In sociology, the family is considered at the same time and how. Family as a social group and social institution. i. Family functions
Main questions of the topic
1. The family as the primary social organization.
2. Family functions.
3. Family changes (from a patriarchal family to a modern family).
4. Family prospects and family policy.
5. Russian family: past, present, future.
6. Family as an element of socio-sexual stratification.
The family as the primary social organization.
The family is the fundamental unit of the social structure of society. History does not know such a social structure where family and kinship relations would be absent.
The family is the most important factor in the survival and strengthening of society through the physical and sociocultural replacement of generations through the birth of children and maintaining the existence of all family members. Without this reproduction of the population and the socialization of offspring, the reproduction of all social structures that ensure social life is impossible.
The family is the most important factor in humanizing relations between people, the most important mechanism of self-organization of society, the work of which is associated with the establishment of a whole series of universal human values.
The family is both a social institution and a primary small group, which determines the uniqueness of its place and role in the social structure of society.
The functioning of the family as a social institution forms the macro level of its existence. It represents a value-normative complex through which the behavior of family members is regulated and their inherent roles and statuses are determined. The main characteristic of a family’s existence at this level is its organic unity with the normative-institutional system of society. The inclusion of the family in this system as its integral subsystem reflects the level of its external sociocultural determination (legal, moral, religious, etc.) and predetermines its external social functions. The functioning of the family as a primary small group forms the micro level of its existence. As a small primary group, the family represents, firstly, a special kind of union between spouses, parents and children, based on informal, trusting relationships between its members, and secondly, a special kind of moral and psychological community of people that unites them not only based on common interests, but also on the basis of common feelings, sympathies, spiritual closeness, love and mutual responsibility. The main characteristic of the family as a small group is its relative autonomy. The functioning of the family at this level (as a “unity of interacting personalities” by E. Burgess) gives rise to a variety of “personal practices” of family strategy and tactics.
Macro and micro levels of family existence, in real practice family life merged together, which allows the sociologist to see how the macro-trends of its change emerge from the variety of results of family behavior. We can safely say that the state of the family is always symptomatic, since it reproduces in miniature a picture of the contradictions through which society moves at a certain stage of its development.
A family is a community (organization) of people based on a single family activity, connected by the bonds of “marriage” - “parenthood” - “kinship”, carrying out population reproduction and intergenerational continuity, as well as the socialization of children and maintaining the existence of its members.
The concept of family reflects the integrity of the family organization (in the trinity of its subsystems) on the basis of common feelings, interests and structure, as well as its functional and goal orientation.
The concept of “marriage” reflects the social and legal relations between spouses as citizens of the state, i.e. acquisition of rights and responsibilities for those entering into marriage to provide financial support for children and disabled family members, and to raise the younger generation. On the other hand, through marriage legal protection and financial support for the family from the state are guaranteed.
The essence of the social nature of the family is calculated through its functions, structure and role interaction of its members. The functions of the family are understood as the set of activities it performs. Under structure - a set of relations between family members, including, in addition to kinship relations, relations of power, authority, leadership, etc. Role interaction in a family is understood as a set of norms and patterns (stereotypes, standards) of behavior of some family members in relation to others (husband to wife, father (mother) to children, etc.). These family characteristics are not static. On the contrary, their change reflects the course of both historical and social time (which also records the pace of social transformations).
The focus of sociology is the family model that was formed as a result of the transition of humanity from traditional society (and culture) to modern society (and culture), i.e. modern industrial (and post-industrial - in the West) society. This process has a natural character and, as a consequence, general civilizational features. However, it is carried out in specific historical forms and bears the stamp of sociocultural characteristics. The most important task of family sociology is to, through an analysis of the leading megatrends of our time, trace the progress of changes in family types and strategies, and determine their vector into the future.
Family functions.
The content of family activities is revealed through the functions that it performs in relation to society as a whole (external, social functions) and in relation to its members (internal, individual functions). There are such functions of the family as reproductive, the function of socialization and raising children, economic (maintaining minors and disabled members), the function of moral regulation, status, leisure, and sexual control. The functions that are most important for the social reproduction of society and have a universal character due to their sociocultural constancy are called specific (or actually family). They arise from the essence of the family and its characteristics as a social phenomenon, namely, birth (reproductive function), maintenance and socialization of children. This is a set of functions directly related to ensuring the social reproduction of the individual and society as a whole.
The position of the family as an agent of social reproduction in society is dual. Firstly, through it the social experience of previous generations is accumulated and transmitted in the form of traditions, norms and value orientations of individuals. At the same time, the family actively influences the process of socialization of the individual (“primary socialization”), and determines its pace and direction. Secondly, the family itself is subject to the influences of the social macroenvironment. Being one of the social institutions, it depends both on the state of the social system as a whole and on its individual subsystems. Being the most important intermediary between the individual and the objective realities of the macroenvironment, the family becomes the conductor of the values and traditions that dominate in a given social system; it is to it that society has delegated part of its powers for the socialization of the individual. It prepares an individual for a specific socio-professional status, for achieving a certain level of education, for a certain nature of non-productive activities through the formation of value-labour, value-educational, consumer and other orientations of the individual.
Non-specific functions of the family include those to which the family was involved or adapted in certain historical circumstances, namely: accumulation and transfer of property and status; households; organization of recreation and health care, etc.
As society evolves and the demands placed on the family (as a social institution and small group) change, the content of the spheres of family activity is transformed. Characterizing the uniqueness of the current period in the evolution of the status of the family, it is worth noting the two most significant trends that emerged in the 20th century.
Firstly, due to the growing differentiation and specialization of social labor, the volume of social functions of the family is sharply reduced due to the exclusion from the family of such functions as educational and educational (schools and kindergartens), economic (production sphere), leisure (entertainment), etc. d. W. Ogborn. comprehending this phenomenon, he put forward the idea of “taking over family functions” as a reflection of the progressive process of combining other social institutions with the performance of “family functions.” But this process also has a shadow side, namely: as a result of reducing the total volume of its functions (non-specific), the efficiency of performing its specific functions decreases.
Secondly, while maintaining its main functions (reproductive, socialization and education) as a social institution, the emphasis of family activity is clearly shifting to the sphere of its functioning as a primary small group, i.e. towards the dominance of the emotional, sexual and spiritual spheres.
3. Family changes (from patriarchal family to modern family)
The 20th century was marked by the end of the dominance of the monogamous family model, which is called “patriarchal”, and the rapid pace of development of its modernist (modern) model.
