SOC 476: Sociology of Families Professor Christine Percheski

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1 SOC 476: Sociology of Families Professor Christine Percheski COURSE OVERVIEW This course is designed to provide an overview of recent scholarship in sociology and the social sciences on contemporary families in the United States and other industrialized countries. We will focus on research that considers how families have changed over the last century and how the structure, functions, and experiences of family life vary across race/ethnicity, class, and national context. In the first section of the course, we will consider different theoretical perspectives and research methodologies for studying family change. These include sociological, economic, demographic, and historical perspectives. The second section of the course will focus on how and why the institutions associated with families have changed. We will begin by examining how the prevalence, stability, and timing in the life course of marriage and cohabitation have changed. We will then consider the extent to which these institutions have undergone redefinition or changes in their level of institutionalization. We will devote considerable time to thinking about why unions form and dissolve. Next, we will look at some activities of the family: having and raising children and interacting across generations and with kin. We will start by considering the factors contributing to declines in average fertility and changes in the context of fertility, particularly the rise in non-marital fertility as well as how parenting and childrearing have changed. Next, we will turn our focus to intergenerational ties and how extended families and kin support one another. Lastly, we will look at two recently published books in the field of family sociology. REQUIREMENTS Students are required to attend all class sessions prepared to discuss the course material. Absences will be excused for legitimate reasons. Two or more unexcused absences will result in a grade of incomplete. There are two types of assignments for this course: critiques of the readings and a final paper (either a critical literature review or a research proposal). Reading Critiques Students will write a critique of two readings from each week for 5 weeks of the course. Critiques are due by 8pm the evening before each class meeting and should be ed to me at c- percheski@northwestern.edu. Each critique should be one to two pages single spaced, contain a brief summary of the reading, and focus primarily on evaluating the theoretical perspectives, methodological choices, or substantive interpretations of the research. Critiques should address the following questions: 1. What is the author s argument? 2. What is the evidence for their argument? 3. Is the argument convincing? 4. How does this work contribute to the literature? Does it change our understanding of

2 families or family change? How does it relate to other readings in the course? Final Paper Students have a choice of writing a research proposal or a critical literature review for their final paper. Guidelines for these will be discussed in class and posted on Blackboard. WEEKLY READINGS AND DISCUSSION TOPICS I. How should we study families? How can we make sense of changes in families? Theoretical & Analytical Perspectives. Week 1: January 14 Overview of Family Changes & Theoretical Perspectives on Families Cherlin, A. J Demographic Trends in the United States: A Review of Research in the 2000s. Journal of Marriage and Family 72: Coontz, S Historical Perspectives on Family Studies. Journal of Marriage and Family 62(2): Thornton, A The Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Change. Demography 38(4): Ferree, M. M Filling the Glass: Gender Perspectives on Families. Journal of Marriage and Family 72: Lesthaeghe, R The Unfolding Story of the Second Demographic Transition. Population and Development Review 36(2) Seltzer et al Explaining Family Change and Variation: Challenges for Family Demographers. Journal of Marriage and the Family 67: Cherlin, A Goode's World Revolution and Family Patterns: A Reconsideration at Fifty Years. Population and Development Review 38:

3 II. How and why have the institutions of the family changed? Focus on marriage and cohabitation. Week 2: January 21 Coontz, S The World Historical Transformation of Marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family 66: Cherlin, Andrew J The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family 66: Fitch, C. and S. Ruggles Historical Trends in Marriage Formation: The United States In The Ties that Bind. Becker, Gary S A Theory of Marriage: Part I. Journal of Political Economy 81(4): Oppenheimer, V Women s Employment and the Gain to Marriage: The Specialization and Trading Model. Annual Review of Sociology 23: Sweeney, M Two decades of family change: The shifting economic foundations of marriage. American Sociological Review 67 (1): Stevenson, Betsey and Justin Wolfers Marriage and Divorce: Changes and Their Driving Forces. Journal of Economic Perspectives 21(2): Thistle, Susan From Marriage to the Market: The Transformation of Women s Lives and Work. University of California Press. Week 3: January 28 Rosenfeld, M.J. and B. Kim "The Independence of Young Adults and the Rise of Interracial and Same Sex Unions." American Sociological Review 70 (4): Chafetz, J.S Chicken or Egg? A theory of the relationship between feminist movements and family change in Gender and Family Change in Industrialized Countries. Chamie, J. and B. Mirkin Same-Sex Marriage: A New Social Phenomenon. Population and Development Review 37(3): Excerpts from Powell et al Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family. Hueveline, P. and J. Timberlake The Role of Cohabitation in Family Formation: The United States in Comparative Perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family 66:

