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{{SocPsy}}
  
{{SocPsy}}
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{{Close Relationships}}
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[[Image:Family Ouagadougou.jpg|thumb|A family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in [[1997]]]]
  
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A '''family''' consists of a domestic [[group (sociology)|group]] of people (or a number of domestic groups), typically affiliated by [[birth]] or [[marriage]], or by [[analogy|analogous]] or comparable [[Interpersonal relationship|relationships]] — including [[domestic partnership]], [[cohabitation]], [[adoption]], [[surname]] and (in some cases) [[ownership]] (as occurred in the Roman Empire).
 
   
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In many societies, family ties are only those recognized as such by [[family law|law]] or a similar [[normative]] system. Although many people (including social scientists) have understood familial relationships in terms of "blood", many [[cultural anthropology|anthropologists]] have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetics.
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'''Family''' denotes a group of [[people]] affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some [[cultural anthropology|anthropologists]] {{Who|date=November 2008}} have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through [[genetic distance]].
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It has been argued by many [[sociology|sociologists]],{{Who|date=November 2008}} [[anthropology|anthropologists]],{{Who|date=November 2008}} philosophers{{Who|date=November 2008}} and psychoanalysts{{Who|date=November 2008}} that the primary function of the family is to perpetuate society. {{Fact|date=December 2008}} Either socially, with the "social production of children",<ref>Deleuze-Guattari (1972). Part 2, ch. 3, p.80</ref> or biologically, or both. Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a '''family of orientation''': the family serves to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their [[enculturation]] and socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a '''family of procreation''' the goal of which is to produce and enculturate and socialize children.<ref>George Peter Murdoch ''Social Structure'' page 13</ref> However, producing children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a sexual division of labor, [[marriage]], and the resulting relationship between two people, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household. {{Fact|date=November 2008}}
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Article 16(3) of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] says: "The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State".
  
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==The family cross-culturally==
  
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According to [[sociology]] and [[anthropology]], the family has the primary function of reproducing — biologically, sociologically, or both - society. Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family functions as a ''[[family of orientation]]'': the family serves to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their [[enculturation]] and socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family serves as a ''[[family of procreation]]'' with the goal of producing, enculturating and socializing children.
 
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Producing children, however important, does not exhaust the functions of the family. In societies with a [[sexual division of labor]], [[marriage]] (and the resulting relationship between a husband and wife) must precede the formation of an economically productive [[household]]. In modern societies marriage entails particular rights and privileges that encourage the formation of new families even when participants have no intention of having children.
  
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===Types of family===
  
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The structure of families traditionally hinges on relations between parents and children, on relations between spouses, or on both. Anthropologists have called attention to three major types of family:
 
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# matrifocal
  
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# consanguineal
  
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# conjugal
  
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Note: this typology deals with "ideal" families. All societies tolerate some acceptable deviations from the ideal or statistical norm, owing either to incidental circumstances (such as the death of a member of the family), to infertility or to personal preferences.
 
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====Matrifocal families====
  
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A ''[[matrifocal]]'' family consists of a mother and her children — generally her biological offspring, although nearly every society also practises [[adoption]] of children. This kind of family commonly develops where women have the resources to rear their children by themselves, or where men have more mobility than women. Some indigenous South American and Melanesian societies are matrifocal.
 
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Among polygynous societies studied along the Orinoco river system in southern Venezuela, families are set up in two levels. The larger system consists of one man, one to five women, and their children. The smaller matrifocal family consists of each woman and her children. The children are reared by their mothers as they would in a simple matrifocal system, with most fathers not being closely involved.
  
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====Consanguineal families====
  
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A ''[[consanguineal family]]'' comes in various forms, but the most common subset consists of a mother and her children, and other people — usually the family of the mother. This kind of family commonly evolves where mothers do not have the resources to rear their children on their own, fathers are not often present, and especially where property changes ownership through [[inheritance]]. When men own important property, consanguineal families commonly consist of a husband and wife, their children, and other members of the husband's family.
 
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====Conjugal families====
  
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A ''[[conjugal family]]'' consists of one or more mothers and their children, and/or one or more fathers. This kind of family occurs commonly where a [[division of labor]] requires the participation of both men and women, and where families have relatively high mobility. A notable subset of this family type, the [[nuclear family]], has one woman with one husband, and they raise their children. This was formerly known as the "[[Eskimo system]]" in anthropology.
  
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== Family in the West ==
  
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The different types of families occur in a wide variety of settings, and their specific functions and meanings depend largely on their relationship to other social institutions. [[Sociology|Sociologists]] have an especial interest in the function and status of these forms in stratified (especially [[Capitalism|capitalist]]) societies.
  
