Summaries

Chapter 1 Blog

Summary:

The chapter started with defining a marriage as “a group of two or more people who (1) live together in a committed relationship, (2) care for one another and any children, and (3) share activities and close emotional ties.” Following this, the chapter then proceeded to review different society’s stances on different aspects of families. Some of these being what are acceptable sexual norms, how a family is supported economically, and where people obtain emotional support.

This then lead to the subject of marriage where different types and forms where described; touching on the topics of common-law marriages and exogamy. Next, the authors regressed to how a family is different in other societies. This section focused on a variety of family orientations, and the media’s portrayal of some of the orientations. This the led into an interesting sections on myths about families.

Finally the chapter discussed three different ways to view how families are changing; deteriorating, changing, and becoming stronger.

Opinion:

It is my opinion that families are the same as humans in that they are constantly evolving. We’re seeing people getting married later in life, being more open about their sexuality, and choosing different live paths. I believe when people think about the family as deteriorating, it is the same as those who think marriage in the good old days, and that is they tend to only focus on the good. I can only conclude that like every other situation in life things have their pros and cons, and it is up to the individual to weigh what they personally believe is most important.

Questions:

I am always weary of statistics and would be curious to see how they were gathered. I would imagine that with a survey such as the census you would be a good-participant effect when asking such personal questions. Also having talked about how our culture views the world and its family and marriage ideas, I wonder how they view their own ideas.

Chapter 2 Studying the Family

Summary

• The chapter can be broken down into three groups. First being the information on Self-Help books. It was interesting to read how the scientific community’s research and numbers are held to such high standards. Yet the mass media is held to almost none at all. The box on page 31 which outlined the dangers of these books was interesting, especially to think of the potential damage they can do.

• Second was the section on theoretical perspectives of families. Which are the following:

Structural-Functionalist (functionalism for short)

• Focuses on the correlation of family and society. The use of roles to further the family’s success and its relationship to the furthering of society.

Conflict Theory

• Based around the competition for limited resources and a families ability to compete for them.

Feminist Theory

• Looks at gender roles and the ability of individual responsibilities to adapt to new challenges presented by an evolving family.

Ecological Theory

• Builds on the ideas of the feminist theory and applies them longitudinally to not just a changing family, but a changing environment.

Developmental Theory

• Looks at the life of a family in stages of growth, from a new couple, to retirement and death.

Symbolic Interactionism Theory

• Looks at society’s effects on beliefs, roles, values, and communication through traditions and other shared meanings.
• Social Exchange Theory
• Focuses on what people can gain from interacting with individuals, and at what cost to them.
• Family Systems Theory
• Examines families as a whole system which balances itself out through personalities and behaviors.

Each Theory has its pros and cons, but each theory also offers a different insight to the workings and effects of a family from the individual to global perspectives.

• The third section of the chapter is research methods.

Here the chapter presented the six types categories of data collection; Surveys, Clinical Research, Field Research, Secondary Analysis, Experiment, and Evaluation Research. Going into greater specifics and subcategories for these, the author then explained the positive and negative drawbacks to each of these. The chapter then wrapped up with a brief yet educational overview of ethics and their application to research.

I found it interesting that each theory related to the next. Seeing as none of the theories were able to effectively explain in great detail the micro and macro levels. Should these theories have their own categories? There are just too many variables for a theory to try and explain both levels. So to word the question differently, should researchers try to explain both levels to slight degrees, or single levels to greater degrees?

Chapter 3 Blog

Summary:

The chapter opened with talking about the old colonial family, which was in reality not nearly as great as many make it out to be today. Parents worked together constantly to make sure the family survived. Men had physically demanding jobs in poor working conditions. The women were in charge of the family, house, and the family’s faith. Most marriages actually began while the bride was pregnant, despite the use of bundling. Roughly a fifth of these children did not live to be a year old as a result of inadequate hygiene and living conditions.

Following this the authors then switched to the earliest American families, the Native Americans. The authors went into detail about the young ages of marriage, and the simple methods of divorce. Also puberty as a rite and how the Europeans wrecked their way of life was covered. Examples of this were the high mortality rates of males, the forced converts to religion, and loss of their lands.

The authors then went on to describe how the Europeans destroyed the African Americans lives from day one. Going in depth to talk about how “marriages” were encouraged between plantations to ensure a new generation of slaves, which even after the emancipation to legalize these marriages cost two-week’s pay.

