UCSP FINALS EXAM

THE PROBLEM OF DEFINING THE FAMILY

TRADITIONAL
- Filipinos are family-oriented. The anak-magulang complex and the kamag-anak relationship are very important to
Filipinos. Nuclear Families are culturally and emotionally significant to us who treasure filial attachment not only to
our immediate family but also to our extended family. This family centeredness supplies a basic sense of belonging,
stability, and security, It is from our families that we Filipinos naturally draw our sense of self-identity.
- This traditional view of the family leads many people to think that the family is an indispensable unit or institution of
society. Today, however, many experts who study the family raise doubts about its future.

DECLINING MARRIAGE RATE AND INCREASING RATE OF COHABITATION

- 476,408 marriages registered in 2011, down by 1.3% from 482,480 recorded in 2010
NSO said in a report - adding that the number of registered marriages has been declining since 2009

INCREASING ANNULMENT RATE

- (Philippines) has risen by 40% in the last decade with at least 22 cases files every day, Catholic bishops' news
agency. Citing data from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), CBCP News said the number of annulment cases
had risen from 4,520 in 2001 to 8,282 in 2010

INCREASING NUMBER OF CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

- The 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO)
1 in 5 women aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence since age 15; 14.4% from their husbands; and more than
1/3 (37%) of separated or widowed women, implying that domestic violence could be the reason for separation or
annulment, implying that domestic violence could be the reason for separation or annulment.

INCREASING NUMBER OF WOMEN ENTERING THE LABOR FORCE

- The number of employed and unemployed Filipinos in October 2008 was estimated at 34.5 million and 2.5 million
respectively.
Employment: Female: 13.3 million ; Male: 21.3 million.
Unemployment: Female: lower at 6.5% = 929 thousand ; Male: 7.0% = 1.6 million.

• Experts on the family, agree that "there is no single correct definition of what a family is" (Fine 1993, p. 235).

CENSUS FAMILY REFERS TO A MARRIED COUPLE AND THE CHILDREN, IF ANY, OF EITHER OR BOTH SPOUSES
a couple living common law and the children, if any, of either or both partners; or, a lone parent of any marital status
with at least one child living in the same dwelling and that child or those children.

THE UNITED NATIONS (UN) USES THE TERM NUCLEUS FAMILY:

- A family nucleus is of one of the following types (each of which must consist of persons living in the same household):
a) A married couple without children,
b) A married couple with one or more unmarried children,
c) A father with one or more unmarried children or
d) A mother with one or more unmarried children.
- Couples living in consensual unions should be regarded as married couples.

➢ BIOLOGICAL COMPONENT - with a child, married

➢ FUNCTIONAL COMPONENT - takes care of the children andprovides economic support
➢ RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT - living under one household or common residence

THE NAYAR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY; AN EXCEPTION?

• The most important focused on two ritual acts: the tying of the tali and the payment of the midwife's fees.
- "groom" tied a gold ornament on his "brides" neck
- was an almost exclusively symbolic act and incurred no subsequent responsibility, it was considered essential to
both the legitimacy and the status of the child insofar as it provided an assurance that it was not the product of a
relationship between its mother and a socially inferior man.

• MARRIAGE - a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law
for the establishment of conjugal and family life, it is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution.
 UCSP FINALS EXAM
PHILIPPINE FAMILY CODE
- excludes same-sex marriage and polygamous unions.
- was enacted in 1989, it declared that "illegitimate" children must use the surname of the mother.

ILLEGITIMATE CHILD
- is entitled to receive support from his/her biological father provided that the latter recognized the child as his own. If
the biological father did not recognize the child as his own, then support cannot be demanded unless a court order is
obtained for that matter.
COHABITANTS
- couples who share a common residence with a child, just like a nuclear family, but without the benefit of marriage.

FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD

The UN differentiates household from a family:
- both are different concepts that cannot be used interchangeably in the same census. Differences:
a) HOUSEHOLD may consist of only one person but a FAMILY must contain at least two members
b) Members of a multi-person household need not be related; members of a family must be related.

TYPES OF FAMILIES
NUCLEAR AND EXTENDED FAMILIES
- The basic distinction in classifying families is to consider the membership.

