Marriage and Family

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Marriage and Family
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Basic Concepts

• Family a social institution found in all
  societies that unites people into cooperative
  groups to oversee the bearing and raising of
  children
• Kinship (family ties) social bond based on
  blood, marriage, or adoption
• Family Unit a social group of 2 or more people
  related by blood, marriage, or adoption who
  usually live together

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Basic Concepts

• Marriage legally sanctioned relationship,
  usually involving economic cooperation, as well
  as sexual activity and childbearing, that people
  expect to be enduring
• Families of Affinity people with or without
  legal or blood ties who feel that they belong
  together and want to define themselves as a family

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Is the family in trouble?

• After a rush of divorces following WWII, the
  divorce rate dropped to 10 per 1,000 married
  women.
• By the 1960s, the divorce rate rose, peaking at
  20.3 divorces per 1,000 married women around
  1980.
• Since this time, the rate of divorce has declined
  to approximately 19.5 per 1,000 married women and
  4.0 per 1,000 population.
• 16 increase in divorces of couples married 30
  years or more

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Is the family in trouble?

• Common perception of the number of divorces 9
  out of 10 will marry and 4 of these will end in
  divorce
• Why?

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Computing Divorce Rate

• Number of divorces per thousand population
• Divorce/marriage ratio popular in the press
• Marriage/divorce ratio allows for comparison
  between countries and time frames

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Is the family in trouble?

• Problems associated with single-parent families
• Cross-cultural experiences
• Influx of experts

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Is the family disappearing?

• The most enduring social institution throughout
  the world
• Penalties for being unmarried
• Suggest process from healthy state to unhealthy
  state
• Is the current state worse than previous states
  of the family?

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History of the family

• Prior to the 19th Century Economic Unit
• 19th Century Breadwinner/housewife model
• 20th Century
• Before the fifties
• During the fifties
• After the fifties

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Structure Functional and family

• Socialization
• Regulation of sexual activity
• Social placement
• Material and emotional security
• Critical evaluation Ignores how other
  institutions could meet some of the same
  functions glosses over diversity of family life
  overlooks negative aspects of family life
• Can it still be a family if it does not fulfill
  certain functions?

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Institutional Differentiation
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Conflict and the family

• Family perpetuates social inequality
• Property and inheritance
• Patriarchy
• Racial and ethnic inequality
• Critical evaluation ignores that families carry
  out functions not easily accomplished by other
  means

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Symbolic Interaction and the family

• Cycles of the family
• Children see family different than parents
• Second shift and earnings of wife
• Feeling of safety and emotional support?
• Do different family structures encourage
  different meanings?

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Power, Gender, and Mental Health

• Conventional
• Husband employed while wife stays home
• Low to moderate depression for both partners
• Strained conventional
• Wife joins husband in labor force out of
  necessity, and does house work at home
• Moderate depression for wife, but high depression
  for husband who feels like a failure

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Power, Gender, and Mental Health

• Strained egalitarian
• Both partners are happy to be working, but wife
  still does most of the housework
• Husband enjoys more family income while wife has
  more depression
• Egalitarian
• Spouses happy to share in all facets of marriage
• Spouses experience lowest levels of depression in
  this form

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Families in a Violent SocietyA Cross National
Look

• What most distinguishes America from other
  developed countries is the extent to which
  Americans are willing to rob, maim, kill, and
  rape one another Elliott Currie, 1998
• Links between disadvantage and violence are
  strongest for the poorest
• Economic inequality combined with racial or
  ethnic discrimination leads to higher rates of
  violent crime in the United States

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Families in a Violent SocietyA Cross National
Look

• Harvard School of Public Health study of 25
  industrialized countries
• 32 of total female population in U.S.
• 70 of all female homicides in U.S.
• 84 of all female firearm homicides in U.S.
• U.S. female homicide rate 5 times combined rate
  of other 24 countries
• Female firearm homicide rate is 11 times higher
• Female non-gun homicide rate is 3 times higher

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Families in a Violent SocietyInstitutionally
Sanctioned Violence

• Historically violence between family members has
  been legitimized by the law
• Rule of Thumb
• Easy availability of handguns is correlated with
  the murder rate
• Schools promote aggressive sports
• Forms of religion supports violence
• He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who
  loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs
  1324

