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 |  Sociology: The Core, 6/e Michael Hughes,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Carolyn J. Kroehler
James W. Vander Zanden,
The Ohio State University (Emeritus)
The Family
Internet Exercises| Exercise 1
One hot topic in the study of families is the composition of the family unit. Visit Public Agenda Online (http://www.publicagenda.org). Under "The Issues," click on "The Family"; then "Fact File"; and then "Children's Living Arrangements." Compare the pie charts showing the living situations for children in 1960 with the living situations for children in 1998.
a. What category of living situation experienced the greatest rate of growth? [Hint: Look at the proportion of the increase or decrease of each category rather than the raw percent of total children in each category.]
Next, go "Back" to the "Fact File" page and click on "Child support payments."
b. What proportion of custodial parents received no child support payments in 1997 – either because child support was not awarded or because no payments were received? How might this impact public policy regarding custodial parents and children?Exercise 2
John R. Gillis explores how myths of the stable, nurturing family complicate our real family lives in his book A World of Their Own Making. Go to Sociology.About.Com (http://sociology.about.com/cs/marriagefamily/index_2.htm) and select "A World of Their Own Making." Read the abstract of Gillis's book and answer the following questions:
a. According to Gillis, what changes have occurred that increase pressure on the family to adhere to higher – and perhaps unattainable – standards?
b. Why can elevating motherhood to a sacred rite of passage cause more stress and conflict for women?
c. What does Gillis mean when he says that "motherhood and fatherhood have switched places in our symbolic universes"?Exercise 3
Using a search engine such as yahoo.com, search on "family values."
Choose a number of the sites you find and explore them further.
Write a short report about the many ways "family values" are defined in our society.
How is this term thought about differently by different interest and cultural groups,
including political and religious groups?
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education