Are Nuclear Families Ever Changing

Families, as units, are extremely complex and vary drastically from one another. A person might be under the impression that his or her own family is nothing special, especially if they are accustomed to their family’s routines. After analyzing my own family through the sociological lenses of an assortment of scholars, it is now clear that it is not as simple as it seems. Sociologically analyzing my family through the divorces that have occurred in my life makes it clear that divorce can have an impact on a variety of family dynamics, such as my parents and their jobs and domestic duties, the amount of involvement they have with their friends and family, as well as my financial dependence on my parents.

This paper will discuss the differences between families from the 1960’s and the families of today. There are many differences between the different times. I have focused on the parentage portion of the families. I explained what the ideal family is and how it is different today. I’ve also included ways that will help these families of today become stronger as a family.

In this paper, I will use the sociological imagination to connect my personal experiences of growing up in a nuclear family to comparison of growing up in a divorced family. I’m from a nuclear family and my best friend is from a divorced family. “Some people still think the average American family consists of a husband who works in paid employment and a wife who looks after the home, living together with their children” according to Giddens, Anthony pg. 447. That’s not the case in many households. There are many differences, from values, financial issues, and how having one parent opposed to, two parents growing up. Growing up in a nuclear family household has given me the opportunity to have both parents supporting me and always being there, having both parents at special events, giving me the guidance from both perspectives man, and women, love, and financial aid. My best friends parents have been divorced for over 19 years, her living style is much different. She has to make certain days available to visit her father, and her mother has financial difficulties.

Doherty begins his book, The Intentional Family, by telling the reader that this century has witnessed a revolution in the structures and expectations of family life. He states that we have reinvented family life away from the traditional family, or how he terms it, the “Institutional Family,” a family based on kinship, children, community ties, economics and the father’s authority. Children are now growing up in single-parent homes or living with a step-family, and an adult is likely to cohabitate, marry, divorce and remarry. The Institutional Family was suited to a world of family farms, small family businesses and tight communities bound together by a common religion. It began to give way during the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, when individual freedom and the pursuit of personal happiness and achievement began to be more important than kinship obligations, and when small farms and villages started to give way to more impersonal cities. A new family began to emerge – the “Psychological Family” – replacing the Institutional Family of the past. This new kind of family was based on personal achievement and happiness more than on family obligations and tight community bonds. Doherty believes that in the early twentieth century, Americans turned a corner in family life, never to go back.

Family needs have changed since the 1950s and women's work in the ideal nuclear family has been historically constructed and reproduced by culture and patriarchal heteronormative society. An ideal nuclear family is a group consisting of two parents and their children. This family includes both sexes, who maintain a sexual relationship and one or more children. Within this family, everyone had roles; the father worked whereas the mother maintained the household and cared for the offspring. The children were to model and study their parents to become them, so they could later take their place in society when the parents are too old to perform their duties. The nuclear family is no longer the American dream and soon society began to notice that many Americans were not living the ideal nuclear lifestyle. With the world adjusting and adapting there are new definitions for what consists of a family. We are shifting from a heteronormative society to an inclusive society.

n the upcoming page’s I will answer the following questions. Why is family the most important agent of socialization? What caused the dramatic changes to the American family? What are the changes? I will discuss the differences in marriage and family, I will discuss how they are linked to class, race, gender, and personal choices. The purpose of this study is to explore the many different family functions and the paths that people are now choosing. I will give my opinion on whether these changes have had a positive or negative affect. I will finally discuss the trend of the modern family, back to pre-World War II family structure, how would that effect the strides that have been made in the progression of women rights.

Constance Ahrons, a doctor who coined the term “binuclear family” once said, “Pessimists say that the family is eroding. Optimists say the family is diversifying. Both points of view are right. Families are more diverse and they are more in trouble-but not because of their diversity. The families of today-whatever their size or shape-are in crisis because our economy is failing, our national resources are shrinking, and our governmental policies to support them are inadequate.” This quote gives a perspective of several reasons for the decline of the nuclear family. A nuclear family is a type of traditional family, consisting of a mother, a father, and their children. It involves time spent with the children, emotional support, low stress, and a stable economic environment. This type of family became most popular during the 1950’s, and was regarded more as a universal form of a social organization, and not just a simple family. Both parents worked secure jobs, and would come home to their children, and would enjoy this happy-go-lucky lifestyle. However, this fantasy of a family evolved over time, and the idea of a nuclear family curtailed. New generations were created that opposed the idea of a nuclear family, and began to reject society’s values: Generation X and Generation Z. In addition to the new generations, there was a development to the word “family”, as many families differed from the traditional template of a mother, a father, and children; changing the idea of a

