Posted: December 6th, 2016

Define Nuclear family and elaborate on how it became the norm. Is this still the traditional family form in the United States?

1. Define Nuclear family and elaborate on how it became the norm. Is this still the traditional family form in the United States? If not, what other forms of ‘family’ have emerged and what are the social causes for their emergence?

2. Discuss the main findings from research on the Chore Wars —the gendered division of household labor—as studied by Hochschild (1989, 2003) and Zelizer (2005), in detail.

3. Discuss and analyze 3 of the main reasons surrounding the increase in number of single mothers in the United States.

4. Describe the ways new reproductive technologies are changing families. Do you think the changes in the family structure have a major influence on our society, its social institutions, its structure, & composition? What would be some of the consequences of one such major change?

(For this question, keep your answer focused on how the structure of ‘family’ as a social unit is changing because of improvements in reproductive technologies. This is not same as last week’s discussion on the positives and/or moral concerns surrounding the technology.)