redemptioner:A person who agreed to a period of servitude in return for passage to the New
World; a redemptioner might also serve on behalf of a child.
relativism:The belief that ethical truths depend on—are relative to—those who hold them.
Thus, premarital sex is seen to be acceptable under the“right”conditions.
role stage of SVR theory:Share activities to build relationship.
role strain:A clear idea of one’s role but neither the time nor the energy to fulfill it to ones
expectation.
role theory:Suggests experiencing ambiguity and/or conflict within a role has undesirable
effects on an individual.
romantic stepfamily:Strives for the same goals as neotraditional families—except they want
to achieve everythingimmediately. This stepfamily type has the highest degree of conflict
and highest failure rate.
salad bowl:A metaphor used to describe a nation in which the various cultures retain their
identities as they mix with one another to form a larger society.
sandwich generation:A period of time when adults become responsible for the well-being of
their aging parents at the same time they are still raising their own children.
scale:Used to measure the strength of responses, often using a numerical value of 1 to 5.
second shift:Arlie Hochschild’s term for the work women do at home when they return
home from their jobs.
self-centered love:Fromm’s idea of love, which is conditional on obedience.
selfless love:Fromm’s idea of unconditional love.
serial marriage:A series of multiple marriages which take place after the death of a spouse or
divorce.
serial monogamy:A series of sometimes long-term monogamous relationships which may
or may not include marriage,
sexual double standard:Premarital sex is OK for men but not for women.
simplified divorce:Uncontested, no-fault divorce; no disagreements on the settlement.
single-parent family:A family consisting of one parent and children formed after divorce,
death of a spouse, breakup of cohabiting couple, or single person with a child.
situational conflict:Stems from circumstances other than personality flaws, although certain
situations may exacerbate a personality flaw.
sponge stage of parenting:From birth to age 2 in which the new parent attaches to the child
and identifies as a parent.
Glossary