The discussion of how society has shaped or altered the daily life of families across the globe has been going on for centuries. Some studies blame advancing technology, the industrializing of American society, differing forms of economic systems, or shifting from a religious to a more secular modern society for the loss of a strong emotional bond between family members--but whatever the explanation, the western world family unit is no longer the heartwarming entity of yesteryears. Analytically studying the daily life of each era and comparing the differences give a good depiction of what parts from each combine to form the best family for tomorrow. The key to a better family for tomorrow is to use the beneficial pieces of the past, such as

A family is a group of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Most people are familiar with the term “nuclear families”. However, today the idea of a postmodern family is becoming more and more common. A nuclear family consists of two parents and children. The nuclear family was long held by society as being the ideal in which to raise children. The single parent family consists of one parent raising one or more children on his or her own. This limits income and opportunities in many cases, although many single parent families have help from relatives and friends. The extended family structure consists of two or more adults who are related, either by blood or marriage, living in

Nuclear family is defined as “familial form consisting of a father, a mother, and their children” (Conley, 2015, p. 453). This type of family was considered the traditional family in American society in the 1950s. The traditional family was when the man worked outside the home and the wife stayed at home and tended to the home and children. Also the idea of the traditional family has changed, especially with the rate of divorce and single parents increasing. “The divorce rate has been steadily rising since the nineteenth century, as divorce became less and less of a social and religious taboo” (Conley, 2015, p. 456).

Now well into the 21st century, as a modern, innovative, and multicultural North American society – there are a myriad of family-types, subsequently, multiple definitions and ideologies that encompass family systems, functions, and representations. Galvin, Braithwaite, and Bylund (2016) attest that “family life is a universal human experience” (p. 2) and that “there are many ways to be a family [because] family life is as diverse as the persons who create families” (p. 3). Deliberately, Galvin et al. (2016) reveal different family-types that range from two-parent biological family to intergenerational family with five different cohorts in between, each with individual characteristics (p. 9). Amidst family cohorts, the single-parent family (SPF) comprises one parent, and one child or children forged by choice (including adoption and other means), separation (including divorce and desertion), or death. The SPF is also categorized dependent on custodial functions and responsibilities (Galvin et al., 2016, p. 9).

The individual that I chose to interview for this assignment is a close friend of mine named Kash Quinn. Kash is currently a junior in college, with a major in Family and Consumer Science. Kash and I come from familial backgrounds that are not drastically different. We are of the same ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. The differences lie within the structure of our families. I come from a single parent household, and am the youngest of three children. Kash comes from a two-parent household, and is an only child. Interviewing Kash helped me gain a new perspective on the dynamics of nuclear families.

Overview The Family Unit In human sociological terms, the family is described as a group of people that have affinity traditionally, organized through husband, wife, and children and/or extended relatives. This unit, called the nuclear family, was a historical organization that served economic and cultural needs, educated children in societal behaviors, and offered stability. In the modern age, however, families of all kinds exist. There may be one-two, three or more parents involved in the child's overall plan; those parents may be traditional, grandparents or care-givers, same sex couples, or multiple divorces, etc. We live in a diverse world, not just in the United States, but globally. Preparing children for a leadership role in this world also requires that we take into account individual micro- and macro-differences, celebrate those differences, and view the family as assisting in any way possible the positive relationship of the community, the schools, and other resources to help those children actualize (Hareven, 1991; Berman, 2010).

33). In addition, today we can see so many families that does not fit in the traditional family. Now most of the families both parents work and take care about the kids and the households. It is common to see unmarried couples with two or three children. For example, my parents started a relationship when they were eighteen years old, after two years my mom got pregnant. My older brother born and three years later my parents got married. In that time was not very common to see families like mine, but my parents did not care about it. Nevertheless, some people still think that the nuclear family is the same that was in the 50’s, but the truth is that the time is changing and a lot of people are focusing more in the modern families.

Throughout human history individuals around the world, of various ethnic, racial, cultural backgrounds have linked together to form what people call today families. A lot of questions come to mind when contemplating the complex relationship people have. Since families have a direct bearing on society now and on future generations it is essential to take seriously what is happening to the family. Is the American family in decline, and if so what should be done about it? “Traditionally, family has been defined as a unit made up of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption: live together; form an economic unit, and bear and raise children (Benokraitis, 3).” The definition of decline is to “fail in strength, vigor, character, value, deteriorate, slant downward.” The traditional nuclear family consists of a father provider, mother-homemaker, and at least one child (Brym and Lie, 252).” The nuclear family is a distinct and universal family form because it performs five important functions in society:sexual regulation, economic cooperation, reproduction, socialization, and emotional support. Research from the 1950 's to the present will emphasize what trends are taking place among American families. Family trends might not have expected???