Deck 15: Summing It Up: Families and the Sociological Imagination

Question 1

You have traveled extensively around Europe and you noticed their approach to family policies. For example, you discovered:

A)they exist in a vacuum
B)they reflect historical, cultural, political, and social factors in every society
C)countries that develop explicit family policies see communities as the key unit of analysis
D)U)S. policies tend to be universal rather than selective
E)the U.S. may not provide universal health insurance coverage, but it is one of only a few countries that provides paid maternity leave and a family allowance grant

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Your author makes a number of predictions about American families of the future, including:

A)The size of the Hispanic population will decline.
B)The size of the elderly population will continue to decline.
C)The U.S. will remain highly stratified.
D)The size of the elderly population will stabilize.
E)The U.S. will retain its universal approach to family policy.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following statements best illustrates social inequality's powerful influence on family life?

A)Patterns of social inequality shape families, and conversely, patterns of social inequality are also shaped by families.
B)There is a large degree of social mobility in the U.S.
C)Extended families are viewed as a real source of strength.
D)The middle class is the largest social class, and therefore its ideologies are presented as normal, and others adopt its values as their own.
E)Welfare recipients support one another and see themselves as a collective group suffering persecution.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

You have learned that HIV/AIDS is an epidemic in many parts of the world. Which of the following is FALSE about this epidemic?

A)A report by the United Nations reveals that nearly 22 million people have HIV, which is a slow but steady decline over the past 3 years.
B)Two-thirds of newly infected teenagers in sub-Saharan Africa are girls.
C)HIV/AIDS occurs everywhere, but it is particularly problematic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
D)The effects of HIV/AIDS include food scarcities.
E)Young women in sub-Saharan Africa are far more likely to be HIV positive than are men of similar ages.

Question 5

A ____________ perspective focuses on identifying, creating, mobilizing, advocating, and respecting the resources, assets, wisdom, and knowledge that every person and every family has to help ameliorate problems.

A)policy
B)comparative
C)family strengths
D)equality
E)social conflict

Question 6

________ asks that we step back from our ordinary routines so that we can critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different ways of organizing our lives and bring in new insights.

A)The sociological imagination
B)Matriarchy
C)A micro perspective
D)A social institution
E)AIDS

Question 7

In the opening vignette of Chapter 15, why was John born in a homeless shelter?

A)His parents' house burned down and they had nowhere to go.
B)His mother was sexually abused by her uncle and ran away from home.
C)His mother was mentally retarded and was unable to care for herself.
D)His mother lost her job and she fell through the social service safety net.
E)His mother was addicted to meth and had lived in a shelter for over a year.

Question 8

It is important to look at other countries because their problems and their solutions may help us better understand our own. This is a premise of a __________ perspective.

A)policy
B)comparative
C)family strengths
D)equality
E)social conflict

Question 9

HIV infection patterns in sub-Saharan Africa reveal a "sexual mixing pattern" which means:

A)male homosexual relationships are on the rise
B)young boys are having sex with older women
C)older men are having sex with younger girls
D)lesbian relationships are on the rise
E)people are increasingly having sex with members of their own families

Question 10

You are trying to explain to your dad that sex and gender are significant dimensions of social equality. He scoffs at your ideas. What evidence would you show him?

A)Strict gendered rules begin when children start school.
B)Regardless of social class, racial or ethnic identity, type of political or economic regime, there are cultural rules that govern the behavior of males and females in every society.
C)Rigid gendered expectations are a burden on men and women equally.
D)Women do not object to gross violations of their human rights in those countries in which these violations occur.
E)Women do not believe in their subjugation but they often pretend that they do in order to please their fathers, brothers, and husbands.

Question 11

Your author makes several predictions about families in the future. Which is NOT one of those predictions?

A)The age at marriage will continue to rise.
B)The rate of cohabitation will increase.
C)The percentage of women and men without children will rise.
D)The divorce rate will continue to rise.
E)The U.S. will become more diverse.

Question 12

Which of the following best illustrates that families are both a public social institution and a private personal relationship at the same time?

