Paradigm Shifts in Family Sociology? Evidence From Three Decades of Family Textbooks

Abstract

This article explores paradigm shifts in family sociology from the 1960s to the 1990s using a thematic content analysis of 7 multiple-edition texts. Two competing views on theoretical developments are examined. David Cheal claims that challenges posed to structural functionalist hegemony resulted in theoretical pluralism and an end to this hegemony. Dorothy Smith argues that Parson's theoretical assumptions are so deeply embedded in the discourse of family sociology that they continue to govern major issues and debates. As late as the 1990s, we found that structural functionalism continued to frame many topics and debates in the majority of texts even when new concepts and more critical literature were added. Notable exceptions were textbook treatments of African American families and gender issues. This suggests that the relative success of social movements in institutionalizing their goals may be an important factor in determining paradigm shifts.

"Staying at Home" versus "Working": A Call for Broader Conceptualizations of Parenthood and Paid Work

“…Structural theorists reason that "the current economic system is no longer congruent with traditional family values," thus making the labels of "good" and "bad" parents even more unfair and restrictive (Dill et al, 1998, p. 9;Mann et al, 1997;Smith, 1993). This section comprises a brief review of some of the recent economic transformations in the U.S. We concentrate mostly on how the market economy is now global and few U.S. jobs are secure.…”

The Scholarship of Difference: A Scholarship of Liberation?

“…41n a content analysis of three decades of family sociology textbooks' coverage of race, class, and gender, we found that those social movements that were most successful in institutionalizing some of their goals-namely the civil rights movement and the women's movement-saw their central issues of race and gender receive the most significant paradigmatic shifts in coverage (Mann, Grimes, Kemp, and Jenkins, 1997).…”

Mothering in an Increasingly Uncertain Economic Marketplace: Revisiting the Call for Broader Conceptualizations of Parenthood and Paid Work

“…In the original essay (Paré & Dillaway, 2005), we held that structural transformations of the economy were an essential force to understand, if we are to comprehend the social shifts within family and paid work activities (see also Baca Zinn & Eitzen, 2005;Dill et al, 1998;Mann et al, 1997;Newman, 1994;Rubin, 1994;Smith, 1993). In the years since we discussed the interconnection of these topics, individuals living in the U.S. have experienced a collapse of the housing market (in 2006) and a subsequent Great Recession (2007Recession ( -2009, with the latter described as the most impactful economic event that families have experienced since the Great Depression (Rose & Winship, 2009;Ellen, & Dastrup, 2012).…”