Trends in changes in both the status of family and marital relations and all phases of the family cycle (formation, formation, transformation, etc.) are assessed ambiguously by sociologists, demographers, statisticians, and legal scholars. This process is characterized as an “institutional crisis of the family”, “decline of the family”, and its signs are considered to be a fall in the birth rate, a decline in the status of marriage, an increase in the number of free unions and other forms life together, an increase in the rate of divorce and illegitimate children, etc. On the other hand, this process is assessed as “overcoming the institutional lag of the family, its modernization, which appears as an expansion of freedom of choice for men and women in the family and social spheres, equality of partnership.
Family situation in modern world- it is rather a crossroads between a devalued past and an uncertain future; it is a natural result of the sociocultural development of mankind, reflecting all the contradictions of the era.
The emergence of a modern type of social structure (industrial society) gave rise to a complex of socio-economic, socio-demographic, spiritual, moral, political, legal and other factors that led to a radical change in the value-normative structure of society as a whole and the transformation of the social institution of the family (as a special value-normative education that regulates intrafamily activities and determines the role behavior and status of family members).
What are the most significant civilizational factors that influenced the emergence of new norms and standards of family life and sexual morality? Firstly, the industrialization of the production sector, which entailed a change in the mechanisms of social stratification, the intensification of social mobility of all types and forms, and the massive involvement of women in the sphere of professional activity. Secondly, urbanization, which entailed a change in the mechanisms of social control on the part of society over people’s behavior in the legal, moral and sexual spheres. Thirdly, democratization of all social institutions of society. It was this that led to the separation of the sphere of people’s personal lives, including family life, from state dictates. It also led to the “privatization of the family”, transforming it from a producer moral values into their consumer, into the “forced refuge” of confused people.
Modernist society gradually formed a new system of values and norms, which immediately affected the processes of family change. Thus, the basis of the patriarchal family was formed by the so-called. the values of “familism” (kinship), where duty, family solidarity, self-sacrifice, traditionalism, children, and responsibility prevail. The foundation of the modernist family is the values of “individualism”, where personal autonomy, individual rights, freedom of choice, self-actualization and self-affirmation are at the center. If basic principle intrafamily organization and role behavior (spouses, parents and children) in a patriarchal family is the principle of dependence (wife from husband, children from parents), then the organization and role strategy of the modernist family is based on the principle of egalitarianism (equality of husband and wife, recognition of the relative autonomy of children from parents). If the patriarchal family at all stages of the family cycle is regulated from the outside (by customs and religious precepts), then the modernist family is formed and functions on the basis of the internal selectivity of individuals who interpret standards and sociocultural norms based on their needs and interests as individuals. The basis of the concept of a modern family is modern views on freedom as freedom limited only by the freedom of others, on the desire to maximally satisfy the need for self-fulfillment of each family member, on equality of partnership (in all subsystems of the family whole).
Enmity between the sexes and generations is an inevitable companion of a patriarchal family. The modern family (ideally) is capable of creating the preconditions for a new type of relationship between the sexes and generations. But there are no gains without losses. The destruction of absolute parental power and the authoritarian system of raising children (which actually amounted to physical rearing) makes it possible to democratize the entire system of socialization and raising children in the family as full-fledged individuals. On the other hand, preferring individual freedom to the values of family cohesion and small children can lead to rampant selfishness (both of spouses and parents and children) and individualism. In modern society, stereotypes have already been established that reinforce the standards of small children: the nuclear (or simple) family, consisting only of spouses and their children, has become the most common; liberalization of upbringing sometimes leads to the fact that children’s attention to their inner world displaces the authority of their parents.
The main reason changes taking place in modern family, sociologists see in the autonomization of moral and legal norms, cultural values and standards of gender-role behavior of people accepted in society. On the other hand, the nature of changes is influenced by various forms of “personal practice” of gender relations and the interpretation of norms, values and standards at the personal level. This trend is more dynamic and active.
The origins of the process should be sought in the greatest discovery of humanity in the 20th century, namely, the discovery of personality (recognition of the value of individual autonomy and the individual right of people to choose, for example, lifestyle, forms of sexual behavior and family strategy).
Inner peace is, first of all, a person’s emotional, trusting communication with himself and other people in the context of interpersonal equality. Here, the emancipation of men and women from the power of the state and traditions means the “radical democratization of the individual.” Changing the status of a person’s inner world is of utmost importance for the types inherent in modern society family relations for two main reasons. Firstly, as a result of the emergence of emotional selectivity (love) and, secondly, as a result of the transformation of eroticism (sexuality) into the leading basis for the interaction of the sexes and family strategy.
Modern marriage is a union of equals in their right to choose, free from the coercion of tradition and the pressure of third parties, men and women. The leading factor motivating people's family and marital behavior is love, i.e. mutual feelings of “participants in a risky enterprise.” The change in marital motivation (already in the last century) entails significant changes in family life, such as, firstly, the transformation of the home into an emotional niche and, consequently, the allocation of the emotional function as an internal, family function; secondly, a change in the principles of the relationship between parents and children, which is associated with the weakening of the power of the father and husband, the “invention of motherhood” as a personal characteristic of a woman (i.e., her intrafamily status changes), and the assignment of responsibilities to the woman to control the upbringing of children.
“Romantic love” of the 18th-19th centuries in the 20th century (according to E. Giddens) is replaced by a new type of love - “merging love”. This is active love, dependent on chance, breaking with attitudes romantic love for eternity and uniqueness. Fusion Love introduces eroticism (and sexuality) for the first time as a key aspect of marriage. This type of love represents an ideal model for a society where the social status, professional, educational, etc. chances of people are significantly expanded: where the powers of democratic institutions are strengthened and increased, where the development and introduction of new birth control technologies begins to determine the demographic situation, etc. This type of love is based on the recognition of human autonomy and freedom, which is certainly one of the greatest achievements human history: but this love also leads to the emergence of a “dividing and divorcing society.” The more real this type of love, the less meaningful the search "" special person"in a situation where almost everyone has their own chance for sexual satisfaction.
In the 20th century, the meaning of sexuality, both in a person’s personal life and in the family, is being actively rethought. Firstly, the irreducibility of marital sexuality to childbirth becomes trivial (in patriarchal culture, only sexuality associated with childbirth and sanctified by marriage was considered the norm); secondly, sexuality expands the boundaries of its distribution beyond the boundaries of marital relations (beyond marriage) and acquires equal significance for both men and women. Such metamorphoses of sexuality in the 20th century are associated with the so-called. "sexual revolution" (mid-60s). To the reasons sexual revolution include the economic prosperity of Western society, the transformation of urbanization into super-urbanization, the rise of free love propaganda in the media, and the invention of reliable contraceptives.