4 Week 4: February 4 Rosenfeld, M. J "Racial, Educational, and Religious Endogamy in Comparative Historical Perspective." Social Forces 87 (1): Schwartz, C Trends and Variation in Assortative Mating: Causes and Consequences. Annual Review of Sociology 39: Amato, P Research on Divorce: Continuing Trends and New Developments. Journal of Marriage and Family 72(3): Martin, S. and S. Parashar. Women s Changing Attitudes toward Divorce, : Evidence for an Educational Crossover. Journal of Marriage and Family 68: III. How and why have (selected) activities of the family changed? Fertility, Childrearing, Intergenerational Ties & Kin Support. Week 5: February 11 Parenting and Child Well-being (Part 1) Morgan, S. Philip Is Low Fertility a Twenty-First Century Demographic Crisis? Demography 40(4): Gray, J., Stockard, J., and J. Stone The Rising Share of Nonmarital Births: Fertility Choice or Marriage Behavior? Demography 43(2): Excerpt from Edin, K. and M. Kefalas. Promises I Can Keep. McLanahan, Sara Diverging Destinies: How Children Fare Under the Second Demographic Transition. Demography 41: Berger, L., Carlson, M., Bzostek, S. and C. Osborne Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties. Journal of Marriage and Family 70(3): McLanahan, S., Tach, L. and D. Schneider The Causal Effects of Father Absence. Annual Review of Sociology 39: Hayford, S Marriage (Still) Matters: The Contribution of Demographic Change to Trends in Childlessness in the United States. Demography 50: McLanahan, S. and C. Percheski Family Structure and the Reproduction of Inequalities. Annual Review of Sociology 34:

5 Week 6: February 18 - Parenting and Child Well-being (Part 2) Moore, M. and M. Stambolis-Ruhstorfer LGBT Sexuality and Families at the Start of the Twenty-First Century. Annual Review of Sociology 39: Perelli-Harris, B. and T. Gerber Non-Marital Childbearing in Russia: Second Demographic Transition or Pattern of Disadvantage? Demography 47. Carlson, M. and F. Furstenberg, Jr The Prevalence and Correlates of Multipartnered Fertility amoung Urban U.S. Parents. Journal of Marriage and Family 68(3): Lareau, A Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families. American Sociological Review 67: Sayer, L., Bianchi, S. and J. Robinson Are parents investing less in children? Trends in mothers and fathers time with children. American Journal of Sociology 110 (1): Excerpt from Levey Friedman, H Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture. Wildeman, C Parental Imprisonment, the Prison Boom, and the Concentration of Childhood Disadvantage. Demography 46(2): Week 7: February 25 Intergenerational Ties and Kin Support Ruggles, S The decline of intergenerational coresidence in the United States, American Sociological Review 72: Excerpt from Stack, C All our Kin. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. Sarkisian, N. and N. Gerstel Kin Support among Blacks and Whites: Race and Family Organization. American Sociological Review 69(6): Bengtson, V Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of Multigenerational Bonds. Journal of Marriage and Family 63(1): Seltzer, J. and S. Bianchi. Demographic Change and Parent-Child Relationships in Adulthood. Annual Review of Sociology 39: Curran, S., McLanahan, S. and J. Knab Does remarriage expand perceptions of kinship support among the elderly? Social Science Research 32:

6 IV. What characterizes exemplary work in the field of the sociology of families? Weeks 8 & 9 (March 4 &11): Recent books in Sociology of Families As a class, we will select two of the following books to read: Damaske, S For the Family?: How Class and Gender Shape Women s Work. Oxford University Press, USA. Dreby, J Divided by Borders: Mexican Migrants and Their Children. University of California Press. Edin, K. and T. Nelson Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City. Moore, M Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood among Black Women. University of California Press. Powell, B., Bolzendahl, C., Geist, C. and L. Steelman Counted Out: Same-sex Relations and Americans Definition of Family. Schalet, A. T Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex. University Of Chicago Press.