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JOURNAL QUESTIONS
According to research, "if students are not being asked by their professors
to read and write on a regular basis in their coursework, it is hard
to imagine how they will improve their capacity to master
performance tasks . . . that involve critical thinking, complex
reasoning, and writing." (Arum and Roksa 2010:71) With that in mind, each
week, you are to answer an assigned journal question in a minimum
one-page (single-space, 600+ word) essay. The questions will be
posted here as we cover the material in class.
Introductions Week One (Due April 07):
Basically, we'd like you to introduce yourself. Tell us about your
yourself, your family, and your family values. Use some of the questions
from the welcome questionnaire (link is on the Canvas syllabus page) to do
so, but go further than it does by telling us about your extended family,
plans you have for your future family, etc.
Structural Functionalism Theory Week Two (Due April 14): For structural functionalists,
"gender role socialization" is a key responsibility of families and the
benchmark family (intact, man & woman) is the best form to teach it. If you
grew up in the benchmark family, did your parents model "normal" male and
female gender roles? If not, who modeled these norms? Is one set absent in
single-sex or same-sex households?
Symbolic Interaction Theory Week Three (Due
April 21): Describe a longstanding
front your family puts on for the public outside
your household. What identity are they
protecting? Who is the audience for the front?
Who are the team-members involved in maintaining
it? What makes the backstage and
frontstage distinctive? Why bother
saving face with this performance? What, if
anything, would happen if your family "lost face"?
Social Exchange Theory Week Four (Due
April 28): The concept of "Love
Languages" argues that there are five ways we express and experience love
from our intimate relationships: words of affirmation, acts of service,
receiving material gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Which two
(only) of these do you prefer? Is one of those a non-negotiable? Which one
of the five do you think it'd be difficult for you to offer consistently in
a relationship?
Life Course Theory Week Five (Due
May 05): Outline the life course
of your family from your parents' State I to whichever stage your family is
at right now. We assume your family is not at Stage 8 yet. What do they/you
think the remaining stages will look like? Have there been any
off-time transitions
(e.g., a teenage parent) or breaks
(e.g., a divorce)?
Systems Theory Week Six (Due
May 12): Think back to the
(final) decision to come to UCSD. Major decisions like that are often
deviations from family homeostasis and have to be resolved by family system
decision-making. Describe the various ecological systems engaged and any
control loops in moments of disagreement in the ultimate decision to come to
UCSD.
Conflict Theory Week Seven (Due May 19):
Think about the five distribution rule
preferences. Which strikes you as the fairest of them? Which feels like the
least fair to you? Why do you feel this way? Now put yourself in the shoes
of someone who feels differently than you about those rule preferences.
speaking for them, why are your choices unfair and fair?
Dating and Assortative Mating Week Eight (Due May 26):
A main point of controversy among dating app
users is the propensity for people to either pointedly say what they're not
interested in (e.g., no fats, no femmes, no Asians) or to deselect people by race when given checkboxes where they
can indicate race "preferences". Are dating race preferences "racism"?
Are gender-role preferences (e.g., no "femmes") "transphobia"? Should people
be able to make clear in their personal ads or dating profiles what they're
not interested in?
Cohabitation and Infidelity Week Nine (Due June 02):
Why do you think we generally privilege
physical fidelity over emotional fidelity? Which would you consider a
deal-breaker in your relationship(s)? What do you make of the finding that
emotional infidelity is worse than physical? Do you think that
monogamy—emotional or physical—is natural?!
Final Week Ten (Due June 06):
Reflect on the things we discussed this quarter. Talk about which
ONE week's material will have the biggest impact on a) understanding
yourself within your family of origin, b) understanding your family of
origin more broadly, and c) thinking about how your future family—whatever
that means to you—will look and operate. Is there anything from this
class that you've told other people about?!
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