The most important consequence of changing standards of sexuality for the family was the emergence of the now deepening trend of separation of the “matrimonial (marriage), sexual and procreative (bearing children) commands of people. This has led to the fact that a significant part of men and women are either in sexual relationships without concluding In this case, marriage (cohabitation or "alternative marriage"), in some families, spouses deliberately do not have children, and, finally, women give birth to children without being married (incomplete or maternal family). This trend, on the one hand, marks a positive factor of conscious regulation of their sexual and procreative behavior by spouses in a modernist family, in contrast to the traditional one, but, on the other hand, it sanctions the fact of the existence of homosexuality (both male and female), sharply reduces sexual responsibility, stimulates the emergence of various forms of pre- and extramarital behavior of young people ( for example, “youth unions” in Scandinavia, Germany, the USA, as well as “Godwin-marriage”).
In modern society, organized on the principles of democracy, prerequisites are being created for the improvement of family types that arise within its framework. organized on the principles of egalitarianism, where the human dignity of both men and women would not be diminished, where the aspirations for professional and spiritual growth of all family members would be encouraged. This type of family has many different names, each of which focuses on one or another aspect of its functioning: “bi-career family”, “married family”, “family-partnership”, etc. Sociologists believe that the decisive factor in the emergence of the modern family is the change in social and cultural the status of women (as a consequence of their mass involvement in the sphere of professional activity).
A woman’s exit from the private world of her family gives her the opportunity personal development and economic independence, changes the nature of relationships in the family and the role in raising children. If previously family and marriage were the main status characteristics of a woman, now they are increasingly determined by her economic and educational characteristics. Like men, women are increasingly focusing their behavioral strategies on “achieved status,” i.e. for a career in your chosen profession. This tactic is mainly characteristic of representatives of the middle class. A family where spouses successfully combine family values and professional interests is called a “bi-career family.” It is the value unity of partners that creates the prerequisites for an even and symmetrical distribution of duties and responsibilities of spouses in the distribution of intrafamily roles, including in relation to children.
It is marriage, as a subsystem of the family triad, that becomes leading and determining within the modern family, in contrast to the traditional patriarchal family, where the kinship subsystem was central. It was already noted above that the redistribution of the centers of the family structure is the result of a change in the dominant family values. This fact indicates the increasing importance of the personal nature of interaction not only between marriage partners, but between parents and children. Respect for human dignity as a principle of organizing marriage is inextricably linked with the need for a reasonably distanced relationship between generations (refusal of pressure and forceful methods of education).
Within the framework of the “married family,” intrafamily values are formed that correspond to the changed life orientations of the individual. Research shows that there is no clear relationship between the stability of marriage and love, which indicates the complexity and multi-level nature of the process of formation and development of family life. There are two main levels: external (behavioral) and internal (value). The complex of factors that form adaptive relationships between spouses is called “adaptation syndrome” (S. Golod), and in its structure there are seven adaptation niches: spiritual, psychological, sexual, cultural, informational, family and everyday. This structure is mobile and hierarchical; shifts in it are associated with certain stages of the family cycle (newlyweds, the stage before the appearance of the first child, cessation of reproductive behavior, etc.). In the absence of fixed traditions, expectations and roles (as was the case before), adaptation individual plans and behavioral stereotypes regarding each other, significantly affects the stability of marriage.
Adaptation is a necessary but not sufficient factor for the formation of a solid foundation of family relationships. Moreover, “getting stuck” by spouses at the stage of behavioral adaptation to each other can turn into “obsessive codependency” (E. Givdens). The primacy of routine obligations common to partners or a woman’s fetishization of her role in the home is destructive to the marital union. The inner, deep, value layer of marital relations is formed by trust, sincerity, intimacy (not reducible to sexuality), the intimacy of a marital union is an attribute and neutral value of a partner-type family. On an everyday practical level, this is mutual sympathy, gratitude and erotic affection between husband and wife. Marital intimacy presupposes the targeted “intimization” of each spouse. At the individual level, intimacy means the complication of the inner world and interest in it, the desire for self-construction and self-actualization. Here it appears as autonomy. Marital intimacy and individual autonomy are contrasting and at the same time conjugate, because autonomy is assumed and predetermined by intimacy. This is the greatest achievement of family life: the possibility of combining individual autonomy and a sense of safety and security (E. Giddens). The value complex of marriage (intimacy-autonomy) presupposes an attitude of equality both towards each other and towards children, which plays a decisive role in overcoming violence and humiliation in the sexual sphere (and in the sphere of relationships with children).
However, the partner family is fraught with problems. Thus, since the end of the 19th century, a direct relationship has been established between the increase in professional employment of women, divorce rates and the decline in the birth rate. The possibilities for reconciling family and non-family values are limited, for example, by the imperfection of labor legislation and discrimination against women in the labor market, in the public consciousness, etc.,
As a result of the development of social institutions that “take over” the functions of the family (economic, educational, educational, leisure, etc.), the nuclear family finds itself in isolation. Family (intergenerational) relationships are significantly damaged. Rationalization of all areas public life(orientation to maximizing benefits) also affects the family. The entire scope of family relationships becomes the object of an agreement: from trust to an agreement on trust and obligations of the two parties, both related and sexual relations. Many parents behave like adoptive parents, i.e. assume responsibilities and give rights to children. Child care is transferred not only to social institutions, but also to various kinds of “specialists” (paid services). The child often becomes a “commodity” or an object parental ambitions. The result is a sharp decline in parental authority, associated, among other things, with the unwillingness or inability to bear responsibility for the child.
It is obvious that the value reconstruction of the family as a small group, as a “unity of interacting individuals” is also fraught with destructive tendencies. The desire of spouses for emotional security, to satisfy the needs for “stable recognition” of personal identity is fraught with the danger of turning these aspirations into an end in themselves, their degeneration into selfishness, individualism and infanticide, which can destroy both the individual, the family and society as a whole.
The main problem of the modernist family today, directly related to its future, is the extent to which a family with a narrowed range of social functions and with an affective predilection for its purely internal problems is able to effectively carry out its specific functions of birth, maintenance and socialization of the younger generation.
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Sociology of the family studies the patterns of functioning and development of family and marital relations in specific cultural and socio-economic conditions. At the same time, the family is considered simultaneously as a social institution and as a small social group. The sociology of the family deals with the group subject of life. A group of people connected by family relationships forms that part of social reality that is studied by the sociology of the family, focusing on the joint life activities of family members, that is, on the family way of life.
Exploring family as social institution, this branch of sociology focuses its attention on the analysis of patterns of social behavior in the family, family roles, and the unique forms of family and marital relations in various conditions of different social groups and cultures. A particularly important place in the sociology of marriage and family is occupied by the problems of the level of divorce and the number of single-parent families, the birth rate, the use of the educational potential of the family, the level of people of marriageable age who are not married, the combination of professional and family roles by working women, the distribution of power and responsibilities in the family and etc.
