What is Family

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What is Family?
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What is family?

• When you think of your family, whom do you
  include in your family?
• What makes them family?

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What is family?

• How would you as a social scientist, define
  family? (small groups)

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Alternative Definitions

• A social group characterized by common residence,
  economic cooperation and reproduction including
  adults of both sexes and one or more children,
  own or adopted.
• George Murdoch

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Alternative Definitions

• A small kinship group with the key function of
  nurturant socialization.
• Ira Reiss

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Alternative Definitions

• At least two people related by blood, marriage,
  or adoption.
• James Garbarino

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Alternative Definitions

• Intimate association of people bound together by
  a sense of personal responsibility for each
  others well being.
• Robert Billingsley

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Alternative Definitions

• A place people can go to for rest and development
  and can go from charged with energy, power, and
  zest for living.
• Nick Stinnett

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Alternative Definitions

• A group of people united by marriage, blood or
  adoption, or any sexually expressive relationship
  and involving (1) financial cooperation, (2)
  commitment to each other, (3) attachment of the
  individual identity to the group, and (4) a group
  identity
• DeGenova, text

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Criteria for Defining Families?

• Genes and blood?
• Support and love?
• 2 adults, of opposite sex?
• Marriage?
• Biological or legal parenthood?
• Residence and economic cooperation?

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Which of these are families?

• Richard and Anna, a middle aged married couple
  with children.
• Cecilia a divorced mother with a 10 year old,
  Carin, living together.
• Carins father Curt lives alone across the city.
  Is he family?
• Eva and David are Daniellas grandparents but
  dont live with her.
• Frederick and Anneleis live with their son, Carl,
  who has a pal Sven living with them. Are all four
  a family?
• Dominique and Samuel have cohabited for 4 years.
  They have no children.
• Frederick and Felicia are divorced and have one
  child, Justin. Frederick marries Monica who has 2
  children. Are Frederick and Justin family?
  Frederick and Felicia? Felicia and Monica and her
  children?

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Which of these are families?

• Elsbeth and Julian have lived together for one
  year and have a child.
• Judy and John cohabited and are separated. They
  have a 10 year old who lives with Judy. Are these
  3 a family?
• Peters elderly mother lives in Nova Scotia while
  he lives in Omaha.
• Jan, Johanna and Juli are siblings in their 20s,
  living together.
• Lena and Keisha, a lesbian couple in their 30s.
  Are they family? Keisha has a child by a
  previous marriage. Are these three family?
• Mona and Martin are married and have a teenage
  daughter. Mona has a good friend who visits often
  and about whom they care deeply. Are all 4 family?

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Summary of changes

• Enormous diversity (variation) in family
  structure and processes from social changes in
  1960s-present. What are these?

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Family Values

• Refers to a preference for two parent
  heterosexual families with biological children as
  the basis of society
• Not the same as valuing family

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Part 2

• Definitions

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U.S. Census Household

• Everyone living in a housing unit makes up a
  household
• Family Households
• Non-family Households
• US Census Bureau

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Family Household Definition

• A household (group of people residing together)
  that is maintained by a householder who is in a
  family.
• Some members are related by birth, marriage, or
  adoption.
• There may or may not be children present.
• U.S. Census Bureau

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Non-family household definition

• A person living alone
• Householder sharing housing unit with
  nonrelatives only
• Nonrelatives of the householder may not be
  related to each other
• U.S. Census Bureau

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Summary

• Family Household
• Must have more than one person and
• Someone must be related to someone else
• Non-family Household
• Only one person or,
• Persons not related by blood, marriage or
  adoption

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What trends do you see in households?
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Family Structure

• The organization of family relationships by roles
  or social positions.
• Nuclear family Two parents and their children
• Extended family Nuclear family extended through
  consanguineal and marital relations
• Single parent with children
• Same sex, headed by gay/lesbian adults

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Family Functions

• Economic support
• Socialization of offspring
• Nurturance and emotional support
• Sexual expression and procreation

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Family Process

• Interaction among family members in daily life as
  family members come and go.

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Family Development

• The stages a family goes through over the course
  of the family life cycle.

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Family in Relation to Larger Social Structure

• Poverty
• Work-family interface

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Summary

• What is family?
• Family values
• Key terms
• Lens of the 1950s