Soc 131 Marriage and the Family

SOC 131: MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

Johnson County Community College

Liberal Arts Division; Fall 2003

CRN 88732 Section 006; GEB 342; 10:00 – 10:50 a.m.; MWF; 3 credit hours

CRN 87910 Section 008; GEB 213; 12:00 – 12:50 a.m.; MWF; 3 credit hours

CRN 85842 Section 009; GEB 277; 1:00 – 1:50 p.m.; MWF; 3 credit hours

Professor: Dr. Betty Bullock

Office: CLB 428

Hours: MWF 8:30 – 9:00 a.m.; MWF 2:00 – 2:30 p.m.;

TR 8:30 – 9:30 a.m; Anytime by appointment.

Phone: Office: 469-8500, ext 4280

Home: 785/594-2610 Please, no calls after 9:00 p.m.

E-mail: bbullock@jccc.net

Course Objectives

To develop an appreciation for and understanding of the diversity of marriage and family patterns in the world.

To understand the changing nature and variety of American marriages and families.

To increase your knowledge and understanding of the issues of sexual intimacy. (We will be explicit.)

To analyze the processes of marriage: intimacy, conflict, communication, negotiation, listening.

To evaluate the pros and cons of parenthood.

To understand the process of dissolution of marriage and family and the problems and success of remarriage.

To challenge the institution of marriage and family and ponder its future.

Text: Marriages and Families: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Mary Ann Lamanna and Agnes Riedmann. 8^th edition. 2003. Thomson/ Wadsworth Publishers.

IV. Attendance:

Each class will build on the work of the previous sessions. Therefore, it is in your best interest to be present at all class sessions. I expect you to be present at all class sessions. Absences in excess of six may result in a failing grade. Good attendance gets the benefit of the doubt.

Course Requirements:

1. Five examinations/evaluations.

2. Three issue papers, two-page maximum, to express your opinions, knowledge, and resolution of a variety of issues in a coherent, written manner.

3. One Action Project. 5 page maximum; three scholarly sources and three action sources; due 10 November. This project is not to be exclusively a library research paper. The information you gather is to come from your involvement/ participation in the institution of marriage and family after you have grounded yourself in information from the library. Please confirm your project topic and procedure with me by 12 September. Suggestions at the end of the syllabus.

Deadlines and Examination Dates

No exams will be given early. In order to make up an exam, courtesy and credibility dictate that you inform me in advance if you are unable to take a scheduled exam. If you experience an illness or emergency, please call or have someone else call within 24 hours, before or after, the exam. No make-up exams will be given without the above 24-hour notification. Exams placed in the Testing Center may not enjoy the same benefits as those taken as scheduled.

All make-up exams will be essay and must be taken before the next exam is given. It will be your responsibility to notify me in advance before the exam will be placed in the Testing Center, 334 Student Center.

We will be utilizing some take-home exams and open book exams. You must be in class on the day these exams are passed out as well as not having missed more than one class in the weeks since the last exam in order to take the exam under these special circumstances.

All papers will be typed. Spelling, punctuation, grammar…do count! Late work will be dropped ten percentage points.

All work for the semester, including make-up exams, must be completed by 2:00 p.m. on Monday, 8 December. NOTHING will be accepted after that time.

Grading:

Final grades will be based on the total number of points accrued during the semester. Bring me written proof that you donated a pint of blood or attempted to give blood and you will receive 10 extra points. (If this practice is counter to your religious principles, please see me for alternatives.)

Grades will be based on the following percentages:

100 – 92 % A

91 – 82 % B

81 – 72 % C

71 – 65 % D

Below 65% F

Withdrawal from the course without receiving a W can be done anytime before 17 September. The last day to drop this course and receive a W is 17 November.

VII. Great Expectations:

It is everyone’s responsibility to get as much as you can from this class. Therefore, when you are in class, please be present 100%!

Please arrive on time. Please stay for the entire class. Opening and closing of the door during class is very disruptive and rude as is whispering to friends during class. I will dismiss class in plenty of time for you to get to your next class.

Please use the restroom and fill water bottles before, not during, class. Schedule appointments before and after class times, not during. And, please inform me of any extenuating circumstances you may have with regard to these expectations.

Please turn off any telephones or pagers before class begins. If your phone rings during class, you get to bring treats to the next class for everyone.

When in doubt, ask!!!

VIII. Miscellaneous Information:

This course may be taken for Honors. Please see me if you are interested.

If weather conditions or any emergency dictate the cancellation of class on the day of a scheduled exam, be prepared to take the exam during the next regular class period.

Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him/her from fully demonstrating his/her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible to discuss accommodations necessary to complete the course requirements.

JCCC provides a range of services to allow persons with disabilities to participate in educational programs and activities. If you desire support services, contact Access Services for Students with Disabilities 469-8500, ext. 3521, or TTY 469-3885.