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Families in a Violent SocietyInstitutionally
Sanctioned Violence

• Violence in the Media
• Television and Movies
• Pornography - 12 billion industry
• Music
• Video Games - 18 billion industry

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Cultural Artifacts of Violence

• Literature and Folklore
• Nursery Rhymes
• Customs and Beliefs
• Gender socialization and differential treatment
• Competition and glorification of victory
• Corporal punishment

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Social Organization of the Family

• Activities and interests are wide
• Vast amount of time spent interacting
• Family privacy what goes on behind closed doors
  is not anyones business
• Unequal power distribution
• Between parents and children
• Between partners

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Dark Side of the Family child abuse

• What is child abuse?
• How much occurs?
• 900,000 cases 1,200 deaths (DHS, 2000)
• Rate of child abuse in 2000 12.1 per 1000
  children
• Types of maltreatment
• 63 neglect
• 19 physical abuse
• 10 sexual abuse
• 8 emotional maltreatment

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Innocenti Report Card 200327 industrialized
countries

• 3,500 children under age 15 die from maltreatment
  every year
• Germany U.K 2 children per week
• France 3 children per week
• Japan 4 children per week
• U.S. 27 children per week
• Rates of child death from maltreatment correlate
  with rates of adult deaths from assault
• Seven countries have laws prohibiting the
  physical punishment of children

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Offenders

• 84 of children abused by a parent
• Mothers responsible for 47 of neglect
• Mothers responsible for 32 of physical abuse
• 60 of perpetrators were female
• average age 30 years old
• 41 of perpetrators were male
• average age 34 years old

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Factors Contributing to Child Abuse

• Excessive discipline or physical punishment
  inappropriate for childs age
• Immaturity of parents and lack of parenting
  skills
• Social isolation
• Frequent family crises
• Substance use or abuse problems
• Exposure to parental violence
• Abused as a child 30

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BATTERED ELDERS

• Elder abuse can take the form of physical,
  psychological, financial, drug-related abuse
• Types of abuse
• Neglect is the most common form of elder
  maltreatment
• Exploitation
• Emotional abuse
• Sexual abuse
• 5 out of 6 go unreported
• 11 of all murder victims over age 60 killed by
  son or daughter
• 2/3 are women (they live longer)
• Sex of perpetrators 47.4 male 48.9 female

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BATTERED ELDERS

• 9 out of 10 incidents of domestic elder abuse
  neglect the perpetrator is a family member
• Adult children of the victims are the largest
  category of abusers
• Spouses are the second largest category of abuses
• Causes
• Population of the elderly is increasing requiring
  their adult children to take on a caretaker role
• adult children are overwhelmed by the emotional,
  physical financial strains of caring for a
  parent
• Societal ageism provides the context for elder
  abuse

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Dark Side of FamilyPartner Violence

• What is partner violence?
• How much occurs?
• 691,710 non-lethal violent crimes committed by
  intimate partner (NCVS, 2001)
• 1,687 murders attributable to intimate partner
  (DOJ, 2000)
• 85 of victims were women
• 33 of all female murder victims
• Leading cause of injuries to women ages 15 to 44
  (U.S. Surgeon General, 1992)

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Partner Violence in Iowa

• Between 20,000 and 44,000 women suffer abuse in
  their homes each year
• 7,343 incidents reported to law enforcement
  (2000)
• Domestic abuse civil filings rose from 188 in
  1990 to 5,907 in 2001.
• Between January 1995 and September 2002, at least
  61 women murdered by intimate partner
• 13 children killed in related homicides
• 2,262 women 2,484 children sought refuge in
  domestic violence shelters (2002)
• 26,795 calls to crisis hotlines in 1 year
• July 98 June 97

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Partner Violence

• Who are victims and offenders?
• Myths of abusive behavior
• Not substance abuse problem
• Not anger management problem
• Not relationship problem
• Pattern of behavior power and control

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Cycle of Violence

• Growing tension
• Pressure from others
• Pressure about money
• Abuser blames others
• Explosion of violence
• Actual physical and sexual abuse
• Threats to others
• Honeymoon Phase hearts and flowers
• Promises to change behavior
• Sorry for behavior
• Buys gifts, compliments partner
• Cycle repeats and becomes SOS

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Why do women stay?