Moving onto another group of people wrecked by the Europeans, the chapter then shifted to Mexican Americans. Here an interesting idea was brought up, compadrazgo, which is the intense involvement of not only parents, but god-parents as well. In this culture the women were responsible for the family which led to girls being raised to be good mothers.

The book then described life after WWII which lead to women leaving unhappy marriages, and children weary about fathers they barely knew returning home from war. This then moved into the golden fifties which is still view socially as the best time in America. Families had great cookie-cutter houses, most of which were subsidized by the government, dads had great jobs from the education they picked up by using their g.i.-bills and mother were the “perfect house wives”. This chapter then concluded with a brief section describing the family structure since the 1970’s which has been covered greatly by the previous two chapters.

Chapter 4 Blog

Summary:

This chapter covered the different aspects of racial and ethnic families. First it outlined the country’s increase in diversity. The book showed great comparative pie charts depicting the shift in the demographics of the U.S. over the last 109 years. The chapter then went on to define minority and majority groups, as well as outline the differences between a racial group and an ethnic group. Then it described the fluctuations in preferred names across the country for different racial/ethnic groups. The chapter then shifted to racism, prejudice, and discrimination. The family structures, gender roles, and other aspects of the family were examined for African American, American Indian, Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern families. The chapter ended with describing the growing diversity of interracial/interethnic families.

Opinion:

I found the statistics on undocumented immigrants interesting. The I think it is a shame I’ve heard so many sweeping statements about immigrants yet this is the first time I’ve been presented with those facts. I also found it interesting how each of the different family structures copes with racism and prejudices. Also the idea of how slowly the integration of cultures and ethnic groups is taking in the country I found alarming.

Questions:

I wonder why it is that gender roles for Native American families are non-existent. I also noticed in figure 4.4 that Asian American and Pacific Islander households earn on average over $15,000 a year. I’m curious how the income is broken down. Because in some cultures only one parent works, so in this case is it just two parents working the same jobs as the other categories?

Chapter 5 Blog

Summary:

This chapter covers the topic of gender roles and societies views on them. It defines sex as, a biological, hormonal, anatomical, and chromosomal differences, between males and females as well as the behaviors which are associated with the two. The authors state gender as being those learned behaviors from society which learned through observation, and reward or punishment. These ideas role into the discussion of Nature vs. Nurture, which basically says that either you’re born with what you know, or you know what you know from being nurtured and learning it. There are many different developmental theories which side differently with the argument of nature vs. nurture. Sociobiology sides with the idea of nature being the determining factor for a person’s gender roles. On the other hand, the Social Learning theory says people learn their gender roles from society and observation. Some of the other theories described were, Cognitive Development, Symbolic Interaction, and Feminism. Following this section the chapter goes onto discuss the use of toys and education in the molding of gender roles in our society. This was then followed up by describing the imbalanced responsibilities in the family and the effects they have over a long term relationship. Subsequently this brought up the topic of androgyny, or the melting of gender roles into one overall sex. The chapter then concluded with the reminder that disparity in gender roles are not bad as other countries in the world.

Opinion:

It is my opinion that when considering the argument of nature vs. nurture I believe there is no argument, that it is really nature and nurture; the two ideas are reliant on each other. For someone to be allergic to peanuts, they have to be born with that allergy, but also at some point in their life presented with peanuts. Otherwise a person can go their whole life without knowing about that allergy. The same goes for a person’s behaviors, preferences, and other qualities. They need to be biologically predisposed to them, but also have to opportunity to learn or react to them. I also believe that rather than look at things from a role perspective, they should be from a survival perspective. Every task in a household must be done to ensure the daily functioning goes as usual. It doesn’t matter who does them, just as long as they are completed. I personally believe trying to keep track of balancing things is a waste of energy and is very hard to do from an unbiased perspective.

Questions:

I’m curious about the day when gender roles are balanced and there is no disparity among the two groups, what will be the next category of people that needs to be balanced? Will it be age, or maybe some other type of characteristic which has no meaning now. Or will that day never come?

