Assignment 2

Questions:

1. According to the functionalist perspective, what was the definition of the "instrumental leader" and what was the definition of an "expressive leader." What family roles were connected to each of these leader definitions?

According to the functionalist perspective, the definition of an instrumental leader is one who led the group discussion about how to accomplish the task that they had been assigned. The definition for the expressive leader was one who kept the groups spirit with warm supportive remarks and jokes. The family roles that were connected to each leader role, was that they felt the husband was the instrumental leader because his labor provided the financial support for the family. The expressive leader was for more of the stay-at-home wife because she provided emotional support to her husband and children.

2. What main demographic change during the 1960s and 1970s led theorists to be critical of the functionalist perspective?

The main demographic changed during the 1960’s and 1970’s, was that many married women poured into the work force. Because of this, the breadwinner family lost its dominant position. Many theorists felt that this was a change for the worse. This viewpoint, was influenced by the feminist movement also in the 1960’s. The feminist movement changed a lot for women and their families.

3. In contrast to functionalist theorists, in your own words, what is the main theme of conflict theory?

I feel that the main theory for the conflict theory is that they wanted to prove the functionalist theories wrong. The conflict theory focused mainly on the fact that mean are dominant and women are not. They felt that if the women were to go out of the household and work and or earn a living, the men would never be as dominant as the originally were. They feel that the domination by the men was mainly because of the women’s lack of economic resources.

4. The exchange perspective is based on ideas from what discipline (not sociology). What do exchange theorist’s say about husbands bargaining power versus that of wives?

The exchange perspective theorist’s say that the husbands bargaining power is stronger when they are the sole earners in their families. The theorists feel this because their wives have fewer alternative sources of income.

5. The Feminist or Gender perspective is based on what main idea?

The feminist perspective was developed to better understand, and transform inequalities between women and men. The main focus of the feminist theory if gender. The theorist argue that nearly all the gender differences we see in the roles of women and men are of the cultural origin and have been socially constructed. They also urge us to view families through a prism that separates the experiences of men and women rather than just considering what’s best for the family as a whole.

6. Thinking about the functionalist, conflict, exchange and gender perspectives, do you think the power of wives versus husbands in families is changing and why? Try to identify specific demographic, economic or cultural changes described in Cherlin text, Chapter 2 p: 65-69 to support your argument.

Looking back at the functionalist, conflict, exchange and gender perspectives, I feel as the per of wives versus husbands in families is changing. This is because of the studies that have shown that back in the 1960’s women and children began to enter the work force in high numbers. Women going into the work force only helped women show themselves more as individuals rather then just the person to take care of the house. When looking back on the percentage of children not living with both their parents toward the end of the century was because of divorce, separation, and or births to unmarried couples. When one looks back at the percentage of children living with only one parent back in the 1960’s was mainly because one of the parents had died. Looking at all the research and living in the 21^st century, women today have just as much power as men and possibly even more in some households. I believe this is a good thing, and that the world is changing for the better not for the worse.

About Me

Hi! My name is Caitlin Gibbons. I am 21 years old, and I am currently a junior at Montclair State. I live in Ringwood, NJ which is basically "in the mountains" as most people like to say. I have lived here my whole life and have always loved it. This is my first semester here. I transferred from Kean University located in Union New Jersey where I was studying to become an Early Childhood teacher. While i was there, i played on the Kean University Volleyball team for three years. Technically I should be graduating from Kean this semester, being it was my fourth year there. Unfortunately, that program messed up many things, and this past summer i came to realize, that i really didn't want to become a teacher. I began to search online at different schools, and different majors. While looking on the Montclair website i saw that one could major in family and child studies with a concentration in child life specialist. Before entering into college i either wanted to be a pediatrician or a teacher. While i read about what a child life specialist does, i knew that it was the career choice for me. It was the combination of both being a doctor and a teacher. I was more then interested and now I'm here taking the classes i need so that i can become what i want to be. I am a very out-going a bubbly person. People always say i am in a great mood and always smiling. =) (it takes a lot for me to become angry or mad) I absolutely love every type of sport and have played just about everyone. I am known to most of my friends as being the biggest NY Giants fan there is. I absolutely love them, and will speak about each player and the different seasons that have passes. My family has season tickets, which is awesome because i basically attend every game. Unless my parents take their friends. =)

Throughout my life, there has been many funny things that has happened to me. For that reason, its hard for me to choose one exact things. What i can speak about is what makes me interesting. This would be that i am "double-jointed" in 5 out of 7 places on my body. Most people find it disgusting, while others are intrigued. Most of the bones where i am double-jointed i need to force, though when it comes to me elbows, i have no control. What is natural to me, does not look natural at all. One other thing that is interesting about me is my laugh. It is very distinct. Not only is it extremely loud, it has different sounds, depending on how funny something is. (This is what I'm told. haha, never really notice.) haha

As previously mentioned and i am FCST major, and concentrating in Child Life Specialist. I am very excited to be in this program, learn about new things, and pursue my career as a Child Life specialist.

My current career plans are to graduate within the next two years. Following this i would like to find a job as a child life specialist and work in either a hospital or in pediatric care. I would also like to get married and have two children while pursuing me career. Though i would like to be settled first in my career before having children. I would say i want to marry rich and travel the world, but that's really not for me. I like to travel, don't get me wrong. I have been to Cabo San Lucus Mexico, Hawaii, and other states here in the US. For me, i have never had an interest in going across seas to other countries. So i plan to raise my family stick with my career, and maybe when my children are older, i will travel to some other country rather then Mexico.

I currently live at home with my two parents who are still together for over 25 years, my older sister who is 24 and graduated from Pace University with a criminal Justice degree, and my dog who is 2. A Labrador retriever. I have a younger brother who is 20, and is currently attending school in Boston where he stays and plays basketball. The one thing that comes to mind when thinking about my family is how close we really are. Though my parents don't know every single thing about me, they know enough. I get a long better with my brother rather then my sister which i guess one would say is normal. One activity in which we do as a family every year since and before i was born is spend at least one week down at our shore house in Long Beach Island. When the three of us were younger, as a family we could spend the whole summer down there. But with everyone working and with schooling, its hard to find time. So all five of us block off one week every year, which is the fourth of July week and spend it together.

Wiki, to me seems a little difficult as of now. I have never used it and really don't know how. Luckily i can follow directions, and am able to complete this assignment. I'm sure that throughout this semester i will be able to understand it fully. As of now, i think its a great way to get to know one another in the class, and i feel as though its an easier way to complete homework assignments that are assigned. So though i am a little timid right now, i am also excited to learn more about it.

The one topic on the syllabus in which i find most interesting is about diversity and families. I am in the typically Irish family, and everyone in my family has basically married into another Irish family. Though i was raised to not be forced to marry into the Irish culture, i can branch out Ive noticed that no one in my family really has. Because of this, i am extremely interested to see how the diversity in families is affecting every family. Id really like to see what will happen in the future with families and like they say, "in the future there will be no more blue eyed people or natural blond haired people." Is this because of the diversity in families? What else effects the future of families in general? I am very excited to learn about this, and other family issues in this class.