The Evolution of SOCIOLOGY OF THE FAMILY:
1921: The Problem of the Family. Professor Woods. This courses traces the transformation of the family under the include of the conditions of modern life. It includes among other topics a study of the changing “spheres” of men as well as of women, the stability of marriage and social responsibility for the welfare of children.
1939: The Family. Professor Truxal. A study of early forms of marriage and the family; the family in historic times; with primary emphasis on the present-day family, its functions and the problems it presents.
1952: Marriage and The Family. Professor Merrill. This course is a study of the contemporary family. Courtship and marriage as studied as social relationships leading to the formation of the family. The family is then considered in the following terms: (1) The place of the family in the American culture pattern; (2) the family in its principal institutional aspects, including its composition, structure, and functions; (3) the role of the family in the development of personality; and (4) the disorganization of the family and current efforts to bring about its reorganization.
1970: The Family as Group and Institution. Associate Professor Sokol. The family as the most enduring and universal human grouping is considered within two frameworks. The internal structure and processes of the family are examined in terms of role differentiation, values, strains, and personality formation. As a social institution, the family is relation to other societal institutions such as the economy, education, and religion. Among specific topics to be included are: the incest taboo, domestic power, family loyalty vs. peer group loyalty, sex-role identification, ethnic and status differences, dating and marriage patterns, sex behavior, marital discord and divorce, etc.
2018: Sociology of The Family. Professor Walton. The sociological study of the family involves our ability to take a step back to assess structures that pattern our personal experiences and how the private decisions that happen in families matter to society as a whole. We will examine how private affairs in family life interact with important public issues, particularly discussing intersections with gender, social class, race and ethnicity, marriage and cohabitation, divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies, childhood and adolescence, work, and social policy. Students engage in an oral history research project where they investigate their parents’ experiences with work/family balance.