Chapter 6 Blog

Summary:

The chapter begins with discussing self-love and its role in the success of other types of love. Then it defined friendship and talked about the effects of the internet on true and close friendships. Then the question “what is love?” was presented. The idea of multiple dimensions was presented, along with how love requires respect and is demanding. Following this the authors described the differences between love and lust. The next section covered the ideas of caring, intimacy, and commitment. The book focused primarily on commitment and its different reasons for it. The book then looked at love from the perspective of biochemistry. Here the topic of endorphins and natural amphetamines was presented. The two problems with these theories are the studies come from small samples, and the same chemicals are found in correlation to gambling and cocaine use. The author then talked about the attachment theory, Reiss’s Wheel theory, Sternberg’s Triangle, Lee’s styles of loving, and the exchange theory. The next part of the chapter discussed the functions of love and its uses to guarantee survival, improve personal health, and the quality of life. After that, the chapter went on to investigate the differences between how men and women show love, as well as, same sex love. Then the following sections covered some negative side-effects of love, including all types of jealousy, stalking, controlling behaviors, the use of guilt, emotional and physical abuse. The chapter concluded with discussing the different positive ways love can evolve.

Opinion:

I definitely enjoyed reading the section on the different theories. I felt the attachment theory was a great base to start from, but still too vague. Sternberg’s Triangle makes sense and I felt could be applied easily to different situations. I think out of all of them though I feel Lee’s style is the most accurate and allows for a stricter definition of differences between couples. The theory breaks down a personality into multiple dimensions, not just three. I also found the section covering what happens when love goes wrong. When I think of stalking I tend to think of a mental disorder, not how much they “love” that person. I also found it interesting that supposedly men fall in love more than women do.

Questions:

I noticed in figure 6.3 that 2% of married people responded they were not in love with someone, yet still married. I wonder why the chapter did not cover why people stay together in loveless marriages.

Chapter 7 Blog

Summary:

This chapter is all about sex. It describes, how people few themselves sexually, and what they define as sexually attractive. We learned what makes up a person’s sexual identity, as well as different types of sexual orientations. The book then went onto discuss the different norms revolving around sexuality in multiple cultures which reference to gender and orientation. The chapter then shifted to the topic of why people have sex, and what they tend to know about it, or in most cases, don’t know about it. Figure 7.1 Shows that for every demographic young people learn more from media sources than their own parents. The chapter then discussed the various types of sexual behaviors, including abstinence sex during different periods of a person’s life. The chapter concluded with discussing infidelity, areas of homosexuality, and the topic of STI’s.

Opinion:

I think the section talking about the double standard was very interesting, it seems as though it is a “grass is green on the other side” situation with regards to the old and new standards. I also think the entire procedure and thought process around Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is completely ridiculous. To think such a dangerous tradition is still being carried out by anyone who thinks they can do it is scary and needs to end. I also found table 7.3, which describes what males and females define as infidelity an interesting example of skewed definitions.

Questions:

The book discusses ideas for teaching children about sex, but what about teaching the parents about it? Taking it a step further, how about teaching parents how to teach their kids? I find it interesting that there is still a social stigma around homosexuality and STI’s. I wonder if it is because of that the two sections are back to back.

Chapter 8 Blog

Choosing Others: Dating and Mate Selection

Summary:

This chapter is based around the idea of how we meet people. It began by noting the decrease is dating on traditional college campuses around the country. Following this the authors noted that the definition of dating has changed as time as gone on, and that dating is still a very relevant part of young adults lives.

Following this, several aspects of why people date were pointed out. They were as follows: Maturation, fun and recreation, companionship, love and affection, and mate selection. The latent functions of dating were then pointed out to be: socialization, social status, fulfillment of ego needs, sexual experimentation and intimacy, and big business.

The authors then went on to discuss different cultural, traditional, and contemporary combinations. This section covered everything from hooking up to cyber dating. The chapter then shifted to how people narrow the array of the marriage market through physical appearance, ethnicity, race, religion, age, class, and values. Then it talked about how couples going against the similarities.

Next was the question of why we choose to marry who we do. This was explained through the use of two theories, social exchange and equity theory. Following this the idea of other factors was brought into the equation. Wealth, age, values, heterogamy and homogamy have their pros and cons to their affect.

The chapter concluded discussing the unfortunate violence associated with relationships and dating.

Opinion:

I found the section of traditional styles of dating interesting, especially when mentioning the “pinning” of girls. As far as the section on Lawrence Grahams reasons for not dating white women, I think he is completely wrong. The idea of forming strong black businesses and communities is only furthering the “us against them” problem. Through the use of a “melting-pot” scenario, different cultures will blend into one.

The section on the kidnapping of women to be wives I think is unbelievable. I also found the entire section on dating violence very appropriate and informative. As a peer educator for sexual assault services this is a topic I feel cannot get enough attention, and to see six pages on it was great.

