Chapter 1 Reading

Through Chapter 1 the main focus was depicting what a family is and defining technical terms for family in the sociology realm. Throughout the reading it is proven that putting a single definition on family is near impossible, since family can be defined in many different ways in many different cultures. The text goes into talking about the family in different cultures and situations, which ranges from polygamists to the traditional dictionary definition of a family. The author explores many different types of family and how sociologists study the family unit as a whole, and even if the family unit as we know it is being changed.

I thought that it was interesting when the author went into the polygamist culture and spoke on the family unit in such cultures. To see that type of family environment and how that type of culture works was very interesting to me, to say the least. I thought it was also interesting that the author had such a variety of what a family could be defined as and talked about how the family is changing due to micro level influences.

I would like to discuss the different factors that are influencing the change of the family in today's society and if those factors are having a major influence on the family unit or if it is minor effects.

Marcus Jordan