Read through the following questions and answer one of them in your journal. Your answer should be complete, and must be written in standard, grammatically correct English.
1. Define the following terms: family, household, nuclear family, extended family, family of orientation, family of procreation, marriage, endogamy, exogamy, incest taboo, polygyny and polyandry.
2. Summarize the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspectives of marriage and family. Which theory do you believe is best? Why?
3. Discuss child rearing in the United States, including its relationship to social class. Specifically, what are the goals of parents in the working-class compared to those of middle-class parents? Why are they so different?
4. Compare and contrast African American families, Latino families, Asian American families, and Native American families.
5. Discuss the three trends in U.S. families discussed in the text. What effects do you believe these trends will have on our society in the next 50 years? Why?
6. Why is it difficult to measure divorce accurately? What questions do sociologists ask when they determine the divorce rate? Why do different questions yield different rates? Which question do you believe is best to use? Why?
7. Define and discuss spouse battering, child abuse, and incest. What should society do to reduce these patterns of behavior?
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