Definition Essay Defining Family

My family is composed of my father, mother, a younger sister, an older sister, who unfortunately passed away, and myself. I grew up being the oldest child, for my oldest sister passed away before I was born. Although, I never got to meet my older sister her absence has taught me to value the importance of family.

Everywhere around the world, in every different culture, people are grouped into families. The word family can be defined as a group of people bound together over time, because of mutual consent, birth and or adoptions/ placement or simply people who consume responsibilities for one other.

Everyone's experiences with it are different, some are favourable, and some are fallacious. Everyone has it, but no one’s family is synonymous. Family is strong and sacrosanct, but strange. The understanding of family varies between people and their personal experiences. In the play Only Drunks and Children Tell The Truth(ODACTTT) by Drew Hayden Taylor, one sees family defined in several legitimate but different ways.

What’s the meaning of family? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary family is defined as “all the descendants of common ancestor”, but is that how do you define family? Have you ever had someone in your life outside of your family that you were able to confide in? Share your happiness and saddest moments with? Be your biggest advocate? If the answer is yes, then these people are considered family as well. Channeling personal experiences I’m able to relate to Cecile Gilmer’s believe that “Families are not only blood relatives but sometimes just people who show up and love you when no one else will.”

A family is seen as a group of people who are biologically or psychologically related. They connect on historical, emotional

I define family by a group of people that communicate on regular basic, care for each other, and love each other unconditionally. I think that I was able to construct that definition when I realized that my “relatives” weren’t related to me at all. And then realized I talk to the people who I was related to all more than the people who were considered “blood”. I’ve never been to a family house where I have considered them perfect, every family has their personal issues as well as their own strength.

Webster’s dictionary defines a family as “a group of people sharing a common ancestry”. While some families, such as those with bank robbers, drug dealers or users, and mass murderers are notorious and other family members would like to forget about the non-conformers, most people take pride in their lineage. Ask almost anyone about their family and they will be sure to relate how many doctors, lawyers, congressmen, etc. they have in their bloodline. You will probably see a strong connection from generation to generation.

Determining family structure and dynamics as well as defining the family is a complex process. Personally, I come from a very traditional family. Much like the assumptions made by the students in the article Defining Family: Young Adults’ Perceptions of the Parent-Child Bond by Mellisa Holtzman (2008). This is what comes to mind when most people define family; a nuclear family, with married parents, and biological children. However, a family is a complex system and can take on many different forms.

The word “family” is unique, special, and controversial among different cultures and ethnicities. As defined by Random House Western Dictionary, a family is “any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins” (Dictionary.com). Although the definition from Random House follows the infamous proverb of, “blood is thicker than water,” my definition of family does not. Family is not defined or restricted by blood relations. In my mind, a family is simply a group of people, who loves, supports, and helps each other unconditionally, and endlessly. Regardless of one’s sexual orientation or preference, all families embody these common principles. Thus, a family unites its members through the strong

The definition of family to me are the people who are in my life loving, supporting and caring for myself and others in my family. My personal definition of family goes against the traditional definition as I believe nonblood related people are considered my family (i.e., really close friends). There are many changes in the American family over the last several decades that demand a change to the definition of family. There are more gay and lesbian couples forming families, people of different races marrying and more women who are single raising children without a male partner (Seccombe, 2015, p. 2). All of these are examples of how and why the definition of family is changing. Additionally, American families are changing due to social trends

A family can be defined in many different ways and almost every person has their own view and definition of families. Some may define it as simply as the blood relatives they have grown up with, living in the same home for most of their life. Whereas others, including myself, have a much more in depth or personable definition. No matter the culture or living situation, my definition of a family is the people I know will be there for me whenever I need them to be. This includes not only my actual blood related siblings, parents, grandparents and cousins but also my best friends and even some of my parents’ close friends that I have known the majority of my life. Family should not be defined by blood. I have an aunt that was adopted which means she is not blood related, but I still fully consider her family, I believe this has an impact on my own definition of a family. Television today has changed the views and stereotypes on American Families. Stereotypes include the family having a mother and father living in the same home where the mother is a stay at home mom, while the father makes a living for the family. Also the family is usually Caucasian and considered wealthy, living in the suburbs. The shows such as Full House, Good Luck Charlie Keeping Up With The Kardashians have had a major impact on how societies view families in this day and age because of the way they follow these American Stereotypes.

On the other hand, you do not get to choose your family, you just have to deal with them. The true definition of a family is a group of people usually of the same blood, but do not always have to be. I have a large family. I have two sets of grandparents, two great-grandparents, two parents, two brothers, three uncles, one aunt, one

For most of us, the family is considered as a well-known and comfortable institution. The perfect model of the ‘ideal’ family is still mostly considered to be consisted from two different sexes’ parents, and one or more children. Until quite recently, the sociology of the family was mostly functionalist and just in the last few decades has been challenged from various directions.

A family can be defined in many ways, but the common denominator in all is the love and fulfillment one gets by being surrounded by family members. Families can sometimes be at odds with each other, but the strain of this type of relationship usually creates an upsetting feeling to the people involved. People want others to rely on, talk to, do things with, share, love, embrace, and be part of. No matter what the family dynamic is the qualities the word family has will remain the same, as time goes by, and life evolves once again for every person living their

According to Swartz and Scott (2009), family is defined as a group of people related to each other by blood, marriage, adoption or being sexually open in a relationship. The