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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page discussion of the various twists we now have in our traditional sociological concepts of family. Acknowledging the growing acceptance of such alternative family units as single parent homes, the author contends that such unusual arrangements as same sex unions have a long way to go in establishing their legitimacy as a sociological construct. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPfamly2.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
The sociologic unit we know as the family can be described as the "oldest and most fundamental of all social institutions" (Sullivan and Thompson,
1984, 240). The term "family" typically brings to mind the traditional structure of a mother, a father and one or more children. In this traditional definition of family,
it is the mother who typically stays at home and cares for the children and the father who works outside the home in order to provide financial support for the
family (Turnbull and Turnbull, 1990). Tischler (1996) reveals that this traditional concept of family has been turned on end in recent years with changes in the nuclear family, the
increase of average life span and the advent of such arrangements as same sex "marriages" as well as other changes in lifestyle choices. Although they are different, however, in
most cases such alternative family forms are indeed legitimate. Such radically different family units as same sex unions, however, have a long way to go in establishing their legitimacy
as a sociological construct. The above contention of the legitimacy of alternative families can be made even in consideration of the fact that
alternative families differ in several respects from the traditional concept of a nuclear family. Typically the traditional concept of family involves an extended family of grandparents and aunts and
uncles as well as mother, father and children (Turnbull and Turnbull, 1990). Shephard (1984, 388), for example, defines family as "a group of people related by marriage, blood, or
adoption". The contemporary concept of family has evolved tremendously from those traditional concepts and definitions (Tischler, 1996). The nuclear family
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