Questions:

I am curious why the chapter didn’t include a section on long distant dating. Is it not popular enough or relevant? In reviewing the ways different cultures select mates I am curious what the success rates of those marriages are.

Chapter 9 Blog

Singlehood, Cohabitation, Civil Unions, and Other Options

Summary:

This chapter covered different ways people live who are not married. Statistics show that people have been waiting longer and longer to get married as time has gone on. The authors outline the different types of single adults as: voluntary temporary singles, voluntary stable singles, involuntary temporary singles, and involuntary stable singles. Coupling those definitions with the demographics of single people, the authors then stated that the household size has been shrinking. The authors broke down the rational for remaining single into three groups: Macro-Level factors, Demographic Variables, and Individual reasons. Following this they them broke down singles into ethnic and racial views and ideas.

After covering the realities and myths section, the chapter then shifted to the different types of cohabitation: dating, premarital, trial marriage, and substitute marriage. All combined, Cohabitation as a trend has risen by six million couples in the last 50 years. This lead to the discussion of why couples who cohabitate together before marriage have high divorce rates. There were three possible reasons outlined, the selection effect, cohabitation effect, and inertia effect. This lead to how cohabitation effects children, and overall their quality of life is greatly reduced.

The chapter ended with the topic of gay marriage and communes. Through examining the topic from the views of love, commitment, power, division of labor, and other aspects that effect relationships the authors presented the situation from an unbiased perspective.

Opinion:

I found it interesting that single women buy more houses than single men. Reading the section on sex ratios was definitely an eye opener. The idea of killing a child because of their gender and how that many go “missing” I find unacceptable. When reading these numbers it definitely puts a grim outlook on the world.

It is interesting to have looked at cohabitation from the side of a child and its effects not just on the couple, but them as well.

Questions:

In most countries, including the U.S., there are more men born than women. Yet more women live alone, how is that possible?

Chapter 10 Blog

Marriage and Communication in Intimate Relationships

Summary:

This chapter discusses why people get married, what they expect to get out of it, what’s needed to make it work, how to communicate, how its evolves over time, and how to deal with “bumps in the road”. As the book talks about marriage, the different aspects of it and how they differ I think it only makes sense to ask why. From studies listed in the book most people do it for love and the idea of going through life with someone. Others then listed the prospect of having kids, feeling grown up, having a lifelong teammate, society’s expectations, and in other cases economic security.

Looking at why someone gets married and what they hope to get out of it, the chapter then profiled these people into different categories. Conflict-habituated marriages consist of people who fight verbally and physically with the thought that it happens to everyone and it’s not grounds to get a divorce. Passive-congenial marriages consist of people who are just going through the motions indifferent of how they feel. Vital and total marriages are very similar categories. The only main difference being that vital marriages resolve all conflicts and move on. Where total marriages resolve conflicts, yet there still tends to be residual feelings about certain topics. Following different types of marriage, the authors then explored the idea of which factors make a marriage more likely to succeed. The authors then examined the following factors: compatibility, flexibility, positive attitudes, communication, conflict resolution, and emotional support.

The chapter then wrapped up the topic through discussing health benefits of marriage, roles, evolution of the marriage, and communication. In an overview this was a very educational chapter from an academic and personal point-of-view.

Opinion:

I found the section on wedding rituals extremely interesting and comical. I especially enjoyed the part on the honeymoon and carrying the bride over the threshold, both of which are romanticized in our culture today. Also being engaged I found the section, “Before you say I do” through provoking and am considering doing that exercise with my fiancée.

The idea of nonexistent gender roles is a great one. I think not having expectations in a relationship will reduce the stresses and also allow for more of an even and unconditional approach to work and responsibilities. I also believe that before any couple gets married, they should be required to read the last half of the chapter on communications. Its more like a playbook than informational.

Questions:

I think figure 10.2 which shows a decline in married Americans claiming to be in happy marriages might be a result of people feeling stronger anonymity when responding to questionnaires which have become more prevalent over the past 40 years.