Emphasizing the group quality of family life, family sociology does not remain indifferent to the individual, but considers him as a family member, as component such a whole that is not reduced to a separate personality. The sociology of the family intersects with the sociology of the individual, but explores the individual, primarily through the prism of sociocultural intrafamily roles, through the prism of the individual’s family affiliation.
Family- one of the most important and specific social institutions, with the help of which society and the state normatively regulate relations between husband and wife, parents and children, other relatives, and carry out the reproduction of members of society and their socialization. The exceptional role and significance of the social institution of the family is determined by the fact that the family is the main carrier of cultural patterns passed on from generation to generation, and the most important agent of socialization of the individual. In this sense, the social institution of the family can be considered as the basis of the entire institutional system of society. Another social institution is closely connected with the institution of family - the institution of marriage. Marriage can be defined as a socially and personally appropriate, sustainable form of sexual relations.
In any society, the family has a dual character. On the one hand, it is a social institution, on the other, it is a small group that has its own patterns of functioning and development. Hence its dependence on the social system, existing economic, political, religious relations and, at the same time, relative independence. From the point of view of content, structure and form, the family is a historically changing social group, the universal features of which are heterosexual relationships, a system of kinship relationships, the provision and development of social and individual personality traits and the implementation of certain economic activities.
The basis of the family is marriage, consanguinity or adoption, common life, mutual responsibility for raising children, relationships of protection and mutual assistance. All these relationships are consolidated and regulated in society both by marriage and family legislation, and by moral norms, customs, traditions, etc. The institution of family is quite diverse in its structure and forms. Thus, a family can consist of a husband, wife and children dependent on the parents, and then it acts as a nuclear, married family. But, as you know, a family often includes other relatives living together (parents, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, etc.). Such a family is called an extended, related family.
Depending on the cultural norms of a particular society, the family can be based on exogamy, which prohibits marriage with a certain narrow group of people (for example, close relatives, members of the same clan, settlement or tribe), or on endogamy, i.e. with people of the same group (clan, tribe, village, etc.), which is typical for primitive archaic societies.
Another division of marriage and family relations is monogamy (i.e. the simultaneous marriage of a given man with a given woman) and polygamy, in which there is more than one partner in a marriage (group marriage, polygamy). There are two types of polygamy: polygyny - the marriage of one man with several women, polyandry - the marriage of one woman with several men (a rare marriage - 20 times less common than monogamy and 100 times less common than polygyny). The historical development of the family institution went from group marriage to monogamy (monogamy), one of the historical forms of which was patriarchy, when the head of the family was a man, and the other was matriarchy, where the mother had the highest authority and influence. Where there are no clearly defined family heads and where the situational distribution of power between father and mother prevails, it makes sense to talk about egalitarian families.
The modern family is characterized by a tendency to establish status equality between spouses in the family. In this regard, based on the nature of the distribution of family responsibilities and how the issue of leadership is resolved in the family, sociologists today distinguish three main types of families:
Traditional family. This type of family organization involves the existence of at least three generations under one roof, and the role of leader is assigned to the eldest man. A traditional family is characterized by: a) economic dependence of the wife on her husband; b) a functionally clear division of spheres of family life and the consolidation of women's and men's responsibilities; c) recognition of the unconditional priority of men in matters of family leadership.
Unconventional family. It retains traditional attitudes towards male leadership and the division of male and female family responsibilities, but unlike families of the first type, without sufficient objective economic grounds. Sociologists call this type of family exploitative.
Egalitarian family. A family of this type is characterized by: a) fair, proportional division of household responsibilities between family members, interchangeability of spouses in decisions everyday problems; b) discussing the main problems and jointly making decisions that are important for the family; emotional intensity of relationships.
There are also transitional types of families in which the role settings of men are more traditional in nature than their actual behavior, or, conversely, with democratic role settings, men participate little in housekeeping. A.I. writes on the problems of family studies. Antonov and V.M. Medkov (Sociology of the family. - M.: Publishing house of Moscow State University: Publishing house of the International University of Business and Management (“Brothers Karich”), 1996. – P. 21-36), A.I. Kravchenko (Sociology: Textbook. - M.: Prospekt Publishing House,
The following functions should be highlighted:
1. Reproductive function. One of the main tasks of any society is the reproduction of new generations of its members. At the same time, it is important that children are physically and mentally healthy and subsequently have the ability to learn and socialize. At the same time, an important condition for the existence of society is the regulation of the birth rate, the avoidance of demographic declines or, conversely, explosions. The family is the main institution responsible for the reproduction of new members of society. Other ways are ineffective and, as a rule, socially frowned upon.
2. Educational function. For the normal, full development of a child, the family is vital, and it cannot be replaced by any other institutions or public institutions. It is in the family that the primary socialization of the individual takes place and the foundations for his formation as a personality are laid. The main way of family socialization is by children copying the behavior patterns of adult family members. Difficulties arise if the child is guided by unsuccessful patterns of parental behavior that conflict with what the child sees in other families.
3. Sexual function. The family is the main social institution through which society organizes, directs and regulates the natural sexual needs of people. At the same time, almost every society has alternative ways to satisfy sexual needs. Despite the fact that there are certain norms of marital fidelity, most societies easily forgive their violation.
4. Economic function. The management of a common household by family members, when they all work as one team, contributes to the formation of strong economic ties between them. The norms of family life include mandatory assistance and support for each family member if he or she experiences economic difficulties.
5. Function of joint leisure and spiritual communication. The numerous human needs include, in particular, intimate spiritual communication. Psychiatrists believe that the main cause of emotional and behavioral difficulties in communication and even physical illness is the lack of love, warmth and full communication in the primary group, and, above all, in the family. Because of its structure and qualities, the family serves as the most important source of emotional satisfaction.
6. Function of primary social control. The family provides the primary moral regulation of the behavior of family members, their duties and responsibilities, and support for the provision of social sanctions.
In addition to these specific family functions, nonspecific ones are also distinguished. They are associated with the accumulation and transfer of property, status, the organization of production and consumption, and concern for the health and well-being of family members. These functions reflect the historical nature of the connection between family and society, revealing a historically transient picture of how exactly the birth, maintenance and upbringing of children in the family occurs. Therefore, family changes are most noticeably revealed when comparing nonspecific functions at different historical stages: under new conditions they are modified, narrowed or expanded, implemented completely or partially, and even disappear altogether.
For example, the ongoing serious changes in society are associated with a decrease in the educational role of the family. The transition from a traditional type of family to a modern one, based on the equality of spouses, led to the loss of the unquestioned authority of men and a decrease in the consistency of the educational influences of parents. In a modern family, it is not uncommon for mother and father to have different, or even mutually exclusive, ideas about upbringing and how to live in general.
Sociologists have identified several fairly stable stereotypes of family education.