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Non-scholars, especially in the United States and Europe, use the term "[[nuclear family]]" to refer to conjugal families. Sociologists distinguish between conjugal families (relatively independent of the kindreds of the parents and of other families in general) and nuclear families (which maintain relatively close ties with their kindreds).
  
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Non-scholars, especially in the United States and Europe, also use the term "[[extended family]]". This term has two distinct meanings. First, it serves as a synonym of "consanguinal family". Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it refers to '''[[kindred (disambiguation)|kindred]]''' (an egocentric network of relatives that extends beyond the domestic group) who do not belong to the conjugal family.
  
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These types refer to ideal or normative structures found in particular societies. Any society will exhibit some variation in the actual composition and conception of families. Much sociological, [[history|historical]] and [[cultural anthropology|anthropological]] research dedicates itself to the understanding of this variation, and of changes in the family form over time. Thus, some speak of the '''bourgeois family''', a family structure arising out of 16th-century and 17th-century European households, in which the family centers on a marriage between a man and woman, with strictly-defined gender-roles. The man typically has responsibility for income and support, the woman for home and family matters.
 
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In contemporary Europe and the United States, people in academic, political and civil sectors have called attention to single-father-headed households, and families headed by [[gay|same-sex]] couples, although academics point out that these forms exist in other societies.
  
   
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==The Family lifecycle==
  
   
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While accepting the wide variety of styles of family life there is a basic underlying rhythm to the challenges of family life over the life course which provide a context for the development of individual roles and for the activitiies of daily living.
  
   
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==Economic functions==
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{{Main|Family life cycle}}
  
   
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==Economic function of the family==
  
 
Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished in modern times, and in societies like the [[United States]] it has become much smaller — except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few [[upper class]] families. In [[China]] the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.
  
Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished in modern times, and in societies like the [[United States]] it has become much smaller — except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few [[upper class]] families. In [[China]] the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.
   
 
[[Image:US-hoosier-family.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Extended [[middle-class]] [[Midwest]]ern U.S. family of Danish/German extraction]]
  
[[Image:US-hoosier-family.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Extended [[middle-class]] [[Midwest]]ern U.S. family of Danish/German extraction]]
   
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==Political functions==
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==Families and other social institutions==
  
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On the other hand family structures or its internal relationships may affect both state and religious institutions. J.F. del Giorgio in ''[[The Oldest Europeans]]'' points out that the high status of women among the descendants of the post-glacial Paleolithic European population was coherent with the fierce love of freedom of pre-Indo-European tribes. He believes that the extraordinary respect for women in those families meant that children raised in such atmospheres tended to distrust strong, authoritarian leaders. According to del Giorgio, European democracies have their roots in those ancient ancestors.
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Wherever people agree that families seem fundamental to the ordered nature of [[society]], other [[social institution]]s such as the [[state]] and organised [[religion]] will make special provisions for families and will support (in word and/or in deed) the idea of the family. This can however lead to problems if conflicting loyalties arise. Thus the Biblical prescription: "every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life" (Matthew 19, 29). Totalitarian states also can develop ambiguous attitudes to families, which they may perceive as potentially interfering with the fostering of official ideology and practice. Different attitudes to [[divorce]] and to denunciation may develop in this light.
  
   
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==Families and Political Structure==
  
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On the other hand family structures or its internal relationships may affect both state and religious institutions. J.F. del Giorgio in ''[[The Oldest Europeans]]'' points that the high status of women among the descendants of the post-glacial Paleolithic European population was coherent with the fierce love of freedom of pre-Indo-European tribes. He believes that the extraordinary respect for women in those families made that children raised in such atmosphere tended to distrust strong, authoritarian leaders. According to del Giorgio, European democracies have their roots in those ancient ancestors.
  
   
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===Contemporary views of the family===
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==Kinship terminology==
  
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Contemporary society generally views family as a haven from the world, supplying absolute fulfillment. The family is considered to encourage "intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanizing forces in modern society from the rough and tumble industrialized world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving [[mother]], and protection from the world can be expected from the [[father]]. However, the idea of protection is declining as civil society faces less internal conflict combined with increased civil rights and protection from the state. To many, the ideal of personal or family fulfillment has replaced protection as the major role of the family. The family now supplies what is “vitally needed but missing from other social arrangements”.<ref>Ibid., Zinn and Eitzen(1987)</ref>
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{{Main|Kinship terminology}}
  
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Anthropologist [[Lewis H. Morgan|Louis Henry Morgan]] (1818–1881) performed the first survey of kinship terminologies in use around the world. Though much of his work is now considered [[dated]], he argued that [[kinship]] terminologies reflect different sets of distinctions. For example, most kinship terminologies distinguish between sexes (the difference between a brother and a sister) and between generations (the difference between a child and a parent). Moreover, he argued, kinship terminologies distinguish between relatives by blood and [[marriage]] (although recently some anthropologists have argued that many societies define kinship in terms other than "blood").
  
