The Family

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the family is a basic unit of society and is usually regarded not only as indispensable but as the key element in socialization processes and in the perpetuation of societal values. It looks at how the family has been the basic unit of society from ancient times to the present and how although different cultures may view the family and certain kinship in a differing light, the basic family unit is a near-universal social reality, with the nuclear family of parents and children a norm understood by virtually everyone. It evaluates the changing status of the family over the years and analyzes how the nuclear family seems to be disappearing in a world where divorce and unwed motherhood are occurring at high rates.

From the Paper:

"Many who feel family values are being lost are indeed making a value judgment on the new notion of the family. They see the traditional nuclear family as "the" family and any variation on that as a challenge to family values, thus excluding what Rubin would include--single-parent households, gay and lesbian households, couples without children, people who have children and live together without ever marrying, and members of divorced families, remarried families, blended families, and extended families (Rubin 19). Clearly, one reason people believe family values are disappearing is because they have a narrow definition of what constitutes a family and its values in the first place."

More papers on The Family:

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• Term Paper # 103936 : "The Family Life Cycle"

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