1. Child-centrism, i.e. an all-forgiving attitude towards children, a falsely understood love for them. In such families, children grow up spoiled and do not accept reasonable prohibitions and responsibilities, including duty to their parents. As a rule, they are fully served by older family members. This trend is most typical for those families in which one child is growing up and education is entrusted to grandparents, who protect their grandchildren from life’s difficulties. As a result, self-centered, infantile young people grow up who cannot and do not want to take responsibility.
2. Professionalism, i.e. the tendency of parents to refuse to raise their children under the pretext that this should be done by teachers and professional educators in kindergartens and schools. Such parents consider it their duty, first of all, to provide financially for their children. They usually resort to “educational” influences only when the child has done something wrong or “interferes” with them. Most often, their educational influences take the form of strict prohibition, scolding, and even corporal punishment. Thus, parents and children find themselves excluded from each other’s lives, the level of trust in their communication is minimal, and the range of problems discussed together is extremely narrow.
3. Pragmatism, i.e. education, the purpose of which is to develop in children “practicality”, the ability to “deftly manage their affairs”, and an orientation toward obtaining direct material gain. Obviously, there is a danger of strengthening the pragmatic tendency in education during the transition to market relations, when it is utilitarian behavior that is regarded at the level of ordinary consciousness as the most adequate to new conditions, as a survival strategy.
Family as a social group and social institution
Concept of family and marriage
A family is an association of people based on blood relationship, marriage or adoption, connected by a common life and mutual responsibility for raising children; family members often live in the same house (N. Smelser)
The basis of family relationships is marriage. Marriage- is a historically changing social form of relations between a woman and a man, through which society orders and sanctions them intimate life, establishes marital, parental and other related rights and obligations.
The history of a family is actually the history of humanity. The family is one of the most ancient social institutions.
In sociology, the family is considered both as a small social group and as a social institution.
| At the macro level, the Family as a social institution. As an institution, it satisfies the socially significant needs of society. As a social institution, the family is characterized by a set of social norms, sanctions and patterns of behavior that regulate relationships between spouses, parents, children and other relatives. | At the micro level, the Family as a small social group. As a small group it meets people's personal needs. As a small social group, a family can be defined as a community formed on the basis of marriage or consanguinity, the members of which are connected by a common life, mutual assistance and mutual moral responsibility of spouses for the health of children and their upbringing. |
| public consciousness in the field of marriage and family relations; patterns of family behavior; the effectiveness of the implementation of its main functions; | conditions of formation and stages of family development; family composition, dynamics of marital relations and the nature of the relationship between parents and children; role relationships in the family; distribution of power in the family; |
The family as a social institution cannot be opposed to a small group - it is a single organism.
Typology of marriage and family
Historical family types (according to L. Morgan)
Promiscuity- characteristic of the lowest level of savagery, when sexual relations between members of the ancestral community were not regulated by any norms.
consanguineous family- characterized by group marriage, and sexual intercourse is allowed only between those who belong to the same generation; kinship was determined through the maternal line.
Punalual family- blood relatives are excluded from sexual intercourse. This type of family is also characterized by group marriage. The principle of endogamy is replaced by exogamy: these are marriages between people belonging to the same generation, but to different clans. Within such a family, stable connections between one man and one woman are becoming increasingly common.
Syndiasmic family - one man lives with one woman, and polygamy remains the exclusive right of men. Marriage ties are easily dissolved, and then the children remain with the mother. Such a family made famous biological father and created conditions for the creation of a monogamous family and the emergence of private property.
Monogamous family- a connection between one man and one woman. The immediate reason for the emergence of a monogamous family was the desire to ensure the indisputability of paternity and the right of offspring to own family property.
| Criteria | Title (Murdoch: from 186 cultures) | definition | |
| By origin of the marriage partner | endogamy-33 cultures | marriage between representatives of the same group (clan, tribe, etc.); | |
| exogamy-70 cultures | marriage within a certain narrow group of people (for example, between relatives, members of the same tribe, etc.) is prohibited | ||
| Marriage group size | monogamy 40 | marriage of one man to one woman at one time: | |
| A) couples family- a type of monogamy | |||
| Polygamy: | a marriage that involves the presence of several partners in the marriage. | ||
| 3 forms of polygamous marriage | |||
| 1) polygyny - 145 (polygamy) | The most common among all forms of polygamous marriage exists in Muslim countries. | ||
| 2) polyandry (polyandry) - 2 | a rare form, occurs in the southern states of India, in Tibet; | ||
| 3) group marriage | when several men and several women are simultaneously in a marital relationship (today this form is preserved only in the Marquesas Islands) | ||
| Place of residence of the spouses | Patrilocal - 101 | spouses live in the husband's family; | |
| Matrilocal - 24 | the spouses live with the wife's parents; | ||
| neolocal -13 | spouses live separately from their parents. | ||
| From the time of. forms of marriage Modern. forms of marriage | Open marriage | ||
| Trial marriage | temporary residence of partners. When they decide to have children, a legal marriage is formalized. According to Margaret Mead's definition. - this is a “two-step marriage” | ||
| Godwin marriage (“visit marriage”, “guest marriage”) | separation of spouses, lack of a common household and everyday life. (The extra-family form of monogamous marriage was first described in the 18th century by W. Godwin.) | ||
| Concubinatus (Latin / Concubinatus - in Roman law, the actual cohabitation of a man and a woman with the intention of establishing a marriage relationship). | stable connection married man and a formally unmarried concubine woman who has children recognized by him and material support. Polygyny option; | ||
| Open marriage | recognition of the right of spouses to an independent lifestyle, including extramarital sex; |
i. Family functions:
2) reproductive, i.e. biological reproduction of the population - at the social level and satisfaction of the need for children - at the personal level.
3) educational – primary socialization of children, their upbringing, maintenance of the reproduction of cultural values;
4) household – housekeeping, caring for children and elderly family members;
5) economic – financial support for minors and disabled family members;
6) function of primary social control – regulation of moral responsibility in relations between family members;
7) spiritual and moral – development of the personality of each family member;
8) social status – providing a certain social status to family members, reproduction of the social structure;
9) leisure – organization of rational leisure, mutual enrichment of interests;
10) emotional – provision of psychological support by family members.
Related information.
A family is a social group within which there is a certain connection. This could be by blood, marriage or adoption. All its members have a common budget, everyday life, presence and responsibility for each other. There are also between them, which lead to biological connections, rules of law, responsibility, etc. The family is the most important social institution. Many experts are concerned about this topic, so they diligently research it. Later in the article we will consider this definition in more detail, we will find out the functions and goals outlined by the state in front of the “unit of society”. The classification and characteristics of the main types will also be given below. Let us also consider the basic elements of family and group in society.
