A family is a fixed union that takes its basis in marital relationships, where spouses and children are connected by a common economic budget, household and everyday life. The parent-child relationship is represented by the foundation of the family. It is an important institution in society that interacts with government agencies and other institutions. According to sociology, the family is represented by 2 positions - a social group and a social institution.
- As a social group
, the object of observation is the relationships within the clan. - As a social institution
- clarification of the social functions of the family, the connection of the family with society.
The institution of family is represented by many other institutions (marriage). There are known incidents when the institution of marriage is not interconnected with the institution of family. This relationship received the term – civil marriage.
Family
- a social group united by a single task, functioning on the basis of the relationship between spouses and their fulfillment of social roles.
Family social status
– a status that defines an individual’s position not only in family relationships, but also in society. The following statuses are distinguished: marital, parental, child, intergenerational.
Family social role
- behavior expected from an individual, according to his status in society.
Social functions of the family
Definition 1
Family functions are understood as ways of displaying the activity of the family, its life activities and individual family members.
The most important functions of the family include the following functions:
- reproductive,
- educational,
- economic,
- recreational,
- social status,
- medical.
All functions are closely interconnected; their relative weight in each family may be different.
Principles of family relationships:
- voluntary marriage between a man and a woman;
- equality of rights of spouses in the family;
- resolution of intrafamily issues by mutual agreement;
- priority of family education of children, concern for their well-being and development;
- ensuring priority protection of the rights and interests of minors and disabled family members.
In modern society, the family is experiencing qualitative changes associated with global social processes of industrialization and urbanization, which are unusual for traditional society. It can be noted that today there are processes of transformation of the family as a social institution, changes in some of its functions, and redistribution of family roles.
Reproductive and educational functions
The reproductive function is realized through the reproduction of offspring. Society cannot exist unless one generation is replaced by another.
Reproductive function is greatly influenced by political instability and unfavorable socio-economic changes. Their impact is expressed in
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- expanding the scale of low material income among families with children;
- reduction of minimum social payments and real income levels;
- strengthening property and income differentiation;
- growing regional differences in key indicators of well-being;
- deterioration of the age structure of the population;
- decline in the working-age population.
The educational function is associated with the socialization of young people, the transfer to them of experience, knowledge, and moral values of the older generation.
The unit of primary socialization is the family, since it is the parents:
- instill good manners in their children,
- convey life experience
- teach crafts,
- lay the foundations of speaking skills,
- exercise control over children's actions.
A number of factors have a negative impact on the educational function of the family:
- single-parent family;
- poor relationship between parents;
- insufficient knowledge and skills in raising children;
- interference of relatives in the upbringing processes.
Family functions. Basic concepts of family psychology Family functions Family structure Family dynamics
Basic concepts of family psychology
- Family functions
- Family structure
- Family dynamics
Definition of family : A family is a small social group that is based on a marital union and kinship ties (relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters) who live together and maintain a common household. The most important characteristics of a family are its functions, structure and dynamics.
Family functions
The function of the family is understood as the sphere of life activity that is associated with the satisfaction of family members with their specific needs.
Maslow's classification of needs - 6 levels. A simpler one is the need for security, affection and achievement.
Family functions according to need:
1. Educational function
It consists of family members satisfying their psychological needs for fatherhood, motherhood, interaction with children, raising children and self-realization in children.
The function of the family relates not only to the individual needs of a person, but it also relates to society. In relation to society, the family, raising children, performs the function of socializing the younger generation. They are raising a son or daughter, as well as a member of society. This function is quite long-lasting - from birth to adulthood. This function also ensures continuity of generations. In order to prolong themselves in children, it is important that children can prolong themselves. And for this we need to give them maximum mental, physical and social health.
2. Household - household
It consists of family members satisfying their biological and material needs and meeting the need to maintain their health - physical, mental and social. As the family performs this function, the physical and mental strength that was expended in the work sphere is restored.