A)Kendra and Oliver have fallen in love.
B)Amy is thinking about having a baby.
C)Thirty percent of U.S. babies are delivered by Cesarean section.
D)Taylor spends time with his grandmother after school.
E)Annie has brown hair, but she is thinking about dyeing it blond.

Question 13

Examining the issue of HIV/AIDS shows the interconnectedness of societies around the world, the premise of a/an ________.

A)public perspective
B)comparative perspective
C)private perspective
D)empirical perspective
E)environmental perspective

Question 14

Susan, Marie, and their children in the opening vignette are likely a part of the ________ million Americans who do not have any health insurance.

A)11
B)19
C)28
D)36
E)50

Question 15

Which of the following is TRUE about Cesarean section births?

A)The rate of Cesarean births in the U.S. is now about a quarter of all births, the lowest since the 1930s.
B)The World Health Organization says that a Cesarean rate above 25 percent indicates improper use of the procedure.
C)Doctors deserve the full blame for the increase in surgical births.
D)The reasons for Cesarean births are biological.
E)Many women are becoming more comfortable with the remedicalization of childbirth, in contrast to the more natural methods promoted in the 1980s and 1990s.

Question 16

Poverty is quickly becoming a women's problem, as the term ________ suggests.

A)matriarchy
B)feminine mystique
C)feminization of poverty
D)gendered poverty
E)gender-specific poverty rate

Question 17

Family scholars would rather rely upon an empirical approach to understanding families, rather than relying on common sense or personal experience. What does an empirical approach mean?

A)comparing the U.S. with another country
B)being ethnocentric
C)relying on a patrilineal approach
D)conducting an experiment
E)answering questions through a systematic collection and analysis of quantitative or qualitative data

Question 18

Susan and Marie, in the opening vignette of Chapter 15, are both single mothers. What do we know about nonmarital childbearing?

A)Today almost 20 percent of all births occur outside of marriage, a slight decline from just a decade ago.
B)The largest increases in nonmarital childbearing are occurring among older women who have not completed high school.
C)In other developed industrialized countries, having a child out of wedlock does not pose the great financial problem that it does in the U.S.
D)Of 22 selected industrialized countries, the rates of poverty among children in single-parent households are lowest in the U.S.
E)Compared to the U.S., other countries seem to have a laissez-faire approach.

Question 19

According to the research examining the effects of divorce on children:

A)for many decades the opinion was that divorce did a lot of harm to children, but now we know that any harm is usually of very short duration
B)although most children adjust adequately over time to their parents' divorce, many are plagued by depression or other behavioral problems for many years
C)differences in psychological well-being generally disappear after controlling for such factors as sex, race, or mother's level of education
D)using data from large and representative samples, researchers have found that children are usually better off if their unhappily married parents divorce
E)most divorces occur in marriages in which severe conflict occurred, therefore the majority of children whose parents divorce are better off than if their parents stayed married

Question 20

There are five (5)themes of this textbook; which is NOT one of them?

A)Families are both a public social institution and a private personal relationship.
B)Gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and age are not social constructions.
C)Social inequality has a powerful influence on family life.
D)Family policies reflect historical, cultural, political, and social factors.
E)Understanding families in the U.S. requires a comparative perspective.

Question 21

Using the sociological imagination can help us better understand the situations of Susan, Marie, and their children.

Question 22

An empirical approach relies on common sense, personal experience, and the views of authority figures.

Question 23

The author of the text believes that there will be a sharp increase in the likelihood of mothers working outside the home.

Question 24

If we want to understand contemporary patterns in the U.S., we should compare ourselves to something else, such as other cultures or other points in history; this is called a comparative perspective.

Question 25

Resiliency is the capacity to rebound from adversity, misfortune, trauma, or other transitional crises and become strengthened and more resourceful.

Question 26

Liam is independent, creative, intelligent, and has a great sense of humor. According to a family strengths perspective, these are examples of family protective factors.

