Sociology- Family problems
MINI PAPER FOUR-THEORIES
Pick four different shows that depict a family. Each show needs to be different in some way (such as a single-headed household, divorced, step-families, nuclear families, grandparents raising children, etc) and at least one must be a different race or ethnicity. You may select two shows that are cartoons (if they are depicting a family such as the “Simpsons” or “The Proud Family”) yet these cartoons cannot be used as the shows used for your different race or ethnicity requirement.
For each show, you need to select one of the theoretical perspectives related to marriage and the family that are described in the text and explain the way in which the theory can be related to the depiction of the family. You must explain how the theory relates to the family in each show. Make sure that you use functional theory and conflict theory for 2 of the shows. Make sure you discuss the relationship between spouses, parents and children and siblings. Discuss the emotional, economic as well as issues of gender relations for each fictional family. For example, if you are looking at the Cosby Show you can explain that the family is a functional family, in that each member of the family is serving a different purpose, the parents are providing economic stability and emotional support and they are procreating. This paper needs to be at least one to two pages per theoretical perspective and no more that 8 papers total for the entire assignment.