3. Emotional exchange function
A family is formed by people who are related. These connections are based on emotionally positive contacts, which are called attachment. This normative attachment initially exists between family members and is manifested in the experiences and expressions of one family member’s attitude towards another. We express affection in the form of emotions. Expressing them is an axiom for us. Gradually this attachment is expressed in a serious psychological need. This is the need for love, sympathy, respect, recognition of another, emotional support of another and his psychological protection. This function normatively assumes that family members know what feelings are and know how to express and experience them, which leads to emotional exchange occurring in the family. Accordingly, since a family is a holistic entity, not only family members exchange emotions within, but also the family as a whole expresses a certain emotion and directs it to the environment. Therefore, emotional exchange is expressed not only within the family, but also in relation to other families and social groups. Often, emotional exchange within a family is of one nature, and between families is completely different. There is a type of family “family is a fortress”. Inside her there is love and sympathy and hatred for other families. The emotional exchange is of a different nature.
This function is considered to be realized if there is a constant emotional exchange between the family and the environment. This means that the family releases emotions into the environment and receives some kind of experience in return. If this mutual exchange is disrupted, the family is filled with unexpressed and unconscious feelings. This leads to illness in the family as a whole.
4. Communication function
It consists in satisfying the family’s need for spending time together (leisure), mutual cultural and spiritual enrichment, and this function contributes to the spiritual development of members of society. The degree of development of communication in the family corresponds to the degree of development of communication in society. Thanks to communication, serious personal growth occurs. The implementation of this function leads to serious personal growth of family members.
5. Function of primary social control
The purpose of society is not only to help a person survive, but it also involves the function of control - the introduction of restrictions and prohibitions that help the person who created them to survive. A family is a small social group in which a new member of society is born. Ensuring family members adhere to social norms is an important trait. Especially those family members who do not have sufficient ability to structure their behavior in accordance with existing social norms. Such factors limiting the ability to build one’s behavior are age (the family controls children, elderly and elderly family members), the fact of illness of one of the family members, leading to disability (relatives must exercise social control as guardians)
6. Sexually - erotic function
It exists to satisfy the sexual needs of the family and regulates the sexual behavior of family members. Ensuring the biological reproduction of society, thanks to which families turn into childbirth that goes on for generations.
Just as a person has a date of birth and death, a family also exists in time, at some stage it appears and then disappears. It also has its own phases of development. The dynamic component is that over the course of a family’s life, the relative weight of each function may change. Some functions may move to the forefront, and some to the 2nd or disappear altogether. The appearance of children in the family brings to the forefront the function of upbringing and everyday life. In a young family, sex may come first; in an older family, the function of education may disappear. Functions change not only in the family development cycle itself, but also in the historical cycle. There were stages in history when a family passed on private property (palaces) and social status (the House of Lords in Britain) from generation to generation.
A family that adequately performs the entire set of its functions is called functional. If a family exhibits violations of any function or several functions together, then such a family is called dysfunctional. It is the main focus of social work, family counseling or family therapy. The psychologist helps the family as a whole, and not its individual member. All these functions are related to each other and in practice it is very rare to encounter an isolated dysfunction. It is necessary to restore 2-3-4, etc. functions.
Family dysfunction is those features of family life that make it difficult or prevent the family from performing its basic functions. For example, in the families of sailors, the sexual and erotic functions of the family are disrupted.
Economic function
The economic function includes various aspects of family life:
Finished works on a similar topic
Course work Functions of the family in sociology 490 ₽ Abstract Functions of the family in sociology 220 ₽ Test work Functions of the family in sociology 240 ₽
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- organization of family consumption,
- housekeeping;
- planning and use of the family budget;
- distribution of homework;
- care and support for the elderly and disabled.
The implementation of this function is more influenced by the family’s monetary income and social guarantees provided by the state.
Everyday meaning of family
A family is a unit of society consisting of individuals.
They are either directly related or married. Most often, an individual spends most of his life in the family. After birth, he is in the company of close relatives, who instill in him the basic views on life. Articles on the topic
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The social functions of the family at the stage from birth to adulthood are security and affection.
It is the adequate attitude of the immediate environment that determines the future fate of a person, his interaction with society, various groups, and his own future family. A person moves into later life with the views, ideas and characteristics of the family in which he grew up.
