Rethinking Families and Community: The Color, Class, and Centrality of Extended Kin Ties
Rethinking Families and Community: The Color, Class, and Centrality of Extended Kin Ties
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01222.x
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发表时间：
2011-03-01
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Gerstel, Naomi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gerstel, Naomi
虽然对婚姻和核心家庭的关注是许多社会学研究和社会评论的特征，但这篇文章表明，这种关注忽视了许多美国人的家庭经历，特别是那些经济光谱中较低端的人，对他们来说，亲属关系是核心。与白人相比，非洲裔美国人和拉美裔美国人更多地参与亲戚关系，但阶级在这方面胜过种族：非洲裔美国人、拉美裔美国人和经济资源较少的白人比那些更富有的人更依赖亲戚关系。对婚姻和核心家庭的强调实际上可能会宣扬一种家庭生活的愿景，这种愿景忽视了对有需要的人的生存战略至关重要的社会资源和社区纽带。与那些认为婚姻是社会的基础，甚至用那个被滥用的短语说是“社会的基本单位”的人不同，这篇文章认为，婚姻实际上削弱了社会联系到更广泛的社区，就像强调婚姻和核心家庭，排斥大家庭一样，扭曲和减少了社会政策的权力和影响范围。
Although a focus on marriage and the nuclear family characterizes much sociological research and social commentary, this article suggests that this focus ignores the familial experiences of many Americans, particularly those on the lower end of the economic spectrum for whom extended kin are central. African Americans and Latinos/as are more involved with kin than whites, but class trumps race in this regard: African Americans, Latinos/as, and whites with fewer economic resources rely more on extended kin than do those more affluent. The emphasis on marriage and the nuclear family may actually promulgate a vision of family life that dismisses the very social resources and community ties that are critical to the survival strategies of those in need. In contrast to those who have argued that marriage is the foundation of the community or even, in that overused phrase, the "basic unit of society," this article suggests that marriage actually detracts from social ties to broader communities just as an emphasis on marriage and the nuclear family, to the exclusion of the extended family, distorts and reduces the power and reach of social policy.