Social Class, Culture, and Diversity

This week in class we discussed the many social groups that can influence families. These social groups can be anything from social class, to unique cultures to which we belong too. To explain culture we defined it as: beliefs, values, norms, tradition, and what you do. Social class is about money, the area in which you live, and/or perspective.  While sometimes we do not have a choice in choosing what social class we belong to, we do get to choose the culture. And in class Brother Williams said, “Not only do we get to choose the culture in our own families, we must choose.” I really liked this because sometimes we feel we have to follow in our parents footsteps exactly with how they raised us, but we can choose to do the good and maybe improve the flaws in their parenting style, and not repeat them with our own children.

We also discussed the diversity in families. There are so many different cultural ways to raise a family. We read in our book: Marriage and Family: The Quest for Intimacy by Robert H. Lauer, about how Hispanic families and African American families are regarded as two of the most family centered types of families in the U.S. We expound on Hispanics and how they often spend time not only with their nuclear families, but their extended families as well. We also read a document that talked about the tolls of illegal immigration can have on the family. How it can greatly impact the relationships in the family, and lead to different problems. The study we read made me want to make sure that when I raise my family, when it’s possible, to always spend as much quality time with my children as possible and establish close relationships with them.

 If you guys are interested in watching some great videos on social class in America the links are right here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VXrHeLqBA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5MtVM_zFs&feature=PlayList&index=0&list=PLC6D871A2A8C3C8EF