Deck 8: Patterns of Family Formation and Planning

Question 1

Currently in Canada, the proportion of families comprised of a mother, father, and at least one dependent child is declining.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Even when parents do not judge their marriage to be the happiest, children still
benefit from it.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Family structure rather than family instability is a more important factor for
adolescent well-being.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

For families formed by cohabitation, in instances where the mother is obviously sexually active with a series of men, the transmission of poverty, early pregnancy, and behavioural problems may become an intergenerational characteristic of these families.

Question 5

Studies of planned families of lesbian couples indicate that their children are less well adjusted when compared to children in heterosexual families.

Question 6

Children with experiences of homophobia who have same-sex parents report have more behavioural problems in school.

Question 7

Young men who are highly antisocial produce nearly three times the percentage of babies than do more prosocial young men by the time they reach the age of 26.

Question 8

The intergenerational transmission of poverty is unrelated to behaviour genetics.

Question 9

Children are less useful to the family unit and more costly in industrialized and technological societies.

Question 10

Involuntary childlessness is predominantly a result of delayed childbearing.

Question 11

The long term consequences of childbearing are more important to individual well being than the long term consequences of abortion.

Question 12

Delayed parenthood is what has allowed many women to acquire more education, a more solid economic future, and, possibly, a better marriage.

Question 13

Research indicates that adopted adolescents have slightly fewer problems and conflict with parents than non-adopted ones.

Question 14

Reunions with birth parents are a gendered phenomenon.

Question 15

Research is unanimous to the effect that married fathers invest far more in their children than either cohabiting or single fathers.

Question 16

Married-couple families constituted nearly _______ per cent of all Canadian families in 2006.

A) 30
B) 40
C) 50
D) 60
E) 70

Question 17

Children who experience high levels of marital conflict

A) do not get along well with peers.
B) do not do as well as children in stable single-parent families.
C) often become violent when adult.
D) do far better than children in single-parent families.
E) have high rates of divorce when adult.

Question 18

Basically, what is important to children above all else is _____ and the care they receive from their parents; not whether their parents are madly in love with each other.

A) social control
B) love and attention
C) family stability
D) money
E) authority figures

Question 19

The 2011 data shows that there was an overall decline in the proportion of couples with children at home, regardless of marital status in the past decade. This is because

A) the costs of living has increased for Canadian families.
B) worsening economic conditions
C) advances in birth control techniques
D) religious sanctions against larger families in immigrant communities.
E) a decline in fertility and the aging of the population.

Question 20

Marriage is beneficial for society because it

A) is an institutionalized form of family formation.
B) has formal rights and duties upon which there is a great deal of social consensus.
C) is at the basis of the family system.
D) produces a great deal of social capital and enhances human capital.
E) is the only appropriate structure in which to raise children.

Question 21

Cohabitation is more unstable than marriage. As a result,

A) children may live with someone who is not their father.
B) the divorce rate is higher.
C) children are not often born of cohabiting parents.
D) couples do not plan for the future.
E) fewer couples are choosing to live together outside of marriage.

Question 22

When a single mother begins to cohabitate

A) her children find it difficult to adjust to the new situation.
B) her children often find it beneficial to have a male role model available.
C) family poverty is reduced.
D) the new family formation receives more support because of its increased respectability.
E) her children see their biological father less often than before.

Question 23

Approximately _______ per cent of families headed by lesbian couples have children.

A) less than 1
B) 5
C) 10
D) 15
E) more than 20

Question 24

What accounts for the majority of children in same-sex couple relationships?

A) These children are acquired from adoption agencies.
B) These children are foster care children.
C) These children are acquired from surrogate mothers.
D) These were born to a mother-father unit that ended in divorce and the lesbian or gay parent obtained custody
E) These children were previously orphans.

Question 25

Studies of planned families by solo lesbian mothers indicate that their children are

A) as well adjusted as children in heterosexual families.
B) as well adjusted as children in heterosexual families
C) less well adjusted when compared to children in heterosexual families.
D) more adjusted than children in heterosexual families.
E) less likely to be accepted by their mother's family.

