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The family as a social institution: the main types and functions of the family. Family and marriage. Family as a social institution

Genealogy defines a family as a community of blood relatives and people associated as a result of marriage. And modern Russian law understands this term as a group of people united by personal obligations and rights that are the result of marriage, kinship or guardianship.

It has the following characteristics:

  • Organizes everyday life. This type of community means that partners have a common budget, everyday relationships and responsibility.
  • It is based on marriage, which is a form of interaction between husband and wife, defines the rights and responsibilities of spouses in parenting, financial and other spheres, and regulates their intimate life.
  • She is a small social group.
  • Describes the relationship of partners with relatives and children. Since, in addition to union, the basis of such a community is kinship and guardianship.

Sociology considers the concept of the family from two positions at once: as a social institution and as a small group. The first is responsible for meeting the needs of society, and the second is responsible for meeting the needs of each member of the group.

The purpose of such an association from the point of view of public interests is the reproduction of the population. But in addition to realizing the social and personal need for procreation, such groups also perform other functions:

  • Economic and economic. The spouses run a common household, jointly provide for their dependent family members and look after elderly relatives and children.
  • Educational. Within the framework of the community, the upbringing of children, their initial socialization and the transfer of cultural and personal values ​​to them are carried out.
  • Production. In modern society, this function has lost its significance, since production activities are now removed from the framework of this association.
  • Leisure organization. This function is of particular importance, since now the family is becoming the main vacation spot.
  • Emotional. This includes building comfortable relationships within the group, mutual enrichment of interests, and psychological assistance within the group.
  • Social control. Relatives ensure the fulfillment of certain social norms, including by those who, for some reason, do not have the ability to independently take into account the rules adopted in society.
  • Other.

It is believed that the family passes on the most valuable experience accumulated by older generations. But it must be borne in mind that the transfer is not limited only to information approved by the society, since the process of selection, assimilation and processing of this information is carried out based on the interests of specific people. Within the framework of this community, bad habits, such as alcohol dependence, smoking, immorality, etc., can be laid as value guidelines.

Reproduction of the population is one of the most important functions of the family as a social institution. The need to have children corresponds to instincts and is useful to society. But at the same time, the implementation of this role leads to an increase in the pathological burden. According to statistics, women with higher education give birth less often than those who have only primary education. This means that children are more often born to parents with an unstable financial situation and less prepared for the need to raise a child. The time that a woman spends on caring for a small child, doing household chores and chores slows down the realization of her ability in the professional sphere.

The specifics of the family as a social institution

It has a stable structure. This community is a self-regulating system in which all participants themselves form a culture of communication, develop common life values. During this process, conflicts and contradictions can arise, the resolution of which is achieved as a result of mutual concessions and agreements. These measures to establish interaction are produced at the expense of the internal culture of people, their moral and maturity and contributes to their personal development.

The next feature is its connection with other institutions: state, culture, religion, education, public opinion, etc. Since this form of community is legalized by society, it is regulated by the norms of law and morality, as well as sanctions aimed at maintaining it.

Family development as a social institution

The following stages of this process are usually distinguished:

  • Premarital.
  • Union creation.
  • Becoming.
  • Beginning and ending of childbirth.
  • Parenting.
  • Separation of the last child from the family.
  • Breakup due to the death of a spouse or divorce.

Each of these periods has its own social and economic characteristics.

Types and forms of family and marriage relations

At different stages of economic and social development, as well as in the presence of special cultural, religious and ethnic conditions, marriage takes different forms.

A family usually refers to a couple with or without one or more children. Or a similar couple in the past, who broke up due to a divorce or the death of one of the spouses. In this case, the group of husband or wife and children is called "incomplete".

By their type, relationships are divided into:

  • Nuclear. The community consists only of husband, wife and dependent children.
  • Extended or patriarchal. In this case, representatives of other generations of the family are also included in the group: grandfathers, grandmothers, grandchildren, cousins, etc.

For a society that has retained the traditional distribution of roles, the extended type is more characteristic. And modern society is more inclined towards nuclear relationships.

In terms of form, a marriage can be:

  • Monogamous. A couple enters the union - one man and one woman.
  • Polygamous. In the second case, there are more than two partners in a relationship. Most of these relationships are found in traditional societies, and are associated with religious or economic reasons.

In certain countries, you can find examples of a rare form of polygamy - group marriage, in which several men and women participate in the same union. For example, Eastern countries are characterized by polygyny - polygamy, in which one man has several wives. But there are cultures in which polyandry is found. In this case, the family has one wife and several husbands.

Historically, according to the distribution of power, family relations are divided into:

  • Matriarchy - women have the right to make fundamental decisions.
  • Patriarchy - the main power belongs to men.
  • Democratic family. Partners are equally capable of ensuring family life and are equal in status.

