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The nuclear family unit is something that is nearly nonexistent in modern American Society. New ideals, freedoms, and circumstances have combined to develop a melting pot of socially acceptable family types, including cohabitation, single parenthood, GLBT relationships, polygamy, co-parenting, and interracial families. Although not fully accepted by every facet of society, the majority of the population has seen to it that these non-traditional family units benefit from the same rights under law. This shift has facilitated the recognition of non-traditional families as equal, but it has done much in the way of destroying the integrity of the nuclear family model. Laws regarding marriage and divorce have become more flexible following the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Rights Movements of the 1970s, but they have also contributed to an obvious weakening of marriage vows, higher divorce rates, and the damaging effects that these circumstances have on children.
Because rising divorce rates are a social problem in the United States, it seems reasonable to assume that the government should be responsible for addressing this problem. Although divorce rates are “high but declining” and the percent of people ever divorced is “moving higher” , it is fair to assert that the recognition of marriage vows as lifelong and contractually binding is losing significance. Even though the nuclear family is only a model in American society, it doesn’t mean that the standards should not be upheld to non-traditional families or that the meaning of marriage should disintegrate. If the government enacted laws to make marriage certificates harder to obtain than divorce decrees and implemented qualifying criteria, the trending of marriage toward the new “relationship” may be reversible.
However, as with any law enacted that dictates social practices, laws regarding marriage and divorce can be seen as inhibiting the freedom of the people, therefore it the responsibility of the people to change cultural practices surrounding marriage. In a cultural context, marriage has always been a religious communion between a man and a woman. In recent decades, marriage still remains a religious ceremony, but it may also be performed as a civil ceremony, allowing any couple to be joined in wedlock regardless of religion, sexual orientation, or other beliefs. Because the American culture has moved toward the acceptance of different marital ceremonies and more than one marriage per lifetime, it is the responsibility of the people to uphold their own beliefs about marriage and divorce within their family units. The only way to strengthen marriage vows and family ties is to set a new standard for what is culturally acceptable. The government can only act as a liaison between the majority of the population and the minority of the population, but as long a family has decided that divorce is only an option under extreme circumstances, which have been predetermined, then family and marital ties can be strengthened for generations to come.
The changing American culture, in regards to marriage and family, can be seen as the result of a combination of forces from Functionalist and Conflict theorists. Although the nuclear family system and ceremonial marriage can be viewed solely from a conflict theorist perspective, a functionalist theory can help change the social framework by viewing the transition from religious matrimony to freedom of marriage as a privilege that must be held to cultural standards for the greater good of society. In other words, the stronger society feels toward the importance of marriage and family ties, the less it becomes a dominate force of society and the more it becomes a choice for the advancement of society.
References
Carl, J. D. (2013). Think Social Problems 2013. Pearson.
Hammond, R., Cheney, P., & Pearsey, R. (2015). Sociology of the Family. Payson: Rocky Ridge Press.
