Sociological Theories To Describe The Function Of Families

My paper talks about the five general sociology concepts that I learned to using my family. I picked my family because I think they were the most relatable and easy group that would be more beneficial and knowledgeable to discuss regarding the concepts. My family consist of a father, mother, two boys, and a girl, not including me. My parents speak three languages and my siblings only speak one due to the language influence while they were in school. Culture is very important to my family not only the language, and attire but the values of what the culture teaches. Such as, the man being the head of the household and everything must run through him. The woman is taught to cook, clean and take care of the things inside the household. The kids

Families in the world are very different. They come in different shapes and sizes, it can be based on different kinds of relationship, but what all families have in common that it is made of people you love and care. Over past 20 or more years families in the world has changed the most than it has changed in all history. Of course changes in the families are different among cultures and religions. It seems that United States, Canada and Northern Europe families has changed the most, now Nuclear families are dominating there, when in Asia Extended families still takes a greater number. In the richest places in the world numbers of same sex marriages,

The ideal image of ‘nuclear family’ used to be described as a male husband, a female wife and their kids; however, in few decades, the term family has become diverse without any blood-related relationships. Because of this recent change of family values, it is easy to find that present television shows also reflect the new concept of family and influence the recognition of the viewers at the same time. Among many TV programs such as ‘Simpsons’, ‘F is for family’ and ‘How I met your mother’, ‘Modern Family’ is a representative show dealing with modern family types and values. It is a domestic TV sitcom of ABC, featuring the lives of three different types of fictional families. Apart from the humorous stories, it becomes very popular because of suggesting that friendly characters are easy to relate to real life. It shows innovative aspects of family structures including a gay couple with an adopted baby and an interracial marriage between a divorced old man with a much younger woman. In addition, its form is a fake documentary about when family members agree to participate in interviews for a documentary, but they don’t actually realize how much they are revealing their lives themselves. Also, the main theme of the show is "But that 's the thing about family: no matter how badly you behave, hopefully they 'll forgive" (Modern Family Synopsis, 2011). The show has a favourable notice in media field because it handles social issues through its characters showing racial,

According to Richard Charles (2001) “the effectiveness of family systems theory rests not much on empirical research but on clinical reports of positive treatment outcomes, the personal benefits experienced by the families that underwent this kind of treatment, and the elegance of Bowen’s theory” (p. 279). Bowen’s family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and is a theory of human behavior. Systems thinking are used to describe the complex interactions in the unit. However, the client’s ability to differentiate himself/herself from the family of origin is the basis for Bowen’s family systems theory. In addition, the primary focus for growth within the emotional system is differentiation of self. Differentiation of self

Television is not just a form of entertainment, but it is an excellent form of study of society’s view concerning its families. This study focuses on the history of television beginning in the early 1950s and will run through present day. It examines the use of racial, ethnic and sexual stereotypes to characterize the players of these shows. The examples assist in tracing what has happened to the depiction of the American family on prime time television. It reveals the change of the standards employed by network television as disclosed to the American public. Finally, I will propose the question of which is the influential entity, television or the viewing audience.

We have decided to conduct this study with the focus on three sitcoms from the 1980s which are Fresh Prince, The Bill Cosby Show, and Full house. In addition, focusing on three sitcoms for comparison in todays time, 2000s which are Full House, George Lopez and Family Matters. Each of these research samples display a variety of roles played, race, gender and change in family perception. There will be significant differences in the family structures as a function of time and race/culture of sitcoms aired in the 1980’s versus in the 2000’s. More specifically, it is expected that there will be a significant differences in the portrayals of family size, social class, locations, origin, and gender roles.

The family structure is made up of individuals living together in intimate groups with the purpose of caring and supporting each other. Rules and boundaries, spoken and unspoken, are developed by the family members. Family rules and boundaries change and shift over time in order to evolve and grow as a family unit. Some changes are subtle, but some events force major change within the family system. This paper applies the concepts of systems theory to the family system in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Reese Witherspoon (Melanie Smooter) and Josh Lucas (Jake Perry) star in this heart-warming film telling a story of a young woman who flees from Alabama to reinvent herself in New York City as a high fashion designer. She leaves behind

During the semester we have touched upon three important theories relating to social work and the social environment. Eriksonian theory, role theory and family systems theory have crucial aspects in understanding a person’s development. Eriksonian theory brings a positive outlook about people’s ability to change, the belief that clients have a sense of good judgment to do well and succeed. Erikson believed that if children had a healthier ego, the more driven they are to move on to the next sage of development and to new opportunities. According to this theory, every person is required to pass through a series of eight interrelated stages throughout their life span. He also says how personality continues to develop throughout life. Each individual is impacted in a different way than someone else by his or her environment. Role theory helps to explain behavior based off of social interactions. It’s the way of a person acts by being personally defined by a parent, teacher, friend, stranger, etc. Depending on how a person’s behavior is taken by an on looker, they can either be accepted by society or rejected by perceiving themselves as a negative trait. Family systems theory is the view of a family dynamic and how the core group undergoes evolvement in structure and function. Systems help to understand the relationship between different complex variables. Those complex variables include daily challenges and various tasks in life. The theory states that to understand a family,

