Family Matters

Individuals and Families: Diverse Perspectives

Chapter : Family Matters

Connecting Individuals, Families, and Society

Society cannot survive without the functions of reproduction, and provision of food – Individuals carry out these

functions as members of smaller groups, families and households

“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

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 – Definition reflects the

purpose of definition

What constitutes as family?– 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? – One single person with no children?

Definition of Family in the Social Science

Definitions of family reflect our understanding of human society

Anthropologists have identified functions that serve as prerequisites in order for societies to survive

– These functions are performed by individuals or groups These are universal functions of the family, and

anthropologists consider any group of people that perform

these functions as a family

Sociologists define family using various criteria – Early definitions are based on who is related to

whom – “Any group of people related by blood or

marriage” (Albanese, 2007, p. 5) Unlike anthropologists’ definition, these definitions do

not include the behaviour of family members

Stats Can conducts a census every five years about the population that looks at family behaviour

– 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

“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.”

– 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

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)– By defining families as an institution, this implies

that families have functions or a set of behaviours that they are expected to perform

Vanier Institute of the Family uses the following definition – “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:

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