Baca zinn ch02-lecture

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Diversity in Families, Ninth EditionMaxine Baca Zinn • D. Stanley Eitzen • Barbara Wells

Diversity In Families

Chapter TwoPreindustrial Families and the Emergence of a Modern Family Form

NINTH EDITION




Chapter Two Overview

• Family and the New Social History

• Family Life in Colonial America

• The Emergence of Modern Family Life




Family History Themes

• Diversity - Broad differences in the U.S. population have made generalizations about "the family" impossible. There were several different kinds of families from the beginning.

• Uneven Change - Families in different social classes, different races, and immigrant groups all experienced different rates of change, thus the “modern family form” applies mostly to white families.

• Human Agency - Families are active agents rather than passive victims of change.




Family Life in Colonial America

• Macrostructural Conditions:- Family life characterized by family-based

economy. - There were different kinds of “families”

throughout the colonies.- Early America was primarily rural with

agriculture being the most important task.

- All family members worked at productive tasks differentiated by sex and age.

- Family matters were not considered private.





• Household Composition:- Families were typically nuclear in

structure- The principal sources of population for

the original 13 colonies were people of European and African descent.

- Families tended to be larger than contemporary families, but smaller than the stereotypical portrayal.

- They were patriarchal.




Composition

• The first census was conducted in 1790. However, it did not count the African family households separate from their masters and it did not count the Native American people who were living on the land before the settlers arrived.

• Native Americans may have numbered a million and were widely scattered across the land.

• American Natives had diverse marriage and family traditions, and diverse languages.





• Wives and Husbands:- Marriages were arranged based on the social and

economic purposes of larger kin groups. - Romantic love was not absent, but marriage was more

of a contractual agreement.- Oftentimes because of limited life expectancy, the

husband or wife may have been married previously.- Husbands had total authority of the family, but also were

responsible for the family’s well being.- A shortage of women enhanced the status of women

however women were expected to be second to their husbands.





• Children: - Families reared large numbers of children, an average of

six per family. There may have been step brothers and sisters and these were commonly blended families.

- Women had an average of 8 children, however due to high rates of child mortality, many of the children would die in the first year.

- Children's religious training was intensive and discipline was severe.

- Social class and regional differences made childhood in the colonies very diverse.

- Many children were parented by adults who were not their biological parents.




The Emergence of Modern Family Life

• Macrostructural Changes: - The main reason for changes in family patterns

was industrialization. - Modern family life emerged at the end of the

18th century. The shift was varied by class, race and region.

- Work in factories and shops replaced work in the home.

- Families took on highly specialized functions of procreation, consumption, and child-rearing.

- Families became smaller and the economy went to a “family-wage economy”.




The Emergence of Modern Family Life

• Household Composition: - Romantic love and mutual affection

replaced economic considerations in choosing marital partners.

- Activities split into the male world of work and the female world of the family.

- Working-class women continued their productive roles in the industrial labor force.




Household Composition Continued

• Children came to be viewed as different than adults; they were now considered more innocent.

• Class and status of the family determined children's experiences.

• The modern family form emerged as a race-specific and class-specific arrangement.




Household Composition Continued:

• Children:- They were spending more and more

time in play and with peers. Childhood was seen as a distinct period of development.

- There was a decline of corporal punishment.

- The family became child centered.

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