After a thorough review of the textbook and the course material, the specific family system approach that I choose to explore is the Bowenian Approach for this literature review. This specific family system approach is also known as the Bowen Family System Theory as well (D.V. Papero, 2006). The Bowen Family System Theory was established by Murray Bowen, a theorist and psychiatrist who specialized in treating children who were deranged and had schizophrenia (Rockwell, 2010). In the 1950s, Bowen wanted to explore a new venture so he decided that he wanted all of the family members of each child to be involved in an therapeutic process at the same time (Rockwell, 2010).

In a sociological perspective, family is interpreted as a social group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or emotional ties or a combination of all three. The sociological theories the connect to this concept are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. First, functionalism states that the family socializes children, it provides emotional and practical support for its members, and it provides its members with a social identity. Secondly, conflict theory states that members create disagreements, and create emotional support and comfort. Finally, symbolic interactionism claims family members and intimate couples interact on a daily basis. "Families are defined as a relationship by blood, marriage, or affection" (Seccombe 5).

The American family has gone through monumental changes throughout the past century, or perhaps it is merely society’s perception that has evolved. These radical changes in American family structure can be seen as a result of socialization by entertainment media, particularly television programming. Since its inception in the late 1920s and especially since the 1950s when it began to overtake radio programming as America’s number one form of home entertainment, the television has provided individuals with a window into worlds beyond their own (Stephens). As a result, these other worlds then begin to slowly seep into everyday practices and beliefs. Many Americans may look to television programs as an example of how their own life and family

. Family systems theory is one of many theories that can be used to describe and analyze families. The family systems theory thinks of the family as a whole, not just as individuals. Individuals form a family system through their interaction and communication patterns. When something with an individual changes, it impacts the entire family. This theory emphasized interdependence among family members and says that problems should not be blamed on one individual, but should be looked at in terms of the family context. Individual components join together within a family system to form a whole. When a change occurs, the whole family must adapt to the new situation. This theory is a great way to look at families as a whole. There are seven descriptive features that define a family system which are: interdependence, wholeness, patterns/self-regulation, interactive complexity/punctuation, openness, complex relationships, and equifinality. Using these seven pieces, I will relate them to the family from Pieces of April and how that family uses or fails to use the features.

The family sitcom has always been a form of entertainment that has brought people together, and has played a pivotal role in American society. Family values often change over time to reflect the issues being faced by each family member generationally. Media and entertainment are often affected by the social and political issues of their time. Many of these issues, and the way that these issues have shaped American values, have often influenced the content of television sitcoms. Although family sitcoms often reflect the values of real American families, in the 1970s, many television families had very few flaws, as opposed to the real families of the 1970s.

This paper seeks to identify the role television show plays in regards to the exposing of the modern family set-up, the relationships and the effects that producers want to instill in their viewers. Three shows are selected as well as three episodes from each of the three shows critically analyzed. In the first show, George Lopez; the first few episodes introduce him as a fictionalized personality of himself. He is working at Power Bros and still has the responsibility of raising a family that comprises of the wife, a daughter and a son. He has a bitter childhood life under a poor parenthood by an alcoholic, careless and remorseless mother called Benny. His family consists of Angie-his wife, Carmen-daughter and Max-son.

In her book The Unfinished Revolution, Kathleen Gerson argues that today, family pathways are more important than family structure. In this context, family structure refers to the organization of a family, and the way that it has been changing as a result of the gender revolution. For example, some nontraditional family structures that are explored in the book include double parent families with both parents earning, single parent families (mostly single mothers), and families with same-sex parents. Gerson argues that while family structures are not negligible, it is family pathways that are more important for the children of the gender revolution. That is to say, the children value the dynamics of their family more than the structure. They are more concerned about how well their parents are able to provide them with the necessary emotional and financial support than they are about how well their families follow a norm. For them, it is more about feeling like they’re part of a family rather than just physically being in one. Gerson emphasizes this when she explains that the people she interviewed “focused on the long-term consequences of parental choices, not on the specific form or type of home these choices produced at any one moment in time.” One important implication of this argument is the way in which the children of the gender revolution imagine their own romantic relationships unfolding. Even there, they prioritize a feeling rather than a format. For example, one