Families

• Is a government Canadian organization established in 1965 to conduct research on the family

• They use a broad definition to reflect the diversity of families in Canada

Family: is defined as any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, and/or adoption/placement and who, together, assume responsibility for variant combinations of some of the following:

• Physical maintenance and care of a group members

• Addition of new members through procreation or adoption

• Socialization of children

• Procreation, consumption,and disruption of goods and services

• Affective and nurturance - love

The Function of the Family

1. Families are responsible for the addition of new members through reproduction/addition

• Maintain a stable population to survive

• Population growth provides a competitive advantage that usually enables a society to become wealth

2. Families provide physical care for their members

• Adults, children and the dependant elderly members

• When families are unable to care for these members, hardships will result unless the society is organized to replace the family in this function

3. Families socialize children by teaching skills, knowledge, values and attitudes of their society

• Learning these skills will allow children to develop the appropriate adult roles

4. Families are responsible for controlling their members to maintain order within the family and society (family monitors, evaluates the behaviour of individuals)

• This social control contributes to the socialization process and protects the families reputation 

5. Families maintain morals and motivate individuals to participate in society

• Spiritual sense of duty, economic necessity

• Affective Nurturance - meeting emotional needs

6. Families performing economic function of production and consuming good and services

• Historically, produce and consume what you need

• Presently, sell time, skills in an economy to earn an income to purchase good/services for their families

These six functions enable societies to survive and thrive. Form a useful framework for comparing the behaviours of families. Provide formation and organization of family units, how to perform these functions. Foundation to monitor how families have changed or varied over time.

When Social Scientist study individual and Families they examine: 

1. How persons are organized into families

2. The specific behaviours family members use to perform their roles within society

3. How society motivates individuals and families to carry out these responsibilities

Shirley Zimmerman (anthropological researcher on functional requisites) Professor of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota (1988), summarized basic and universal functions of the family.