• Learned Helplessness
• Self Blame
• Fear
• Hope
• Economic Dependency
• Many have no property that is solely theirs
• Some lack access to cash or bank accounts
• Most have at least one dependent child
• Those who do leave the child fear being charged
  with desertion losing children
• May face a decline in living standards for
  herself and her children
• May not know where to go
• May not have means to go to safety

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Institutional Barriers

• Clergy secular counselors are often trained
  only to "saving" the marriage at all costs
• Police officers often do not provide support to
  women
• Many treat violence as a domestic "dispute,"
• Police may try to dissuade women from filing
  charges
• Prosecutors are often reluctant to prosecute
  cases
• judges rarely levy the maximum sentence upon
  convicted abusers
• Probation or a fine is much more common.
• Restraining orders do little to prevent a
  released abuser from returning repeating the
  assault
• Despite greater public awareness and the
  increased availability of housing there is still
  not enough shelters to keep women safe

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Ideological Barriers

• Many do not believe divorce is a viable
  alternative
• Many are socialized to believe that they are
  responsible for making their marriage work
• Failure to maintain the marriage equals failure
  as a woman
• Many believe that a single parent family is
  unacceptable
• that even a violent father is better than no
  father at all
• Understands the reduced financial circumstances
• Many become isolated from friends families
• by the jealous and possessive abuser
• to hide signs of the abuse from the outside world
• isolation contributes to a sense that there is
  nowhere to turn
• If she continues to stay or return
• Friends and family may stop being supportive

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AGENCY

• The Women's Movement
• The feminist agenda has helped to reduce violence
  in families
• The Battered Women's Shelter Movement
• Since the early 1970s, the movement for
  residential sanctuaries for battered women
  their children has swept the country
• Legal and Criminal Justice Remedies
• Over the last 20 years the legal situation of
  abused women has changed dramatically
• the legal system has become far more responsive
  to wife abuse
• greater willingness to arrest prosecute violent
  husbands

• Domestic Abuse Laws Now Cover Dating Couples
  Governor Signs Expanded Bill February 22, 2002

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AGENCY

• In Iowa
•  When a peace officer investigates finds
  probable cause the officer must arrest when
• The assault resulted in bodily injury to a victim
• The assault was committed by someone intended to
  seriously injure the victim
• A dangerous weapon was used or displayed in
  connection with the assault
• The abuser is in violation of an order issued
  under the domestic abuse statute, a divorce
  action, or a criminal action
• An officer may arrest if they investigate have
  probable cause to believe that domestic abuse
  assault was committed, although no injury
  resulted to the victim

• Domestic Abuse Laws Now Cover Dating Couples
  Governor Signs Expanded Bill February 22, 2002

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Checklist

• Does your partner....
• __Embarrass or make fun of you in front of your
  friends or family?
• __Put down your accomplishments or goals?
• __Make you feel like you are unable to make
  decisions?
• __Use intimidation or threats to gain compliance?
  
• __Tell you that you are nothing without them?
• __Treat you roughly - grab, push, pinch, shove or
  hit you?
• __Call you several times a night or show up to
  make sure you are where you said you would be?
• __Use drugs or alcohol as an excuse for saying
  hurtful things or abusing you?
• __Blame you for how they feel or act?
• __Pressure you sexually for things you arent
  ready for?
• __Make you feel like there "is no way out" of the
  relationship?
• __ Prevent you from doing things you want - like
  spending time with your friends or family?
• __Try to keep you from leaving after a fight or
  leave you somewhere after a fight to "teach you a
  lesson"?

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Checklist

• Do You...
• __Sometimes feel scared of how your partner will
  act?
• __Constantly make excuses to other people for
  your partners behavior?
• __Believe that you can help your partner change
  if only you changed something about yourself?
• __Try not to do anything that would cause
  conflict or make your partner angry?
• __Feel like no matter what you do, your partner
  is never happy with you?
• __Always do what your partner wants you to do
  instead of what you want?
• __Stay with your partner because you are afraid
  of what your partner would do if you broke up?