Deck 14: Family Futures and Social Policies

Question 1

As long as certain types of families exist and do a good job at loving and raising their children, it becomes functional for society as a whole to support them.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Current socioeconomic conditions mean that most types of family structures are now well equipped than to invest in children's well being and their future.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

An effective community links various government institutions, neighborhoods, and schools together and prevents them from being isolated and unaware of children's activities.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Concerns addressed scholars and other critically engaged individuals about exposing children to physical violence, verbal abuse, and exploitative sexuality are now starting to be taken seriously by the media entertainment industry.

Question 5

The concept of emerging adulthood is an example of a social construct.

Question 6

Unlike other Western nations, the current fertility rate in Canada continues to increase.

Question 7

Fertility rates are higher in economically and technologically advanced countries than in developing countries.

Question 8

Delayed marriages may act as a preventive measure to rising divorce rates.

Question 9

Current technologies and the market economy are ideologies that can be changed through human intervention.

Question 10

The majority of senior citizens over age 65 depend on government transfers to avoid poverty.

Question 11

Adequate welfare payments that raise families above the poverty level usually only serve to perpetuate poverty in the long run.

Question 12

Too many hours of child care may be difficult for small children in terms of
adaptation to all the stimuli involved.

Question 13

Only about 20 percent of Canadian pre-schoolers have access to regulated child care.

Question 14

Everyone is capable of becoming economically independent.

Question 15

There will soon be fewer caregivers who belong to the sandwich generation.

Question 16

As an institution, the family suffers from its own social inequality. Which of the following propositions best defines this situation?

A) Parents are generally more experienced than children and have authority over them.
B) Boys and girls are treated differently in many families.
C) The family is underfunded and deprived of resources compared to other social systems such as corporations and politics.
D) Some families are poor while others are rich and the gap between poor and rich families is widening.
E) Gender stratification, racial and sexual prejudice, and patriarchal institutions are responsible for most of the problems families are currently experiencing

Question 17

What social factor contributes to keeping a large proportion of families headed by mothers at or under the poverty level?

A) lack of educational aspirations
B) lack of a male companion-wage earner
C) large family size
D) gender stratification
E) inability to parent effectively while employed.

Question 18

Sociologists can conclude that children benefit most in stable marriage structures because of

A) current socio-economic conditions.
B) religious values in society.
C) political influences on the family.
D) societal pressures to conform.
E) gender stratification.

Question 19

Too great a proportion of families are ill-equipped to supervise, guide, and educate their youth. How can we explain this situation from a social perspective?

A) There is a lack of effective communities supporting families.
B) Too many families are headed by young and immature parents.
C) Drug addiction and alcoholism prevent many parents from fulfilling their duties.
D) Divorced parents encounter problems that make it difficult to fulfill their responsibilities toward their children.
E) Parents are too busy working so that they can accumulate status symbols.

Question 20

An effective community

A) does not lead to collective socialization.
B) is utopian in nature and does not exist.
C) functions best in an urban environment rather than a suburban one.
D) links parents and teachers together and prevents them from being isolated and unaware of children's activities.
E) serves to benefit only members of the middle or upper class.

Question 21

Effective communities have been negatively affected by

A) an increased disinterest in knowing one's neighbours.
B) urbanization and individualism.
C) the more efficient government agencies who now perform many past family functions.
D) crime and delinquency.
E) racial and ethnic differences.

Question 22

An important aspect of the cultural context of families

A) is reflected in private schools.
B) resides in the media.
C) includes child socialization.
D) resides in the structure of society.
E) resides in the normative definition of appropriate parenting.

Question 23

Sociologists can only reasonably predict what the future holds for families for the

A) next five to ten years.
B) next two to three years.
C) next twenty to thirty years.
D) next ten to fifteen years.
E) next forty to fifty years.

Question 24

Why is it that sociologists cannot predict many long-term family developments?

A) We do not know how many children women will have 20 years from now.
B) Divorce rates are difficult to predict.
C) We live in a technology-driven rather than socially-driven world.
D) Immigration is radically changing our society.
E) People are too individually unique to predict their patterns of behaviour.

