultural capital” – college experience grooms students to learn values of professionalism • Informal education is also important for “cultural transmission”
Functions of education • Social placement – Education provides a means of upward social mobility – Places people with education in important positions
How education perpetuates inequality
How education perpetuates inequality • Class – parents expectation from children • Class – what parents can afford? • The home environment – what support do they have? • What “cultural capital” they have? • How “tracking” (gifted and talented programs) help some – “self-fulfilling prophecies” • Disparity in schools
Issues in education • Historically, providing equal education to all has been contested – Examples - Brown Vs Board – 1957 racial segregation in schools – Today – • Education gap within public schools • Divide between public and private schools
School reforms • Coleman report – pre-school deficit and ‘Head Start Program’ • Busing – Vanguard program • No child left behind Act – testing and accountability – funding requirement • Unintended consequence- teaching to test
Issues in Education • Bilingual education – Controversy – English for integration Common Core – issues with assessment Issues with what is measured in standardized test Charter schools
- Slides: 52