Critical thinking questions

Questions Chapter one 2. Race, and gender have an intersection point in how the influence each other. This means that each of the elements affects the other and all, accumulatively, have an eventual effect on the family behavior in a given society. For instance, the places where family members of a particular family take their children for school, the places where they do their shopping and the restaurants they dine in, largely result from interaction of the above three variables. The family may choose to shop from a particular shop because the owner is from their race, belong to the same social class as them and maybe they are of the same gender as them (Collins, 1995). Choosing to interact with someone who shares the above characteristics could be due to the belief that they might understand and serve you better than people from a different group.
4.
There exists a large range of changes that have come about as a result of the major transitions that took place during the previous centuries; in terms of technology, transportation and other aspects of the social system. The introduction of the internet has immensely changed how families communicate and interact. Family members now can communicate faster and efficiently without having to write letters or meet physically. Spouses no longer need to wait till evening in order to talk. With the advent of mobile messaging applications like whatsapp, communication at any time of the day is now possible. This has increased closeness and intimacy between spouses or among family members. Great advancements in the transport sector have also increased movement of people from one place to another. Friends and family members are now able to travel and meet up with family members within a short time. As a result, parents can now send their children to schools that are far from home, since they can easily travel to visit them any time they want (Ely & Meyerson, 2000).
Chapter two
1.
This is because families and people vary from one place to another. The factors that affect their behavior change over time and, therefore, one theory cannot explain every element of their behaviors. Different perspectives are taken by sociologists to try and explain the ways, cultures and behaviors of people belonging to different societies and families (Glenn, 2002).
2.
Various behaviors of a family can be explained using a theory or theories. For example, a family whose members constantly abuse drugs or alcohol; this could be a result of historical reasons. Research has shown that sons whose fathers are alcoholics are highly likely to become alcoholics in their teenage to adult lives. This because children get exposed to alcohol at an early stage and grow up thinking it is okay to take alcohol and get drank, just because their fathers do it (Fernstermaker, 2002). This can only be true assuming that the parents or the rest of the family members do not discourage the above behavior. It can be perfectly true when the larger society does not make any effort to discourage alcoholism. This theory offers a micro-theory explanation.
In case a research on the above subject is conducted, the following questions should be answered:
i. Do both parents take alcohol?
ii. How long the parent(s) been taking alcohol?
iii. Is there history of alcohol abuse in the family?
iv. Has the event affected the normal family life? If so, how much impact has it made?
The use of questionnaires would be the most appropriate.
4.
I would focus more on the way children are brought up. This will include whether the children can access good education, good health services, have a good proper shelter and enough food. I will also focus on the social and economical ability of the parents to bring up their children properly. Next, I would conduct my research by sampling a few families from different backgrounds and finding out the problems that affect them and the causes of these problems.
Some of the policies I would suggest include:
i. Social workers should be tasked with the duty of vetting the ability of parents to bring up their children accordingly.
ii. Laws should be formulated that ensure that ensure equality in terms of allocation of resources.
iii. Creation of more job opportunities by the government and the private sector.
iv. Prosecution of parents found to perpetuate violence in their families.

References
Collins, P. H. (1995). Comment on West and Fenstermaker. Gender & Society, 9, 491-94.
Ely, R. J., & Meyerson, D. E. (2000). Advancing gender equity in organizations: The challenge and importance of maintaining a gender narrative. Organization, 7(4), 589-608.
Fenstermaker, S. a. (2002). Doing gender, doing difference: Inequality, power. New York: Routledge.
Glenn, E. N. (2002). How race and gender shaped American citizenship. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.