   
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[[Social conservative]]s often express concern over a purported decay of the family and see this as a sign of the crumbling of contemporary society. They feel that the family structures of the past were superior to those today and believe that families were more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. Others dispute this theory, claiming “there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical past”.<ref> Ibid., Zinn (1987)</ref>
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However, Morgan also observed that different languages (and thus, societies) organize these distinctions differently. He thus proposed to describe kin terms and terminologies as either descriptive or classificatory. "Descriptive" terms refer to only one type of relationship, while "classificatory" terms refer to many types of relationships. Most kinship terminologies include both descriptive and classificatory terms. For example, Western societies provide only one way to express relationship with one's [[brother]] (brother = parents' son); thus, in Western society, the word "brother" functions as a descriptive term. But many different ways exist to express relationship with one's male first-cousin (cousin = mother's brother's son, mother's sister's son, father's brother's son, father's sister's son, and so on); thus, in Western society, the word "cousin" operates as a classificatory term.
  
   
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The Family Equality Council<ref>[http://www.familyequality.org Family Equality Council]</ref> envisions a future where all families, regardless of creation or composition, will be able to live in communities that recognize, respect, protect, and celebrate them. The organization envisions a world that celebrates a diversity of family constellations and respects individuals for supporting one another and sustaining loving families.
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Morgan discovered that a descriptive term in one society can become a classificatory term in another society. For example, in some societies one would refer to many different people as "mother" (the woman who gave birth to oneself, as well as her sister and husband's sister, and also one's father's sister). Moreover, some societies do not lump together relatives that the West classifies together. For example, some languages have no one word equivalent to "cousin", because different terms refer to mother's sister's children and to father's sister's children.
  
   
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A study performed by scientists from Iceland found that mating with a relative can significantly increase the number of children in a family. A lot of societies consider inbreeding unacceptable. Scientists warn that inbreeding may raise the chances of a child getting two copies of disease-causing recessive genes and in such a way it may lead to genetic disorders and higher infant mortality.
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Armed with these different terms, Morgan identified six basic patterns of kinship terminologies:
  
   
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Scientists found that couples formed of relatives had more children and grandchildren than unrelated couples. The study revealed that when a husband and wife were third cousins, they had an average of 4.0 children and 9.2 grandchildren. If a woman was in relationship with her eight cousin, then the number of children declined, showing an average of 3,3 children and 7,3 grandchildren . <ref>[http://www.infoniac.com/science/related-couples-have-more-children.html Related Couples Have More Children]</ref>
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*[[Hawaiian kinship|Hawaiian]]: the most classificatory; only distinguishes between sex and generation.
  
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*[[Sudanese kinship|Sudanese]]: the most descriptive; no two relatives share the same term.
  
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*[[Eskimo kinship|Eskimo]]: has both classificatory and descriptive terms; in addition to sex and generation, also distinguishes between lineal relatives (those related directly by a line of descent) and collateral relatives (those related by blood, but not directly in the line of descent). Lineal relatives have highly descriptive terms, collateral relatives have highly classificatory terms.
  
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*[[Iroquois kinship|Iroquois]]: has both classificatory and descriptive terms; in addition to sex and generation, also distinguishes between siblings of opposite sexes in the parental generation. Siblings of the same sex class as blood relatives, but siblings of the opposite sex count as relatives by marriage. Thus, one calls one's mother's sister "mother", and one's father's brother "father"; however, one refers to one's mother's brother as "father-in-law", and to one's father's sister as "mother-in-law".
  
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*[[Crow kinship|Crow]]: like Iroquois, but further distinguishes between mother's side and father's side. Relatives on the mother's side of the family have more descriptive terms, and relatives on the father's side have more classificatory terms.
  
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*[[Omaha kinship|Omaha]]: like Iroquois, but further distinguishes between mother's side and father's side. Relatives on the mother's side of the family have more classificatory terms, and relatives on the father's side have more descriptive terms.
  
   
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==Size==
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===Western kinship===
  
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[[Natalism]] is the belief that [[human reproduction]] is the basis for individual existence, and therefore promotes having large families.
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{{seealso|Cousin chart}}
  
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[[Image:Relatives_Chart.jpg|thumb|right|The relationships and names of various family members in the English language.]]
  
