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Summary
Circles and Settings: Role Changes of American Women is an original, comprehensive analysis of changing roles of American women at a time of great upheaval and public, as well as social science, commentary. Using a symbolic interactionist framework, with role seen as a set of negotiated relations, Lopata analyses the roles of wife, mother, kin member (daughter, sister, grandmother) homemaker, job holder in different settings, as well as friend, neighbor, volunteer, and activist. This book comprehensively pulls together all the major involvements of American women using both historical and comparative perspectives to show the evolution of these roles over the last century.
"Many authors give lip service to the impact of subcultural contexts on family life. Very, very few, however, hold these variables firmly in mind the way Lopata does throughout her discussion. The symbolic interactionist approach to describing and explaining women's roles makes it possible to think in terms of behaviors, expectations, tasks, social interaction, and contexts in a cohesive manner. Lopata understands this and presents these ideas extremely well." -- Catherine A. Surra, University of Texas as Austin
Helena Znaniecka Lopata is Professor of Sociology at Loyola University of Chicago. She has written many books including Current Widowhood: Myths and Realities and coedited Friendship in Context.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Social Roles of American Women
Social Role as a Set of Social Relations
Role Strain
The Role of Cluster and Social Life Space
The Location of Social Roles in Social Systems
The Life Course of Role Involvements of American Women
Social Psychological Aspects of Role Involvement
Commitment
Summary
2. The Role of Wife
Traditional Times, Traditional Places
The Transitional Form of the Role of Wife
Class Differences Working-Class Wives
Middle-Class Wives
The Two-Person Single Career
Middle-Class Black Wives
Upper-Class Wives
The Modern Form of the Role of Wife Indices of Change
The Negotiated Marriage: Rights and Duties
The Life Course of the Role of Wife
The Social Psychology of Role Involvement
The Ex-Wife or Widow
Reentry into the Role of Wife
Summary
3. The Role of Mother
Preventing or Insuring the Role of Mother
Traditional Times, Traditional Places
Transitional and Modern Forms of the Role of Mother
The Life Course of the Role of Mother Becoming a Mother
Traumatic Events in Becoming a Mother
Being a Mother
The Older Mother
Motherhood in Retrospect
Social-Class Variations in the Role of Mother Mothers of the Underclass
Working-Class Mothers
Middle-Class Mothers
Mothers of the Upper Class
Other Variations in the Role of Mother Raising Sons
The Role of Mother in Divorce and Widowhood
Mothers-in-Law
Stepmothers and Foster Mothers
Sociopsychological Aspects of Role Involvement
Summary
4. Social Roles in Kinship Networks
World Revolution in Kinship Salience? The Transitional Form of Kin Networks
Kin Member and Kin Keeper
The Modern Form of Kinship Networks
Daughter The Traditional Form of the Role of Daughter
The Transitional Form of the Role of Daughter
The Life Course of the Role of Daughter
The Dependent Daughter
The Adult Daughter of Aging Parents The Modern Form of the Role of Daughter
The Role of Daughter-in-Law
Sister
Grandmother Traditional Times, Traditional Places
Transitional and Modern Forms of the Role of Grandmother
The Social Psychology of Grandmothering
Summary
5. Occupation: Homemaker
Traditional Times, Traditional Places
The Transitional Form of the Role of Homemaker Stereotypes
The Life Course of the Role of Homemaker Becoming a Homemaker
The Expanding Circle
The Peak Stage
The Full-House Plateau
The Shrinking Circle
The Part-Time Homemaker
Homemaking and Household Composition
Sociopsychological Aspects of Role Involvement Sentiments and Self-Images
The Homemaker and Her Home
The Homemaker as a Link Between Home and Society
The Moderm Form of the Role of Homemaker
Summary
6. The Job: Settings and Circles
The Entrepreneurial or Self-Employed Woman
Working for Someone Else, The Role of Employee Sociopsychological Aspects of Role Involvement
Settings: Home-Based Work
The Beneficiary's Territory The Beneficiary's Home as the Setting
The Beneficiary's Job Setting
Organizational Settings Factories
Men's Prisons
Long Distance Trucks
Stores, Restaurants, and Airplanes
Offices
Clerical Workers
Managers and Professionals
Multiple Settings
Summary
7. Social Roles in the Rest of the World
Student An Example of the Effects of Schooling in Transitional Times
The Role of Student at Reentry
Friend Same-Gender and Cross-Gender Friendships
Couple Companionate Friendship
Neighbor The Transitional Form of the Role of Neighbor
The Modern Form of the Role of Neighbor
Roles in Communities Member of Voluntary Associations
Member in Reform or Revolutionary Movements
Summary
8. Life Spaces and Self-Concepts
Role Conflict Role Conflict within the Family Institution
Conflict between Family Roles and Those in Other Institutional Dimensions
Societal Solutions to Role Conflicts of Women
Role-Conflict Solutions by Women
The Complexity of Social Life Spaces
Sociopsychological Aspects of Social Life Spaces
