User talk:RZaheerIqbql
Family
The institution of family has three important functions:
1. To provide for the rearing of children
2. To provide a sense of identity or belonging among its members
3. To transmit culture between generations
In Western societies, we tend to think of a family as consisting of a mother, father, and children living under one roof: anuclear family. Before societies modernize, families usually consist of several generations and branches of extended family living in the same dwelling, or in the same village. As modernization occurs, young people tend to move away from the villages in which they were raised in search of jobs, leaving the older generations behind. They relocate to cities and meet people they probably never would have met had they stayed home. People in modernized, urbanized societies meet spouses on their own, rather than being introduced by family members, and marry and settle down in locations that are often far from their original communities.
Marriage
Marriage, a foundation of family life, exists in all cultures, with some variations:
• Endogamy: Marriage between members of the same category, class, or group
• Exogamy: Marriage between members of different categories, classes, or groups
• Monogamy: Marriage between one man and one woman
• Polygamy: Marriage between one man and more than one woman
• Polyandry: Marriage between one woman and more than one man
In some cultures, after marriage, a couple lives in the wife’s family’s household—a practice called matrilocality. When couples live in the husband’s family’s household, the practice is called patriolocality. If they go out and get their own place to live, they practice neolocality.
Divorce and Remarriage Once taboo, divorce is now common in the United States. Many factors have contributed to the tenfold increase in the U.S. divorce rate over the past century. Women have become less economically dependent on men, which means they are now able to leave unhappy marriages and support themselves. Legal standards have also relaxed, making divorce easier to obtain. Because the divorce rate is so high, so is the rate of remarriage. U.S. society is still coming to terms with the ramifications of blended families, those composed of children and parents from both present and past marriages.
Child-Rearing Rearing children is a primary function of a family. Being in a family provides children with a sense of identity. They learn the norms and values of their societies, as well as the norms and values of the smaller groups to which they belong. By learning about their cultural heritages, children gain a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. By teaching children about their heritage, families insure their culture will live on. Despite the many demands of child-rearing, most adults describe raising children as an important and fulfilling duty. Nevertheless, the number of children in the households of industrialized countries has been dwindling for generations. Economic pressures have led the average U.S. family to have only one or two children. Because both parents must often work outside the home to support the family, parents and children spend less and less time together.
Alternative Families Not all families are centered on a married couple with children. To an increasing degree, U.S. households feature alternative types of families, such as the following: • Single-parent household • Cohabitating, unmarried couples • Gay and lesbian couples • Single adults
Religion Religion is a social institution that answers questions and explains the seemingly inexplicable. Religion provides explanations for why things happen and demystifies the ideas of birth and death. Religions based on the belief in a single deity are monotheistic. Those that encompass many deities are polytheistic.
Uniting Traditions When families attend religious services or put up decorations in honor of a holiday, they are teaching their children about their religion and how to observe it. By engaging in these activities and traditions, children are united with others of the same religion around the world. In this way, families teach their own culture as well as the culture of the society at large.
Major World Religions Most of the world subscribes to one of the following religions:
• Christianity: The most widespread world religion, Christianity derived from Judaism. It is based on the belief that Jesus Christ was the son of God and the redeemer of mankind. There are many different Christian denominations.
• Islam: Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe that the true word of God was revealed to the prophet Muhammad around 570 A.D. God in Islam is the same god as the Christian and Judaic deity.
• Judaism: Judaism is a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity, built on the belief that they are the “chosen people” of God.
• Hinduism: Hinduism is the oldest major world religion, dominant in India. Hindus do not worship a single person or deity but rather are guided by a set of ancient cultural beliefs. They believe in the principle of karma, which is the wisdom or health of one’s eternal soul. Karma can be strengthened with good acts and harmed by bad acts. Hindus believe that karma plays a role in reincarnation, a cycle of continuous rebirth through which, ideally, the soul can achieve spiritual perfection. The state of a person’s karma determines in what form he or she will be reborn.
• Buddhism: Buddhists, most of whom live in Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma, follow the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a spiritual teacher of the sixth century B.C.E.Buddhism, like Hinduism, does not feature any single all-powerful deity but teaches that by eschewing materialism, one can transcend the “illusion” of life and achieve enlightenment.
Types of Religious Groups Sociologists group religious organizations into three categories: church, sect, and cult.
• A church is a religious group integrated with society.
Example: The Roman Catholic Church is well integrated in the society in Spain. • A sect is a religious group that sets itself apart from society as a whole. Example: The Amish of Pennsylvania are a classic sect. Though Christian, they choose to set themselves apart from the rest of society by their lifestyle, which eschews many aspects of modernity.