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Most Western societies employ [[Eskimo kinship]] terminology. This kinship terminology commonly occurs in societies based on [[conjugal family|conjugal]] (or [[nuclear family|nuclear]]) families, where nuclear families have a degree of relatively mobility.
  
   
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Many religions, e.g., [[Judaism]]<ref>[http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/NipponDawn/torah.html Joys of A Large Family] by Rebbetzin Faige Twerski</ref>, encourage their followers to procreate and have many children.
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Members of the nuclear family use descriptive kinship terms:
  
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*'''[[Mother]]''': the female parent
  
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*'''[[Father]]''': the male parent
  
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*'''[[Son]]''': the males born of the mother; [[sire]]d by the father
  
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*'''[[Daughter]]''': the females born of the mother; sired by the father
  
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*'''[[Sibling|Brother]]''': a male born of the same mother; sired by the same father
  
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*'''[[Sibling|Sister]]''': a female born of the same mother; sired by the same father
  
   
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In recent times, there has been an increasing amount of [[family planning]] and a following decrease in [[total fertility rate]] in many parts of the world, in part due to concerns of [[overpopulation]].
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Such systems generally assume that the mother's husband has also served as the biological father. In some families, a woman may have children with more than one man or a man may have children with more than one woman. The system refers to a child who shares only one parent with another child as a "half-brother" or "half-sister". For children who do not share biological or adoptive parents in common, English-speakers use the term "step-brother" or "step-sister" to refer to their new relationship with each other when one of their biological parents marries one of the other child's biological parents.
  
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Any person (other than the biological parent of a child) who marries the parent of that child becomes the "step-parent" of the child, either the "stepmother" or "stepfather". The same terms generally apply to children adopted into a family as to children born into the family.
  
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Typically, societies with conjugal families also favor [[neolocal]] residence; thus upon marriage a person separates from the nuclear family of their childhood ([[family of origin]]) and forms a new nuclear family (family of procreation). This practice means that members of one's own nuclear family once functioned as members of another nuclear family, or may one day become members of another nuclear family.
  
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Members of the nuclear families of members of one's own (former) nuclear family may class as lineal or as collateral. Kin who regard them as lineal refer to them in terms that build on the terms used within the nuclear family:
  
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*[[Grandparent]]
  
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**'''Grandfather''': a parent's father
  
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**'''Grandmother''': a parent's mother
  
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*'''Grandson''': a child's son
  
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*'''Granddaughter''': a child's daughter
  
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For collateral relatives, more classificatory terms come into play, terms that do not build on the terms used within the nuclear family:
  
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*'''Uncle''': father's brother, father's sister's husband, mother's brother, mother's sister's husband
  
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*'''Aunt''': father's sister, father's brother's wife, mother's sister, mother's brother's wife
  
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*'''Nephew''': sister's son, brother's son
  
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*'''Niece''': sister's daughter, brother's daughter
  
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When additional generations intervene (in other words, when one's collateral relatives belong to the same generation as one's grandparents or grandchildren), the prefix "grand" modifies these terms. (Although in casual usage in the USA a "grand aunt" is often referred to as a "great aunt", for instance.) And as with grandparents and grandchildren, as more generations intervene the prefix becomes "great grand", adding an additional "great" for each additional generation.
  
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Most collateral relatives have never had membership of the nuclear family of the members of one's own nuclear family.
  
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*'''Cousin''': the most classificatory term; the children of aunts or uncles. One can further distinguish cousins by degrees of collaterality and by generation. Two persons of the same generation who share a grandparent count as "first cousins" (one degree of collaterality); if they share a great-grandparent they count as "second cousins" (two degrees of collaterality) and so on. If two persons share an ancestor, one as a grandchild and the other as a great-grandchild of that individual, then the two descendants class as "first cousins once removed" (removed by one generation); if the shared ancestor figures as the grandparent of one individual and the great-great-grandparent of the other, the individuals class as "first cousins twice removed" (removed by two generations), and so on. Similarly, if the shared ancestor figures as the great-grandparent of one person and the great-great-grandparent of the other, the individuals class as "second cousins once removed". Hence the phrase "third cousin once removed upwards".
  
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Distant cousins of an older generation (in other words, one's parents' first cousins), though technically first cousins once removed, often get classified with "aunts" and "uncles".
  
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Similarly, a person may refer to close friends of one's parents as "aunt" or "uncle", or may refer to close friends as "brother" or "sister", using the practice of '''[[fictive kinship]]'''.
  
