Family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption and live together in a household (Nygren, 2016). Families form an integral part of social interactions among individuals. Pannilage (2015) identifies the family as an essential social institution in society. Universally, family roles in society can be classified into four main points, as acknowledged by Cohen, Strong, and DeVault (2008). This includes providing a basis of warm relationships, act as an element of economic support and consumption; in some cases, a family may procreate and socialize children, and finally, a family allocates social roles and ranks to people. Despite these being the core functions of a family, Cohen, Strong, and DeVault (2008) note that it is not always that a family is tasked to accomplish these roles, in fact, in some families, more so, the abusive families, these core roles are barely ever fulfilled.
When it comes to the statement at hand; the traditional two-parent nuclear family is the best family type for fulfilling the functions of the family, I find it somewhat misinformed. This is because the idea of a centralized form of socialization deters the whole idea of society as a whole. Interactions do not only need to occur between the family members but also, external interactions from other parties in the society will serve to cultivate the core functions of the family. For instance, in the case of an abusive family, the roles of a family are unmet; however, integrating the interactions with other society members, the functions may be met, more so, the aspect of socialization and status quo.
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Additionally, Angier (2013) points out the decline in the traditional two-parent nuclear family due to the rise in the rates of separation and divorce cases among couples in the United States of America. In such a case in modern society, it becomes impractical to centralize the idea of fulfilling family roles through two-parent nuclear families. From the above discussion on the statement, it is clear it has its shortcomings in modern society and cannot, therefore, be best in fulfilling the functions of the family.
While almost all modern families share a similar structure, the history of families was initially segregated based on the different ethnic groups. Looking into the African American Family structure, it was mainly based on Kinship, a common phenomenon among the West Africa people who constituted the majority of the slaves who were shipped into America. The kinship structure was adopted both vertically and horizontally, i.e., across the village members and the ancestors, respectively. In this family structure, each family member was part of a clan, sharing a common ancestor. The household was the smallest social unit, usually composed of the mother, father, children, and in some cases, the grandparents.
The interactions between the husband and wife involved the wife being the subordinate. Educating the children was a joint effort among the elderly population in the village (Greene, 1995). Marriages were mainly polygamous among this group. From their roots of slavery, the African American population grew significantly during the 18th century due to the sense of stability among the farms they worked in. It is during this time that black men and women got married in ceremonies outside churches, introducing the aspect of monogamy that has been adopted to date.
Looking into a different family structure; Latino American who are mainly composed of Mexican immigrant families who moved into the US in the late 19th century. Modern marriage trends in this group have significantly declined due to the elevated cases of cohabitation. Additionally, divorce rates remain high, thus affecting the process of union formation (Landale, Oropesa, & Bradatan, 2006). When it comes to Latino family roles, they experience many changes, both economically and socially, leading to family transitions that occur every one to two generations.
Latino family systems are mainly patriarchal. This brings in an aspect of male prestige, commonly referred to as machismo, which serves to uphold male dominance in society and also protect the family. Additionally, children were brought up in a unique setting, introducing godparents who were individuals the family trusted tasked with caring and guiding the child (Zinn & Wells, 2013). Taking a look at the two family structures, it is clear that families have come a long way to be what they are today. Despite the fundamental differences among the various ethnic families, today, family structures and roles are slowly converging hence share significant attributes that once differentiated them.
Structural functionalism theory elaborates on how society works, how families work, and how the two interact to affect the larger society. In this theory, the primary focus is on the study of the society rather than the individuals that make up the society. On the other hand, conflict theory builds upon structural functionalism theory in that it is based on disharmony and competition. This theory sees society as divided with individuals in conflict with each other in a bid to acquire resources that happen to be scarce in the same society. Looking into these two theories, they are antagonistic to each other.
Beginning with the first theory, families as social institutions have the role of promoting socialization. This brings in the aspect of structure, whereby all components interact for the betterment of the overall objective, which in this case is the society. On the contrary, conflict theory defines family in a different dimension; conflict. This is because it is not always members of a family get along. Different ideas and personalities among members of a family can bring about conflict. With these two theories, families with issues can be assisted since the conflict theory identifies the potential for conflicts, while the structure functionalism promotes the togetherness aspect of a family.
References
Angier, N. (2013, November 26). The Changing American Family . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/health/families.html .
Cohen, T. F., Strong, B., & DeVault, C. (2008). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. Cengage Learning.
Greene, B. (1995, June). African American families. In National Forum (Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 29- 33). Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
Landale, N. S., Oropesa, R. S., & Bradatan, C. (2006). Hispanic families in the United States: Family structure and process in an era of family change. Hispanics and the future of America , 5 .
Nygren, M. (2016). Legal Family Definitions and the Right to Refugee Family Reunification. A comparative Study on Ethiopia and Sweden . University of Gothenburg.
Pannilage, U. (2015). Role of family as a social institution on children’s wellbeing in the contemporary Sri Lankan Society .
Zinn, M. B., & Wells, B. (2013). Diversity within Latino families: New lessons for family social science. In American Families (pp. 230-252). Routledge.