Divorces. Statistical data
A family is a small social group connected by many factors, for example, marriage. But, unfortunately, in our time, according to statistics, the number of divorces is steadily growing, and Russia has recently taken a leading place in this list. Previously, it was always overtaken by the United States. Although, of course, many new unions are being created. Every year 2 million marriages are registered in our country.
Needs of humanity
The family as a social group and social institution arose a long time ago, before religion, the army, or the state. Another American Abraham Maslow, who diligently studied psychology, created a model that shows what exactly a person desires in the first place. The concept of family as a social group includes:
1. Sexual and physiological needs.
2. Confidence in the safety of existence.
3. Communication with other people.
4. Needs to be recognized as an individual in society.
5. Self-realization.
Thanks to the combination of these needs, the entire family structure is formed. There are several categories of it. Based on the number of children, families are divided into childless, small and large families. There is a classification according to how long the spouses have lived together: newlyweds, middle-aged couples, elderly couples. There are also rural and urban, authoritarian and egalitarian families (based on who is the head of the family).
Historical facts
The family, as the most important social institution, creates the history of all mankind. After all, even in ancient times there were groups of people who were united by something in common. By the way, there are still some primitive societies, for example, among the peoples of the North or the tribes of Central Africa, where the institution of marriage is almost the only one that functions stably. There are no specific laws, the police and the court are not responsible. But any such unions, nevertheless, have a social group. For example, which includes a husband, wife and their children. If there are still relatives - grandparents, grandchildren, cousins, etc. - then this will already be an extended family. But unfortunately, nowadays, most people do not really keep in touch with other relatives, so the nuclear family is a social institution that is more common today. Which is very bad, because in any life circumstances one could get help from relatives, if one does not forget that they exist.
Forms of marriage
The concept of family as a social group includes the traditional concept. It all starts with a relationship between a man and a woman, which develops into something more. And it doesn’t matter whether this union has children or not, they can unite their destinies together. Subsequently, it may break up as a result of divorce or the death of one of the spouses. Such a family, in which a child is raised by one parent, is called incomplete in the sociological literature. There is also such a thing as exogamy. It lies in the fact that the choice of a partner is limited to a specific group of people.
After all, for example, it is forbidden to marry, according to legal and moral norms, own brother- a relative or cousin. Some societies prohibit the choice of a future spouse within one's clan or tribe. It also happens that a union is impossible between persons of different races and different strata of society. More popular in the West is monogamy, which involves marriage between two people of the opposite sex. Although there are peoples who prefer polygamy (a union where there is more than one person in a marriage). There are even non-standard relationships when several girls and several men unite into a family. And it also happens that one woman has several husbands. This phenomenon is called polyandry. But among non-standard marriages, polygamy is the most popular. Thus, the family, as the most important social institution, must comply with the laws adopted where it was formed.
Prevalence of divorces, their causes
Sociologists have noticed that since 1970, the number of divorces began to increase, and now they are so common that, according to statistics, half of Russians who form families will certainly get divorced after some time. By the way, it has been proven that when there is an economic downturn in a country, the number of divorces increases, and when there is calm in the economy, then there are fewer of them. Probably, if a person feels the financial stability that gives him and other factors return to normal, he feels satisfied. The family as a social group and social institution directly depends on society and its instability. Many countries try to prevent divorce by making it almost impossible, or give privileges to one of the spouses. For example, in Italy until the twentieth century. the task of dissolving the marriage was impossible. Only later did the government take pity on those whose unions were unsuccessful and allowed divorces. But in most countries, if a husband leaves his wife, then he must provide for her life at the level at which she was during the marriage. In this case, the man loses his financial condition. In Russia, people share property. If children stay with their mother (this is mostly what happens), then the father must provide for them financially. There are many different nuances in the legislation of each country.
Human characteristics
In one country or another, a social institution - the family (whose functions are supported by marriage) - acquires special features, its own nature. It has been scientifically proven that not any creature, but only people can conceive a child at their desired period. After all, many animals reproduce only at a certain time, but a person does not have such restrictions; intimacy between a woman and a man can occur on any day. Another difference is that a newborn baby is in a helpless state for a long time. He needs care and concern, which his mother can give, and his father, in turn, must provide for him economically, namely, give him everything he needs: food, clothing, etc. Even in ancient times, when society was just beginning to develop , the mother looked after the baby, prepared food, and took care of her relatives. At the same time, the father, in turn, provided them with protection and food. A man has always been a hunter, a breadwinner, and did hard work. People of opposite sexes entered into relationships, offspring developed, and children appeared. No one carried out the tasks of the other, this was considered wrong, because everyone had their own responsibilities. This is inherent in the human body by nature and is passed on genetically from generation to generation.
Heir Advantage
As for agriculture and production, we can say that the family plays a very important role here. Thanks to continuity, material resources appeared. All property was transferred to the heir, thus, parents were confident in the state of the future of their children, among whom property, status, and privileges were subsequently distributed and redistributed. This, one might say, is the replacement of some people in a certain place by others, and this chain will never stop. The family is the main social institution that performs this function, determines the advantages of generations, the role of father and mother. After all, everything that parents had was passed on to their children. This ensured not only the heirs’ confidence in the future, but also the continuation of one or another production. And this is important for the whole society, because without a mechanism that will always replace some people with others, it will not exist. On the other hand, for example, some important production for the city will not be lost, because it will be taken over by the heir when his father is no longer able to manage the business or dies.
Status
A child receives a stable position when born into a legal family. Everything that the parents have will be passed on to him as an inheritance, but moreover, this also applies to social status, religion, etc. None of this will be lost, everything will go to the heir. In general, human relationships are structured in such a way that one can find out the relatives of a particular person, her condition, and status. The family is a social institution that shows a person’s position in society, largely determined by his origin. Although in the modern world you can earn some kind of status through your own efforts. For example, a father, working in some company in an important position, will not be able to inherit it to his son. In order for the latter to receive it, he must achieve it himself. But a lot of things that are transferable have also been preserved: property (after all, inheritance can be passed on), the social status of an individual, etc. Each country dictates its own rules, so different nations have different laws that relate to marriage, divorce, and inheritance. But in general, the family is a social institution of society, which has its own rules and nuances.
The importance of proper parenting
From childhood, the mother teaches the child lessons in social life, he learns from the examples of his parents to live on. It is very important to provide a good emotional life for your offspring, because in this case there is a direct connection: how he is raised in the family, so he will be in life. Of course, a person’s character depends on genes, but family upbringing also makes a big contribution to it. Much depends on the feelings and mood that the father or mother gives. It is the close people who must prevent the emergence of aggressive qualities in a developing teenager, give him a sense of security, and share his emotions.