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English-speakers mark relationships by marriage (except for wife/husband) with the tag "-in-law". The mother and father of one's spouse become one's mother-in-law and father-in-law; the female spouse of one's child becomes one's daughter-in-law and the male spouse of one's child becomes one's son-in-law. The term "sister-in-law" refers to three essentially different relationships, either the wife of one's brother, or the sister of one's spouse, or the wife of one's spouse's sibling. "Brother-in-law" expresses a similar ambiguity. No special terms exist for the rest of one's spouse's family.
  
   
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Many countries with [[population decline]] offer incentives for people to have large families as a means of [[Population_decline#National_efforts_to_reverse_declining_populations|national efforts to reverse declining populations]].
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The terms "half-brother" and "half-sister" indicate siblings who one share only one biological or adoptive parent.
  
   
 
==See also==
  
==See also==
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*[[Adoption]]
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[[Image:Expecting family.jpg|thumb|A small family expecting another child.]]
  
 
*[[Child]]
  
*[[Child]]
 
**[[Illegitimacy]]
  
**[[Illegitimacy]]
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*[[Cinderella effect]]
 
*[[Clan]]
  
*[[Clan]]
 
*[[Consanguinity]]
  
*[[Consanguinity]]
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*[[Domestic violence]]
  
*[[Domestic violence]]
 
*Family
  
*Family
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**[[Polygamy]]
 
**[[Complex family]]
  
**[[Complex family]]
 
**[[Dysfunctional family]]
  
**[[Dysfunctional family]]
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**[[Family Therapy]]
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**[[Elderly care]]
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*[[Family economics]]
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**[[Family history]]
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**[[Family life in literature]]
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**[[Family as a model for the state]]
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**[[Family law]]
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**[[Family name]]
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**[[Family therapy]]
 
**[[Grandfamilies|Grandfamily]]
  
**[[Grandfamilies|Grandfamily]]
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**[[Family history]]
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**[[Grandparent]]
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**[[Mother]]
 
**[[Parenting]]
  
**[[Parenting]]
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*[[Family environment scale]]
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**[[Mother]]
  
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**[[Grandparent]]
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*[[Family tree]]
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*[[Genealogy]]
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**[[Genealogy]]
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**[[Genogram]]
 
**[[Ancestor]]
  
**[[Ancestor]]
 
**[[Kinship terminology]]
  
**[[Kinship terminology]]
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*[[Familycentrics]]
  
*[[Familycentrics]]
 
*[[Hindu joint family]]
  
*[[Hindu joint family]]
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*[[Survivalism]]
   
 
==References==
  
==References==
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{{reflist|2}}
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<references />
  
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{{Refbegin}}
  +
;Notes
 
* ''American Kinship'', [[David M. Schneider]]
  
* ''American Kinship'', [[David M. Schneider]]
 
* ''A Natural History of Families'', Scott Forbes, Princeton University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-691-09482-9
  
* ''A Natural History of Families'', Scott Forbes, Princeton University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-691-09482-9
  +
* Foucault, Michel (1978). ''The History of Sexuality: Volume I: An Introduction''. New York Vintage Books. ISBN-13: 978-0679724698
 
* ''More Than Kin and Less Than Kind'', Douglas W. Mock, Belknap Press, 2004, ISBN 0-674-01285-2
  
* ''More Than Kin and Less Than Kind'', Douglas W. Mock, Belknap Press, 2004, ISBN 0-674-01285-2
  +
*Denis Chevallier, « Famille et parenté : une bibliographie », Terrain, Numéro 4 - Famille et parenté (mars 1985) , [En ligne], mis en ligne le 17 juillet 2005. URL : http://terrain.revues.org/document2874.html. Consulté le 15 juin 2007. {{fr icon}}
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*Bengtson, V.L. and Troll, L.E. (1978) Youth and their parents: feedback and intergeneration. In: R.M. Lerner and G.B. Spinier (eds) Child Influences on Marital and Family Interaction: a Life Span Perspective, New York: Academic Press.
  
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*[[Jack Goody]] (1983) ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LVkYFGqylfQC The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe]'' (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press); translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese. review: {{cite web |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0304-2421%28198505%2914%3A3%3C371%3ANWOTHO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage |title=JSTOR: Theory and Society: Vol. 14, No. 3 (May, 1985), pp. 371-379 |accessdate=2007-07-10 |format= |work=}}
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*Duvall, E.M. (1971) Family Development, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.
  
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* Family & Society. Islamonline.net [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Zone-English-Family/FYEZone]
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*Frommer, E. and O'Shea, G. (1973) The importance of childhood experience in relation to problems of marriage and family-building, British Journal of Psychiatry 123: 157-60.
  
