FSHD 337; Dynamics of Family Relations

FSHD 337; Dynamics of Family Relations -- Fall 2006

Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 – 10:45 am Education building, Room 353

Instructor: Emily Butler, PhD; Email: [email protected] Office: FCS 221A; Phone: 626-1199 Office hours: Tues. and Thurs., 11:00 – 11:30 am (or by appointment)

Teaching assistant: Casey Totenhagen; Email: [email protected] Office: FCS 221D; Phone: 621-1180 Office hours: Wed. 10:00 – 11:00 am (or by appointment)

Course description: This course is designed to familiarize students with approaches to understanding family relationships. We will review theoretical perspectives on the family and explore current research on family functioning . We will apply this theory and research to analyze our own experiences as family members and to develop informed opinions on contemporary political issues that impact families.

Requirements: Course grades will be based on the following: Best of 2 out of 3 exams (50 points each) 100 points 8 in-class group assignments (15 points each) 120 3 take-home individual homework (20 points each) 60 Semester-end peer evaluation of group participation (20 points) 20 Total =300

Honors students Honors students will be required to complete an additional component for each of the 3 homework assignments in order to acquire full points. These additional components will involve finding relevant research articles and summarizing them. Students enrolled in the Honors section of the course must meet with me once during the first 2 weeks of class to discuss how to choose and find the necessary research articles.

Grades: There are 300 possible points in the class. Grades will be assigned as follows: A: 270 – 300; B: 240 – 269; C: 210 – 239; D: 180 – 209; E: < 180

Required texts: Available at the U. of A. Bookstore: 1) Napier, A. Y., & Whitaker, C. A. (1978). The Family Crucible. New York: Harper & Row. 2) Skolnick, A. S., & Skolnick, J. H., Eds. (2007). Family in Transition (14th Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Required readings Available on the D2L Course Website (http://d2l.arizona.edu): 1) Gottman, J., M., & Levenson, R. W. (1992). Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 221-233.. 2) Almeida, D. M., Wethington, E., & Chandler, A. L. (1999). Daily transmission of tensions between marital dyads and parent-child dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 49-61. 3) Koerner, S. S., Wallace, S., Lehman, S., J., Lee, S., & Escalante, K. A. (2004). Sensitive mother-to-adolescent disclosures after divorce: Is the experience of sons different from that of daughters? Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 46- 57. 4) Seccombe, K. (1999). Why welfare? In So you think I drive a Cadillac? Welfare recipients’ perspectives on the system and its reform, 2nd Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Course website All course materials and communications (syllabus, readings, lecture slides, homework assignments, grades, feedback, email, updates, etc.) will be available through the course website: http://d2l.arizona.edu. All students will be expected to make use of this website and to use their university email accounts for communications about the course.