• A cult is a religious group that is outside standard cultural norms, typically centered around a charismatic leader.
Example: The People’s Temple, a cult that emerged in the late 1970s, was led by a man named Jim Jones. Jones started his cult in San Francisco, then convinced several hundred followers to move with him to Jonestown, Guyana. He claimed to be a god and insisted on strict loyalty. In 1978, he and 913 of his followers committed mass suicide.
Religion in the United States In the United States, the degree to which people are religious is related to their social class, race, and ethnicity. The most affluent people in the United States tend to be Protestant, although Jews also enjoy a higher-than-average standard of living. Northern Europe, which is mostly Protestant, was the area of origin for most of the early settlers in America, so people of Northern European descent tend to come from the most established families and encounter the least amount of prejudice. People who emigrated from predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Southern and Eastern Europe and, later, Latin America encountered more prejudice and tend to be less affluent than the Protestants. However, there is wide variation among the groups. African-American churches have blended the traditions of Christianity and the African faiths of the slaves brought to America. These churches have played a major role in promoting civil rights for blacks. The Rise of Fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a strict, literal adherence to religious doctrine accompanied by a rejection of intellectualism and worldliness. All religions can experience a rise in fundamentalism. Among Southern Baptists, for example, fundamentalism has been on the rise. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan adhered to fundamentalist Muslim doctrine.
Economy The economy is the institution that provides for the production and distribution of goods and services, which people in every society need. Sometimes they can provide these things for themselves, and sometimes they rely on others to provide them. When people rely on others for goods or services, they must have something to exchange, such as currency (in industrialized societies) or other goods or services (in nonindustrialized societies). The customs surrounding exchange and distribution of good and services shape societies in fundamental ways.
Macrosociology vs. microsociology Sociologists use two approaches when studying society. Inmacrosociology, sociologists analyze large-scale social forces, such as institutions. They identify and analyze the structure of societies. The second approach sociologists use ismicrosociology, the study of social interaction. These sociologists focus on face-to-face interaction, how people act around others. This method is focused more on individuals than groups.
Economic Systems The two dominant economic systems in the world are capitalism and socialism. Most societies have varying blends of the two systems. Common hybrids of capitalism and socialism are welfare capitalism and state capitalism.
Capitalism Capitalism is a system under which resources and means of production are privately owned, citizens are encouraged to seek profit for themselves, and success or failure of an enterprise is determined by free-market competition.
Example: The United States is one of the most purely capitalistic societies in the world. Most U.S. businesses are privately owned, but the government does regulate business practices.
Socialism Socialism is a system under which resources and means of production are owned by the society as a whole, rights to private property are limited, the rivate business ownership, but the government controls a significant part of the economy. High taxes support an extensive array of social welfare programs.
Example: China is a socialist country. The government and controls almost all natural resources.
Welfare capitalism Welfare capitalism is a system that features a market-based economy coupled with an extensive social welfare system that includes free health care and education for all citizens.
Example: Sweden allows private business owns good of the whole society is stressed more than individual profit, and the government maintains control of the economy.
State capitalism State capitalism is a system under which resources and means of production are privately owned but closely monitored and regulated by the government.
Example: South Korea’s government works closely with the country’s major companies to ensure their success in the global marketplace.
Socialism vs. Capitalism No one economic system has succeeded in satisfying all the needs of its citizens. Several economic studies over the past few generations have shown that, in general, citizens in societies with capitalist economies enjoy a higher standard of living than those in socialist societies.
Marx’s Economic Theory Philosopher and historian Karl Marx believed that the economy was the basic institution of society and that all other institutions, such as family and education, served to fuel the economy. As societies became more industrialized, he theorized, they also became more capitalistic. Marx disliked the fact that capitalism created a two-tiered system consisting of factory owners and factory workers, in which the groups were constantly in conflict with each other. Factory owners wanted to pay their workers as little as possible to maximize profits. Factory workers, on the other hand, wanted to make as much money as possible. The advantage was always with the owners, who could choose to fire workers who wanted too much and hire workers who would work for less. Marx was a conflict theorist, believing that in any capitalist society there was always conflict between the owners of the means of production and the workers. He believed that the only way to resolve the conflict was for workers to unite, mount a revolution, and overthrow their oppressors. Marx believed that once the dust settled after the revolution, all societies would becommunist, meaning that all the means of production would be owned by everyone and all profits would be shared equally by everyone. His ideas inspired the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Economic Trends The ways the world and the U.S. economies work are changing rapidly. There are several important trends:
• Globalization: The expansion of economic activity across many borders characterizes the global economy. Poorer, developing nations now produce the raw materials for the world’s multinational corporations. These multinational companies control most of the world’s economy.