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*[[Jacques Lacan]] [1938] (2001) ''Les complexes familiaux dans la formation de l’individu'' ( the familial complexes in the formation of the individual ) ''Essai d’analyse d’une fonction en psychologie'', published in ''[[Autres écrits]]'', Editions du Seuil, 2001, pp. 23-84. First appeared in volume VIII of the ''[[Encyclopédie française]] as the entry article for "The Family". [http://www.revue-interrogations.org/article.php?article=70]
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*Parke, R.D. and Sawin, D.B. (1980) The family in early infancy: social interactional and attitudinal analyses. In: F.A. Pederson (ed.) The Father-Infant Relationship: Observational Studies in a Family Context, New York: Praeger.
  
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*[[Fugier Pascal]] ''[http://www.revue-interrogations.org/article.php?article=70 Note de lecture on Lacan]'' ¿ Interrogations ? - Revue pluridisciplinaire en sciences de l’homme et de la société. Numéro 4. Formes et figures de la précarité. Juin 2007.
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*Pedersen, F.A., Cain, R. and Zaslow, M. (1982) Variation in infant experience associated with alternative family roles. In: L. Laosa and I. Sigel (eds) The Family as a Learning Environment, New York: Plenum Press.
  
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*[[Gilles Deleuze]], [[Félix Guattari]] ''[[Capitalism and Schizophrenia]]'', consisting of the two volumes ''[[Anti-Œdipus]]'' (1972), and ''[[A Thousand Plateaus]]'' (1980). See in particular ''Anti-Œdipus'', Part 2, ch 7, pp. 123-33.
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*Power, M.J., Ash, P., Schoenberg, E. and Sorey, E.C. (1974) Delinquency and the family, British Journal of Social Work 4: 13-38
  
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{{Refend}}
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*Swenson, C.H., Eskew, R.W. and Kolheff, K.A. (1981)Stages of family life cycle, ego development and the
  
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marriage relationship, Journal of Marriage and the Family 43: 841-53.
  
   
 
==External links==
  
==External links==
−
* [http://www.fircle.com Fircle.com] Family Organization
  
−
* [http://www.family-health-information.com/ Family health]- Get health information for whole family.
  
−
* [http://wikitree.org WikiTree.org] - freely-edited family tree of all human beings.
  
−
* [http://www.familysearch.org/ FamilySearch] - Resource for finding ancestors of your family (genealogy)
  
−
* ''Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences'': http://bitbucket.icaap.org/
  
−
* ''Cousins'': http://www.tedpack.org/cousins.html
  
−
* [http://www.islamimatrimonials.com/muslim_matrimonials_family.htm Muslim Matrimonial] and Muslim Family
  
−
* ''Grandparent Connection'': http://www.thegrandparentconnection.org
  
−
* ''The Good Enough Family'': http://samvak.tripod.com/family.html
  
−
* ''Cousin marriages'': http://www.cousincouples.com/
  
−
* ''Family Court'': http://www.stephenbaskerville.net/
  
 
* [http://www.unh.edu/frl/ Family Research Laboratory]
  
* [http://www.unh.edu/frl/ Family Research Laboratory]
  +
* Family evolution and contemporary social transformations[http://seres.fcs.ucr.ac.cr/index_archivos/Version%20inglesa%20Historical%20CharacterRev.pdf] (A page of [http://seres.fcs.ucr.ac.cr Estación de Economía Política)]
 
* [http://www.familyfacts.org Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion] (a Heritage Foundation site)
  
* [http://www.familyfacts.org Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion] (a Heritage Foundation site)
−
* [http://www.familyfocus.org.au Family Focus Australia] Website of [[Family Focus Australia]]
 +
* [http://www.oneplusone.org.uk/ One Plus One]
  +
* [http://www.familiesaustralia.org.au/ Families Australia] - independent peak not-for-profit organisation
  +
* [http://www.unitedfamilies.org United Families International] International organisation
  +
* [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family UN - Families and Development]
 
* ''Wiktionary entries for Western kinship terminology providing multilingual translations''
  
* ''Wiktionary entries for Western kinship terminology providing multilingual translations''
 
** [[Wiktionary:mother|mother]], [[Wiktionary:father|father]], [[Wiktionary:son|son]], [[Wiktionary:daughter|daughter]], [[Wiktionary:brother|brother]], [[Wiktionary:sister|sister]]
  
** [[Wiktionary:mother|mother]], [[Wiktionary:father|father]], [[Wiktionary:son|son]], [[Wiktionary:daughter|daughter]], [[Wiktionary:brother|brother]], [[Wiktionary:sister|sister]]
Line 187: Line 113:
 
