Transcript Family Matters

Family Matters
Individuals and Families:
Diverse Perspectives
Chapter : Family Matters
Connecting Individuals, Families, and
Society
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Society cannot survive
without the functions of
reproduction, and
provision of food
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Individuals carry out these
functions as members of
smaller groups, families
and households
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“It is through the family that the society
is able to elicit from the individual his
[or her] necessary contribution. The
family, in turn, can continue to exist
only if it is supported by the larger
society. If the society as a larger social
system furnishes the family, as a
smaller social system, with the
conditions necessary for its survival,
these two types of systems must be
interrelated in many important ways.”
(Goode, 1964, p. 3)
Defining the Family
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Definitions of families
reflect the actual
nature of families that
exist and the desirable
nature of as described
in the social policies of
that culture
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Definition reflects the
purpose of definition
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What constitutes as family?
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A married man and woman with at least one child?
An unmarried man and woman with at least one child?
A divorced or separated person with at least one child?
An unmarried person with at least one child ?
A married man and woman with no children?
Two people of the same sex with at least one child?
An unmarred man and woman with no children?
Two people of the same sex with no children?
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One single person with no children?
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Definition of Family in the Social
Science
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Definitions of family reflect our understanding of
human society
Anthropologists have identified functions that serve
as prerequisites in order for societies to survive
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These functions are performed by individuals or groups
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These are universal functions of the family, and
anthropologists consider any group of people that perform
these functions as a family
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Sociologists define family using various
criteria
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Early definitions are based on who is related to
whom
“Any group of people related by blood or
marriage” (Albanese, 2007, p. 5)
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Unlike anthropologists’ definition, these definitions do
not include the behaviour of family members
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Stats Can conducts a census every five years about the population
that looks at family behaviour
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For the purpose of the census Stats Can used a definition of family as
a variety of groups of people living in a common household
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“Census family is defined as a married couple and the children, in any, of
either or both spouses; a couple living common law and the children, if
any, of either or both partners; or, a lone parent of any marital status with
at least one child living in the same dwelling and that child or those
children. All members of a particular census family live in the same
dwelling. A couple may be of opposite or same sex. Children may be
children by birth, marriage, or adoption regardless of their age or marital
status as long as they live in the dwelling and do not have their own
spouse or child living in the dwelling. Grandchildren living with their
grandparents but with not parents present also constitute a census family.”
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This definition is useful for ensuring individuals are not counted twice but is not
useful for understanding how individuals and families live and function
A Working Definition of Family
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Sociologist Anne-Marie Ambert defines family
as “a social group, an institution, and an
intergenerational group of individuals related
to each other by blood, adoption, or
marriage/cohabitation” (2005, p. 4)
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By defining families as an institution, this implies
that families have functions or a set of behaviours
that they are expected to perform
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Vanier Institute of the Family uses the following definition
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“Family is defined as any combination of two or more persons who
are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth,
and/or adoption/placement and who, together, assume
responsibilities for variant combinations of some of the following:
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Physical maintenance and care of group members
Addition of new members through procreation or adoption
Socialization of children
Social control of members
Production, consumption and distribution of goods and services
Affective nurturance-love” ( The Vanier Institute of the Family, 2010)
These are process based definitions that emphasize the
functions of the family and who carries out these functions
instead of who comprises the family