Question 27

The ________ refers to the fact that women are far more likely to be impoverished than are men, and single mothers are particularly vulnerable.

Question 28

In the opening vignette of Chapter 15, we met Susan and her son John, who was born in a homeless shelter. They were caught in the catch-22 predicament of the homeless, meaning ________.

Question 29

The main point of the story of Tommy Johnson and Randall Simmons in the feature box is how race influences the way our parents socialize us.

Question 30

A report by the United Nations reveals that the number of people in the world with HIV climbed to over 33 million persons, and is a particular crisis in the ________ region of the world.

Question 31

Families are both a public institution and a private personal relationship.

Question 32

Family policies in the United States tend to be universal, and reflect and promote the concepts of individualism and self-sufficiency.

Question 33

In the U.S., concerns regarding work-family balance are generally viewed as personal issues or problems, in contrast to Canada or European countries that take a more collective view.

Question 34

Special programs in the U.S. for poor mothers, or a mentally or physically disabled child, are examples of selective programs.

Question 35

How may the health care reform that was passed in 2010, and slowly implemented through 2014, affect Susan, Marie, and their children?

Question 36

World Map 15.1 shows us that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is particularly devastating in the Southern Middle East.

Question 37

A __________ reveals that many seemingly private struggles are really large-scale social problems.

Question 38

The number of subsidized housing units has increased during the early 2000s, so most people who need housing assistance are helped relatively quickly.

Question 39

Learning how other societies structure families, how they collectively think about families, how they encourage members to interact, and how they deal with the challenges families face can provide insight into our own patterns and family concerns. This is the premise of social exchange theory.

Question 40

The quandaries of Susan and her son, as described in the opening vignette of Chapter 15, reveal isolated personal problems, in contrast to Marie and her children, who are experiencing large-scale social problems.

Question 41

The author of the text makes several predictions about families in the future, such as, the size of the elderly population will _________; the divorce rate will __________; and the percent of childfree men and women will __________.

Question 42

There are at least four (4)reasons why other developed countries have such lower teenage pregnancy rates than the U.S., including __________.

Question 43

The five (5)themes of the textbook are ________.

Question 44

According to the author of the text, she predicts that the divorce rate will continue to:

Question 45

What is a strengths-based perspective, and how can it improve family resiliency?

Question 46

The textbook author predicts 10 future trends for families. Discuss five (5)of these trends, and explain and evaluate her predictions. Do you agree with her?

Question 47

What are family protective factors?

Question 48

Describe the situation of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and explain how patriarchy contributes to women's inability to negotiate safe sex and protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Be sure to include in your discussion important HIV/AIDS statistics across sex and age, and the causes and consequences of age mixing described in the feature box.

Question 49

The author of the text suggests that there will be some challenges to the piecemeal approach to family policy. Describe the U.S. approach to family policy, and compare it to other developed nations. What U.S. policies are being challenged, or might be challenged in the near future?

Question 50

One of the reasons that girls in sub-Saharan Africa are becoming HIV-infected younger and dying earlier than boys is "sexual mixing," which means ________.

Question 51

The author of the text makes several predictions about families in the future, such as, the age at marriage will ________; the rate of cohabitation will ________; and the percentage of men and women without children will ________.

Question 52

Most Americans are highly critical of welfare and welfare recipients. Are welfare recipients aware of the stigma? If so, how do they cope with or manage the stigma? Describe how the ideology of the prominent group becomes so powerful that even women on welfare will subscribe to negative stereotypes about women on welfare.

Question 53

Which does the United States lean toward: selective or universal programs?

Question 54

Using Susan, Marie, and their children described in the opening vignette of Chapter 15 as an example, look deep within their stories and describe the specific insights a sociological imagination can reveal about their lives.

Question 55

Describe the four (4)themes of the text. Now choose one theme to elaborate upon and provide detailed examples of that theme. Be sure to include relevant coverage of empirical and/or comparative information.

Question 56

What are the four (4)goals of an empirical approach?

Question 57

List the ways that women on welfare manage the stigma, according to the feature box?