Family Sociological Perspective

My family does not conform to the images, ideals, and myths of past American families, such as the myth of the monolithic family form and the unified family experience. Instead my family can be analyzed from the framework of the sociological perspective. Both macro and micro forces have influenced the development and interior dynamics of my family. My parents and two younger siblings (1 brother and 1 sister) make up the nuclear part of my family and they are all biologically related to me. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents make up my extended biological family. My godparents are also part of my extended family, even though they are not biologically related to me.
By utilizing classroom readings, discussions, and interpersonal interviews …show more content…
These limited resources were especially true after the death of my grandmother, who typically assumed the role of babysitter for my parents when they both had to work congruent shifts. Split-shift parenting is a strategy typically utilized by working-class families who cannot relieve family stress between work and home by simply reducing the number of hours worked by either parent. In the case of my parents, who both needed to work in order to maintain a family of five, their only option was to split their work shifts. My mother would typically stay at home in the mornings to take care of my siblings and I, while my father went to work. Once my father came home from work in the afternoon, my mother would go to work. Unfortunately, for my mother, the amount of non-paid household work that she had to do did not diminish with the use of split-shift parenting. I cannot recall a time that my father washed the dishes after cooking a meal in the evening for my siblings and I. Most of the time, my father would only be motivated to take out the trash. Undeniably, this lack of egalitarian household duties was the cause of numerous arguments between my parents. Furthermore, the structure of the family can have profound effects on the social and emotional development of children within the household. This is especially true with my family in the concept of sibling birth …show more content…
A recent conversation with my father and mother informed me that my father was the first person in my family to migrate over to the U.S. Once my father got to America, he encouraged my mother to come over shortly thereafter. Classroom discussions indicate that one common reason people immigrate is to reunite with their spouse, child, or other loved ones. Chain migration is the concept in which family members arrive to a new country at different times. The fact that my father came to America first and my mother followed shortly thereafter illustrates the concept of chain migration. As a result, gender dynamics between my parents drastically changed during their first few years in