Chapter 2Pre-Industrial Families and the

Emergence of a Modern Family Form

Sociology 325

Chapter Two Overview

• Family and the New Social History

• Family Life in Colonial America

• The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Family and the New Social History

• Family history concentrates on the experiences and perceptions of ordinary people,including previously under-studied groups.

• Using research methods such as family reconstitution, family historians have given us a newpicture of family life and social change.

Family History Themes

• Diversity - Broad differences in the U.S. population have made generalizations about "thefamily" impossible.

• Uneven Change - Families in different social classes, different races, and immigrant groups allexperienced different rates of change

• Human Agency - Families are active agents rather than passive victims of change.

Family Life in Colonial America

Macrostructural Conditions

• Family life characterized by family-based economy

• All family members worked at productive tasks differentiated by sex and age

• Family matters were not considered private

Family Life in Colonial America

Household Composition

• Families were typically nuclear in structure

• Families tended to be larger than contemporary families

• but smaller than the stereotypical portrayal

Family Life in Colonial America

Wives and Husbands

• Marriages were arranged based on the social and economic purposes of larger kin groups

• Romantic love was not absent, but marriage was more of a contractual agreement

• A shortage of women enhanced the status of women

Family Life in Colonial America

Children

• Families reared large numbers of children

• Children's religious training was intensive and discipline severe

• Many children were parented by adults who were not their biological parents

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Macrostructural Changes

• The main reason for changes in family patterns was industrialization

• Work in factories and shops replaced work in the home

• Families took on highly specialized functions of procreation, consumption, and child-rearing

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Agency, Adaptation, and Change

• Individuals were not passive victims of change

• Family relationships shaped the emerging social order

• The inheritance system balanced the family’s desires with rapid population growth and

industrialization.

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Household Composition

• Romantic love and mutual affection replaced economic considerations in choosing maritalpartners

• Activities split into the male world of work and the female world of the family

• Working-class women continued their productive roles in the industrial labor force

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Household Composition

• Children came to be viewed as different than adult

• Class and status of the family determined children's experiences

• The modern family form emerged as a race-specific and class-specific arrangement