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 – Family
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”
U. S. Families - Statistics & Facts | Statista • As of 2018, the U. S. Census Bureau counted about 83. 09 million families in the United States. The average family consists of 3. 14 persons in 2018, down from 3. 7 in the 1960 s. This is reflected in the decrease of children in family households overall. In 1970, about 56 percent of all family households had children under the age of 18 living in the household. This percentage declined to 41. 4 percent in 2017.
Record-low marriage rate This graph charts the rise and fall of the U. S. marriage rate 1880 -2014. The figure shows how many marriages per 1, 000 people. National Vital statistics
What constitutes marriage
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
The American Family today: Pew research center
Race and Family
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 ?
Single moms are one of the most disadvantaged groups in the U. S. — nearly 30% of their families live under the poverty line, according to the US Census, as compared with 62% of families with married parents. *18. 4% of all births in the U. S. in 1980 were to unmarried women * 40. 6% of all births in the U. S. in 2008 were to unmarried women
* Source: U. S. Census Bureau, 2009 -2011 American Community Surveys, 2012 Condition of Children in Orange County, America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2012 by Jonathan Vespa and Jamie M. Lewis Twenty five million children are growing up without fathers in the home. That’s 40% of the kids in America. As reported by the Center for Children and Families: ➲ 40% of all live births in the US are to single mothers. ➲ 90% of welfare recipients are single mothers. ➲ 70% of gang members, high school dropouts, teen suicides, teen pregnancies and teen substance abusers come from single mother homes. Statistically, a child in a single-parent household is far more likely to experience violence, commit suicide, continue a cycle of poverty, become drug dependent, commit a crime or perform below his peers in education.
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)
Same-sex couples • Since 2000, 50% increase in same sex marriages – Better reporting – Greater acceptance – 1% US household are same-sex – Variation by sate
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
Impact of cohabitation • Motivation – Save money – Trial run for marriage – Outcome • 85% marry • Little effect on success of marriage • Delay in getting married
Family size is declining
Birth among unmarried women
Births outside marriage
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 family life has changed
How family life has changed
Problems within marriage and family • Domestic violence – Intimate partner violence – women are much more likely to be a victim than men. Nearly 1 in 4 (22. 3 percent) women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, whereas 1 in 7 men (14 percent) have experienced the same. – 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? – Income (unemployment) – 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 and suicidal 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.
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: 50