Schedule Date Topic Reading Assignments/Exams Tues., Aug. 22 Course overview Thurs., Aug. 24 Family form and Family in Transition, In-class Assignment 1 function Reading 1 Tues., Aug. 29 History of the family Family in Transition, Readings 2 & 4 Thurs., Aug. 31 Theoretical perspectives Family in Transition, Deadline for special Reading 6 needs documentation Tues., Sept. 5 Theoretical perspectives Family Crucible, Deadline for Honors continued Chapters 1 - 4 student meetings Thurs., Sept. 7 Research methods In-class Assignment 2 Tues., Sept. 12 Family systems Family Crucible, In-class Assignment 3 Chapters 5 - 8 Thurs., Sept. 14 Family interaction – Family in Transition, Homework 1 due negative patterns Reading 13 and Gottman & Levenson (1992) Tues., Sept. 19 Family violence Family Crucible, Chapters 9 - 14 Thurs., Sept. 21 Exam 1 Tues., Sept. 26 Family violence continued and introduction to positive patterns Thurs., Sept. 28 Positive patterns Almeida et al (1999) continued and emotion transmission Tues., Oct. 3 Emotion transmission In-class Assignment 4 continued Thurs., Oct. 5 Early marriage Family in Transition, Reading 14 Tues., Oct. 10 Gender roles –conflicts Family in Transition, and stresses Reading 5 and Family Film – Role Reversal Crucible, Chapters 15 & 16 Thurs., Oct. 12 Gender roles – division Family in Transition, Homework 2 due of labor Reading 27 Tues., Oct. 17 Gender roles – wrap up In-class Assignment 5 Thurs., Oct. 19 “Who’s Boss” film Family in Transition, Transition to parenting Reading 19 Tues., Oct. 24 Parenting - childcare Family in Transition, Reading 20 & 24 Thurs., Oct. 26 Exam 2 Tues., Oct. 31 Divorce – Guest lecture Family Crucible, Chapters 17 & 18 Thurs., Nov. 2 “Who’s Right” film Family in Transition, Divorce – impact on Reading 17 and Koerner children et al (2004) Tues., Nov. 7 Remarriage and In-class Assignment 6 stepfamilies Thurs., Nov. 9 Marital and family Family Crucible, counseling Chapters 19 & 20 Tues., Nov. 14 Economic and social Family in Transition, pressures Reading 37 & 29 Thurs., Nov. 16 Economic and social Family in Transition, In-class Assignment 7 pressures Reading 26 and Seccombe (1999) Tues., Nov. 21 Culture – Film: Arranged marriage Thurs., Nov. 23 No class - Thanksgiving Tues., Nov. 28 Cultural influences Family in Transition, Readings 10 & 35 Thurs., Nov. 30 Gay and lesbian Family in Transition, In-class Assignment 8 families Readings 34 Tues., Dec. 5 Gay and lesbian In-class peer evaluation. families – Film: Pink Homework 3 due Houses Thurs., Dec. 7 No class – Dead Day Tues., Dec. 12 Exam 3 (8:45 am – 10:00 am)

Special needs Students with special learning needs are strongly encouraged to work with the Disability Resource Center (1224 E. Lowell St., 621-3268, http://drc.arizona.edu) and/or the Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center (SALT Center, 1010 N. Highland, 621-1242). These programs will provide you with written verification of your specific needs. Please submit a copy of this documentation to me by Thursday, August 31, so that I am aware of your needs and can work with these programs to make any necessary arrangements and accommodations. Academic integrity Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded homework exercises must be executed independently. This course operates under the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the General Catalog. This catalog can be found at http://catalog.arizona.edu.

Course withdrawal Students withdrawing from this course must notify me prior to nonattendance in classes, and must execute drop or withdrawal procedures in accordance with the UA General Catalog.

Incomplete policy Any incomplete grade must be verified with a written agreement with the student that specifies the work to be done and a timetable for completion.

Missed exams, assignments, and late policy There will be NO make-up exams or extra credit assignments. Your total exam score will be based on the best 2 out of 3 (i.e. your lowest score on the 3 exams will be dropped), and so you can miss one exam without penalty and without needing a justification. If you need to miss one of the 3 exams for any reason, even a good reason, that is the exam score that will be dropped. Thus you need to plan ahead!! If you are feeling a bit sick, or didn’t get enough sleep, you may still want to take an exam since you don’t know what the future will hold. Again, there will be NO make-up exams under any circumstances since you can already drop one exam. There will also not be any extra credit assignments. If you must miss an in-class assignment due to unforeseen, legitimate, and verifiable reasons (e.g.: illness with doctor’s note, death in family with appropriate documentation) then your other in-class assignment scores will be averaged and that score will be assigned for the missed assignment. Documentation for missed in-class assignment is subject to my approval. If you are in doubt about the documentation needed please contact me. Homework assignments that are turned in past the deadline will have 4 points deducted for every 24 hours that they are late with NO exceptions.

Grade appeals If you would like to appeal a grade for an exam, in-class assignment, or homework you should do so in writing (email will do) to the instructor within 7 days from the day the grade was returned to you. Any appeal that does not come in writing and within 7 days will not be considered.

Common courtesies Please turn off cell phones and pagers during class, or put them on vibrate mode. Please do not talk, read, or sleep during class. If you are late, please enter quietly. The instructor will make every effort to treat you with respect. Please return that courtesy. FSHD 337; Dynamics of Family Relations Fall 2006

Statement of Student Awareness and Responsibility

Your signature below indicates that you: a) have carefully read the FSHD 337 Fall 2006 syllabus in its entirety, b) are aware of course requirements, exam and late work policies, and c) agree to follow the policies outlined.

______Full name (printed) Signature

______Telephone # Email address

______Major Minor