From birth, a person is formed as a person, because with every minute he lives, he learns something new, feels something that he has never felt before. All this leaves an imprint on the future character, on individuality. They say that, for example, what kind of relationship between father and mother their son will observe, this is how he will treat women in the future, what feelings his parents will give him, the same way he will treat those around him.
Suicides due to relationships that didn't work out
E. Durkheim studied statistics regarding suicide. And it has been observed that those who are single or divorced are more likely to commit suicide than those who are married, as are those who do not have children, although they are married. This means that the happier the spouses, the less likely they are to attempt suicide. According to statistics, 30% of murders are committed within the family. Sometimes even a social system can upset the balance of a social unit.
How to save a relationship?
Many spouses make a plan of sorts. The family as a social group in this case receives certain tasks and goals. Together we find ways to achieve them. Spouses must preserve their hearth and provide for their children good upbringing and living conditions, from childhood to direct the child’s development in the right direction. These foundations of the family structure, laid down in ancient generations, still exist. The problems of the family as a social institution should be considered by all relatives. Together they must preserve and pass on to their heirs ideas about the fundamentals of the structure of society, which so influence the preservation of the family, regardless of political regimes. The family is an intermediary between the individual and society. It is she who helps a person find himself in this world, realize his qualities and talents, gives him protection, helps him stand out from the crowd, and be individual. This is the most important task of the family. And if she doesn’t do all this, then she won’t fulfill her functions. A person who does not have a family will feel more and more his own inferiority with each passing year. At the same time, he may appear and develop some negative qualities. These are very important nuances that you should pay attention to when raising a child. After all, the formation of his personality begins from the first days.
Development of the individuality of each person
The family as a social group and social institution plays an important role. After all, it is she who raises an individual who can live in society. On the other hand, it protects from external factors and supports in difficult times. No one in the world worries or worries about anyone as much as he does about his relative. And, without hesitation, he helps loved ones. It is in the family that one can find comfort, sympathy, consolation, and protection. When this institution falls apart, a person loses the support he had before.
Meaning
The family is a small social group, but it is very important for the whole society. With changes in politics and economics, its structures and functions also change. The emergence of a modernized, urbanized and industrial society had a huge impact on the modern unit of society. The level of mobility of its members began to increase. In other words, situations have become commonplace when one of the family members has to move to another city, where he was offered a job or promotion, leaving his relatives. And since the majority of members of modern society give preference to material well-being, success, and career growth, the proposed options are no longer considered unacceptable for them. And if this happens, then, from a social point of view, in this case the internal relationships of family members also change, because the social status of one of them changes, his financial situation, his views, aspirations. All this leads to the fact that the ties that bind relatives gradually become weak, and then disappear altogether.
Conclusion
Nowadays, especially for city residents, it is increasingly difficult to maintain connections between generations. By and large, the structure is extremely weakened. Basically, all the care of its members is aimed only at caring for children, their treatment and education. Other relatives - especially older ones - are often left behind. Misunderstandings and material instability that arise on this basis contribute to the destruction of relationships between a man and a woman, the emergence of quarrels, and often even lead to separation. Problems of spiritual intimacy between spouses are important, but more important are those issues that need to be resolved with all family members. The family as a social group and social institution will function and achieve success only when each of its members understands that his achievements, his merits influence it, and the origin of the individual and his social position play a very small role. Now personal merit has an undeniable advantage over obligations. After all, with their help a person will decide where to live and what to do. Unfortunately, the nuclear system is more vulnerable and dependent on external factors (illness, death, financial losses) than the patriarchal system, in which everyone supports each other, helps each other, and if any problem happens, everyone can solve it together. Today, all actions and thoughts of our state and society are aimed at creating conditions for the harmonious development of the family in Russia, at preserving its spiritual value, socio-cultural character, and connections between relatives.
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Family - This is an association of people based on blood relationship, marriage or adoption, connected by a common life and mutual responsibility for raising children.
The main characteristics of a family are:
Marriage, blood or adoption ties.
General accommodation.
General family budget and household.
Typically, the “nucleus” of a family is considered to be a married couple, and all statistical classifications of family composition are based on the addition of children, relatives, and parents-in-law to the “core.”
A family, as a rule, is a more complex system of relationships than a marriage, since it can unite not only spouses, but also their children, as well as other relatives. Therefore, the family should be considered not just as a marriage group, but as a social institution.
The family is considered as a small social group in cases where the relationships between the individuals who form the family are studied. This approach allows us to determine the motives and causes of divorce, the dynamics of family relationships, and the nature of the connections between parents and children. These are problems of interpersonal interaction.
As a social institution, the family is analyzed in cases where it is necessary to find out to what extent the family’s way of life and its functioning meets the interests of society.
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All over the world, families grow out of marriage, a formalized and apparently lasting relationship, usually involving economic cooperation as well as sexual relations and child-rearing, that people are expected to maintain. Our culture's notion that marriage is a legitimate condition for procreation explains the emergence of the expression illegitimate children, which referred to children born out of wedlock. Moreover, the Latin word matrimonium (“marriage, matrimony”) literally means “conditions for motherhood.” But as the number of children born to unmarried women grew (now about 33%), the connection between marriage, birth and upbringing weakened.
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The family is a social institution, represented in all societies, that unites people into groups so that they can raise and raise children together.
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The family as a social institution goes through a number of stages, the sequence of which forms the family cycle or family life cycle. Researchers identify a different number of phases of this cycle, but the main ones are the following: 1) marriage - formation of a family; 2) the beginning of childbearing - the birth of the first child; 3) the end of childbearing - birth last child; 4) “empty nest” - marriage and separation of the last child from the family; 5) cessation of the existence of a family - the death of one of the spouses. At each stage, the family has specific social and economic characteristics.
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The family as a social institution arose with the formation of society. The family is one of the most ancient social institutions. It arose much earlier than religion, the state, the army, education, and the market.
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The process of family formation and functioning is determined by value-normative regulators. Such, for example, as courtship, choosing a marriage partner, sexual standards of behavior, norms that guide wife and husband, parents and children, etc., as well as sanctions for non-compliance. These values, norms and sanctions represent the historically changing form of relations between a man and a woman accepted in a given society, through which they regulate and sanction their sexual lives and establish their marital, parental and other kinship rights and responsibilities.
At the first stages of the development of society, relations between men and women, older and younger generations were regulated by tribal and clan customs, which were syncretic norms and patterns of behavior based on religious and moral ideas. With the emergence of the state, the regulation of family life acquired a legal character. Legal registration of marriage imposed certain obligations not only on the spouses, but also on the state sanctioning their union. From now on, social control and sanctions were carried out not only public opinion, but also government agencies.
