Sociology of Family essayEssay Writing Service

Sociology of Family essayEssay Writing Service Sociology of Family essay Sociology of Family essay1)   The movie characterizes the structure and functions of African-American families through the trials of a large African-American family, which is focused on maintaining the established longstanding family traditions.   However, these family traditions are fading away when some serious problems appear in the family, e.g. Mother Joe’s debilitating stroke, Lem’s failure to find a job, tensions in relationship between the family members and other problems.2)   The movie characterizes gender (manhood, womanhood, relationships between the two) and intergenerational (relations between different generations) relations in African-American families through interpersonal communication, which reflects human lie and injustice. Teri, Lem, Bird, Kenny, Maxine and Ahmad demonstrate their negative character traits.3) The movie depicts the links between African-American families and institutions of the wider society such as the world of work, the white world, and law enforcement, etc. through certain challenges faced by family members. For example, Lem fails to find a job because of his criminal history. Teri wants her cousin Blimp to give Lem a lesson.   There are many other examples.4) The movie suggests that the history of African-Americans in the U.S has had powerful impacts on African-American families. Traditional African American food is part of the history of African Americans in the U.S., e.g. the so-called soul food. The cultural traditions are reflected in soul food tradition. The film describes the particular food that is associated with the lives of modern day Chicago families.5) The movie shows the tensions in relationships between young people that might be helpful in explaining the statistical data on the relatively low percent of families with married couples found among African Americans.6) I find the characterization of African-American families to be consistent with my understanding of the course readings on African-American families. Food has been shown as an integral part of African American culture. The characterization of the sense of identity of African Americans and the role of African American community play an important role in the life of each family.7) I have one question about the movie that you would like to discuss. This question is â€Å"How does the film â€Å"Soul Food† (1997) reflect race, class and legacy of slavery?†1) Prof. Banks is focused specifically on marriage patterns within the black â€Å"middle class† of educated professionals because the decline in marriage involved not only the poor, but also doctors, lawyers and other categories of educated people. According to the author, â€Å"black women of all socioeconomic classes remained single in part because the ranks of black men have been decimated by incarceration, educational failure and economic disadvantage† (Bank, 2011, p.1853).2) Prof. Banks conducts his research based on the i nterviews.   He collects various types of data regarding black marriage decline, including judicial decision, governmental policies, economic data, etc. He collects data from various sources, including documentation, books, newspaper articles, journal articles, legal cases, films, etc. There are certain problems with the data because the content of sources differs, providing different information on the required issues.3) Prof. Banks think marriage is faring among the black middle class because of certain social, historical and economic challenges. Some of the statistics offered by Prof. Banks to document his claims about the status of marriage in the black middle class include various facts, such as in 1970s, â€Å"25 % of black children in the U.S. were born to unmarried parents† (Banks, 2011, p. 1856). Besides, the 2010 Survey shows that â€Å"half of black couples divorce within the first ten years of marriage; two out of every three black marriages are dissolved† (Banks, 2011, p. 1856).4) Prof. Banks diagnosis of roots of the marriage problems in the Black Community is focused on the effects of slavery because slavery had negative impact on gender relations of African Americans. Prof. Bank’s ideas about the impact of economic struggles of working class black men are clear as these struggles lowered the marriage rate of affluent black men. Black women’s responses make the problem worse because of reduction of benefits on marriage.5) Prof. Bank’s proposal that black women marry outside the race is comprehensive and appealing. This proposal is supposed to solve the marriage problem, producing new opportunities for the growth of marriage rate.6) Low marriage rates in the black community are an issue. Black people have other problems, but the problem of marriage decline affects all areas of activity. It is not a distraction factor. Black people and their communities are missing out on the growth of African American populati on, if they don’t marry.1)   The film suggests that the Sanchezs see family as an important part of their Hispanic identity. There are some scenes from the movie that illustrate what family means to the Sanchezs, e.g. Isabel’s pregnancy and her death, Jimmy’s failure to assist his son in getting rid of behavioral problems, Jimmy’s son hatred toward his father, etc. I do not think these are accurate descriptions of Hispanic families.2) Gender and intergenerational relations are important parts of any family. The film says much about those aspects of the Sanchez family because the viewer has an opportunity to observe the role of parental love and childish love. These are accurate depictions of Hispanic Families.3) Immigration shown in the film has impacted Sanchez family life because Maria was pregnant when the immigration agents deported her illegally. These are accurate depictions of Hispanic families.4) There are some other social forces or historical experiences, beside immigrant history, that seem have been important in constituting the Sanchez family. Maria wanted to return to her family. Jimmy and Chucho had close relationships. The film shows the involvement of Hispanic youth in gang violence and criminal activity. These scenes are accurate of the Hispanic experience.5) Maxine Baca Zinn suggests that Hispanic and African-American Families share many similarities. But she says little about differences. Comparing the depiction of the Hispanic family in the movie along with your knowledge of African-American families, it is necessary to define the following differences:   certain differences in family support, the differences in relationships among generations, and some differences in the following of traditional values.