Chapter 11 Blog

To Be or Not To Be a Parent: More Choice, More Constraints

Summary:

This chapter is all about babies and parents. Why people want to have them, the responsibilities associated with them, alternative options, and even how not to have them. Beginning with the different types of parents, the chapter outlines four categories. Planners are just that, planners, they look at the idea from all angles, decide when a good time is, and wait till that time. Acceptance-of-fate couples decide that having a child at any time will work and just wait until or if it happens. Ambivalent couples haven’t really decided on whether or not they want a child, but when it happens, they just go along with it. Finally, yes-no couples consist of one person wanting a child and the other not. The chapter then talks about the joys of having kids and how much money they cost. Different ways for people to adopt children and the buffet of sciences used to get people pregnant. The chapter concluded with the very controversial topic of abortion.

Opinion:

The section on fathers and their newborns was very interesting on a personal level. It was very easy to see how the views of a guy can shift those of a father. In relation, the box on page 309 about pregnant men was interesting but I don’t believe there is any merit to the research and that that money could be put toward figuring what to do with the children today.

On the topic of abortion, I personally do not think it is ethical, humane, or morally right. However being in this country based on individual freedom, people are allowed to do things that I personally don’t agree with. If asked about it I would try to convince them against it, but I also don’t believe I have the right to try and force my beliefs on someone else.

Questions:

Going off the statement that African Americans and Latinos have sex earlier, with more partners, and less contraceptives, I wonder how we as a nation can help to reduce those numbers. It’s it a lack of education? Or is it possibly a reduced availability of contraceptives?

Chapter 12 Blog

Raising Children: Promises and Pitfalls

Summary:

This chapter discusses the topic of raising children, more specifically, becoming a parent, theories of child development, factors associated with parenting, the evolution of parenting over the course of a child’s life, discipline, and who else helps raise them.

Through discussing the different types of parents and ways to accomplish this, the authors put fathers into three categories, breadwinners, autonomous, and involved. This was followed by the psychological view of development, specifically the social self, cognitive development, and psychosocial theories. Other factors affecting a child’s upbringing such as socioeconomic status were also addressed.

Next, the book looked at how a child’s day changes from infancy to teenage years and event post college graduation. A subsection of this was discipline and the different approaches to it. An important fact to be pulled away is that hitting a child is never the right solution. In conclusion the chapter discussed the impact of electronics and media on children and the effectiveness of the foster care system.

Opinion:

I found the section on the high standards set for parents especially mothers interesting. The idea that people receive more instruction learning how to drive than how to raise another human was an eye-opener. I also found the myth section on page 329 very informational, especially myth two with relation to classical music.

Questions:

I noticed that the authors only used the developmental theories of Mead, Piaget, and Erikson. What happened to Freud’s psychosexual developmental stages? Is it better to compensate when around by being a “helicopter” parent if your child is a “latchkey” kid?

Chapter 13 Blog

Balancing Work and Family Life

Summary:

This chapter focuses on a major factor for families, income. Starting with the description of the deindustrialization, globalization, and offshoring of American jobs the authors explain the negative effects these have had on the American people, more specifically the middle and lower classes. The authors continued to describe the problems which are strangling the middleclass. Shifting from the middle class the chapter discussed poverty and homelessness. Subsequently a method of avoiding homelessness is female employment which was covered in the next section and into two income families. Overall this chapter was frustrating to read as a result of the apparent greed of the upper class.

Opinion:

I think Gans views on poverty and why people benefit from that part of the population are disturbing mainly because of how much sense they make. I also found the idea of trailing spouses and commuter marriages interesting.

Questions:

How might trailing spouses and commuter marriages affect parenting roles and responsibilities? Would it just be easier for companies to just cut benefits for pull time employees rather than employee two part-time employees, or is that just a poor solution to the problem? Is it going to take the collapse of the middle-class to effect the Upper-class? How will they continue to get richer without the assistance of a struggling middle class?

Chapter 14 Blog

Family Abuse, Violence, and Other Health Issues

Summary:

This chapter discussed violence in the family, between partners, parents and children, siblings, and other family relationships. By beginning through defining physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse, the authors then applied these to different family situations. Fortunately the occurrence of violence as declined greatly since the early 90’s but any violence is too much. The authors then outlined different demographics of victims and perpetrators through gender, age, race, ethnicity, and social class. Following marital rape, and battered-women syndrome were then covered and various explanations for women staying were presented. Some of these being hope the abuser will change and financial needs.

The authors then went on to discuss child abuse and every definition of it. In an attempt to explain this behavior the chapter then listed off possible reasons including substance abuse, stress, poverty, partner abuse, and divorce. This then lead to two other relationship abuses, sibling and elderly abuse.

