Family Is Transmuting And Has Always Being Transmuting

There are many ways that the idea of the “traditional” family has changed over the past several centuries. For instance prior to the 19th century family was often considered anyone who lived within a household whether related by blood or not. This included employees and extended family. Per Coontz (2010) “The biological family was less sacrosanct, and less sentimentalized, than it would become in the nineteenth century.”(p. 35) In society at the time it was socially unacceptable to be separate or not included as part of a family household. Over time, the term family came to encompass the immediate family, a husband, wife and their children. During the late 1800’s through the mid 1900’s there were emerging ideas of family that were not widely accepted as traditional or normal, these included single parent homes with only a Mom or Dad, Stepfamilies and same sex couple and parent households. Today, American ideas of what constitutes a family have drastically expanded to include these formerly “non-traditional” families

In this essay, the main changes in UK families since the 1970’s will be discussed. Changes have taken place in families through the development of society, as now with scientific research, it is possible to ‘make’ a family through artificial means. This has changed the family dynamic, along with many other aspects such as a rise in divorce, and the formation of complex family types. There is no control over family form, and thus there is an increase in the movement away from only nuclear families.

‘The family performs important tasks that contribute to society’s basic needs and helps perpetuate social order.’ (Anthony Giddens 2006 - Page 238) Functionalists believe a family’s paramount purpose is to raise and support their children within society.

Family is the fundamental unit of society. The concept and structure of the British family has seen a change over the last 50 years. These changes have culminated in the decay of marriage and therefore the rise of cohabitation, new forms of family composition and the delay of parenthood, thus, making traditional nuclear family less stable than in previous generations (Jenkins et al. 2009).

A nuclear family is universal and is defined as a two generational grouping; consisting of a father, mother and their children, all living in the same household. The idea of the nuclear family was first noticed in Western Europe in 17th century. The concept that narrowly defines a nuclear family is essential to the stability in modern society and has been promoted by modern social conservatives in the United States and has been challenged inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations. In this essay, I shall be assessing the views that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole, from a

Family needs have changed since the 1950s and women's work in the ideal nuclear family has been historically constructed and reproduced by culture and patriarchal heteronormative society. An ideal nuclear family is a group consisting of two parents and their children. This family includes both sexes, who maintain a sexual relationship and one or more children. Within this family, everyone had roles; the father worked whereas the mother maintained the household and cared for the offspring. The children were to model and study their parents to become them, so they could later take their place in society when the parents are too old to perform their duties. The nuclear family is no longer the American dream and soon society began to notice that many Americans were not living the ideal nuclear lifestyle. With the world adjusting and adapting there are new definitions for what consists of a family. We are shifting from a heteronormative society to an inclusive society.

Constance Ahrons, a doctor who coined the term “binuclear family” once said, “Pessimists say that the family is eroding. Optimists say the family is diversifying. Both points of view are right. Families are more diverse and they are more in trouble-but not because of their diversity. The families of today-whatever their size or shape-are in crisis because our economy is failing, our national resources are shrinking, and our governmental policies to support them are inadequate.” This quote gives a perspective of several reasons for the decline of the nuclear family. A nuclear family is a type of traditional family, consisting of a mother, a father, and their children. It involves time spent with the children, emotional support, low stress, and a stable economic environment. This type of family became most popular during the 1950’s, and was regarded more as a universal form of a social organization, and not just a simple family. Both parents worked secure jobs, and would come home to their children, and would enjoy this happy-go-lucky lifestyle. However, this fantasy of a family evolved over time, and the idea of a nuclear family curtailed. New generations were created that opposed the idea of a nuclear family, and began to reject society’s values: Generation X and Generation Z. In addition to the new generations, there was a development to the word “family”, as many families differed from the traditional template of a mother, a father, and children; changing the idea of a

The functional groupings of families changed drastically from the 1920's to today in 2004. The American nuclear family has been dismantled and replaced by a grouping that is far

Moreover, functionalists believe that social order is not possible unless there are shared norms and values, which can only be widely accepted through socialisation (Ingelby and Oliver 2008). Furthermore, Murdock (1949) sees the nuclear family as a basic unit around which all family systems are organised and that it [the nuclear family] has four essential functions to perform in order for society to continue (Taylor et al 2005). These four functions are;

American households have never been so diverse. As a result of these changes, there is no longer one dominant family form in the U.S. Parents today are raising their children against a situation of increasingly diverse and, for most, constantly evolving family values. The idea of the modern family has evolved over the years because of the financial crisis which has caused both parents to look for work, parents are no longer staying together, and same-sex couples are presently able to start a family of their own.

Change is inevitable, and history has shown us that change in family status has been both positive and negative. Historically, the flux in family diversity can be traced back for centuries, and we see many different practices that have had successes and failures amongst families in the United States. Over the last six decades, the image of the ideal American family has changed, as well as the political and economic status of women. The development of relative economic power for women has led to a change in family structure. The evolution of families can be seen in the media and television shows, and the contrast between shows in the mid 20th century and now, is shell shocking. As new developments in human society continue to grow, family

However, Functionalists Murdock (1949) would argue against family diversity as they believe in the nuclear structure. Contrastingly, Murdock would argue for all families to perform the following four functions; economic-family members are supported financially; educational- the family is the primary agency of socialisation; sexual - the family must contain a monogamous couple in order to keep society stable; finally reproductive as this is essential for the survival of humankind. Therefore, functionalists would disapprove of diverse families that didn’t conform to these particular functions/stages.

A structural functionalist, who studied 250 societies around the world, and alleged the nuclear family existed in all of the societies. He claimed the nuclear family is a “universal human social grouping… and exists as a distinct and strongly functional group in every known society” (Bessant & Watts 2007, p. 162). Murdock claimed, that even if a more complex family structure, such as polygamous or extended, existed in a society the nuclear family was always a visible functioning family unit (Hendrix 1975, p. 125). Murdock describes the family as a “social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction, including two opposite sex adults who maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, established and defined by marriage customs, and one or more children” (Hendrix 1975, p.

With the advent of adoption, a new means of establishing legal parenthood was born, one allowing the parental rights of the biological parents to be extinguished in favor of granting said rights to others who intend to assume those roles. However, this too has tended to follow the original framework, known as the nuclear family, which consists of a mother, father and their dependent children. (Bartlett note 1). This family unit had long been the preferred social unit in our society, presumably exclusive to married heterosexual couples, or barring that, the biological parents and dependent children. (Bartlett 1).

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.