Most marriages in the author's three generation family involved similar social characteristics like ethnicity, class, and religion between partners. Instances of divorce were fewer in marriages between similar people, as shared views fostered harmony. While earlier generations married within their own ethnic groups, recent generations have seen more interethnic marriages. Religious homogamy also brought strong identities and satisfaction to marriages of past generations in the family.
Report
Share
Report
Share
1 of 8
More Related Content
Running Head FAMILY ANALYSISFAMILY ANALYSISFamily Analysis.docx
1. Running Head: FAMILY ANALYSIS
FAMILY ANALYSIS
Family Analysis 6
Family Analysis
Family Analysis
Introduction
It is common for people, across the world, to associate
endogenously based on cultural and social characteristics.
While some of this can be explained by geographical
propinquity and demographic factors, it has been established
that group norms and values have a tendency of promoting
homogamy and discouraging heterogamy. A fundamental
assumption for the encouragement of marital homogamy is the
perception that people sharing similar norms, beliefs, values
and social statuses cope more easily with one another. In simple
terms, sociocultural homogamy encourages harmonious
relationships while heterogamy raises the probability of
2. unhappiness and discord. Socio-physiological and sociological
theories of mate selection and love are generally in tandem with
the homogamy proposition (Reiss, 1980). However, there have
been many outliers who choose to favor marital unions with
people of dissimilar socio-cultural characteristics. Nonetheless,
they all end up returning to the pulling of similarities that
comprise homogamy.
A close look at my family genealogy establishes that cultural
and social similarities have helped foster valuable consensus
between family members on the fundamental life priorities and
reduced instances of divorce that result from disharmony in
worldviews and tastes (Janssen, 2005).
Homogamy Analysis
Ethnicity
Class
Religion
Same
Different
Same
Different
Same
Different
1. Parents
Same
Same
Same
2. Paternal Grandparents
Different
Same
3. Same
Different
3. Maternal Grandparents
Same
Different
Same
4. Paternal Great Grandparents
Different
Same
Same
5. Maternal Great Grandmothers Parents
Different
Different
6. Paternal Great Great Grandparents
Same
Same
Same
7. Maternal Great Great Grandparents
Same
Same
4. Same
Religion
According to my family genealogy, most marriages have been
between people of similar religious backgrounds. The choice of
marriage partners has been based on religious faiths. The small
number that has married outside of their religious
denominations have experienced constant frictions in their
relationships, which has ultimately led to separation and
divorce. However, increased levels of commitment and
satisfaction have been seen with associations that are formed on
the basis of religious similarities.
Class
Research has established that associations tend to be formed
based on socioeconomic statuses. In line with these findings,
my family members have been marrying people of either similar
class or those close to their classes. Male partners who have
married female partners of a slightly similar class have been
stable over time. Unhappiness and divorce have been
characteristic of marriages that were based on dissimilar
socioeconomic class.
Ethnicity
Interethnic marriages are an increasing percentage of
associations (Fu and Heaton 2008), a move driven by high
levels of racial-ethnic diversity, immigration, and changing
attitudes in many countries (Powell et al. 2010). Contrastingly,
earlier marriages from my grandparents were done within racial
and ethnic groups. This ethnic homogamy brought about strong
social identities, sodality within the marriages and maintenance
of culture. However, my grandparents have set the pace for
diverging into marrying people of different ethnic backgrounds.
Conclusion
Across the three generation family genealogy, a majority of
people chose to marry people with similar social characteristics
to that of their own. They shared the same views and opinions
5. about life issues and had access to similar living standards.
Instances of family frictions and divorce were fewer in
marriages between similar characters as harmony and happiness
were fostered by the similar features of ethnicity, class, and
religion. This goes a long way in supporting the proposition that
homogamy increases marital success and that ethnicity, class
and religious norms, values and beliefs are significant to a
majority of people.
References
Brubaker, R. (2009). Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism. Annual
Review of Sociology, 35, 21-42.
Cherlin, A. J. (2004). The Deinstitutionalization of American
Marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 848-861.
Fu, X. & Heaton, T. B. (2008). Racial and Educational
Homogamy: 1980 to 2000. Sociological Perspectives, 51, 735-
758.
Janssen, J.P.G. (2002). Do Opposites Attract Divorce?
Dimensions of Mixed Marriage and the Risk of Divorce in the
Netherlands. Nijmegen: ICS-dissertation.
Powell, B., Bolzendahl, C., Geist, C. & Steelman, L. (2010).
Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions
of Family, New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
Reiss, I. (1980). Family Systems in America, 3rd Ed. New
York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
6. APPENDIX: A
My Three Generation Genogram
Courtesy of About Genealogy
http://genealogy.about.com
http://genealogy.about.com
Yourself: Wesly Allen
Born: March 8, 1995,Texas
StudentMother: Mary Allen
Born: June 27,1980, Utas
Events OrganiserFather: Davis Allen
Born: December 12, 1978, Texas
BankerMaternal Grandmother: Clinton Miller
Born: October 31, 1958, New York
AccountantMaternal Grandfather: Lewis Miller
Born: January 7, 1952, Washington DC
LecturerPaternal Grandmother: Jane Rodriquez
Born: September 21, 1950, New York
Actres
Divorced: November 1975Paternal Grandfather: Allen Jonson
Born: February 13, 1943, Illinois
Economist
Died: February 26, 2010
Maternal Great-Grandmother: Mercy Brown
Born: February 8, 1926, Detroit
Doctor
Divorced: 1955
Died: October 11, 1981Maternal Great-Grandfather: Jackson
7. Brown
Born: September 11, 1923, Illinois
Banker
Divorced: 1941
Died: January 29, 1998Maternal Great-Grandfather 2: Mark
Davids
Born: May 5, 1922, Utas
Carpenter
Divorced: 1942
Died: April 3, 1995Paternal Great-Grandmother: Janett Blige
Born: December 1, 1922, New York
Singer
Divorced: 1941
Died: May 4, 1978Paternal Great-Grandmother 2: Sally
Rodriquez
Born: August 1, 1923, Detroit
Teacher
Divorced: 1948
Died: April 27, 2003Paternal Great-Grandfather 2: Mark
Rodriquez
Born: January 29, 1921, Detroit
Teacher
Divorced: April 13, 1947
Died: December 10, 1993Maternal Great-Grandmother 2: Hellen
Miller
Born: July 1, 1925, Texas
Nurse
Divorced: 1946
Died: September 9, 2004Paternal Great-Grandfather: Allen
Howard
Born: October 22, 1919, Illionois
Accountant
Divoced: 1939
Died: March 3, 1982