II' The American Family

1

• II. The American Family
• A. Selecting a mate
• 1. Homogamy marriage between
  individuals w/ similar social characteristics
• a. People in US tend to marry those like
  themselves age race, ethnicity, SES,
  religion
• 2. Heterogamy marriage between
  individuals w/ different social characteristics
• a. As contact increases, heterogamy
  increases

2

• B. Marital satisfaction
• 1. Glenn Weaver found a decline in
  marital happiness since 1980s
• a. Extramarital relationships more
  accepted by society
• b. Divorce is more tolerable 2.
  Characteristics of a happy marriage
• -parents successfully married
• -know each other for at least 2 yrs.
• -homogamy
• -college education, parents approval
• -conflict free engagement
• -childless or children while older/married
  longer

3

• C. Family violence
• 1. Knows no racial, ethnic or class bounds
• 2. Domestic violence often go undetected and
  unreported in upper and middle - class families
• 3. Most experts agree that data available is
  incomplete

4

• D. Divorce
• 1. Between 1965 and 1980 divorce in the US
  doubled
• 2. US has highest divorce rate in world
• 3. Rates vary among different segments of
  population
• a. Couples who marry as teens more likely
• b. College educated less likely c.
  African American women more likely than whites
  to divorce many African American women are
  young and poor when they marry
• d. Hispanic women slightly less likely

5

• 4. More than 1 million kids/yr. see
  parents break up
• 5. Estimate 12 of all kids in the US will
  experience divorce of their parents
• 6. Why is the divorce rate so high?
• a. Cost of getting divorce has
  decreased, laws have changed no fault
  divorce
• b. Decreased economic dependence for
  women
• c. Society has become more tolerant of
  divorce
• d. People may expect more of marriage,
  put up w/ less

6

• Your own notes
• List and describe the current trends evident in
  American family life. Pgs. 308-313