** [[Wiktionary:uncle|uncle]] [[Wiktionary:aunt|aunt]] [[Wiktionary:nephew|nephew]] [[Wiktionary:niece|niece]]
  
** [[Wiktionary:uncle|uncle]] [[Wiktionary:aunt|aunt]] [[Wiktionary:nephew|nephew]] [[Wiktionary:niece|niece]]
 
** [[Wiktionary:cousin|cousin]]
  
** [[Wiktionary:cousin|cousin]]
  +
*[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20001109_de-facto-unions_en.html Family, marriage and "de facto" unions - vatican.va]
−
* [http://www.texasfamilyonline.com Magazine on Family and Parenting]
  
  +
  +
{{Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights}}
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{{Particular human rights}}
   
 
[[Category:Family| ]]
  
[[Category:Family| ]]
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[[Category:Family therapy]]
   
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<!--
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[[als:Familie (Verwandtschaft)]]
 
[[ar:أسرة]]
  
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[[bg:Семейство]]
  
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[[az:Ailə]]
 
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[[bm:Somɔgɔw]]
 
[[bn:পরিবার]]
  
[[bn:পরিবার]]
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[[br:Familh]]
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[[be-x-old:Сям'я]]
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[[bs:Porodica]]
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[[bg:Семейство]]
 
[[ca:Família]]
  
[[ca:Família]]
 
[[cs:Rodina]]
  
[[cs:Rodina]]
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[[cy:Teulu]]
 
[[da:Familie (menneske)]]
  
[[da:Familie (menneske)]]
 
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[[fa:خویشاوندی]]
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[[fr:Famille]]
 
[[fur:Famee]]
  
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[[ko:가족]]
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[[hr:Obitelj]]
 
[[io:Familio]]
  
[[io:Familio]]
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[[id:Keluarga]]
 
[[is:Fjölskylda]]
  
[[is:Fjölskylda]]
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[[it:Famiglia (società)]]
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[[it:Famiglia]]
 
[[he:משפחה]]
  
[[he:משפחה]]
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[[rw:Miryango]]
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[[lt:Šeima (sociologija)]]
  
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[[lo:ຄອບຄົວ]]
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[[la:Familia]]
 
[[lb:Famill]]
  
[[lb:Famill]]
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[[lt:Šeima (sociologija)]]
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[[hu:Család]]
  
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[[jbo:lanzu]]
  ⚫
[[hu:Család (szociológia)]]
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[[mk:Семејство]]
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[[mr:कुटुंब]]
 
[[ms:Keluarga]]
  
[[ms:Keluarga]]
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[[mn:Гэр бүл]]
 
[[nl:Familie (verwanten)]]
  
[[nl:Familie (verwanten)]]
  +
[[nds-nl:Femilie (verwanten)]]
 
[[ja:家族]]
  
[[ja:家族]]
 
[[no:Familie]]
  
[[no:Familie]]
 
[[nn:Familie]]
  
[[nn:Familie]]
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[[nrm:Famîle]]
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[[oc:Familha (parentala)]]
 
[[pl:Rodzina (socjologia)]]
  
[[pl:Rodzina (socjologia)]]
 
[[pt:Família]]
  
[[pt:Família]]
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[[ro:Familie (societate)]]
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[[qu:Ayllu]]
 
[[ru:Семья]]
  
[[ru:Семья]]
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[[sah:Ыал]]
 
[[sco:Faimlie]]
  
[[sco:Faimlie]]
−
[[sq:Familja (shoqëri)]]
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[[sq:Familja]]
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[[scn:Famigghia]]
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[[si:පවුල]]
 
[[simple:Family]]
  
[[simple:Family]]
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[[ss:Umndeni]]
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[[sk:Rodina]]
 
[[sl:Družina]]
  
[[sl:Družina]]
−
[[sv:Familj (släkt)]]
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[[sr:Породица]]
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[[sh:Porodica]]
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[[fi:Perhe]]
  +
[[sv:Familj]]
 
[[tl:Pamilya]]
  
[[tl:Pamilya]]
  +
[[ta:குடும்பம்]]
  +
[[te:కుటుంబము]]
  +
[[th:ครอบครัว]]
 
[[vi:Gia đình]]
  
[[vi:Gia đình]]
  +
[[tr:Aile]]
 
[[uk:Сім'я]]
  
[[uk:Сім'я]]
  +
[[ur:خاندان]]
 
[[yi:פאמיליע]]
  
[[yi:פאמיליע]]
−
[[zh:家庭]]
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[[bat-smg:Šeimīna]]
  +
[[zh:家族]]
  +
-->
  ⚫
{{enWP|Family}}

Revision as of 01:08, 10 February 2009

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Affinity
Asexuality
Attachment
Bisexuality
Bride price
Brideservice
Bonding
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Dowry
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Family denotes a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some anthropologists [attribution needed] have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.

