SOC 2031 - Sociology of the Family

1. General topics
   1. How sociologists study families
   2. Historical change in family forms
   3. Intersection of family experiences related to gender, race, class, and sexual orientation
2. Topics focused on the consequences of gendered role expectations within families
   1. Impacts of economic change on families
   2. Work and family
   3. Division of labor within the family
   4. Regulation of sexuality and sexual relationships
   5. Marriage, divorce, remarriage, and blended families
   6. Family violence
   7. Parents and parenting
   8. Children and childhood
   9. Families and the state, public policy affecting families including the welfare system
   10. Collective action and social movements on family issues

1. Describe the ways our ideas about family are socially constructed, including how they have changed over time and how they differ cross-culturally.
2. Analyze the gendered nature of family roles and social forces that contribute to individuals conforming to and/or challenging cultural ideals of masculinity and femininity.
3. Apply sociological concepts such as social location (e.g. race, gender, class) and the conflict and order models of society to understand the family as a social institution.
4. Critique taken-for-granted assumptions and ideas about families and family life.
5. Articulate how family forms and experiences both shape and are shaped by larger societal forces economic, political, cultural, etc.
6. Evaluate avenues for social change on public policy issues affecting families.
7. Outline the techniques sociologists use to study families.

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