Different Kinds of Families

A nuclear family is one made of an adult man, an adult woman and their dependant children. Traditionally, the man was 'breadwinner', responsible for what the family needed to survive and prosper, while the woman was responsible for home and family.

This has always thought to be a 'normal' or 'typical' family

An extended family contains a nuclear family, but added to it are other relatives. If there are three generations living together (grandparents, parents and children) this is a vertically extended family. If there are relatives in the same generations, such as two brothers, their wives and children living together, this is a horizontally extended family.

Lone-parent families: one parent and and their dependant children. Today lone-parent families are usually the result of separation or divorce. but some people decide to bring up children alone. In the past lone parents were more likely to be the result of the death of one parent. e.g Women often die in childbirth, men in wars and both sexes from diseases

When a new family is created after a divorce through a second marriage, there stepparents and stepchildren

Originally nuclear families, but children have grown up and left home. Because people live longer on average than in the past, the parents now likely to have many more years of life ahead of them,

The law in Britain and other western countries only allows someone to be married at one other person and a time - this is called monogamy.

Having more than one marriage partner at a time, bigamy,  criminal offence.

Having several marriage partners one after the other (not at the same time) is called serial monagamy

In countries, both today and in the past, polygamy has been allowed; people have been allowed more than one marriage partner.

Polygyny a man having several wives, is allowed by law in most of Africa and the Middle East and parts of southern Asia. Even in these countries most marriages are monogamous, because it is expensive to support several wives and their children. Having several wives indicates that a man is wealthy and important. The first wife is always senior

Polyandry a woman who has several husbands, this is rare. Where it does happen, it often involves a woman marrying two or more brothers. This can happen as a result of female infanticide meaning there are more men than women.

Example: The Nayar People, is a tribe where women can marry multiple men as they go off to fight for a long period of time

This a family with their child who is an adult to depend of on their parents financially for longer and to live in a Boomerang family.

• Both people and society have needs which must be met for society to run smoothly
• Functionalists see the nuclear family plays an important role because they perform a number of essential functions:

- Reproduction

- Primary Socialisation

- Emotional Gratification

- Economic Position/Support

• Focuses on social inequality

- Marxism simlarly to feminism offers a critical perspective of the family

- They do not think the nuclear family is functionally neccessary

- They believe family is about a continuing conflict between social classes with opposing interests

-They argue that the nuclear family teaches people to know their place and obey the ruling class

• Feminist sociologists came from a conflict perspective, ths completely contrasts the functionalist sociologists
• Feminists identify that inequality exists between men and women, therefore they critical of the family as they see it to contribute to the inequalty
• Feminist sociologists identify primary socialisation to be an essential function of the family
• Baby boys and baby girls are often treated differently and feminists see them to brought up in certain roles
• The Feminists identify how the home is not a safe haven for every family
• The feminist approach is one which highlights negative aspects of the family to be violent in the home

1. This approach shows how part of society can work at two different levels - both fulfiling the needs of each individuals and meeting the needs of the whole society at the same time.

2. It provides a harmonious view of society

3. Functionalists show how each of the parts of society are interelated, each contributing to the well being of the whole

4. This stresses the great importance of the family as the basic of society.

5. The family is seen as very important in passing on the norms and values which are universal in society

1. The approach is too positive. It suggests that family life is always good and happy

2. It therefore tends to ignore the exploitation and conflict stressed by Marxists

3. By stressing the idea that the nucleaar family is universal, this approach ignores other types of household and seems to assume that they are inadequate

4. It does not consider the ways in which functions may be performed by other institutions, rather than by family

5. Feminists are critical of this approach because it assumes that gender roles are fixed, ignoring the changes that have taken place

A high proportion of violence offences even murder take place within families even murders. Violence within families can be physical, sexual or emotional. Women and children are more likely to be the victims, and men are more likely to be the aggressors than women. There can be violence between brothers and sisters, and the elderly can be victims of abuse.

Nuclear families put small numbers of people together in a confined space, the modern family home. Arguments and conflicts are perhaps inevitable sometimes in all families. Emotional conflicts can lead to stress and even to mental health problems. Violence and abuse take place within some families.

The New Right would argue that there is: that the growth of abuse is caused by the break down of the family values which they believe has happened. There are however two explanations.
That we count as violence and abuse today behaviour which was acceptable in the past. For example, since 1991 the law has recognised that **** can take place within marriage (the previous view was that the man had a right to have sex with his wife whenever he chose) Smacking of children is currently controversial. Parents are becoming less likely to smack their children, at least in public as more people dissaprove.

That there is no more violence and abuse than in the past, but more comes to public attention. For example Childline and similar initiates have encouraged children who are victims to talk about what has happened to: in an earlier period, abused children may have kept quiet because they had no one to talk to.