According to the principle of choosing partners, there are the following forms of marriage:

  • Endogamy. The spouses were chosen from members of the same clan, tribe or group.
  • Exogamy. In this case, relations within a narrow circle are excluded: family, tribe, clan, etc. In civilized countries, due to the danger of degeneration and the appearance of hereditary diseases, alliances between relatives are prohibited.

Also, these associations can be classified in terms of her residence, the type of raising children, a person's place in the family, the number of children and many other factors.

Problems of the modern family as a social institution

From the point of view of fulfilling its main purpose as a social institution, the family has the following difficulties:

  • A large number of divorces, low reproductive and educational ability leads to the fact that modern marriage relations do not meet the basic needs of society.
  • Industrial, technical and social progress has led to the emergence of contradictions between professional and traditional family male and female roles, which in turn reduced the cohesion of the community of this type as a group.
  • Traditional marriage unions have lost their prestige for young people.

Changes in society have led to the emergence of a large number of atypical families:

  • Maternal, in which women decide to have a child out of wedlock or serious relationship.
  • Incomplete. This type is formed as a result of divorce.
  • Youth, in which partners live together, but do not formalize their union. And they marry only after discovering the desired pregnancy. However, not all relationships end in marriage.
  • Cohabitation in which a married man lives and has a child in common with an unmarried woman.
  • "Godwin-marriages" in which the spouses live, own property and run the household separately.

Families with only one child, singles who refuse any relationship, and trial marriages are also common. There are two main reasons for these changes:

  • Strengthening the economic independence of women, as well as substantial state material assistance to single mothers and the elderly, which allows the elderly to live separately from their children, and removes the dependence of women on the man's breadwinner.
  • Democratization, giving equal rights to people of any gender and age. Thus, a woman can herself decide the question of the need for a marital relationship with a man.

Side reasons leading to such a large number of divorces include the lack of a religious and state basis for marriage, as well as the development of medicine and contraception, which make it possible to regulate the birth rate.

There are many predictions about the future of the family, both positive and negative. But even with regard to the general direction of changes, serious researchers do not look far in due to the lack of statistical information. But there is an assumption that this community is now evolving into a new form. It is assumed that in this type of marriage, the relationship will be built as a union between equal individuals.

And now in modern society the following trends are observed:

  • The democratic (egalitarian) type of relations has become widespread.
  • The transition from patriarchal forms to nuclear groups began.
  • The rights and obligations of the spouses are not clearly stated.
  • The functions of the family have changed.
  • The number of children has decreased.
  • The overall growth in marriages has decreased and the number of divorces, single people or living in a trial marriage has increased.

It is the most important in public relations. Sociologists, psychologists, sexologists and many others are engaged in its study. This biased attention is no coincidence. The family, as is one of the important carriers of the principles of culture and personality education, which are already traditional and passed down from generation to generation. A person receives initial education in the family. There he is also taught behavioral skills, educated.

Each specific society has its own concepts and lives. Therefore, the people who make up this community form the opinion that their foundations are the most correct.

Family as a social institution , is so important to society that it makes no sense to consider a particular type as the main one. The roots of family relationships lie deep in antiquity. It was then that the emergence of this institution began.

The typology of the family includes types that differ depending on the form of its organization and on the family ties of its members.

One of the main types is the combination: husband, wife and children. This is the classic version that is presented to everyone at the mention of the word. This type is called conjugal. It is based on the marriage relationship of two people who are not related by kinship.

The second type is a kindred family. It is based on consanguinity. Usually these are numerous relatives representing the clan, which includes brothers and sisters, their husbands and wives, children, aunts, uncles, etc.

The family, as a social institution, exists in these two forms, but their significance is not the same. Usually a kindred is necessary for celebrations, communication and maintaining family ties. The conjugal type is of great importance. In this case, the role of the family in a person's life is enormous. Even the legislation prescribes certain rules and regulations in relation to children or parents, but says nothing about ties with more distant relatives.

Married family refers to the relationship between spouses and their children. The related type includes a wider range of relationships. In such a family, the spouses are more influenced by their relatives, and only half are included in the new family.

The upbringing that the child receives also depends. In a kindred family, care and responsibility for him lies not only with the parents, but also with the numerous relatives. His social circle is extensive, and this has a good effect on upbringing. Many relatives are ready to take on the responsibilities of parents.

As a social institution, it mostly represents the marital type. This is due to the place of residence, which may be far from the rest of the relatives. Many do not maintain family ties due to certain circumstances.

Marriage is one of the more acceptable forms of family. Formalized relationships are not only about future offspring and their upbringing. Marriage also includes many other rights and responsibilities. It can be called a model in the form of which the family is presented as a social institution. Each individual society has its own norms of behavior, which take years to develop. They also depend on economic conditions.

