Functions of the family and its life cycle
The family is the main community of people. Its members are in interaction with each other, in other words, they are connected by the bonds of marriage. As a result, population reproduction occurs within the family, as well as the process of socialization of children.
The most significant functions of the family are the following:
- Reproductive. Its essence is the reproduction of life.
- Economic. This includes the process of social production of the means of life, the restoration of forces that were spent in production.
- Educational. Within its framework, the process of development of the child’s personality takes place, the implementation of education by the family team.
In addition to the above, modern family functions can be supplemented with the following: economic, household, social, status, sexual, and the area of primary social control.
The family life cycle contains seven stages:
- at the first stage, the future spouses meet;
- the process of conception and birth of a child, which evokes a completely different sense of responsibility, different social roles. This stage is completely associated with enormous tension and great emotional stress. As a result, some unions, most unions may crack after the birth of the first child;
- the child goes to school, as a result of which he becomes a member of the first social institutions. In this case, the school is a kind of test of the child’s primary socialization, and parents are subject to testing the quality of their parenting;
- onset in a teenage child. At this stage, the level of parental authority decreases and the importance of relationships in teenage groups increases. Along with this, parents have to change the style of their relationship with the child;
- children become adults, they finish their studies, the child is identified professionally. At this stage, the existing roles are practically exhausted;
- retirement, as well as the final adoption of the roles of grandparents;
- the final stage is the death of one of the spouses.
Social status and social functions
The main function of social status, its dynamic side, is the social role.
Social role is the behavior expected of a person that is associated with social status. This is a model of behavior that is aimed at a specific status in accordance with the expectations of others. Each specific status is assigned certain rights and responsibilities, the fulfillment of which entails patterned behavior. Therefore, a social role can be considered as a social status in its real implementation, as a status in motion.
Note 1
Social statuses are interconnected by social functions manifested through social relationships. Individuals performing their social roles enter into social interaction, represented by a regularly repeating process, which gradually turns into social relationships.
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Social functions are specialized actions of a subject that are necessary for other individuals. Each social status has its own social functions. Performing his diverse functions, the individual becomes necessary. Functional dependence between people during social interaction contributes to maintaining the stability of society as an integral structure.
The evolution of family functions in modern industrial society
In modern industrial society, the family has almost completely ceased to perform an economic function. At the same time, the flow of resources, namely money, into the family depends entirely on the activities of its adult members. The consequence of this was that the economic need for strict regulation of family relations disappeared. The vast majority of previously existing traditions and customs have ceased to be necessary.
In addition, the economic need to live in large “traditional” families has disappeared. The consequence of this was that the nuclear family became widespread.
A nuclear family is a family that consists only of spouses and their children. The transition to a nuclear family is denied by many, as they consider it a departure from tradition and a decline in morals.
At the same time, the need to have a large number of children disappeared. In a traditional society, children were needed primarily as working hands on the farm. At the same time, they were a kind of guarantee of procreation in conditions of very high infant mortality. Nowadays, the birth of children helps to increase the level of family income, and they also began to require additional funds for long-term education.
Thus, in modern industrial society, the economic function of the family has weakened quite significantly, but the sexual function (i.e., the monopoly of marriage on “legal” sex) and the function of raising children have been preserved (although the number of children has decreased). The distribution of roles was also preserved: the husband was still seen as the main “breadwinner”, and the wife’s main occupation was raising children.
Family as a social institution. Basic functions of the family
Abstract on the topic
Family as a social institution. Basic functions of the family
The family is a social institution of society. At the same time, the family acts as a cohesive and stable unit of society. Throughout his life, a person is part of different groups: a group of peers or friends, a school class, a work team or a sports team, but only the family remains the group that he never leaves.
Family is an integral part of society. No civilized society can do without a family. For every person, family is the beginning of personal happiness. Every person associates the concept of happiness, first of all, with family: happy is the one who is happy in his home. But why do people live in families? This question and many others related to this concept concern many. Is family a private matter for everyone or is it somehow connected with society? Has the family always existed? Will the family survive in the future? Will the family survive the harsh tests that our society is going through today?