Question 26

The focus on _______same-sex couples in research has failed to capture the heterogeneity of same-sex parent families.

A) male
B) lesbian
C) black
D) educated
E) white

Question 27

The research about same-sex families has indicated that

A) same-sex couples who have a child together, rather than from a previous heterosexual union, have to do far less planning than heterosexual couples, both before and after a child's arrival.
B) in lesbian couples where one of the two women has given birth, the non-biological co-mother mother typically assumes greater responsibility for the care of the child.
C) upon the arrival of a child, lesbian and gay couples experience transition issues in their relationships equivalent to those of heterosexual couples.
D) same-sex couples receive more support from friends who are not planning on having children and less from their families.
E) studies of planned families of lesbian couples indicate that their children are less well adjusted than children in heterosexual families.

Question 28

Research suggests that the likelihood of child from a same sex family adopting a
Homosexual identity later in life is largely dependent on

A) the extent to which the child's peers are accepting of his or her family status.
B) how much interaction the child has with other children of homosexual parents.
C) fathers having more gay partners and being open to his young child on matters regarding sexuality
D) the social class position of the parent.
E) mothers having more lesbian partners and being open to her young child on matters regarding sexuality.

Question 29

The main problem with the concept of 'single parenting' is that

A) it ignores the parenting activities of the non-custodial parent.
B) it doesn't acknowledge that it is usually mothers who are doing the parenting.
C) it doesn't reflect the additional community support available to these parents.
D) it doesn't distinguish whether parents are 'single' through divorce or through unwed pregnancy.
E) it also includes cohabiting couples who are not actually single.

Question 30

In the past seventy years, single parent families have accounted for at least______ of all families.

A) 10%
B) 30%
C) 40%
D) 50%
E) 60%

Question 31

In the past, single parent families were most often created through

A) divorce.
B) cohabitation.
C) death of the one of the parents.
D) losses in war.
E) desertion.

Question 32

During the past two decades, the birth rate to unmarried adolescents

A) has decreased.
B) has increased.
C) has remained stable.
D) has decreased for aboriginals adolescents.
E) has increased for aboriginal adolescents.

Question 33

The adolescent birth rate is

A) lower for older teens and higher for young adolescents.
B) higher for older teens and lower for young adolescents.
C) consistent across adolescence, regardless of age.
D) the number of children born for every 100 adolescents.
E) the highest it has ever been.

Question 34

A majority of teen mothers

A) are aboriginal.
B) are black.
C) come from low-income families.
D) are in their early teens.
E) get assistance from the child's biological father.

Question 35

Why do teenage mothers experience a 'double transition' after the birth of their child?

A) they experience the double burden of being both mother and father to their child.
B) they experience the loss of their childless peers and loss of their ability to continue their education.
C) they experience the transition from school to home and the transition from childhood to adulthood.
D) they experience the transition to motherhood as well as the transition to becoming independent from their parents.
E) they will generally move from their parents home to a cohabitation arrangement with the father of the child.

Question 36

Young men who are antisocial

A) father fewer children.
B) father approximately the same number of children as young men who are not antisocial.
C) father children with development difficulties.
D) father more children.
E) are more involved with the children they father than young men who are not antisocial.

Question 37

Multi-partnered fertility is associated with

A) poverty
B) wealth
C) domestic violence
D) infertility
E) middle aged fertility

Question 38

Adults who have spent part of their childhood in a single parent family

A) have a high likelihood of marriage.
B) are less likely to get divorced.
C) are more likely to get divorced.
D) are more likely to be childless when married.
E) are more likely to have a greater number of children than is the current norm.

Question 39

Family planning refers to

A) abortion decisions between a woman and her physician.
B) social policies aimed at reducing overpopulation.
C) the legalization of contraception availability.
D) people's decisions concerning the number of spacing of the children they will have.
E) premarital counselling which concentrates on the couple's ideas about the number of children they want and who will be primarily responsible for various aspects of their care.

