A Research On Modern Dynamics In American Marriages And Families Patterns And The Influence (Since 1960s)

Family, as the basic social institution and the cell of the society, concentrates and reflects the cultural characteristics, morality, religious belief, development and changes in the relationship between economy and politics in a society as well as other related social problems. From the prospective of family, Sociology of Family studies and researches, by observing the general changes of the family, the mutual relationships among the various fields in a society and their effects on the society as well as the personal life of the people. Therefore, it is undoubtedly a vital method for us to grasp the new developments and changes in American society and culture by investigating the American family's historical development, basic structure, relationships among family members and recent trends of change as well as problems facing them.Based on a review of dynamics in American marriage and family patterns, this thesis places emphasis on the description of new changes in marriage and family in U.S.A., explains the causes of changes from different prospective and objectively assesses the effects on the related aspects. Finally, a prediction is made on the developmental trends of American marriage and family patterns in the future.Chapter one looks back the historical evolution of American marriage and family. There are two sectors in this chapter. Sector one looks back the American families before industrialization and urbanization. Sector two describes the typical characteristics of modern American families since the industrialization and urbanization.Chapter two describes modern American families and assesses people's views on marriages and families. It consists of two sectors. Sector one summarizes the enormous changes in families in the period of social transformation. The second sector discusses changes of American women's status in family and society, which are influenced and promoted by feminist movement.Chapter three describes the new changes in American families since 1960s, followed by analysis on the causes from different prospective. Sector one lists the representations of the new changes. Sector two gives an analysis on the causes of changes facing American families from different prospective.Chapter four mainly discusses the main problems facing modern American families: fertility, birth Control and abortion; reproductive technology and teenage pregnancy; divorce and remarriage; family violence; inequality in work and families, and then briefly assesses their influences on children, women, fathers, society and governments at different levels.The conclusion consists two parts. In the first part, this thesis describes the new changes in American notions on marriages and families after 1980s. After the description, this part gives a brief comment on the changes and its influences. The second part firstly summarizes the enormous changes in family which American people has undergone since 1960s, lists several representative predictions made by sociologists on the trends of American marriages and families in the future, and then refutes the most influential prediction: the death of American family based on theoretical analysis and abundant citation of reality. Finally, it makes a scientific and reasonable prediction on the trends of American families: the American family will not die but be alive and well. The flaw in the gloomy forecast is that it confuses change with breakdown.What will the U.S. family be like in the future? Most likely it will be much the same as it is today: manifesting diversity without destroying the basic family values.Peace in society begins at home. As mentioned above, family, as the basic social unit and the cell of the society, concentrates and reflects the cultural characteristics, morality, religious belief, development and changes in the relationships between economy and politics in a society as well as other related social problems.Concerning the specific research methods, this thesis is based on the first-hand materials, treating the generation and development of the historical facts in an objective way, attaching importance to the dialectical relationships between productivity and production relations, between economic basis and superstructure, understanding the decisive effects of the social existence on the changes in marriages and families and the counteractions of the changes to social existence. Therefore, in this thesis "A Research on Modern Dynamics in American Marriages and Families Patterns and the Influence", attention must be paid to the following points: 1. respect the history and science. Observing anything or a phenomenon, we must start from the historical facts instead of concepts and definitions and adhere to the adoption of the research method: "the conclusion coming from history" and "history combing with the conclusion". 2. Combination of the class analysis and historical analysis. Like anything else, the families, as objective existence, have their own course of appearing, developing and dying. 3. Combination of the diachronic study and synchronic study. By diachronic study, it is not difficult for us to see the continuity and dynamic characteristic in families' changes. By synchronic study, we can see that these changes in families are a global trend. 4. Correct attitude to the heritage of the former researches and adoption new theories and methods in this field. American marriages and families have undergone enormous changes in notions and practice; the representations can be summarized as what is mentioned in conclusion part. The causes for the changes are various, ranging from political ones to economic ones, from social ones to ideological ones. It is the coexistence and interaction of the multifactor that lead to the diachronic and synchronic evolution of American families.The death of family has been predicted for decades. Today many continue to predict the demise of the family pointing out as evidence the increase in divorce, out-of-wedlock births, cohabitation, and singlehood, etc. But the family is alive and well. The flaw in the gloomy forecast is that it confuses change with breakdown.What will the U.S. family be like in the future? Most likely it will be much the same as it is today: manifesting diversity without destroying the basic family values.The industrialization in western societies brought their people with plenty of material wealth, largely improved living standard and simultaneously caused a series of spirit crisis including family crisis and important social "problems. Subsequently, these problems aroused the corresponding ethos and social movements in western societies.From the prospective of law of historical development, western society is just a few steps ahead us on the way to modernization and the other countries are about to undergo the similar process. This means that the problems which western societies had undergone before are about to emerge sooner or alter in the process of modernization in our society. It is just for this point that we must have a correct attitude to the ethos in western society and carefully study them. Although the ethos aroused some radical thoughts and arguments and changed the direction of social development to some degree, western society was able to timely adjust their pace forward. Therefore, from this point of view, grasping the law in the generation, evaluation and decline of the ethos is to grasp the developmental law and direction of western societies to a certain degree.So, objectively speaking, this study bears the significance in both academy and reality.