Family problems are studied by a special field of sociology. Only in our country these issues were dealt with by E.K. Vasiliev, A.G. Vishnevsky, S.I. Golod, I.S. Cohn, M.S. Matskovsky, B.S. Pavlov, N.G. Yurkevich, A.G. Kharchev, V. G. Kharcheva and many others. And from foreign scientists one can single out such as I. Nye, I. Reis, V. Burr, R. Hill, M. Bekombo, A. Girard, L. Roussel, F. Michel and others.[5.]
2.Family as a social institution
«Social Institute
- this is a certain organization of social activity and social relations, carried out through a mutually agreed upon system of purposefully oriented standards of behavior, the emergence and grouping of which into a system is determined by the content of a specific task solved by a social institution.” [8]
This definition closely relates to the concept of family. After all, the family as a social institution is determined by social needs. Like all social institutions, it represents a system of actions and relationships necessary for the existence and development of society, with its own content and specific tasks.
“A family is a small social group whose members are united by marriage or consanguinity, a common life, mutual assistance, and mutual and moral responsibility.”[8]
The unity of social and biological heredity is most fully expressed through the family. And also the family is the primary link between nature and society, the material and spiritual aspects of people’s lives.
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Family functions
Family functions have two main sources of origin: the needs of society and the needs of the family organization itself.
Both of these factors change historically, so each stage in the development of a family is associated with the loss of some functions and the development of others. However, with all these changes, society at any stage of its development needs the reproduction of the population, therefore it is always interested in the family as a mechanism for this reproduction. [6.]
So, the family can be considered as a social institution, and as a family group performing a certain social task. The following main functions of the family can be identified that contribute to the implementation of this task:
Reproductive function
performs two main tasks: social - biological reproduction of the population, and individual - meeting the need for children. It is based on the satisfaction of physiological and sexual needs that encourage people of opposite sexes to unite in a family union. The fulfillment of this function by the family depends on the entirety of social relations. In recent years, this function has attracted everyone's attention: How many children should a modern family have? Sociologists note that for normal reproduction of the population, a family must have three children.
Both adults and children are raised in the family. Its influence on the younger generation is especially important. Therefore, the educational function
family has three aspects. [5.]
The first is the formation of the child’s personality, the development of his abilities and interests, the transmission to children by adult family members (mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, etc.) of the social experience accumulated by society, the enrichment of their intellect, aesthetic development, the promotion of their
physical improvement, health promotion and development of sanitary and hygienic skills.
The second aspect is that the family has a huge impact on the development of the personality of each of its members throughout his life.
The third aspect is the constant influence of children on parents (and other adult family members), encouraging them to actively engage in self-education.
Performing an economic function
, the family provides strong economic ties between its members, supports financially minor and disabled members of society, provides assistance and support to those family members who experience material and financial difficulties.
Restorative function
is aimed at restoring and strengthening a person’s physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual strength after a hard day’s work. In a normally functioning society, the implementation of this function of the family is facilitated by a reduction in the total length of the working week, an increase in free time, and an increase in real income.
Purpose of the regulatory function
is to regulate and streamline relations between the sexes, maintain the family organism in a stable state, ensure the optimal rhythm of its functioning and development, and exercise primary control over family members’ compliance with social norms of personal, group and public life. [2]
The family as a social community is the primary element that mediates the connection of the individual with society: it forms the child’s idea of social connections and includes him in them from birth. Hence the next most important function of the family is the socialization of the individual.
. The human need for children, their upbringing and socialization gives meaning to human life itself. This function facilitates children’s fulfillment of certain social roles in society and their integration into various social structures. This function is closely connected with the natural and social essence of the family as a reproducer of the human race, as well as with the economic function of the family, since the upbringing of children begins with their material support and care.
Sociologists have attached and continue to attach increasing importance to the communicative function
families. The following components of this function can be named: family mediation in the contact of its members with the media (television, radio, periodicals), with literature and art; the influence of the family on the diverse connections of its members with the natural environment and on the nature of its perception; organization of intra-family association.
