Concept of Family in Contemporary Society

CONCEPT OF FAMILY AS REFLECTED IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
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2
Description
A family can simply be defined as a group of people living together who are connected
by blood or marriage. A family is a social group which is characterized by the same
reproduction, economic cooperation, and a common residence. It contains adults from both sexes
and children and at least two of the adults should contain a sexually approved relationship. There
are two common types of families which are nuclear and extended families. A nuclear family
comprises of a father and mother and one or more children owned or adopted and it is believed to
be found in all societies. However, extended family comprises of three generation which is
grandparents, parents, and children. It is an extension of the nuclear family (Patterson,
DeBaryshe & Ramsey, 2017, p.29). Unlike the western society where a man is only supposed to
marry one wife many societies practice polygamous marriages where a man can marry more than
one wife. A family can be extended if the grandparents, sisters, and brothers of the married
couple decided to stay together. This is mostly practiced by Indians.
Family as reflected in contemporary society
Societies were divided into kinship during the pre-industrial period in which people
descended from a common ancestor. In traditional societies, lineages may contain hundreds or
even thousands members and they see each other as relatives. Any family member is free to
graze or farm in the land which is owned by their lineage. According to Fraser, Waters, Forster
& Brown (2017), working class or able family member are highly encouraged to support their
relative and even the society financially by providing them with shelter, food, clothes and even
healthcare services to protect them from infections. The industrial revolution is believed to have
progressively undermined and disrupted the existence of extended families simply because men
were drawn out of their home and absorbed in industries where they were supposed to work in