ACTION PROJECT

The Action Project is intended to generate action, involvement, and participation in the social process. It is not intended to be exclusively a library research paper. The Action Project must have a bibliography. Scholarly sources are journal articles and scholarly books. Web sites, the Bible, Red Book, newspapers and People magazine…are NOT scholarly sources. Use PsychLit and the Social Science Index to find sources. Use this website as a guide to what is scholarly and popular. http://www.lib.utsa.edu/Instruction/scholarly.html Plagiarism from any sources, particularly websites, will result in a failing grade for the project and may result in a failing grade for the class.

The Action Project may take several forms.

You may choose to do a solo project, the final product of which will be a 5 page typed paper specifying what your problem was, how you went about pursuing it, and what you found.

You may choose as a project to make a twenty minute class presentation on a relevant topic. This can include contacting an appropriate speaker for class, using an appropriate audio/visual aide, or providing all the lecture material from your own research. If you choose to get a speaker for film, you must provide the class with a minimum two page handout citing appropriate, current stats and information and their sources in addition to what is provided in class or by the speaker. Please confirm this plan with me before proceeding.

In cooperation with Service Learning, participate 20 hours in an ongoing project, volunteering your time. Keep a journal of your experience. Summarize your experience in a minimum two-page paper specifically relating what you learned in class to what you experienced. Marcia Schiedler is the contact in Service Learning, located in COM 200.

If you are taking this class for the Early Childhood Development requirement, it is highly recommended that your project be based on an ethnic family other than your own.

Suggested projects:

Content Analyze:

For gender role stereotyping or marital roles: toy stores; magazines, prime time TV; soaps; newspapers; commercials; greeting cards; game shows; your text; brides’ magazines…

Interview:

Day care providers and parents; a variety of single individuals; a gay couple; single parents (both sexes); corporate executives about providing day-care for employees; stepparents; divorced individuals; engaged couples, newlyweds, married 10 years, 25, 50…; individuals living in retirement homes; someone who has had an abortion; childless couples by choice; families with only children, two children, 3…; parents of newborns; parents of teens; couples whose children have left home; interracial couples; interracial couples with children; grandparents ;with grandchildren nearby, with grandchildren far away; children of divorce….

Questionnaire/poll:

Attitudes about premarital sex; cohabitation; abortion; sex education; AIDS; surrogate mothers; virginity; double standard; would you have children again?; domestic violence…

Comparative:

Your text with one written 20, 30, 40 years ago; parents of newborns with parents of toddler or teens; Jewish family with Christian family with Black family…; female single parent family with male single parent family; your wedding to your grandparents’ wedding; you family or orientation to your family of procreation.

Observation:

How caretakers treat boys and girls; how parents respond to tantrums in public; appropriate/inappropriate intimate and personal distances in public places; observe a Jewish wedding, a variety of Protestant weddings, other ethnic weddings, find out wheat the rituals and symbols mean.

DUE: 10 NOVEMBER 2003

Tentative Course Outline

WEEK OF READING ASSIGNMENT TOPIC

(20) August Syllabus; Get acquainted

25 August Chapters 1, 2, 3, Introduction; Definitions

Labor Day Holiday - Monday – 1 September – No Classes

1 September Comparative

Cross Cultural

8 September 4 Gender

15 September 5 Love

7 Single…

22 September 8 Choosing each other

9 Marriage

EXAM I (26th)

29 September Exam I due at beginning of class on the 29th

Issue Paper #1 due on 1 October

6 Human Sexuality

6 October Appendices A-D, F Contraception

13 October STD’s

AIDS

EXAM II passed out 15th

Friday, 17 October, Mental Health Day

20 October Take Home exam due on the 20th

Issue Paper #2 due on 22nd

10 Communication

27 October 11: 321-341 Power

14 Women and Work

3 November 11: 341-end Violence

EXAM III passed out 5th

EXAM III due beginning of class on the 7^th

10 November Action Project Due 10th

Children?

Appendices E & G

Issue Paper #3 due 12^th

17 November 13 Parenting

18 (skim) Transitions

EXAM IV passed out 21^st

24 November EXAM IV due at the beginning of class on 24th

(You must hand it in yourself)

15 Separation

26 – 30 November, Thanksgiving Holiday, No Classes

1 December Issue Paper #4 due 1st

Divorce

16 Remarriage

8 December EXAM V passed out 8^th Future of Family

Issue Paper #5 due 8th

LAST DAY OF CLASS, MONDAY, 8 DECEMBER

FINALS PREPARATION DAY, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER, NO CLASSES

10:00 FINAL: 10:00 – 11:50 A.M., MONDAY, 15 DECEMBER

12:00 FINAL: 12:00 – 1:50 P.M., MONDAY, 15 DECEMBER

1:00 FINAL: 1:00 – 2:50 P.M., FRIDAY, 12 DECEMBER