Introduction to FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

SESP 319 –SPRING 2016

Professor

/ OFFICE & HOURS / E-MAIL / CLASS HOURS / LOCATION
Jelani Mandara / Annenberg 107,
1:00 – 1:50 R / / 2:00 – 3:20 TR / Annenberg G22

General Course Objectives:

  1. To expose students to a variety of important topics and debates regarding family life.
  2. To have students critically evaluate the theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence related to various topics.
  3. To have students gain a deeper understanding of how their own family histories and experiences have shaped their development.
  4. To facilitate critical thinking and argumentation skills.

Course Reader:

All required readings will be in pdf format located on Blackboard.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: / POINTS: / DATES DUE:
1. Attendance & Participation / 25
2. Family Tree Assignment / 75 / 4/21
3. Exam 1 / 150 / 5/3
4. Case Study / 75 / 5/26
5. Exam 2 / 150 / Around 6/2

GRADING:

A = 475 - 441 (93%) B+ = 426 - 413 (87%) C+ = 379 - 365 (77%) D = 322 - 237 (50%)

A- = 440 - 427 (90%) B = 412 - 394 (83%) C = 364 - 346 (73%) F = 236or below

B- = 393 - 380 (80%) C- = 345 - 323 (68%)

Course Policies:

  1. Be as objective as possible. Be respectful of the fact that some people are sensitive when they are in heated discussions about personally relevant topics.
  1. EXAMS: The exams will cover the readings and lecture.
  1. FAMILY TREE ASSIGNMENT: This assignment requires you to trace as many branches of your family back as far as you can reasonably go (about4-5 generations for most Americans). It will be useful to sign-up to Ancestry.com or a similar service. Parents and grandparents can be especially useful (although they often have inaccurate information). Create a diagram or family tree with the names of your various ancestors. Then write an essay summarizing the various branches of your ancestry (occupations, regions, ethnicity, marriages, or other interesting tidbits). Furthermore, you should make note of any trends among the various branches of your family. For instance, were some branches more economically successful than others, and do the differences seem to be related to characteristics of their family life? Can you see how your family tree has impacted your current life?
  2. CASE STUDY: You will need to conduct and write up one of two case studies during the class. Interviews only need to be about 15 minutes or so with each person. Unless you and the participants feel comfortable going longer. The case studies are usually less than 10 pages, but can be longer if the information is relevant to the participants’ family life. You can choose from either case study described below.
  1. Marriage Case Study: This requires you to interview a married couple. Ask each person separately about the different topics we will cover in class as it relates to their own marriage (i.e. purpose of marriage, roles, and reasons for arguments). Begin by summarizing basic issues such as their ages, occupations, number of children etc. Then compare and contrast their responses to the questions. End the essay by comparing the couple to the material in the readings and what we covered in class. Does their marriage fit the research (which means the average marriage), or are they relatively different from the norm?
  1. Parenting Case Study: This requires you to interview siblings about their family life and especially the parenting styles they received. Interview them separately. Use the dimensions of parenting we will discuss in class to evaluate the parenting styles they received. Again, compare and contrast their responses and make note of how their perceived parenting styles influenced their lives. Mention how similar or different their experiences are from what we will cover in class about parenting styles and sibling differences. Interviewing siblings that grew up with the same parents might be more interesting, but not mandatory.
  1. The tentative weekly schedule is below. Read the articles before coming to class.

Date / Week / Topic
3/29 / Week 1 / NO CLASS
3/31 / Week 1 / Class Overview, Introductions, Discuss Genealogy Assignment
4/5 / Week 2 / Theories of Family Development, Family Structures
4/7 / Week 2 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships I: Purpose of marriage, Attraction
4/12 / Week 3 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships I: Purpose of marriage, Stereotypes
4/14 / Week 3 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships II: Gender Roles and Power
4/19 / Week 4 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships II: Gender Roles and Power
4/21 / Week 4 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships IV: Causes of Relationship Success and Problems
4/26 / Week 5 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships IV: Causes of Relationship Success and Problems
4/28 / Week 5 / Review
5/3 / Week 6 / Exam #1
5/5 / Week 6 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships V: Consequences of Relationship Problems and Divorce
5/10 / Week 7 / Marriage & Intimate Relationships V: Consequences of Relationship Problems and Divorce
5/12 / Week 7 / Parent-Child Relationships I: Parenting Styles
5/17 / Week 8 / Parent-Child Relationships I: Parenting Styles
5/19 / Week 8 / Parent-Child Relationships II: Cultural Differences in Parenting
5/24 / Week 9 / Parent-Child Relationships II: Cultural Differences in Parenting
5/26 / Week 9 / Parent-Child Relationships III: Sibling Differences
5/31 / Week 10 / Parent-Child Relationships III: Sibling Differences
6/2 / Week 10 / Review
FINAL EXAM “TO BE DETERMINED”
Week / Readings
1
2 / CHAPTER 3 - Olson, D. H., & DeFrain, J. (2006). Marriages and Families: Intimacy, Diversity, and Strengths (5th). McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.
Chapter 1 -Nijole V. Benokraitis (2010) Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices and Constraints, (7th). Pearson.
3 / Edin, K., & Reed, J. M. (2005). Why don’t they just get married? Barriers to marriage among the disadvantaged. The Future of Children, 2, 117 – 137.
4 / CHAPTER 7 - Olson, D. H., & DeFrain, J. (2006). Marriages and Families: Intimacy, Diversity, and Strengths (5th). McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.
5 / Faulkner, R. A., Davey, M., & Davey, A. (2005). Gender-related predictors of change in marital satisfaction and marital conflict. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 33, 61 – 83.
Stanik, C. E., & Bryant, C. M. (2012). Sexual satisfaction, perceived availability of alternative partners, and marital quality in newlywed African American couples. Journal of Sex Research, 49, 400 – 407.
6
7 / Mandara, J., Rogers, S. Y., & Zinbarg, R. E. (2011). The effects of family structure on African American adolescents’ marijuana use. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 557 - 569.
Gallo, L. C., Troxel, W.M. Matthews, K. A., & Kuller, L. H. (2003). Marital status and quality in middle-aged women: Associations with levels and trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors. Health Psychology, 22, 453 – 463.
8 / Baumrind, D. (1996). The discipline controversy revisited. Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family & Child Studies, 45, 405-414.
9 / Sorkhabi, N., & Mandara, J. (2012). Are the effects of Baumrind’s parenting styles culturally specific or culturally equivalent? In A. Sheffield Morris, R. E. Larzelere, & A. W. Harrist (Eds). New Directions in Authoritative Parenting. Washington, DC: APA Books
10 / Suitor, J. J., Sechrist, J., Plikuhn, M., Pardo, S. T., & Pillemer, K. (2008). Within-family differences in parent-child relations across the life course. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 334 – 338.