• Demand for educated professionals: The postindustrial economy is driven by trained professionals such as lawyers, communications professionals, doctors, and teachers.
• Self-employment: New, affordable communications technology has allowed more people to go into business for themselves.
• Diversity in the workplace: Once the bastion of white males, professional offices are heavily populated by women and minorities in today’s society.
Government A government is an institution entrusted with making and enforcing the rules of a society as well as with regulating relations with other societies. In order to be considered a government, a ruling body must be recognized as such by the people it purports to govern. A person or group that considers itself the leading body of a society has no power if the members of the society do not recognize the person or group as such.
Types of Governments Most of the world’s governments fall into one of four categories: monarchy, democracy, authoritarianism, or totalitarianism.
Monarchy Monarchy is a political system in which a representative from one family controls the government and power is passed on through that family from generation to generation. Most of the world’s monarchies are constitutional monarchies, in which the reigning member of the royal family is the symbolic head of state but elected officials actually do the governing. Many European countries have constitutional monarchies.
Example: Saudi Arabia is a monarchy. Until recently it was an absolute monarchy, meaning that the king had complete control of the country. The Saud royal family introduced a constitution in 1992.
Democracy Democracy is a political system in which citizens periodically choose officials to run their government.
Example: El Salvador has a democratic form of government. Throughout most of the nineteenth century, El Salvador was beset by revolution and war, and from 1931 to 1979 it was ruled by military dictators. From 1980 to 1992, the country was torn apart by civil war. The country currently has a stable government and elected president.
Authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system that does not allow citizens to participate in government.
Example: Zimbabwe is controlled by an authoritarian leader whose human rights violations and disastrous economic policies have brought on international condemnation. However, not all authoritarian governments are outcasts. China has an authoritarian government, but it is a member of the World Trade Organization and a major player in international politics.
Totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system under which the government maintains tight control over nearly all aspects of citizens’ lives.
Example: Cambodia under the regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1976 to 1978 was totalitarian. Under the banner of socialism, Pol Pot attempted a radical reformation of Cambodia. He forced the evacuation of the country’s cities and relocated citizens to communal farms in the countryside, where they were to be “reeducated” to become part of an idealized communist agrarian society. Pol Pot’s secret police tortured and murdered over a million “dissenters,” especially those he viewed as urban intellectuals.
The Welfare State A welfare state is a type of government in which the state provides for and promotes the social and economic well-being of its citizens. The government provides some sort of social insurance, or benefits, for families or individuals in dire need. The welfare state also includes provisions for government funding of education, health services, and housing. Since the Great Depression and the New Deal, the United States has greatly increased the welfare programs it offers to its citizens. The amount the United States spends on welfare, however, is still much smaller than the amount spent by other Western nations. In 1996, Congress ended the federal public assistance that guaranteed some income to all poor Americans.
Party Politics The United States has a two-party political system, in which the Democratic Party and the Republic Party are the dominant political forces.
• The Democratic Party believes that the government should play an active role in promoting the general welfare of the country and takes a liberal stand on social issues.
• The Republican Party believes that the government should take a limited role in providing social services and takes a conservative stand on social issues.
Governments in Conflict Conflicts in governments generally take three forms:
1. Revolution: A violent overthrow of the government by its citizens. Often, a group of charismatic philosophers and intellectuals sparks the movement.
2. War: Armed conflict between nations or societies. Societies have always waged war over rights to land and resources or because of conflicting moral, political, or religious objectives. In the twentieth century, the nature of war changed dramatically with the development of nuclear weapons. Massive stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction has made the threat of global annihilation a strong deterrent to war among industrialized nations.
3. Terrorism: A politically motivated violent attack on civilians by an individual or group. Since few nations have the military strength to attack the United States directly, terrorism by extremist groups within and outside the country has become an increasingly potent threat.
Education Every society has to prepare its young people for a place in adult life and teach them societal values through a process called education.
Function of Education Education is an important agent of socialization and encourages social integration, especially in countries with diverse populations, such as the United States. Through their schools, students from a variety of cultural backgrounds come into contact with mainstream culture.
Unequal Education The vast majority of the children in the United States attend public schools, but these schools are far from equal. Public schools located in affluent, predominantly white, suburban areas tend to have more modern facilities and smaller class sizes than schools in urban, less affluent areas, which means that economic status often determines the quality of education a student receives. Children whose parents are wealthy enough to send them to private school enjoy an even greater advantage. Studies show that graduates of private schools are more likely to finish college and get high-salary jobs than are graduates of public schools.
Speedy deletion nomination of Rana Zaheer Iqbal
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