Leisure function
carries out the organization of rational leisure and exercises control in the field of leisure, in addition, satisfies the specific needs of the individual in leisure activities. The leisure function is focused on optimizing the organization of free family time to meet the needs of family members for communication, increasing the level of culture, improving health, and restoring strength. In a happy family, there is a mutual enrichment of the interests of spouses and their children; leisure activities are predominantly developmental in nature.
Social status function
is associated with the reproduction of the social structure of society, as it provides (transfers) a certain social status to family members.
Emotional function
involves receiving emotional support, psychological protection, as well as emotional stabilization of individuals and their psychological therapy.
Function of spiritual communication
involves the development of personalities of family members, spiritual mutual enrichment.
Sexual function
family exercises sexual control and is aimed at satisfying the sexual needs of the spouses.[4.]
4.Conclusion
So, the family is one of the most ancient social institutions. It arose much earlier than religion, the state, the army, education, and the market. The family is the only and irreplaceable producer of the person himself, the continuation of the family. But, unfortunately, it performs this main function with glitches. And this depends not only on her, but also on society. The family arises from the need to satisfy the personal needs and interests of people. Being part of society, it connects them with public interests. Personal needs are organized on the basis of socially accepted norms, values, patterns of behavior, and it often happens that the unceremonious intervention of society in the life of a family destroys it and the lives of the people who make it up, leading it to a miserable existence. [5.]
There are many reasons that motivate people to unite in family groups to create stable connections and interactions, but the basis is primarily human needs. Scientifically speaking, the spiritual, physiological and sexual needs of a man and a woman encourage them to unite for the joint implementation of goals: reproduction of the human race, creation of material conditions of existence - housing, clothing, food; satisfying the need for children, the biological dependence of children on their parents, the need for intimacy. Can't a person satisfy this need outside the family? Of course it can. But isn’t the experience of our ancestors instructive? Turning our gaze to the past, we realize that society as a whole, and therefore the people who make it up, are interested in ensuring that these biological needs are fulfilled within the family. Only by identifying these specific features in the fulfillment of human needs in a family environment can one understand the essence of the family as a social institution, and at the same time the origins of the family’s vitality, its vitality, and its attractiveness to humans.
The strength and attractiveness of the family, its essence lies in the integrity that is inherent in the family and social community, both as a small social group and as a social institution. The integrity of the family is formed due to the mutual attraction and complementarity of the sexes, creating a single “androgenic being”, a kind of integrity that cannot be reduced either to the sum of family members or to an individual family member. [7.]
5.References
1. Grebennikov I.V. Fundamentals of family life: a textbook for students of pedagogical institutes. — M.: Enlightenment,
2. Kasyanov V.V. Sociology: Examination answers. Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”, — Series “Taking the exam”.
3. Kravchenko A.I. General sociology: Textbook. manual for universities. — M.: UNITY-DANA,
4. Fundamentals of Sociology: Textbook / Ed. ed. prof. M. V. Prokopova. - M.: RDL Publishing House.
5. Radugin A. A., Radugin K. A. Sociology: Course of lectures. — 3rd ed., supplemented and revised. - M.: Center,
6. Sociology: Textbook for universities / V. N. Lavrienko, N. A. Nartov, O. A. Shabanova, G. S. Lukasheva; Ed. prof. V. N. Lavrienko. — M.: Culture and Sports, UNITY,
7. Toshchenko Zh. T. Sociology. General course. — 2nd ed., add. and processed — M.: Prometheus: Yurayt-M,.
8. (Fundamentals of Sociology: Textbook / Under the general editorship of Prof. M. V. Prokopov. - M.: RDL Publishing House, 2001. - p. 128)
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Functions of social group and personal status position
There are two levels of status position:
- social group;
- personal.
Social group social position determines the social position of an individual as a representative of a large group - gender, stratum, class, race, nation, religion, profession, etc. Depends on the position of the social group in the stratification of society.
The personal status of an individual predetermines the position of the individual in a small social group (student group, school class, family, community of peers, etc.). It is characterized by the individual qualities of a person and depends on its perception by members of a small group.
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