The Extended Definition of Family

Karen was abandoned by her mother at birth, and was fortunately adopted by a loving stranger named Mary. At age 3, Karen accidentally found out who and where her biological mother was. When asked about who her real mother was, Karen answered that Mary, the caregiver who brought her up, was undoubtedly her real mother and real family. Karen was unwilling to recognize her biological mother who cruelly abandoned her, as her real mother and real family. The traditional concept of family is the “standard family”, meaning both nuclear and biological. The “nuclear family” is the basic family structure of father, mother and children; while the “biological family” denotes family members being related by blood. Due to the frequent breakdown of either nuclear or biological families in the modern world, we need to redefine the word “family” to include a more extended meaning. Karen’s story, explicitly demonstrates the importance of one’s sense of love and belongings, a basic human need, over the traditional nuclear and biological implications in the definition of “family”. . The family psychological dynamic, therefore, can function in groups that are neither blood-bonded nor nuclear-structured. The word “family” carries the emotional connotations of such a sense of love and belonging, care, warmth, affection, mutual support and loyalty; such characteristics are found among close friends, members of the same religion and members of criminal gangs. Close friendships demonstrate how the family psychological dynamic can be created between people whose relationships are neither biological nor nuclear, that is, the untraditional family unit. Nowadays, many people have much closer relationships with their friends than with their relations by blood. The family dynamic has changed within the last twenty years because people are becoming more self-centered, so they are less dedicated