Question 25

What group will increasingly constitute a larger proportion of the Canadian population in the future?

A) children under five
B) children between the ages of six and twelve
C) adolescents
D) the middle-aged
E) seniors

Question 26

What would be one key demographic consequence of a hypothetical increase in the fertility rate from 2.0 to 2.7 children per woman?

A) The ratio of young males to females would increase.
B) The proportion of the population which is elderly would decrease.
C) Individuals would become less materialistic and individualistic.
D) The media would be under pressure to produce TV programming that is more suitable to children.
E) Consumption would increase to accommodate increased needs of children.

Question 27

What might encourage couples to have larger families than is currently the case?

A) the development of accessible and affordable childcare
B) media depictions of large family groups
C) a financial 'reward' for each child born
D) an increase in religiosity
E) a lower divorce rate

Question 28

The rate of cohabitation will increase at least somewhat in the coming decade because

A) current trends in this direction have not yet peaked.
B) there is less interest in marriage than before.
C) government policies are encouraging it.
D) the value of commitment continues to decline.
E) individualism is on the rise.

Question 29

The divorce rate may not increase or decline substantially in the next ten years because

A) of growing religious participation.
B) more adults are getting married at a younger age.
C) more adults are delaying marriage.
D) fertility rates are declining.
E) women and men have more or less reached equality in earnings.

Question 30

Marriages that are preceded by _____ are more likely to end in divorce.

A) two or more prior cohabitations
B) serial dating
C) uncommitted cohabitations
D) children
E) previous divorce

Question 31

The declaration that "fertility needs to be de-gendered in terms of responsibilities" would best be realized by

A) men having better jobs so that they can afford to marry their child's mother.
B) the media stop romanticizing single sexuality.
C) women use contraception more efficaciously.
D) males cooperate and are taught to be more responsible.
E) there is more emphasis on abstinence for women and men.

Question 32

Reducing the rate of out-of-wedlock births for young women would be facilitated by

A) enhanced welfare policies.
B) higher educational attainment for young single females.
C) enforcement of child support payments from biological fathers.
D) the negative portrayal of pregnant teens in popular culture.
E) higher rates of paternal unemployment.

Question 33

The changes which will take place in the family over the next several decades will result from

A) the return to a minimalist lifestyle.
B) the dissatisfactions of parents trying to balance family and work.
C) the development of unplanned technologies within a market system.
D) the creation of social policies which encourage a gender role shift for men.
E) the increasing problems associated with the growing poverty of families.

Question 34

Policies in general and family policies in particular are

A) social choices.
B) generally unpopular.
C) usually unplanned.
D) generally religiously influenced.
E) influenced by ideologies of civil servants.

Question 35

An abused child is returned to the home of a formerly drug-addicted parent following successful treatment. This is an example of

A) an economic support policy.
B) a caregiving policy.
C) a childrearing and care or social reproduction policy.
D) a family creation or reproduction policy.
E) a family reunification or reconstitution policy.

Question 36

In Canada, mothers who take parental leave can be off work for

A) four to eight months.
B) six to ten months.
C) six to twelve months.
D) ten to eighteen months.
E) six to eighteen months.

Question 37

Women with salaries ______________ tend to return to work sooner after having a child.

A) between $50,000 and $60,000
B) between $40,000 and $50,000
C) between $30,000 and $40,000
D) between $20,000 and $30,000
E) under $20,000

Question 38

Adequate welfare payments

A) encourage single motherhood.
B) lead to school dropout.
C) help children learn that work is not valued.
D) can prevent the transmission of poverty to the next generation.
E) contribute to the transmission of poverty to the next generation.

Question 39

Policies that prevent family problems from developing are difficult to adopt because

A) families are seen as private institutions that should not be interfered with.
B) there is little political will.
C) it is more beneficial politically to blame parents for the problems which develop within families.
D) it is difficult to get a consensus on the definition of the family and what the goals of policy should be.
E) parents do not want state interference in the family.

