This Credit Unit focuses on connections between families and the larger society. First, you will learn about families and work. Specifically, course materials will address how family life and work life influence each other and how changes in gender role expectations with respect to work have changed and how families function from day to day. Second, you will learn the definition of, and about the creation of, the welfare state. You will learn that as a nation, we have changed some policies and failed to change other policies as family structures, attitudes towards discrimination and inequality, and societal demands on families have changed. Finally, you will investigate current policy debates affecting families.
Describe the nature, value, and limitations of the basic methods of studying individuals and families.
Using historical and contemporary examples, describe how perceived differences, combined with unequal distribution of power across economic, social, and political institutions, result in inequity.
Analyze current social issues, including the impact of historical and environmental influences, on family development.
Analyze ways in which the intersections of social categories such as race, ethnicity, social class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age, interact with the country’s institutions to contribute to difference, power, and discrimination amongst families.
Synthesize multiple viewpoints and sources of evidence to generate reasonable conclusions.