Weber State University



Chapter 11 – Dimensions of DiversityStart with an episode of Modern Family on ABCEmphasize the diversity and variation in family formsThis demonstrates the variation in family forms that exists across families, even white familiesRace and ethnicity provide a whole different dimension of diversity in family formsTwo of your readings in Chapter 11 focus on family forms for race/ethnic groupsMajor “take aways” from this chapter (Readings 32 and 33 in particular):Families come in all different shapes, sizes and formsFamilies do not operate in a vacuum – this is one of the major reasons why they come in every size, shape and form imaginableThere are larger structural forces (social, economic, cultural) impacting families; in order to understand the diversity in family forms, you need to explore these structural forcesBaca Zinn and Wells conceptual framework (reading 33) lays this out very nicely – pp. 446-448They argue that families are the products of social forcesRead second full paragraph under “Conceptual Framework” p. 446Baca Zinn and Wells examine three macrostructural conditions that produce family variation across Latino groups in particular, but these conditions impact all families and can explain variation in lots of family forms:The sociohistorical contextThe structure of economic opportunityGlobal reorganization, including economic restructuring and immigrationExample from Taylor’s reading on African American families – pp. 430 – 434 – Marriage, Divorce and Separation, single parent families, etc.TrendsAfrican Americans are marrying at a much later age than persons of other racesIncrease in never married among African AmericansIncrease in single parents families – true for all families, even higher rate among African American familiesAfrican American families (women in particular) slower to get divorce even if no longer living with spouseFewer African American women remarrying than white womenExplanations for these trendsContinued high rates of unemployment, especially among young men – economic changes making African American men in particular even “less marriageable”College attendanceMilitary serviceExtended period of cohabitation prior to marriageUnbalanced sex ratio – shortage of men due partly to high mortality and incarceration of African American men – “the marriage squeeze”Primacy of blood ties and extended family – read p. 433 underlinedThere is variation in the way people experience family Baca Zinn and Wells argue on p. 447 (bottom) – “People of the same national origin may experience family differently, depending on their location in the class structure as unemployed, poor, working class or professional; their location in the gender structure as female or male; and their location in the sexual orientation system as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual (Baca Zinn and Dill 1996).”Families that have not fit the “white middle class” mold have been marginalized in American society and seen as problematic – all of which has only contributed to the “decline of family” debate and perpetuated the myth of universality - that all families are the same everywhere or that they should beSo when family forms or experiences deviated from the “white middle class” form or experience, family social scientist studied them as “deviants”Baca Zinn and Wells point to the way immigrant families became targets for social reform – p. 444Mexican families were seen as disorganized, at odds with the social requirements of the new setting, as cultural exceptionsTaylor – p. 422-423 – points to researchers taking a “deficit approach” or “pathology approach” to understanding African American familiesThese models understood African American families as deviant, inferior, “unnatural” and problematic – needing to be fixedThen there was a move toward a “cultural variant” approach to understanding African American families – which at least took into consideration the resilience and adaptiveness of African American families under a variety of social economic conditions – p. 423 – but this perspective still marginalized African American families as different – functional, but differentOur narrow definition of family in the past has limited our understanding of families in the US and individual’s experiences within those families. We need to think of families in broader terms to be more inclusive of all family forms and experiences. We need to think of families as dynamic units that are forever changing with the changes in the larger social structure.Baca Zinn says it best – p. 448 – “Families should be seen as settings in which people are agents and actors, coping with, adapting to, and changing social structures to meet their needs.”We don’t need policies to make families all the same, we need policies that help families survive; policies that minimize the negative impact of some of the larger structural factors for familiesFor example, Taylor is suggesting several reforms to policy to help address the high levels of female headed households among poor African Americans and the decline in marriages among African Americans – p. 439Reinstate welfareNeed programs to address health concernsImprove educationEconomic labor market strategy – improve the economic and employment prospects of African Americans’ in this changing economic structureRaise education level of youthIncrease employment trainingEnforce anti-discrimination lawsRebuild social and economic infrastructure of inner citiesDISCUSSION QUESTION: Are any of your agencies with whom you are working this semester through your service-learning projects trying to address any of these concerns for ethnic minority families? Or families at the lower end of our stratification system? How? Or why not?Reading 32 – Diversity within African American FamiliesTaylorReading 33 – Diversity within Latino Families: New Lessons for Family Social ScienceBaca Zinn and Wells ................
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