NUCLEAR FAMILY
- is the most basic family form and is made up of a married couple and their biological or adopted children.
- is found in all societies, and it is from this form that all other types of family forms are derived.
EXTENDED FAMILIES
- include the other members of the kinship group such as your uncles, grandparents, and cousins.
NUCLEARIZATION OF THE FAMILIES (Kumar 2011)
- process to the growing predominance of nuclear families over extended families in both rural and urban areas, which
is brought about by urbanization and economic development.

FAMILY OF ORIENTATION - The family to which one belongs

FAMILY OF PROCREATION - when one establishes a new family through marriage

FAMILIES AND THE RULE OF DESCENT

2 TYPES OF DESCENT GROUPS

• AMBILINEAL - the children can opt to claim lineage on either their father or their mother's family group.
• UNILINEAL - either through the father or the mother.
> MATRILINEAL DESCENT - people join the mother's group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life.
> PATRILINEAL DESCENT - people automatically have lifetime membership in the father's group
- important to maintain the continuity and survival of a group.

• NEOLOCAL RESIDENCE
- couples often practice neolocal residence. The couples have the freedom and option to live separately and
independent of their respective families. Much more common in non-Western societies:PATRILOCALITY: A married
couple moves to the husband's father's community, so that the children will grow up in their father's village

• PATRILINEAL KINSHIP GROUP - often found with a patrilocal residence rule.

 UCSP FINALS EXAM
KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY - Each society in the world has a set of words used to refer to relatives.
Marriage as a union of individuals also establishes CONSANGUINEAL ("blood relation," from the Latin consanguinitas)
relations and relations of affinity. Two people are related to each other by consanguinity if they have a common
ancestor or one is a descendant of the other.

ENDOGAMY - is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such
a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal relationships.
EXOGAMOUS - is the practice of marrying outside one's group, which is common in modern societies.

AFFINAL LINKS
- links between kin groups established by marriage.
- 2 people are related by affinity if they are married, or if one person is related by blood to the other person's spouse.

GODPARENTHOOD or COMPADRAZGO
- People also rely on social relationships made by means of ritual observances.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE or GAY MARRIAGE

- It is marriage between two people of same biological sex and/or gender identity.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY or EQUAL MARRIAGE

Legal recognition of same-sex marriage or the possibility to perform a same-sex marriage.

KATHLEEN HULL (2006), "marriage serves as a cultural resource for many committed same-sex couples. Couples draw
upon language and rituals associated with marriage to express to each other, to friends and family, and to the broader
society-the nature of their relationship. The cultural trappings of marriage-terminology, rituals and symbols-stand as
ready-made cultural tools for couples to express their love and their commitment to a lifetime of mutual support. The
power of marriage as a cultural resource as in the fact that its dominant meanings are so widely shared in
contemporary Western culture.

HUMAN MARRIAGE - is socio-sexual institution, a part of the wider institutional complex of the family.
MARRIAGE - an arrangement of procreation, a way of caring for the offspring of sexuality, defining their legitimate
descent, and the main or ultimate responsibility for their upbringing.

EDWARD WESTERMARK (1891) in his famous book History’s of Human Marriage defined marriage as "a relation of one
or more men to one or more women. Which is recognized by customs or law and involves certain rights and duties
both in case of the parties entering into the union and in the case of children born of it."

"marriage is nothing else than a more or less durable connection between male and female, lasting beyond the mere
act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring"
 UCSP FINALS EXAM
POLYGAMOUS AND MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGES
• POLYGAMY
- is a marriage that includes more than two partners.
• POLYGYNY
- a man is married to more than one wife at a time, the relationship. common
• POLYANDRY
- a woman is married to more than one husband at a time. less rare
• GROUP or CONJOINT MARRIAGE
- If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives.
• SORORAL POLYGYNY
- In the case of Jacob in the Old Testament, a man marries several sisters.

ROMANTIC LOVE, MATE SELECTION, AND THE FAMILY

- In modern societies, monogamy is often associated with romantic love, where one marries out of love. Many young
people today believe that people should marry out of free will and not based on forced choices or simply due to
traditional requirements. Such a strong belief is often coupled with the assertion that one has to assert one’s choice
even if it could cost huge sacrifices.