Question 40

Fertility refers to

A) the number of births per 1, 000 women aged 15 - 44.
B) the number of pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15 - 44.
C) the number of births per 1, 000 population.
D) the number of pregnancies per 1, 000 population.
E) the number of women who are able to get pregnant and bear children without medical intervention.

Question 41

Many more women than before are reporting some form of fertility impairment.
One main reason

A) resides in a greater desire to have children than in the past.
B) lies in delayed attempts at childbearing.
C) stems from the lack of children available for adoption.
D) resides in women's greater lack of tolerance for infertility than in the past.
E) resides in medical definitions of infertility.

Question 42

Couples who choose to remain childless

A) tend to devote less time to leisure activities
B) have higher rates of domestic violence
C) tend to have more stable and longer marriages than couples who become parents.
D) retain a more egalitarian division of household labour.
E) do so for economic reasons.

Question 43

In which part(s) of Canada do we currently see the highest abortion rates?

A) British Columbia and Ontario
B) The Maritimes
C) The Territories, Nunavut, and Quebec
D) Quebec
E) Nunavut

Question 44

Critics are concerned that new reproductive technologies

A) are helping mainly older women to have babies.
B) might turn children into commodities.
C) may free women from childbirth.
D) may allow too many homosexuals to become parents.
E) may encourage more women to have children outside of traditional marriage.

Question 45

In vitro fertilization, or the first "test tube" baby, occurred in 1978 in

A) Mexico.
B) Australia.
C) Soviet Union.
D) Great Britain.
E) Canada.

Question 46

Multiple births of more than two babies have increased mainly

A) among women who are not white.
B) because of surrogate motherhood.
C) because physicians are no longer performing selective abortions.
D) because medical care of women pregnant with multiple foetuses has improved.
E) because of hormone treatment and the implantation of several embryos.

Question 47

What is the feminist critique of surrogate motherhood?

A) It exploits women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
B) Only rich people can afford it.
C) Children may want to know who their birth mother is.
D) The woman may not want to relinquish the baby.
E) The legal institution becomes more involved in reproductive decision making.

Question 48

Adopted children are somewhat overrepresented in psychiatric populations. Which of the following is the most suitable explanation?

A) Adopted children are less adequately parented.
B) Adopted childrens peers often say things that make them feel insecure about the normality of their situation.
C) Parents generally do not inform children of their adoption until they are adults.
D) Adopted children on average come from biological backgrounds involving a lot of emotional problems.
E) Finding birth parents is a traumatic and emotionally devastating event.

Question 49

Stepchild adoption

A) occurs only in extreme cases of child abuse by the biological parent.
B) is usually done by the stepmother.
C) reaffirms the impermeability of the boundaries of the nuclear family.
D) carries very few long-term potential implications, particularly at the legal level.
E) is usually turned down by the courts.

Question 50

Transracial adoptions

A) constitute one of the most frequent types of adoption in Canada.
B) are generally as successful as same-race adoptions.
C) always involve an infant born in Canada.
D) frequently confuse adopted children in terms of their racial self-identification.
E) are avoided because of their expense.

Question 51

Reunions of adopted children with birth parents

A) are an adequately researched phenomenon.
B) never lead to disappointment for the children.
C) are always well accepted by their birth parents' families.
D) allow children to become familiar with their biological background.
E) are always discouraged by adoptive parents.

Question 52

The adoption of older foster-care children is less common because

A) couples prefer to adopt younger children.
B) the older children are often involved with the juvenile justice system at that stage.
C) older foster care children verbally resist any attempts to be adopted.
D) the children frequently run away
E) the children are often violent and aggressive.

Question 53

In what ways is marriage beneficial for children?

Question 54

Review the existing knowledge concerning same-sex-parent families.

Question 55

Discuss the factors that lead to multi-partner fertility for heterosexual men and women and its social consequences.

Question 56

Discuss the economic consequences of single adolescent motherhood for (a) the mother and (b) the child.

Question 57

Discuss the reasons for the global decline in family fertility in industrialized countries over the past few decades.

Question 58

Discuss the social construction of adoption.

Question 59

What are the issues involved in transracial adoption?