Family Is One of the Easiest Concepts in Sociology to Define.
Sociologists do not agree on i standard definition of 'the family unit'.
Functionalist sociologists traditionally used narrow definitions of the family, in which the family unit unit of measurement had to consist of a man and a woman in a committed sexual relationship living together with their children.
More contemporary Postmodern sociologists adopt much broader definitions of the family which extend the concept to include anyone an individual thinks of as being 'office of the family', such equally friends or even pets.
There is no 'correct' or 'wrong' definition of the family, but y'all do demand to know how sociologists define the family to really understand their perspective on the family, and to be able to evaluate the unlike perspectives.
The rest of this introductory post explores how the concept of 'the family' has been used by different sociologists, and aims to go you lot thinking nearly what the family is.
It has been written equally an introduction the Families and Households module for A-level sociology, AQA focus.
The Functionalist definition of the family
Functionalist Sociologist George Peter Murdock used the post-obit definition of the family as a starting point in his classic cross national study of families in more than than 250 societies.
'A social grouping characterised by mutual residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least 2 of whom maintain a socially canonical sexual relationship, and ane or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults' (Murdock, 1949).
Today, many Sociologists criticise the above definition of the family every bit being too narrow because (both today and historically) as well many groups of people who regard themselves every bit a family would not be included in the above definition, such as reconstituted or step-families and same sexual activity families.
For example, The Oxford English language Dictionary defines 'the family unit' equally 'a group consisting of i or two parents and their children'. (ane)
The higher up definition includes stride-families, unmarried parent families and doesn't even mention sex or sexual orientation of the parents, so includes same-sex families too.
Ane way around the trouble of defining a family is to distinguish carefully between unlike 'family arrangements' when we discuss them. It is besides generally good practice to define your concepts tightly when writing and essay or before conducting enquiry.
There is cipher incorrect with limiting your research or analysis to just i specific type of family below, y'all just need to make sure you lot are clear virtually limiting your give-and-take. (It'due south ofttimes necessary to focus more tightly just for the sake of time!)
Different types of family unit
Some of the virtually mutual family types in modern U.k. include.
The Nuclear Family unit – ii parents with biological children living in 1 household.
The reconstituted family unit – two partners living in one household sharing parental duties for one or more children, simply only one of them is the biological parent.
The unmarried parent family – one adult with ane or more than children living in ane household
The extended family – where relatives such as uncles/ aunts or grandparents reside permanently in the same household as those making upwards the nuclear family.
Postmodern definitions of the family
Because of the multifariousness inside family unit life in contemporary United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, postal service-modern thinkers suggest that information technology is better to utilize a broader definition of 'the family', which includes a range of family types – one suggested definition of the family is 'a group of people who are related by either blood or wedlock/ like form of committed relationship'
Because of the problems of defining the family it is often easier to analyse families in terms of h ouseholds (NB – The module you're all studying is chosen families and households, we only tend to abbreviate it to the 'families' module)
A household is much easier to define than a family unit – A household is simply a group of people who share a residence in common and share such things as meals, bills, facilities or chores, or one person living alone. Of grade, families can spread themselves beyond many households!
Example written report: the Rainbow Family of Light
Have a look at the case report below, practise yous think this group of people is a 'family'?
The Rainbow Family unit was created out of the Vortex gathering in Oregon from August 28 to September 3, 1970. Inspired in large function by the first Woodstock Festival.
Those who attend Rainbow Gatherings usually share an involvement in intentional communities, ecology and new age spirituality. Attendees refer to ane another every bit "brother", "sister", or the gender neutral term, "sibling." Attendance is open to all interested parties and decisions are reached through group meetings leading to some form of group consensus.
The organization is a loose, international affiliation of individuals who accept a stated goal of trying to achieve peace and love on earth. In that location are no official leaders or construction, no official spokespersons, and no formalized membership. Strictly speaking, the only goals are set by each individual, every bit no private can merits to represent all Rainbows in give-and-take or human activity.
Y'all might as well like this video…
I think it shows 1 of the activities these people become up to during their gatherings, a practiced onetime sing song!
Question: is the family rainbow of light a family?
Think carefully about this – if you lot do then it means that practically any group of friends with close emotional ties should be called a family, but is this really what me hateful when we use the term 'family'? Or should sociologists limit themselves to studying families in the more traditional sense of the discussion?
Defining the family… why information technology matters…
You tin merely actually become your head around perspectives on the family if you understand how different perspectives define the family differently!
Ultimately, how you define the family will determine how you conclude any essay within the families and households module!
Sources
(i) The Oxford English Dictionary definition of the family unit.
Source: https://revisesociology.com/2016/08/08/defining-the-family/
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