ROMANTIC LOVE
- has a past and exists within a particular cultural context.
- Originated with chivalry during the medieval period
- Triumphs in the modern period because industrial capitalism promoted individualism, free choice, and equality.
- One of the main tenets is that “all is fair in love”. It transcend economic inequalities & physical appearances
- It is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by
an individual to express those overall feelings.

• ANTHONY GIDDENS (1992)

- credits romantic love with a serving a purpose during the beginnings of capitalism. It gave isolated people in an
urbanized environment some kind of meaning to their lives, and it also provided a legitimate means for society to
reproduce itself. “the romantic love ideology may be seen as appropriate, even necessary, in a society where the
external pressures on permanent unions through kinship are largely absent.”

MATE SELECTION
- selecting partners or mate it is not simple to select someone to be your partner it embedded with the social factors
such as culture, traditions, race, color, status, and etc.
- Some sociologists, for instance, argue that economic benefits and social exchange operate in mate selection. People
tend to select partners that can offer them equal assets or even surpass their own resources. In this theory, a partner
who contributes more to economic subsistence of the relationship tends to have more power in the relationship.

HOMOGAMY
- rule of marriage and mate selection that people tends to marry people who share the same characteristics which are
personality, class, lifestyle, family background etc.

EMERGING ISSUES IN FAMILIES

FAMILIES AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
- One of the dark truth of families is the continuously increasing the domestic violence such as more affected those
child and women.
- According to the book of experienced the domestic violence are not only female and male partners or same sex
partners but most likely CHILD ABUSE and ELDER ABUSE.

R.A. no. 9262 (Philippines)

- AN ACT DEFINING VIOLENCE AGAINTS WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN, PROVIDING FOR PROTECTIVE MEASURES FOR
VICTIMS, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFORE, AND OTHER PURPOSES, OFFER A MORE COMPREHENSIVE
- violence act that engage against the women and children it aims to protect their human rights in any forms of abuse
whether physical or emotional also including a sexual desire and harassment.
- According to World Health Organization (WHO) 35% or 1 out of 3 womens are experieincing an intimate partner
violence or non-partners violence. On the average of women who is experienced sexual violence by their partner
- Globally 38% of women murdered are committed by their partners.
 UCSP FINALS EXAM
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
DIVORCE
- It is a court order that man and woman are NO LONGER husband and wife.
- It is an unanimous decisions of both side.

ANNULMENT
- It is a judicial statement that THERE NEVER WAS A MARRIAGE between man and woman

RETROACTIVE APPLICATION
- Divorce and Annulment are legal process by the cancellation of marriage as if it never happened, cancellation is done
by court INVALIDATING the marriage of both side.
- The LEGAL SEPARATION gives the husband and wife a right to live separately from each other, but they are not
allowed to remarry again.

FILIPINO’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DIVORCE

- On January 27, 2010, GABRIELA PARTYLIST filed in congress House bill no.1799 or Divorce bill in the Philippines. It
aims for legalisation of divorce here in the country the majority of filipino's are in favor of legislation of this bill
however there is no progress according to it.
MAJOR FACTORS/PROBLEMS THAT LEADS TO DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
• Alcoholism • Physical and emotional abuse
• Drug abuse • Disagreement about gender rules
• Infidelity • Sexual incompatibility
• Incompatibility • Financial Problems

> According to Gay Kitson and Morgan (1990) some studies lack of communication between husbands and wives may
include why they are getting divorce. or thier marriage did not work out.
> Also the following barriers are Strong religious belief, pressure from family, irretrievable investment and lack of
perceived attractive alternatives to the marriage.

NEW INTIMACIES: FAMILIES IN THE AGE OF POST-MODERNITY

• REFLEXIVE MODERNITY - a social condition when people are aware and knowledgeable about risks they face—people
no longer require the “forever” clause in romantic love relationship. Giddens (1992)
• POSTMODERN FAMILIES - are very different from traditional and modern families and marriages, which include same
sex marriages, single mothers, a lone individual with adopted child, various forms of polygamous relationships, and
open marriages. Love in the post-modern world also produces post-modern families and similar relationships.
• POST-MODERNISM - a social condition that accompanies globalization. It is made possible by the acceleration in the
modes ask communication in the rabbit movement of people, money, and how people across national borders.