As an individual grows up, he has his own family - a person with whom he is connected through marital relations, then - children and grandchildren. Now he himself performs the functions that were previously directed at him - he teaches, protects, educates. The chain continues further and affects a large number of people. That is why the well-being of a particular family has a significant impact on the well-being of society.
Recreational function
Note 1
The recreational function allows you to restore physical and moral strength, the health of family members and their mental balance through family relationships based on love, mutual assistance and emotional support. Provides all family members with the opportunity for psychological relaxation, organization of leisure and recreation.
In modern conditions of growing social and psychological stress, an accelerating pace of life, and an increase in the number of various stressful situations, the family plays a psychotherapeutic role.
Research has shown that strength is most fully restored within the family circle, when communicating with children and loved ones.
Recreational factors of family life are associated with the culture of family relationships, which affects the stability of the family, its livelihoods, and the ability to exist as a couple.
Trends in the development of modern families in the Russian Federation
In modern Russia, the following main trends in the development of the modern family can be identified:
1) increasing the age of persons entering into marriage;
2) postponing the birth of the first child;
3) having one child;
4) increase in the number of divorces;
5) the spread of partner-type families;
6) change in the position of women in the family
7) the increase in legally unregistered civil marriages and children born in them;
reduction in the number of traditional (patriarchal) families.
9) transition from extended family to nuclear
At the beginning of the 21st century. requirements for the family are increasingly increasing, but this institution continues to remain one of the most basic and
necessary not only for society as a whole, but also for each individual individual.
In modern conditions, a special role in the development of family relations can be played by the state, which is interested in preserving and strengthening the institution of the family. In recent years, demographic and family policies have been considered as an unconditional priority of social policy in Russia.
Population policy
— policy in the field of population development, not only quantitative growth, but also ensuring the quality of human life in our country.
Social status function
The social status function ensures that all family members are given a certain status and the reproduction of its social structure.
Every person raised in a family has a number of statuses:
- nationality,
- race,
- social status,
- class status;
- occupied place in the rural or urban way of life, etc.
The family must prepare the child for the statuses that belonged to the family, instill appropriate values and interests, forming the necessary lifestyle.
Family as a social institution and small social group
A family
is the most important social institution and at the same time a small social group of people connected by marriage or kinship, which ensures the upbringing of children and satisfies other needs (for communication, for understanding, for love, for sexual relations, etc.). Family members are bound by commonality of living together, everyday life, physical and mental labor, mutual assistance and moral responsibility. A family is characterized by the unification of people who are not related by blood for the sake of procreation, commonality of social information (i.e., knowledge of a common language and other signs), common culture and education, a common way of being included in public consciousness, a joint system of division of labor, economic activities and environmental management, joint development of culture and wealth, attachment to habitat. The family is the source of the development of social relations, style and individualization of members of society. It contains all the signs of society and is its basic minimal unit. The family has its own traditions and supports folk traditions. Each family has a family name (surname) and gives its members their personal names.
The evolution of family functions in modern industrial society
In modern industrial society, the family has almost completely ceased to perform an economic function. At the same time, the flow of resources, namely money, into the family depends entirely on the activities of its adult members. The consequence of this was that the economic need for strict regulation of family relations disappeared. The vast majority of previously existing traditions and customs have ceased to be necessary.
In addition, the economic need to live in large “traditional” families has disappeared. The consequence of this was that the nuclear family became widespread.
A nuclear family is a family that consists only of spouses and their children. The transition to a nuclear family is denied by many, as they consider it a departure from tradition and a decline in morals.
At the same time, the need to have a large number of children disappeared. In a traditional society, children were needed primarily as working hands on the farm. At the same time, they were a kind of guarantee of procreation in conditions of very high infant mortality. Nowadays, the birth of children helps to increase the level of family income, and they also began to require additional funds for long-term education.
Thus, in modern industrial society, the economic function of the family has weakened quite significantly, but the sexual function (i.e., the monopoly of marriage on “legal” sex) and the function of raising children have been preserved (although the number of children has decreased). The distribution of roles was also preserved: the husband was still seen as the main “breadwinner”, and the wife’s main occupation was raising children.
