1.2: Introduction

This chapter introduces the study of the family from a sociological perspective. It begins with the fundamentals: how sociologists define marriage and family, the different family structures in today’s society and historical shifts in family life. The statuses and roles family members inhabit, as well as how the family is a unit of study, are then explored.

The discussion expands to consider families within their larger social context. Using the sociological imagination, individual family experiences are connected to broader social forces. The chapter also explores how opportunities and life chances differ across families and how demography—the statistical study of populations—help sociologists to study marriage and family relations.

Finally, the chapter introduces several theoretical perspectives used by sociologists to study families, as well as more specialized, family-focused frameworks. These perspectives provide distinct lenses for understanding how families operate, why they change, and how they both shape and are shaped by society.

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