LIQUID LOVE
- corresponds to "liquid modern" conditions in which everything becomes fleeting, transient, and disposable.
- Zygmunt Bauman (2003), a contemporary Polish sociologist, prefers this to characterize the condition.
- ex. intimate relationships generated through online dating sites. Online dating sites usually provide users with
opportunities to present personalized profiles of themselves, review the profiles of others, send expressions of
interest to other users, and facilitate synchronous (for example, instant messaging) and asynchronous (for example,
email) communication between users. Like online dating, "SPEED DATING" is a formalized matchmaking process or
dating system that encourages people to meet a large of new people.

POLYAMORY AS POST-MODERN LOVE

POLYAMORY
- invented word for a different kind of relationship; loving more than 1 person at a time when it comes to
romantic/erotic love.
- was created in the late 1980s by Morning Glory and Oberon Zell.
- whole range of love styles; love cannot be forced to flow or be prevented from flowing in any particular direction,
Love, which is allowed to expand, often grows to include a number of people. But to me, polyamory has more to do
with an internal attitude of letting love evolve without expectations or demands that it looks a particular way than it
does with the number of partners involved.

POLY comes from Greek and means "many." AMORY comes from Latin and means "love."
 UCSP FINALS EXAM
THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) FAMILIES
- There are 4 dominant ways that individuais in same-sex partner households come to parent children: through a prior
relationship with a different-sex partner that resulted in the birth of a child/children, through adoption, through the
use of assisted reproductive technologies, or by becoming a partner to someone who has done one or more of these
things.
- same-sex couple parents create no significant disadvantage for children. It concludes, "Whether they lived with
same-sex or opposite-sex couples, adolescents whose parents reported having close relationships with them were
likely to report higher self-esteem, fewer depressive symptoms, less use of alcohol and tobacco, and less delinquent
behavior." In short, sex of parents does not matter a lot as the effects of the care that parents provide

• LESBIAN and GAY - men and women who identify themselves as attracted, usually exclusively, to members of the
same sex/gender. As an adjective, gay may sometimes refer to both gays and lesbians. LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual)
includes individuals who identify themselves as attracted to both sexes/genders. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender) includes individuals who have or are in the process of changing sexes or gender identities.

TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES: VIRTUAL CONNECTION

- In the Philippines, fathers traditionally pursue their careers and act as the breadwinners of the family. Fathers are
called haligi ng tahanan. Haligi or pillar refers to the foundations of the house. The father is seen as the pillar and
foundation of the family. Fathers as breadwinners only applied to a period of society when women were offered less
opportunities to work outside the family. Today, however, many women are already working outside the family.

- With the advent of Western intrusion into our cultural life, poverty, and the rising opportunities to be educated, more
and more women and mothers are now entering the labor force. As more women are now educated, more women also
enter the labor force. As a result, many mothers are now working fulltime. Filipino women are not only working in
domestic enterprises but they are also migrating to work as OFWs.

- While the economic benefits of overseas migration is beneficial to the families and country, nevertheless, it also
entails a lot of sacrifices.

- " One of the most significant findings of the study is that the absence of the mother has the most disruptive effects
on children. However, the presence of relatives can mitigate these negative effects.

- The remittances of migrant parents and family members are often used for education and purchase of agricultural
lands and real estate. A review of literature concludes that remittances do help improve the quality of life of the
migrants and their families. A huge percentage of the remittances go to tuition fees of children, thus, children of
migrants have better educational opportunities where they can enroll in private schools offering good quality
education." However, these remittances do not necessarily take the families out of poverty. They only mitigate the
economic problems of the families left behind (Reyes 2008). In African context, the primary problem is how to keep
the marriage and family intact (Melde 2012). The migrant family members are also confronted with dealing with racial
discrimination and cultural adaptation.

- People migrate because they try to protect themselves and their families against the effects of a weak economy and
volatile market, and from political crises, armed conflicts, and other risks (Koser 2007, p. 30). Filipinos migrate primary
for economic reasons. The increasing number of parents migrating to work abroad is creating transnational families or
diasporic families (diaspora: the dispersion of any people from their original homeland).