CONCEPT OF FAMILY

Concept of Family in UK

Introduction3

Discussion4

Complexities of Family4

Major Perspective of Family in Sociology5

Religious and Cultural importance of Family6

Family Theories6

The concept of family7

Functions of the family9

Family structure12

Policy of Family13

Conclusion14

Concept of family in UK

Introduction

The family is the focus of many of the social sciences. Each of these disciplines tends to give a definition of the family and to define its functions. Terms of content, structure and form, the family has historically changing social group, universal features of which are heterosexual relationship, kinship system, provision and development of social and individual personality traits and exercise certain economic activities (BBC 2007, n.d.). We have been witnessing today the cultural revolutions which have transformed the behaviours and the family structures (Khan & Nandi 2012, pp.17-18). The concept of European families has now been changed. The comparison from past observations it has been observed that processing and standardization of European families is at work. The concept of Household is increasingly reduced due to the falling of birth rates and fertility, however, in UK; a large number of people are living alone (Lamanna 2011, p.480). In this context, “free fall” of many families has been witnessed across the continent. In sociology, for family is related both to the social structure or group whose members are bound together by ties of kinship, affection, service or hospitality who live or have lived in the same home environment, whether that set of individuals, while not sharing the same domestic space, are related by filiations, marriage or adoption (White & Klein 2007, p.227). This study will define a critical observation on Families in UK and discuss the concept and functioning of family along with various policies of family in United Kingdom.

Discussion

Family is the basic unit of society, it provides the biological reproduction of the population, the transmission from generation to generation the company accumulated social experience and knowledge (Scott et al 2007, p.551). In sociology, two approaches to the study of the family are identified: the family as a social Institute (analyzes external relations of the family, norms and patterns of family behaviour), the family as a small social group (considering the internal connections of the family and the relationship between its members.) (Ribbens et al 2011, p. 98). This approach allows us to fix the nature of the relationship between spouses, parents and children, and therefore, the motives and reasons for their behaviour, conflict and divorce (Park et al 2012, pp.1-155).

Complexities of Family

While analyzing the factors that result in creating complexities in families, it has been observed that family life in European society has become more complex and there are many factors which has summed up in building those complexities. Since 1990, the rate of marriages in UK has been collapsed (Owen & Gordon 2007, p.130). Average age of marriage is increasingly late even if slight shifts have been observed in region of Europe (Nazio 2008, p.1). Divorce is now a widespread phenomenon, which is strongly increasing. This is “boom” of single-parent families and births outside marriage, which is around ...