It has been argued by many sociologists,[attribution needed] anthropologists,[attribution needed] philosophers[attribution needed] and psychoanalysts[attribution needed] that the primary function of the family is to perpetuate society. [How to reference and link to summary or text] Either socially, with the "social production of children",[1] or biologically, or both. Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation: the family serves to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their enculturation and socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a family of procreation the goal of which is to produce and enculturate and socialize children.[2] However, producing children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a sexual division of labor, marriage, and the resulting relationship between two people, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household. [How to reference and link to summary or text]


Economic functions

Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished in modern times, and in societies like the United States it has become much smaller — except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few upper class families. In China the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.

US-hoosier-family

Extended middle-class Midwestern U.S. family of Danish/German extraction

Political functions

On the other hand family structures or its internal relationships may affect both state and religious institutions. J.F. del Giorgio in The Oldest Europeans points out that the high status of women among the descendants of the post-glacial Paleolithic European population was coherent with the fierce love of freedom of pre-Indo-European tribes. He believes that the extraordinary respect for women in those families meant that children raised in such atmospheres tended to distrust strong, authoritarian leaders. According to del Giorgio, European democracies have their roots in those ancient ancestors.


Contemporary views of the family

Contemporary society generally views family as a haven from the world, supplying absolute fulfillment. The family is considered to encourage "intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanizing forces in modern society from the rough and tumble industrialized world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving mother, and protection from the world can be expected from the father. However, the idea of protection is declining as civil society faces less internal conflict combined with increased civil rights and protection from the state. To many, the ideal of personal or family fulfillment has replaced protection as the major role of the family. The family now supplies what is “vitally needed but missing from other social arrangements”.[3]

Social conservatives often express concern over a purported decay of the family and see this as a sign of the crumbling of contemporary society. They feel that the family structures of the past were superior to those today and believe that families were more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. Others dispute this theory, claiming “there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical past”.[4]

The Family Equality Council[5] envisions a future where all families, regardless of creation or composition, will be able to live in communities that recognize, respect, protect, and celebrate them. The organization envisions a world that celebrates a diversity of family constellations and respects individuals for supporting one another and sustaining loving families.

A study performed by scientists from Iceland found that mating with a relative can significantly increase the number of children in a family. A lot of societies consider inbreeding unacceptable. Scientists warn that inbreeding may raise the chances of a child getting two copies of disease-causing recessive genes and in such a way it may lead to genetic disorders and higher infant mortality.

Scientists found that couples formed of relatives had more children and grandchildren than unrelated couples. The study revealed that when a husband and wife were third cousins, they had an average of 4.0 children and 9.2 grandchildren. If a woman was in relationship with her eight cousin, then the number of children declined, showing an average of 3,3 children and 7,3 grandchildren . [6]

Size

Natalism is the belief that human reproduction is the basis for individual existence, and therefore promotes having large families.

Many religions, e.g., Judaism[7], encourage their followers to procreate and have many children.

In recent times, there has been an increasing amount of family planning and a following decrease in total fertility rate in many parts of the world, in part due to concerns of overpopulation.

Many countries with population decline offer incentives for people to have large families as a means of national efforts to reverse declining populations.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Deleuze-Guattari (1972). Part 2, ch. 3, p.80
  2. ↑ George Peter Murdoch Social Structure page 13
  3. ↑ Ibid., Zinn and Eitzen(1987)
  4. ↑ Ibid., Zinn (1987)
  5. ↑ Family Equality Council
  6. ↑ Related Couples Have More Children
  7. ↑ Joys of A Large Family by Rebbetzin Faige Twerski
Notes
  • American Kinship, David M. Schneider
  • A Natural History of Families, Scott Forbes, Princeton University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-691-09482-9
  • Foucault, Michel (1978). The History of Sexuality: Volume I: An Introduction. New York Vintage Books. ISBN-13: 978-0679724698
  • More Than Kin and Less Than Kind, Douglas W. Mock, Belknap Press, 2004, ISBN 0-674-01285-2
  • Denis Chevallier, « Famille et parenté : une bibliographie », Terrain, Numéro 4 - Famille et parenté (mars 1985) , [En ligne], mis en ligne le 17 juillet 2005. URL : http://terrain.revues.org/document2874.html. Consulté le 15 juin 2007. (French)


External links

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