Question 40

Wage supplements implemented by governments

A) would increase the numbers of persons who do not work.
B) would top up low wages to a level sufficient to meet the cost of living.
C) are bonuses for those couples who chose to have large families.
D) are variable welfare payments which are tied to searching for employment.
E) are transitional payments for people just getting off welfare for employment.

Question 41

Owning one's own house leads to more successful parenting practices because

A) children develop a greater respect for their parents.
B) neighbourhoods tend to be more stable.
C) parents become more hopeful and future oriented.
D) children are exposed to a greater diversity of lifestyles.
E) parents who are concerned about their property are more authoritative.

Question 42

A major problem that prevents the accumulation of wealth for Aboriginals who live on reserves is that

A) the homes are spaced too far apart for social support.
B) the homes are in need of major renovations.
C) they do not own their own homes.
D) the homes are not designed for extended families.
E) the homes lack basic necessities such running water.

Question 43

There would be significant costs for comprehensive policies that would reduce family poverty substantially,

A) but these costs would be offset in the next generation by a reduced rate of delinquency and the positive consequences of higher levels of education.
B) and this is why governments can only target smaller areas for improvement.
C) but these costs are unwarranted because there is no scientific proof that reducing poverty is cost effective for society as a whole.
D) but these costs are unwarranted because there is no scientific proof that reducing poverty improves family life.
E) but these costs would require higher taxes which would not meet with the approval of most citizens.

Question 44

One measure proposed by some policymakers to increase high school graduation rates in poor communities is to

A) provide more school counselling services.
B) provide financial incentives for good school performance and attendance.
C) encourage wealthy corporations to make donations to local school boards.
D) provide youth with after-school employment opportunities.
E) encourage parents to get more involved with their school boards.

Question 45

If the father-child bond was accorded the same importance as the mother-child bond,

A) paternal investment among single families would increase.
B) children would be financially better supported.
C) boys would receive a better balanced gender-role socialization.
D) girls would receive a better balanced gender role socialization.
E) all of the above are correct.

Question 46

The term hyper-parenting describes

A) Children who become managed children as well as products.
B) Parents who have been empowered to act as responsible parents.
C) The renewed emphasis on familization.
D) Parents who take responsibility for their actions.
E) Parents who allow their children plenty of free-time to discover the world around them on their own.

Question 47

Parents who follow the "accomplishment of natural growth" model towards child-rearing emphasize

A) permissive parenting.
B) structured activities for their children.
C) the regimentation of their children's lives
D) obedience.
E) parental involvement in every facet of their child's life.

Question 48

According to Annette Lareau, disadvantaged parents use childrearing practices which rely on __________- while middle class engage in ____________.

A) the "process of concerted cultivation"; the "accomplishment of natural growth"
B) the "accomplishment of natural growth"; the "process of concerted cultivation"
C) the "requirements of familial survival"; the "development of individual interests"
D) the "development of individual interests"; the requirements of familial survival"
E) collective socialization; individualistic socialization

Question 49

The "process of concerted cultivation" is adhered to by

A) middle-class and upper-class parents.
B) working-class and disadvantaged parents.
C) single mothers.
D) same-sex couples.
E) extended families.

Question 50

While helping one's older relatives is a voluntary and altruistic act, it is also an economic act. This activity is an economic act because

A) the person doing it can expect to be financially rewarded in the form of an inheritance
B) many additional good consequences will no doubt follow that are unanticipated.
C) it may encourage seniors to find a part-time job.
D) it benefits the entire society.
E) both the helper and the senior are engaged in a form of reciprocal exchange.

Question 51

How is gender stratification related to the social inequalities that families experience?

Question 52

Give three short-term predictions concerning the future of the family.

Question 53

Does the Canadian political system foster the development of long-term social policies pertaining to the family?

Question 54

Discuss welfare as a possibly functional situation for poor children.

Question 55

Can family poverty be eliminated? Give some examples of policy efforts that address this question.

Question 56

What is meant by the statement "the parental role should be more adequately institutionalized"?