Modern Families: Intimate and Personal Relationships

Overview

This module will focus on the sociological theory and research on the family and it will do so by examining both the scholarship on the family and the place of the family in different European societies. The history and current state of the family in Northern Ireland will be examined in the immediate context of family studies in both the UK and Ireland and in the broader context of other European societies. Both theoretical and empirical work will be considered.

Learning Objectives

(1) To make students familiar with the literature on the sociology of the family. (2) To give students a knowledge of the different approaches to understanding and studying the family. (3) To make links between this literature on the family and the main sociological theories more broadly. (4) To identify the significant feature of the family in Northern Irish society and how the family has functioned in this society as compared with others. (5) To give students an appreciation of comparative studies and the comparative method.

Skills

Acquisition of information, literature review, reproduction of information in essay and examination. Critical evaluation of evidence. Presentation skills.

Assessment

None