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International and Area Studies
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications
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Full-Text Articles in Regional Sociology
The Changes In Mainland Chinese Families During The Social Transition: A Critical Analysis, Anqi Xu, Yan Ruth Xia
The Changes In Mainland Chinese Families During The Social Transition: A Critical Analysis, Anqi Xu, Yan Ruth Xia
Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications
Modernization theory offers possible explanations for family changes related to advances in science and technology, and socio-economic development in industrial societies. Modernization impacts family structure, relationship, values and beliefs. Families become nuclear while people become mobile and the society becomes urban. Economic development provides employment opportunities outside the birthplace. Away from kinship network, a nuclear family is less influenced and controlled by elder members in the extended family in fulfilling its traditional roles and obligations (Parsons, 1943). The changes occur in all societies although they may vary in pace across societies (Goode, 1982). Modernization theory is criticized for valuing Western …