Why is family so hard to define?

Why is family so hard to define?

As stated by Eshleman & Bulcroft (2006) the way our culture defines our family doesn't necessarily generalize well to other families. How we behave, express values, and morals are very culturally dependent. (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2006) To access others cultures through our own "culture colored" glasses is not only subjective but also judgmental. The family is probably one of the most ancient institutions around, yet it is still open to influences of changes that occur over time. Social and political factors have introduced new definitions of the family over time. These definitions vary from culture to culture.

Today it is common to speak about different definitions of family rather than the term family. Eshleman & Bulcroft (2005), for example, speaks of 'recombinant families'; families which are separating and reforming and bear little resemblance to the nuclear family as it came to be called in the sociology of the 1950s and 1960s. These changing family definitions and concepts are a potential challenge to accepted norms. (Eshleman & Bulcroft, 2005) Eshleman & Bulcroft (2005) also saw family as a socially constructed institution. Therefore, we can say that economic and cultural factors have also shaped definitions of the family over time. For example, theses changes to society have led to the development of public discourse about definitions of the family.

According to my point of view, these definitions are the result of our reflections. In western societies, scholars called family as a social institution and in Asian societies scholars define family as a production and consumption unit. These are cultural factors that we can observe and define easily.

The contemporary definition of a family in a modern world and historical convention designates a family form no longer prevalent in the global village an ...