SOC732 Sociology of the Family

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2014
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Michal Nekorjak, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Ivo Možný, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
SOC709 Demography
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 14 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The lecture (and seminar) are an introduction to the study of the basic institutions of all human societies. They provide students with an overview of the socially stabilizing, change-resisting character of the family, and of the uninterrupted development of this institution and the dramatic acceleration of this development during recent generations. It shows the history of attempts to explain the institution of the family, from the classical theories of the 19th century. It reports on the socio-biological theory of the family, social constructivist theory, and structural functional concept of the family, and other currently influential theories. It explains the relationship between the macro-social changes and the micro-world of the family. It takes note of the socially-determinist character of marital love, and provides an introduction into the sociology of intimacy. It examines parenthood, childhood as a social phenomenon, generational conflict, phases of family togetherness, and traditional and modern concepts of kinship. It provides an overview of the diversity of forms of the family and alternative behavior, and the challenges the family faces in the post-modern world. It takes a critical stance toward the myths of social rhetoric and the mass media, and is issue-oriented towards the open questions of the transformation of male and female roles, and the relations between genders and generations.
Syllabus
  • Introductory seminar. Plan for course work. * Family as the object of social and sociological reflection. Is the family a morphostatic institution? The family in traditional and modern society. Crisis of the family at the dawn of the modern age. * Classical 19th-century theories of the family: Morgan and the historical-legal school, LePlay, Durkheim. Historicizing and anthropologicizing conceptions: Spencer, Engels, Bachofen, Westermarck. Conservative and reformist currents in sociology of the family. * The great theories of the 1950s (Parsons a Goode) and criticism of them * Theory of the family after the fall of the classical theories. Contribution of modern sociological schools and directions on the theory of the family: theory of social changes, theory of systems and symbolic interaction, conflict theory, critical sociology, Marxism and radical economy, sociobiology. * The family as the cornerstone of social inequality: social stratification, class-based differences in family behavior, non-economic stratification, and cognitive classes. * Founding the family: theory of the marriage market, social and cultural determinants of partnership selection. Sex: empirical research on socially-determined variability, changing cultural models, and the sexual revolution. Love. * Parents, children, and socialization within the family: Parental autonomy, its limits and deviation. Theory of socialization (Mead, Freud, and Piaget). Peer groups. Kinship socialization. * Family, the household, and economics: Employment of women and the family. Situation of today’s mothers: conflicts between theory and practice. Two-career families: pioneers of an egalitarian model. Differentiations of family models and modification of the life cycle. * Divorce and multiple marriages in historical perspective and as an expression of changes in the character of marital love. Causes and correlations of divorce rate. Repeated marriage. * The family in a society of risk and individualization.
Literature
  • MOŽNÝ, Ivo. Rodina a společnost. Illustrated by Vladimír Jiránek. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2006, 311 s. ISBN 808642958X. info
  • SINGLY, Francois de. Sociologie současné rodiny. Vyd. 1. Praha: Portál, 1999, 127 s. ISBN 80-7178-249-1. info
Assessment methods
Ongoing interactive study. Written final exam and a point system for assignments. Emphasis is placed on creativity and one’s own work; mastery of the information base is a departure point rather than the final goal of studies, which of course does not mean that it can be neglected.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://www.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=304
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2002, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2014, recent)
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