What is a Family? A family is generally defined as a structured social group consisting of one or two parents, and their children, where the members are usually related through marriage, blood or adoption. There are several types of family structures recognised by sociologists. The most common types of families are nuclear, extended, reconstituted and single parent. Nuclear families consist of both adult male and female with mutually conceived dependants and is always made up of two generations.
In sociological terms, the traditional definition of a ‘Family’ is; a fundamental social group in society typically consisting of two married parents and their children. Although in modern times, there are many accepted variations of families and social groups within the household. I shall be focusing on two traditional families well-known within society: the currently reigning, British royal family and the Simpson’s; a televised, fictional cartoon family. By means of comparison, I will analyse both family groups through a sociologist’s perspective and evaluate my findings accordingly. The British royals are a government-funded extended family.
Chapter 1 Questions 1. Differentiate between nuclear family and extended family. The difference between a nuclear family and an extended family is the family unit. The extended family consists of parents, children and other members of the family such as grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. The nuclear family consists of a mother, father and at least one child.
George Murdock shows the view that the nuclear family is universal. Felicity Edholm disagrees with this statement. In this essay I will discuss both sides of this argument and come to a conclusion. In 1949, George Murdock conducted a study titled, ‘Social Structure’, and in this he studied 250 societies and decided that they all showed characteristics from the nuclear family, even though they widely varied. Murdock believes the family is a social group of people including a socially acceptable sexual relationship and children.
Grace Nguyen Professor Smithson English 250 13 February 2010 The Nuclear Family: What America Needs A traditional American family, consisting of a stable and loving environment with a married mother and father, is something that should be desired by all Americans; at least that is what former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum expresses in his book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good. Santorum served as a US Senator representing Pennsylvania from 1995- 2007 and is a known throughout America as a conservative spokesman regarding family issues. In the excerpt from his book he addresses many topics, such as: the correct environment for child rearing, same-sex marriages, divorce, and American tolerance to cohabitation before marriage. The family is the first point that Santorum covers.
So it seems the nuclear family is not so universal – but it is true that it exists in majority in most developed countries. His second function of the family is reproduction, where the nuclear family unit is the best form for reproduction of future productions. This is because the husband can support his wife and their baby. Before the days of women in work, it was crucial to have a working husband to assure a stable household for the children to brought up in. But now it seems that many women are choosing to have a job instead of rearing children.
When one hears the word family, a nuclear family comes in mind. While this may be one of the most common families, it is not the only one. Others such as extended families, Single-parent households, Polygamy, Cohabitation and same-sex couples are also a part of modern society. According to Murdock, the family is universal ; some sort of family exists in every society. He defined the family as follows : “The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction.
A tolerant society has opened the defining umbrella of today's nuclear family to include people of alternate life style choices. Divorced couples, single parents, inter-racial couples, and same-sex partners are all included in today's nuclear family. Life style choices that only a few years ago would have been considered shameful or even perverted, today are sometimes considered better than the normal "sit-com family." Paula Fomby, who grew up in a gay home, writes: "I'm lucky to have been raised by people I genuinely like, and being a woman raised by women….It is time for society to expand the definition of family"(132). What is meant by the "breakdown of the family" is, then, change, which sometimes may be for the better.
Defining Polygyny: Debates on Kinship and Marriage Abstract How does the practice of polygyny (a form of polygamy) question the idea of marriage and kinship in today’s highly monogamous world? Based on research of published literature and a comparison of polygyny in Utah and Indonesia, this paper concludes that polygamous marriages could possibly be the next frontier to a socially accepted form of marriage system in mainstream societies. Introduction Growing up in a monogamous society I assumed that there is only one way to have a family structure which is a heterosexual monogamous marriage as the core of kinship, leading to affinal and consanguineal kins. This is how most people I have known define marriage and kinship as well. Anthropological studies of kinship present alternative kinship structures thereby questioning mainstream notions of marriage and family.
The families formed by cohabiting couples, families headed by lone parents or by gay or lesbian couples are at a second best. To some, these types represent a disintegration of traditional family values. The ideology of the nuclear family is a couple that are male and female and they are married for the first time. It creates the impression that the nuclear family is the