The chapter wrapped up this topic by discussing possible theories for abuse, and other family health issues. Some of these issues were drug and alcohol abuse, depression, suicide, and eating disorders. To conclude the chapter briefly described a few ways to eliminate family violence.

Opinion:

I found it interesting that men were more likely than women to commit familycide than women, especially after later reading about the woman who drowned all five of her children in the bath tub. I also found the quote towards the end of the chapter about charges of animal abuse being more severe than domestic violence.

Questions:

If someone has a history of abuse should they be allowed to have children? There are programs listed in the chapter for helping victims, but what about programs to get perpetrators or possible perpetrators?

Chapter 15 Blog

Separation and Divorce

Summary:

This chapter is outlines the different aspects and results of a separation between partners. Starting with the phases of separation, preseparation, early separation, midseparation, and late separation, the book then outlined the three possible outcomes. Either the couple works things out, agrees to stay separated, or gets divorced. The chapter then explained the different parts of a person’s life which require attention in a divorce. By breaking down the reasons for divorce into 3 categories, macro-level reasons, demographic variables, and interpersonal problems it is clear the divorce is not just a result of one problem, but a collaboration of multiple aspects of a couple’s life and relationship. This information was then broken down into the usual demographic information.

Following this the chapter then describes how divorce affects, partners, parents, and children. Mixed in are the topics of custody and alimony. The chapter then concludes with ways to make the process easier emotionally for those involved and how people benefit from divorce.

Opinion:

I found it interesting the divorce rates have actually decreased since the 80’s. The yellow box on page 429 was a different way of looking at the negative results of a divorce, though I believe it should have included some positive aspects too.

Questions:

Even though divorce rates are decreasing, the media still makes it sound like an epidemic, when this view changes will the rate start to increase again? Do no-fault divorce laws have any bearing on custody battles? If businesses aren’t split 50/50 on the decision making power or stocks, why do some expect co-custody to work?

Chapter 16 Blog

Remarriages and Stepfamilies

Summary:

This chapter presented topics which present after a separation from a partner. In some cases this is a result of a partner passing away, divorce, or separation from a long-term cohabitation. Cohabitation is also mentioned as an alternative to marriage in midlife second relationships. The formation and breakdown of stepfamilies was also discussed. From dealing with estranged partners and stepchildren to the myths about the two the chapter discusses how to go about dealing with these potential problems.

Opinion:

The section on myths about remarriage was very interesting. I think as a result of TV and movies, it is easy for me to see how people can go into marriages with those attitudes and ideas. I feel the chart outlining the stepfamily cycle can actually be applied to other situations in life, for example relationships in general. The sexual boundaries box was very informative. The idea of two young adults living together with no genetic relationship and being told to develop feelings for each other but only as family members would be difficult. I also found it humorous that the whole chapter discussed problems and issues of stepfamilies and in five paragraphs the authors described the pros for the topic.

Questions:

In the section on gay and lesbian marriages, the third role, co-mother family states each parent has equal rights and responsibilities. How is that legally possible, if they can’t be married in some states? As children grow up can the effects of the stepfamily change, and if both parents form separate families does that play into a different set of effects?

Chapter 17 Blog

Families in Later Life

Summary:

This chapter revolved around the topic of our aging society. Generations after generations are living longer and longer which is effecting how our society functions. Along with this the younger population has been decreasing in size as well. In 1900 40% of the population was between the ages of 0-17 and 4% were older than 65. In 1980, the younger population dropped to 28% and the older group grew to 11%. The authors then discussed the various changes based around gender and race. Following this the chapter discussed ways to stay physically healthy.

Shifting gears, the chapter then discussed mental health. Listing the various common disorders and overall trends, the authors mainly talked about depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Following this the next section of the chapter discussed about how a person’s life roles change, from retiring, re-entering the work force, and/or taking care of grandchildren or other family members. This then lead to the section involving death, grief, loss, and other factors associated with the topic.

Opinion:

I found the section on the greek island with 33.33% of the population reaching the age of 90. The chart also covering how many people are happy was interesting as well considering the thought that happy people live longer, yet overall our population has been living longer as well as less happy.

Questions:

If someone is able to make the decision not to have a treatment for something that could be life threatening, what differs that from someone deciding they want to stop treatment? I’m also wondering if since people are living and working longer, if the retirement age shouldn’t just be pushed back. People are taking better care of themselves which is allowing for them to remain active longer and work. Since we have a smaller younger generation, when the overall population drop off, and is the world on its way to a “settling-point”?