SOCb2132 Family and society

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Fučík, PhD. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Petr Fučík, PhD.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 16:00–17:40 U35
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! SOC132 Family and society
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 35 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 34/35, only registered: 3/35, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 1/35
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is divided into three blocks, which introduce students to (1) the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological background of the field of family sociology, (2) specific sociological approaches to family events, and (3) cross-cutting themes that intersect sociological considerations of the family as well as fundamental areas of empirical family research. The purpose of the first block is to provide a basic overview of the sociological approach to the family as an element of social structure that has been viewed since the beginning of the discipline as a crucial social institution that provides for the persistence of societies. Thus, it is not only biological reproduction that enables societies to persist as populations, but more importantly the reproduction of the social order that enables societies to persist as relatively stable systems of culture and behaviour. In the second session we will discuss theoretical and empirical perspectives on specific phenomena of family life. Pairing is important because these are often invisible mechanisms that determine the form of forming families (the combination of social characteristics of their members). Parenting is crucial because of its close connection to the problem of the persistence of social order and structure (i.e., the question of intergenerational transmission of norms, values, and status). The problem of the instability of partnership is foreshadowed by postmodern discussions of new forms of the family (the phenomena of composite families, the disconnection of parenthood and marriage) or its crisis or demise. In the third block we will mention cross-cutting themes that sociology of the family cannot do without - gender inequalities and especially changes in gender roles influence the shape of the family in the 20th century, prevention of violence in the family and possibilities of state intervention in pro-family policies represent the applied sphere of sociological approaches to the family. Here the sociology of the family touches on social policy, as research findings and theoretical models can inform the formulation of family policies. The syllabus describes the topics of each lesson, and several specific and more general discussion questions are provided for each lesson, which can be discussed in class depending on the interest of the learners. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students should be able to understand and explain the basic institution of all human societies: the human family. He/she gains 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; will work with information on the history of attempts to explain the institution of the family, from the classical theories of the 19th century, the socio-biological theory of the family, social constructivist theory, and structural functional concept of the family, and other currently influential theories; will be able to explain the relationship between the macro-social changes and the micro-world of the family; of the socially-determinist character of marital love, and get an introduction into the sociology of intimacy; of parenthood, childhood as a social phenomenon, generational conflict, phases of family togetherness, and traditional and modern concepts of kinship. He/she will undestand the diversity of forms of the family and alternative behavior, and the challenges the family faces in the post-modern world. Discussions in the class will elaborate 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
  • Class 01 * 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.
  • Class 02 * 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
  • Class 03 * 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.
  • Class 04 * 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.
  • Class 05 * Parents, children, and socialization within the family: Parental autonomy, its limits and deviation. Theory of socialization (Mead, Freud, and Piaget). Peer groups. Kinship socialization.
  • Class 06 * 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.
  • Class 07 * The family in a society of risk and individualization. *
  • Class 08 * Gender: Gender as a social construction structuring the social action of men and women. Importance of family form the socialization to the gender roles and their social reproduction. Gender inequalities and differences. Family as a place of „doing gender“. Feminist theories and their focus on the family partnership, parenthood and divorce.
  • Class 09 * The conflict and violence in the family. Family as an oppressive institution. The history of violence in the families – examples from the literature. What is the intimate violence and how to detect it. How to prevent violence. Risk and protective factors.
  • Class 10 * The family and the (welfare) state: Development of welfare state in Europe and its consequences. Means of family policy and its effectiveness. Various definitions of the goals of family policy. Models of family policies in European countries. Czech family policy.
Literature
    required literature
  • MOŽNÝ, Ivo. Rodina a společnost (The Family and Society). Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2006, 312 pp. Studijní texty, sv. 38. ISBN 80-86429-58-X. info
  • CHERLIN, Andrew J. Public & private families : an introduction. 7th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013, xxiii, 523. ISBN 9780078026676. info
  • SINGLY, Francois de. Sociologie současné rodiny. Vyd. 1. Praha: Portál, 1999, 127 s. ISBN 80-7178-249-1. info
    recommended literature
  • CHERLIN, Andrew J. Public and private families : a reader. Sixth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill companies, 2010, x, 358. ISBN 9780073404363. info
  • CHERLIN, Andrew J. Public & private families : an introduction. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008, xxviii, 57. ISBN 9780073528083. info
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, homeworks, reading, ...
Assessment methods
assignments, seminar test, final exam - written test.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
General note: Předmět nebude vyučován pokud si ho zapíše méně než 5 studujících.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025.
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