To understand the family as a social institution great importance has an analysis of role relationships in the family. Family role is one of the types of social roles of a person in society. Family roles are determined by the place and functions of the individual in the family group. They are divided into marital (wife, husband), parental (mother, father), children's (son, daughter, brother, sister), intergenerational and intragenerational roles (grandfather, grandmother, elder, junior, middle), etc.
Role relationships in the family, formed when performing certain functions, can be characterized by role agreement or role conflict. Sociologists note that role conflict most often manifests itself as: 1) conflict of role images, which is associated with their incorrect formation in one or more family members; 2) inter-role conflict, in which the contradiction lies in the opposition of role expectations emanating from different roles. Conflicts of this kind are often observed in multi-generational families, where second-generation spouses are both children and parents and must accordingly combine opposing roles; 3) intra-role conflict, in which one role includes conflicting demands. In a modern family, problems of this kind are most often inherent in the female role. This applies to cases where the role of a woman involves a combination of the traditional female role in the family (housewife, childcare provider, caring for family members, etc.) with a modern role that involves equal participation of spouses in providing the family with material resources.
The conflict can deepen if the wife occupies a higher status in the social or professional sphere and transfers the role functions of her status into intrafamily relationships.
In such cases, the ability of spouses to flexibly switch roles is very important. A special place among the prerequisites for role conflict is occupied by difficulties with the psychological development of a role associated with such characteristics of the spouses’ personalities as insufficient moral and emotional maturity, unpreparedness to perform marital and, in particular, parental roles. For example, a girl, having gotten married, does not want to shift the family’s economic concerns onto her shoulders, or, having given birth to a child, she tries to lead her old lifestyle, not subject to the restrictions that the role of a mother imposes on her, etc.
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In modern society, there is a process of weakening of the family as a social institution, a change in its social functions, and role family relationships. The family is losing its leading position in the socialization of individuals, in organizing leisure time and other important functions.
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Traditional roles, in which a woman ran a household, gave birth and raised children, and the husband was the owner, often the sole owner of property; and ensured the economic independence of the family, have changed. The vast majority of women in countries with Christian and Buddhist cultures began to participate in industrial and political activities , economic support for the family and take equal and sometimes leading participation in family decision-making. This significantly changed the nature of family functioning and entailed a number of positive and negative consequences for society. On the one hand, it contributed to the growth of women’s self-awareness and equality in marital relations, on the other hand, it aggravated the conflict situation and influenced demographic behavior, leading to a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in the mortality rate.
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There is a breakdown in the traditional parent-child relationship. The family has ceased to be the main environment for the inclusion of the younger generation in professional and cultural traditions. A decreasing role of family education and a sharp increase in the socializing function of public institutions - children's educational institutions, schools, universities, and the media - are becoming a general phenomenon.
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The changes, reflected in a sharp increase in life expectancy in combination with low birth rates, have reduced the time children and parents live together. A hundred years ago, a husband and wife lived on average only 1.5 years without children, but now it is about 20 years. Modern spouses spend only 18% of their married life, versus 54% in the past, on raising children.
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The family as a social institution has undergone the most significant changes among those peoples who have achieved the highest standard of living.
According to sociologist David Popino, Sweden has the most fragile families. According to the US Census Bureau in 2000, there were 105.5 million households in the country, and only 71.8 million (68%) of them were “families.” The rest are single people or lived together, not related or marriage ties People. In 1960, 85% of households fell under the traditional definition of family.
Sweden has managed to avoid many of the same social problems that plague US citizens. Swedish cities have low levels of crime, drug addiction and poverty, which have become a real disaster for all American cities - from New York to Los Angeles. One gets the impression that this Scandinavian state has realized the capabilities of a modern welfare state with an extensive network of professional government agencies capable of satisfying almost all the needs of citizens.
But one downside to the sprawling welfare state, according to David Popino, is that Sweden has the most fragile families in the world.
Since the Swedes are pinning their hopes on financial assistance not so much with their spouses, but with the state; they are not very willing to marry, unlike citizens of other countries with high incomes. For the same reason, Sweden has a large proportion of adults living alone (more than 20%, about the same as in the United States). Moreover, the proportion of unmarried couples living together is also large (25 versus 10% in the USA), and 50% of all Swedish children were born to those whose marriage is not officially registered (in the USA such children are about 33%). In Sweden the average household size is 2.2 people, and in the USA it is 2.6. And one last thing. Swedish couples (married and unmarried) have a higher tendency to break up than those in other countries. According to Popino, “the Swedish family is perhaps the most fragile - if not in the world, then certainly among developed European countries, and family members are the most autonomous and least connected to the group as a whole. Popino argues that the destruction of Swedish families began in the 1960s, along with the rise of an individualistic, self-fulfilling culture and the decline of the church. The increase in the number of working women also played a role. Today, Sweden has the lowest percentage of housewives (10%, compared to 22 in the US) and the highest percentage of working women (77%, compared to 60 in the US). However, Popino considers the expansion of the welfare state to be the most important factor. The Swedish government cares for its citizens throughout their lives. Swedes have the right to count on the fact that the government will help them raise and educate their children, provide them with decent medical care, support them after retirement, and when the day comes, pay for their funeral.
Many Swedes supported strengthening the welfare state, believing it would strengthen families. But now, according to Popino, it is clear that by expanding the range of benefits provided, the government was actually replacing the family. Take, for example, child welfare: the Swedish government operates community-based early childhood education centers, staffed by professionals and accessible to parents of all income levels. However, at the same time, the government does not provide any financial assistance to those parents who want to raise their children at home. In other words, the benefits provided act as incentives that encourage people to farm out to the state what in former times family members did for themselves. But if the Swedish model of the state has solved many social problems, is it worth worrying about the destruction of the family at all? According to Popino, it is worth it. For two reasons. Firstly, the government requires a lot of money to perform all these “family functions”, as a result of which Sweden has the highest taxes in the world.
Secondly, are government-paid employees of large child care institutions able to give children the love and sense of spiritual comfort that parents provide? That's unlikely, Popino says, pointing out that small groups of closely knit people are better at some purely humanitarian tasks than large organizations.
The conclusion that the author came to is obvious: when it comes to delegating family powers to the state, the Swedes have gone too far. But at the same time he asks the question: have the Americans moved far enough in this direction? After the birth of a child, a Swede has the right to count on a vacation of up to 1.5 years, while he retains 90% of average earnings. In the United States, under the Family Leave Act, a working person can only count on 90 days of unpaid leave to care for a newborn child or a sick family member. Should our society follow the example of the Swedes? Will families become stronger or, on the contrary, will family ties weaken if there is hope that the state will help working parents raise their children?
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Thus, internal communications in the family are viewed through the prism of concepts that characterize it as a small group. External Relations families and society characterize it as a social institution.
Currently, research on the family as a group rather than as an institution predominates.
