Sociology: Families And Marriage Relationship Activity

Sociology: Families and Marriage Relationship Activity

This exercise helps to illustrate the issue of mate selection for forming a family. But you don’t know who you will fall in love with. What if it is someone unexpected? Given that this person will be your mate, how do you see your plans for the future? They must suppose that within five years they will fall in love with this person and then think about the following questions:

 Think about your expectations of what your family will be like.  What will your family think?  What are the plans that you have for the future?  Where will you live?  How will those plans be affected by this selection?  How will you raise children? Daycare? Stay at home? How many incomes can you afford to lose?  How will you work out visitation with children from prior relationships?  What about Thanksgiving? Christmas? Hanukkah?  Where will you live? What about kids? Finances? Jobs?  What is the likelihood that you would actually consider marrying this person?  How will you include/ deal with previous families, children, spouses?  How will you deal with life’s surprise issues? (You must pull an issue from the box)

1 Woman. Never married. Career oriented and works long hours. Approaching 40 and wants to have children of her own.

1 Woman. Married previously and has sole custody of 2 children, one boy age 9 and another boy age 5 who is special needs and requires a great deal of medical attention. Previous spouse refuses to pay child support.

1 Woman. Never married. Former model…appearance is very important, (manicures, facials, expensive clothes and dinners out). Never had to deal with any negative life issues.

2 Man. Married once before. One daughter age 7. Also has son from prior relationship at a young age. Boy age 15 and not happy about being part of a blended family. No job skills due to choice of raising children from a young age.

1 Woman. Never married high school sweetheart. Small town. Known each other since 9th grade and never dated anyone else. Dropped out of college and lived with you while you finished and graduated. Your company moves to NYC and requires you to work many hours and socialize with wealthy prestigious people in order to move up the ladder.

2 Man. A middle-class, white man who travels 3 weeks each month for his job and has 3 kids from a previous marriage of whom he has custody. Currently, he has a live-in nanny but really would rather have a full-time parent in the home for his kids

2 Man. A working class, Latino man from Costa Rica who wishes to live near his family in his home country

1 Woman.An upwardly-mobile woman who wishes never to have kids or at least not to care for them herself. (If you want kids, you will have to be the sole parent.)

1 Woman. A female, Baptist minister whose first job assignment is in central Kansas.

2 Man. Baptist minister whose first job assignment is in Alaska. 1 Woman. An Indian woman (US resident) whose parents are planning to arrange a marriage for her with someone other than you.

2 Man. An African-American male professor who has tenure at Harvard. Comes from a long line of high achieving African American family members. There have never been any interracial relationships in his family.

2 Man. Previously married man, married three times before and has children from all marriages. 3 girls ages 13, 15, and 17, and 4 boys ages 8, 10 and 18. He has to pay support to these children and also come up with college tuition for them as well.

1 Woman. Nanny from Switzerland. 19 years old. No family in this country and believes in Wiccan Paganism. Loves children.

1 Woman, age 25, divorced twice. One child from previous marriage. You are expecting your own child in 4 months from your last relationship.

2 Man. Former girlfriend is pregnant with his child. He is going back to school at night to be a computer engineer but currently works at Starbucks.

1 Woman. Dated your brother for years before you met up again while traveling in Europe. You are both hopelessly in love with each other.

2 Man. Strict Catholic who believes birth control is a sin.

1 Woman. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a child. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that causes mucus to build up and clog some of the organs in the body, particularly the lungs and pancreas. When mucus clogs the lungs, it can make breathing very difficult. The thick mucus also causes bacteria (or germs) to get stuck in the airways, which causes inflammation (or swelling) and infections that lead to lung damage. Your children could have a 25% chance of inheriting both defective copies and having cystic fibrosis, a 50% chance of inheriting one defective copy and being a carrier, and a 25% chance of not having CF or carrying the gene. In 2009, the median predicted age of survival was in the mid-30s but recent medical improvements can lead to a longer life.

2 Man. Divorced and has 1 son from previous relationship age 6. He is a two time cancer survivor and must be tested every year for recurrence.

1 Woman. Divorced. 1 daughter from a previous relationship age 4. She is a two time cancer survivor.

2. Man. Never married. Mid 30’s. Vegetarian, loves the Opera, a little O.C.D. neat freak. Thinks children are messy.

2. Man. Recovering drug addict. Has been clean for a year. In a program to get his G.E.D.. Very handy and works construction. Kind.

1. Woman. Very religious and goes to church every day. Wants to raise children in similar way.

2. Man. Once in jail for 4 years for an assault he said he was innocent of. Has a hard time finding employment due to convicted felon status. Had very had childhood and was abandoned by parents. Raised in the foster care system. Very family oriented and wants to be a father – including to the child you already have from a previous marriage. Issues:

You lose your job.

You’re expecting.

You lose your job.

You’re expecting.

You lose your job.

You’re expecting.

Your child is diagnosed with learning disabilities.

Your child is diagnosed with learning disabilities

Your step children hate you.

Your step children hate you

Your step children don’t want to live with their other parent anymore

You are 6 months behind on rent

Your parents need nursing care

Their parents need nursing care

You think they are cheating on you

You think they are cheating on you You think they are cheating on you

You fall in love with your neighbor

Your stepchild steals your credit card and charges 50,000 dollars.

Your stepchild steals your credit card and charges 50,000 dollars

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