FAMILY STRUCTURE

Family Structure



Family Structure

Family Structure

Family is a result of marriage and surrounded and bounded by relationships in a society. The basic aim of family is provision of shelter, safety, comradeship, well-being and socialization. The family structure may differ from one society to another. Mostly a nuclear family that is comprised of married couples and their children only is found in many cultures. Another type of family structure is of extended form, which is comprised of all relatives as well such as grandfather or mother, uncle, aunt etc. living under one roof. A third type of family is single parent family that is comprised of one parents either unmarried or divorced or widowed wit his/her children.

Historically, two to three nuclear families used to hunt together in the times of scarcity of food and form a small society and companionship. The family members used to have separate roles, men used to hunt and women used to manage home, children and make food. These groups or tribes were known as prehistoric people. Gradually a modernized family structure was formed initiated by the Hebrew people and followed a patriarchal structure. Similarly the same structure was emerged amongst Greco-Roman people but was highly religiously focused. Subsequently, the focus of family life shifted to child bearing and marriage religiously with the emergence of Christianity. However, in the 15th century family matters were considered as civil matters. The modern studies pertaining to family structure have showed that family structures are less affected by industrialization and urbanization and nuclear structure is still the basic form of family framework in society. The difference has occurred mostly in terms of life cycle, tasks and responsibilities of husband and wife where as, the level of emotional and sentimental attachment and feeling is still the same amongst family members (Haralambos, M. and ...