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Social Class and Parents in Public and Private Families: An Introduction by Andrew J. Cherlin

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In his textbook, Public and Private Families: An Introduction, Andrew J. Cherlin

discusses the differences across social classes in how parents raise children. Social

class is an ordering of all persons in a society according to their degrees of economic

resources, prestige, and privilege. All sociologists agree that income and wealth are

important factors in determining social class. The social class consists of a four class

model: upper-class, middle-class, working-class, and lower-class. In the discussion of

social class and child rearing, Cherlin focuses on the middle, working, and lower

classes. The middle-class have fixed, pleasant incomes and live well above the

subsistence level, while the working-class have incomes …show more content…

Middle-class families used a concerted cultivation approach, where they put in a

lot of time and commitment to enhance their children’s talents, curiosity, opinions, and

skills. Alexander Williams, a son of a black middle-class family attends a non- segregated private school with an after school program. His extra-curricular activities

included guitar lessons and photography instruction, and his Saturday mornings

consisted of an 8:15am private piano lesson and afterwards church choir for several

hours. Alexander’s mother believes that it is her responsibility to help cultivate her son’s

talents; she sees the extra-curricular activities as way to develop important life skills.

She gives an example of how Sports give Alexander the opportunity to learn how to be

competitive and accept both defeat and victory. Alexander’s father believes his son’s

rich experiences will make him a better citizen, husband, father, and better student

(Cherlin Reader). From looking at Alexander’s lifestyle it can be recognized that he has

been blessed with a lot of privileged life chances. German sociologist Max Webber

included the idea of life chances in the concept of social class. Life chances are the

opportunities that people have to provide themselves with favorable living conditions

(Cherlin 2012). Alexander’s family is a neo-traditional family, which is a style of family

life centered

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