SOC214H1 Lecture 2: SOC 214 LECTURE 2 HOW TO STUDY FAMILIES.docx
Document Summary
Soc214 family patterns lecture 2 september 20th 2011. Reading legal definition of family is important, as it determines who has rights and obligations. A single mother is forced to identify the father of child for child support (so the government iusnt held responsible) In divorce- one is legally responsible to pay child support as seen in settlement cases. Fathers who never cared for heir children have rights to custody over another family member who has cared for the children every single day. The government also needs a definition of family for the census: this definition has changed over time and specifies a certain unit social and residential. ( couple and the children of one or both) The problem for social scientists is that people are left out who in practice are doing the things we assume families do (aunt taking care of children). So we lean towards a definition which speaks about activity-
