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The Family

The Family. Chapter 12. Introduction. The most universal social institution is the family- every society organizes its members into families. What constitutes a family varies widely from culture to culture.

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The Family

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  1. The Family Chapter 12

  2. Introduction • The most universal social institution is the family- every society organizes its members into families. • What constitutes a family varies widely from culture to culture. • Families throughout the world follow similar organizational patterns and fulfill common functions.

  3. Family Systems • A family is a group of people who are related by marriage, blood, or adoption and who often live together and share economic resources. • A nuclear family consists of one or both parents and their children. • The nuclear family is the family form most recognizable to Americans,

  4. Family Systems • An individual’s family of orientation is the nuclear family into which the person is born or adopted. • This family is composed of the individual and his or her siblings- brothers and sisters- and parents.

  5. Family Systems • When an individual marries, a new nuclear family is formed. • The new nuclear family is now a family of procreation- consisting of the individual, his or her spouse, and their children.

  6. Family Systems • In many societies the nuclear family is embedded in a larger family group. • Sociologists refer to this family unit as the extended family. • An extended family consists of two or more generations (grandparents, parents, and children) who may live in the same house, a cluster of homes, or separate homes.

  7. Family Systems • Nuclear families and extended families are often part of a much larger kinship system. • Kinship refers to a network of people who are related by marriage, birth, or adoption. • Kinship systems can be quite large (in some kinship systems there are close to 200 possible categories of relatives).

  8. Family Systems • Kinship categories can be organized into 3 broad groupings- • Primary- Mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, daughter, and son. • Secondary- The primary relatives of an individual’s primary relatives. Grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces. • Tertiary- Primary relatives or an individual’s secondary relatives. Great-grandparents, great-grandchildren, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins.

  9. Marriage and Kinship Patterns • Some form of family organization exists in all societies. • However, the exact nature of the family varies from society to society and even within societies. • Family organization is determined by how a society or group within a society answers four questions • How many marriage partners may a person have? • Who will live with whom? • How will family membership be determined? • Who will make the decisions in the family?

  10. Marriage and Kinship Patterns • Before we get into the 4 questions, let’s define what we mean by marriage. • Sociologists use the term to refer not to the married couple but to the set of norms that establishes and characterizes the relationship between married individuals.

  11. Marriage Partners • No universal norm limits the number of marriage partners an individual may have. • In most industrialized nations, however, an individual is allowed to be married to only one person at a time.

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