Topic-specific research questions and frameworks

¶ … Sociology and the family [...] specific topic question regarding a family with a gay son. The sociological issues facing the family are many and varied, just as the sociological issues of modern families are varied and always changing. The family faces social issues such as condemnation from the religious and political communities, possible sanctions from the school district after complaints from parents, issues with the younger children from schoolmates and teachers, and many other issues related to the community and support. There are also issues facing the son and his ability to practice medicine with his disease.

First, to fully understand the sociological implications of this problem, one must define the family unit. One early sociologist defines the family this way, "[T]hose relations between human beings which involve: (a) biological reproduction and kinship, (b) the personal and the mass relations between the two sexes, - the living of persons together in a common domicile" (Folsom, 1934, p. 3). Thus, the politician, his wife, and their three children do indeed form a normal or "nuclear" family unit, and they face all the societal and social problems that any family can face, as well. The issues this family must deal with are difficult, and how they deal with them can affect their social and professional standing in the community. However, the modern family cannot be construed as entirely "normal" in a time of diversity, change, and individual experience within each family is as normal as the clearly define family unit of the 1930s. In postmodern society, normal, nuclear families are changing. There are more single parents, more divorces, and more same sex families that add diversity to the model. Most sociologists acknowledge nothing is as constant as change, and that includes all aspects of society, including the family. This family may be representative of their own location and conservative moral values, but they do not represent many modern nuclear families at all.

This family does seem to meet the model of the modern postindustrial family in sociological terms. The father is successful and powerful, the mother has a career, and they have three children. However, one child is HIV positive and gay - studying to be a doctor. This child's sexual preference might not mean much in many families, but in this conservative-based family, it could be the factor to break down this particular family unit, especially if the adults do not agree on how to deal with and acknowledge the situation. This may related to the social breakdown thesis, which maintains that traditional social structures, such as the "normal" family, are breaking down in today's society due to a variety of sociological factors, including class and religion, which are breaking down as well (Eatwell, 2003). Another sociologist writes, "The erosion of class boundaries and community cultures has been experienced by every generation since industrialization and population growth took off in seventeenth or eighteenth century Europe" (Noble, 1998). This family could very easily illustrate that sociological principle at work.

While the adults must grapple with many social issues, ultimately, those most affected may be the two younger children. Why? Because they represent a generation of change in the family. Growing up with (and loving) a gay sibling may give them more open and welcoming ideas, and may help them establish a very different type of nuclear family. If they accept their brother's lifestyle, they may form different ideas about what makes up a successful and acceptable nuclear family. They are the agents for social change that alter with each generation. When the parents explain the problem to their children, they may give them the opportunity to see things differently and more openly, and that can give them many social opportunities in the future. They may be able to create new sociological norms that are more accepting and open to alternate lifestyles and beliefs.

Another important impact could be on the politician's wife, who is a teacher. Because she affects the lives of the youth of the state, some parents might object to her son's lifestyle choice, especially if the parents make it public and support their son. As another sociologist notes, education is an important aspect of the sociological fabric of a community. He writes, "Education takes place within the context of society; thus, it is directly and intimately affected by the social structure; by class, racial, and ethnic patterns; by the intersecting institutions of family and community; and by the age and gender groups of both students and teachers" (Dentler, 2002, p. 122). Her family background could create problems with her career, especially in a conservation Southern state, and it could even create enough unrest that she had to leave her position. While many people would probably be accepting of her position and her support of her son, there are other conservatives who feel homosexuality goes against family values and the community, and they could protest enough to overcome the apathy of those who are not as concerned.

The family may be impacted in other ways as well, because their gay son has placed them in the position of non-conformity to the standards of the society they live in. People conform to the social rules of the society around them, and in this conservative society, gay children are not the norm, nor are they judged acceptable by many. The father may face reelection woes, or lose the backing of his political party. The children might find themselves ostracized on the playground and even in the classroom. The gay son may find he is no longer accepted in medical school. These may be the reactions of a conservative society to members who no longer conform to their moral and social agenda.

Larger social issues are also at work on this family. Perhaps the largest is the moral issue of the gay son working in the medical field. If he is infected with HIV, he could, in theory at least, infect his patients with the virus if he somehow injured himself and mixed his blood with patients' blood. While the chance of this might be remote, the moral and societal obligations are clear. First, he would have to acknowledge his disease publicly, and observe the reaction of the medical community. As a member of a minority, he might find acceptance in the community, or he might not. He might find acceptance in his own peer group, but experience a lack of acceptance in the peer groups of his parents or conservative religious members.

The other family members will face many of these issues as well. Some may find acceptance with their peer groups, but non-acceptance from work groups or even friend groups. The father must grapple with the decision to go public with the news, or to attempt to keep it quiet. Each decision involves the other family members and judges public reaction to the family matter. As a smart politician, he would be wise to go public with the information, as keeping it secret could only harm him and his family in the end. The perfect example of this is Vice President Dick Chaney, who publicly acknowledges he has a lesbian daughter in a committed relationship (they are expecting a child); in an administration that does not condone gay marriage. It is a difficult position, but being honest about it helps show support from the family and ultimately supports the nuclear family unit, and non-traditional family units as well, which are a growing part of postmodern society.