SOCS 185N Week 6 Assignment: Sociological Theory & Trends in Family Life (GRADED)

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Week 6 Assignment: Sociological Theory & Trends in Family Life Chamberlain College of Nursing SOCS 185: Culture and Society 1. Briefly compare and contrast structural-functionalist, social-co... nflict, and symbolic- interactionist approaches in their analyses of gender stratification. Various perspectives are presented by the sociologists in order to explain the role of the gender and inequalities in the society. Gender stratification studies the inequality in terms of wealth, authority and freedom between genders in the society. The structural- functionalist approach says that gender are differentiated based on the traditional gender roles that contributes to the stability of society (Week 5 Lesson, 2020). The roles are such that husband performs the instrumental tasks of doing financial support and decision making whereas the wife has the expressive task of providing affection and emotional support to the family (Kendall, 2018, p. 305). While human except these roles readily, it benefits the society to be stable. Society becomes stable when men are on the upper hand controlling women. However, the discrimination between men and women in terms of labor and the amount of workload assigned to women is unfair. The social conflict theory proposes that the domination of male over female occurs in families and workplace causing gender stratification (Kendall, 2018). The dominance nature is pretty much reflected in the political, and economic sector in workplaces. Women are paid less in comparison to males. The sexual harassment in workplace by male is another example of dominance. Thus, a social issue of gender inequality occurs when a dominant group suppress over the weak ones. Conflict between male trying to reign the power and women seeking equality makes women to protest for their rights. The symbolic interactionist theory claims, exploring gender stratification from a micro level analysis is the job of the interactionist (Week 5 Lesson, 2020). The interaction in our daily life between male and female reflects the gender stratification. I grew up listening to my parents that women should not raise voice. Girls are taught to speak softly while boys are exception to these things. Gender stratification exists because our society establishes a nuance out of the conversation and interaction between male and female, and later it becomes a trend to highlight the differences in male and female. All of these theories/ perspectives suggest the overriding nature of male over female starting from family to workplace in terms of interaction and work they are given. 2. Examine divorce trends in the United States over the past several decades and discuss ways they shape family life. Also, explain factors contributing to the divorce rate in the U.S. Compare and contrast at least two U.S. subgroups in your answer. The divorce trend in the United States is very common and has high rate compared to other nations in the world. According to ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the U.S., the divorce rate has varied from a low of 0.7 in 1900 to an all time high of 5.3 in 1981; by 2012 it had decrease to 3.4 percent (Kendall, 2018, p. 339). Although the data indicates the decreasing divorce rate, it is always changing because of various factors seen in certain groups. According to a research article, “Data from the National Survey of Family Growth indicate that 42% of non- Hispanic Whites and Hispanics divorced within the first 15 years of marriage, compared with 55% of African Americans” (Amato, 2010, p. 651). This high divorce rate is noted in African Americans due to factors like complex set of historical, economic, structural, and cultural factors (Amato, 2010, p. 651). Education also plays a role in the decision taking process of getting divorced. People make quick decision in impulse without contemplating the consequence for future. The decreasing rate of getting married and the increasing number of divorces in various groups reveal that children are being raised by a single parent which implies lower socio- economic condition like poverty and being homeless. Also, cohabitation adds up to the divorce rate as people tend to have a live-in relation without having any serious commitment. In U.S. there is a trend that teens get married in early age which usually end-up getting divorce. Other factors like racial and ethnic stratifications between interracial couples may cause divorce as well. References Amato, P. R. (2010). Research on Divorce: Continuing Trends and New Developments. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 650–666. Retrieved from, https://eds-b-ebscohost- com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=14&sid=27deff0d-df29-43ed-bfa8-bccbd65ba402%40sessionmgr103 Kendall, D. (2018). Sociology in our times: The essentials (11th ed). Boston: Cengage Learning. Week 5: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Inequalities. (March 2020). SOCS 185N-61816: Culture and Society. (Online lesson). Retrieved from https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/59138/pages/week-5-lesson-race-ethnicity- and-gender-inequalities?module_item_id=7838828 [Show More]

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