Authors: Natalia Sarkisian, and Naomi Gerstel
Title: “Nuclear Family Values, Extended Family Values: The
Power of Race, Class and Gender”
Publication: Routledge, 2012: ISBN 978-0-415-80841-5, paper,
74 pages, indexed, six chapters
This booklet is part of the publisher’s and University Readers’ “Social Issues
Collection”. It is like a sociology
class primer, with each chapter posing discussing questions.
The authors (from Boston College and the University of
Massachusetts) advance a theory that our debate on “family values” has become
bifurcated.
There has developed a tendency among liberals and
conservatives (for different ideological reasons) to promote the idea of
(usually heterosexual) marriage and the social approbation for it, while often
neglecting the role of extended family and kinkeeping.
But in fact, the “natural family” movement emphasizes the
importance of kinship groups sharing common values.
The authors note that in many social groups, unmarried
people often do more of the caregiving for the elderly. In lower income and racial or ethnic
minorities, this may happen more out of “need and reciprocity”. The authors also write that “social policies
that focus on nuclear families and overlook extended family obligations may introduce,
reproduce, or even increase gender, racial/ethnic, and class inequalities.”
There is an implication of another moral debate, of the
individual, when he or she is responsible for others. It involves a lot more than just engaging in
acts that can produce children. What,
then, is “marriage” really for? Is it a culmination of a socialization process that really applies to everyone anyway?
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