Nuclear family

The term nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children, usually a father, mother, and children, from what is known as an extended family. According to Merriam-Webster the term dates back to 1947 and is therefore relatively new, although nuclear family structures themselves are not.Greif, Avner (2005). "Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origin and Implications of Western Corporatism"Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2006). "Types of marriages in the Bible, and today" Generally, the trend to shift from extended to nuclear family structures has been supported by increasing mobility and modernization.

Varying usages of the term

In its most common usage, the term "nuclear family" refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children (siblings).Merriam-Webster Online. "Definition of nuclear family" George Murdock also describes the term in this way:

The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.

Some also use the term to describe single-parent households and families in which the parents are a "non-conjugal" couple, as illustrated by a document written for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which states: 'Finally - although mainly affecting developed countries because of social acceptance legally, especially in Europe, - the increasing display of sexual orientation implies the emergence of same-sex couples, with or without children, in a new "same sex nuclear family" form.'Jelin, Elizabeth; Díaz-Muñoz, Ana Rita (2003). "Major trends affecting families: South America in perspective"

Contemporary perception

Contemporary society generally views family as a haven from the world supplying absolute fulfilment. The family as a haven encouraging “intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanising forces in modern society”Zinn, M. and Stanley Eitzen, D. (1987). Diversity in American Families. Harper and Row Publishers, New York The family is often referred to as a haven providing love and protection from the rough and tumble industrialised world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving mother and protection from the world can be expected from the father. However, the idea of protection is declining as civil society faces less internal conflict combined with increased civil rights and protection from the state. To many, the ideal of personal or family fulfilment has replaced protection as the major role of the family. The family now supplies what is “vitally needed but missing from other social arrangements”.Ibid., Zinn and Eitzen(1987) The family is perceived as the location for fun and intimacy delivering personal fulfilment.

Social conservatives often express concern over a purported decay of the family and see this as a sign of the crumbling of contemporary society. They feel that the family structures of the past were superior to those today and believe that families were more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. Others refute this theory, claiming “there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical past”. Ibid., Zinn (1987)

Distinctions between the extended and the nuclear family

Around the world, the structure of family norms are different. Ideas of what constitute a family changes based on culture, mobility, wealth, and tradition. In many cultures, the need to be self-supporting is hard to meet, particularly where rents/property values are very high, and the foundation of a new household can be an obstacle to nuclear family formation instead of extended family forms (or people remaining single while living longer with their parents).

Changes to family formation

Sociology studies families and their formation, attempting to detail the difference between families but sociology rarely attacks the nuclear family as a formation. Bittman asks why do sociologists promote the idea of the nuclear family when “so few have any practical attachment to a nuclear family?" The decline of the nuclear family is highlighted by:

Increase in sole occupancy dwellings and smaller family sizes
Average age of marriage being older
Average number of children decreasing and first birth at later age
The historical pattern of fertility. From baby boom to baby bust (instability)
The ageing population. The trend towards greater life expectancy.
Rising divorce rates and people who will never marry.Ibid., Bittman (1997)

However, current research in the United States shows that the nuclear family is more prominent than any other alternative at 73% of all households in the 2000 United States Census. Blankenhorn, David (2002). "The Reappearing Nuclear Family"

Divorce

The number of single parent families in society is challenging the idea of the nuclear family. Divorce has given rise to different living arrangements for parents and children. These post-nuclear families have been described as “broken because the marriage bond has been broken” Ibid., Whitehead (1996) Society assumes these families can only be fixed through another marriage, and the single parent status is only temporary and can be overcome.

External links

References

Family | Social psychology | Human development | Living arrangements

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