Sometimes a situation arises when the choice of a spouse does not depend on the person. It takes place on the basis of some rules and foundations that are limited only by the boundaries of a particular society.

In most cases, the family, as a social institution, is monogamous. But there are rare cases of polygamous marriages.

For every person, the family is a model for the formation of character and norms of behavior in society. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the development of this institution.

Modern researchers distinguish four main characteristics of the family: small social group; an important form of organizing personal life; a social institution based on a marriage (matrimonial) union; multilateral relations of spouses with relatives. The family can be defined as a community based on both marriage and consanguinity. This is an association of people, connected, as a rule, by a community of everyday life, as well as by mutual responsibility and mutual assistance. According to traditional ideas about a typical family, the basis or core of the latter is marriage. The institution of marriage regulates the relationship between spouses through rules and sanctions. Marriage is a historically changing social form of relations between the sexes, through which society regulates and sanctions sex life and establishes parental rights and responsibilities. The family, therefore, is a more complex formation than just a marriage group. The family is considered as a social institution, determined by a system of connections and relationships of individuals, with a stable structured organization, which has a significant impact on the social structure of society, population reproduction and socialization of new generations.

Characterizing the institution of the family, we point out its functions: population reproduction,

economic, educational, recreational, social control.

The family, as a social institution, performs the function of accumulating all social experience, including what can in no way be called socially necessary from the point of view of tomorrow; it also performs a selective function - selection, assimilation, processing of this experience, based on the interests and needs of specific people.

In addition, the family performs the function of adapting the social experience accumulated by previous generations in new conditions. On the other hand, such habits as alcohol abuse, smoking, other negative habits, lack of physical culture, immorality, as studies show, in many respects within the framework of the family are laid in the basis of the system of people's value orientations.

Childbearing, for example, is the most important function of the family.

Understanding the family as a social institution involves studying the interaction of the family with other institutions of society (political, economic, education).

Sociology has adopted various grounds for identifying types of family. Depending on the form of marriage, the following types of family organizations are distinguished:

1. Monogamy (a type of marriage in which a man and a woman enter, and they are not allowed to enter into more than one marriage at the same time).

2. Polygamy (a form of marriage that involves the presence of more than one partner in a marriage) historically appears in two forms: polygyny (polygamy) and polyandry (one wife has several husbands).


Depending on the structure of family ties (the structure of a family is understood as the totality of relations between its elements), various types of families are distinguished:

1) nuclear (simple) family (it is made up of parents with unmarried children);

2) extended or related (complex) family (with parents or relatives of one of the spouses). From the point of view of hierarchy, prestige, the structure of power in the family, they are distinguished: traditional (with such historical types as patriarchal and matriarchal) and modern. The well-known Russian researcher A.G. Kharchev singled out the following main functions of the family:

Reproductive (biological reproduction of the population in the social plane and satisfaction of the need for children - in the personal);

Educational (socialization of the younger generation, maintaining the continuity of culture in society);

Household (maintaining the physical health of members of society);

Spiritual communication (development of personal qualities of family members);

Social status (reproduction of the social structure);

Economic (receipt of material resources by some family members from others);

The sphere of primary social control (regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life);

Leisure (organization of joint recreation);

Emotional (getting mental protection and support);

Sexual (sexual control, satisfaction of sexual needs).

In the field of study of the sociology of the family are the living conditions of the family, its way of life, family ideology, problems of the success of marriage and family relations, stages of the family life cycle. It is customary to consider the following periods, stages of family life: premarital, creating a family, the formation of a young family,

the birth of a child (children), upbringing, family functioning, regulation of interpersonal relations, disintegration or transformation of the family (divorce, death of a spouse). With the undivided domination of monogamous marriage in the modern world, extramarital and alternative forms of the family are widespread. The first include maternal and incomplete families, that is, families that do not rely on a marriage union. The maternal family is single mothers in Russian terminology. Most women, especially those between the ages of 40 and 45, follow the path of motherhood deliberately, out of the desire to have their own child and not be lonely. Others become mothers by force of circumstances, without a clear need for children. Among them, the percentage of 15-19 year olds is high. The quantitative prevalence of the maternal family can be judged by the statistics of illegitimate births in the country. With one million children abandoned or placed in orphanages, it is bitter to hear that in a number of Western countries, for example, in Holland, there are practically no unwanted children. Another form of illegitimate families is incomplete. She has a different origin. If the mother's family is originally celibate, then incomplete is the result of widowhood or divorce. According to some calculations, on average, by the time a person reaches 75 years of age, all marriages in our country break up: 23% end because of the death of his wife, 53% because of the death of her husband, and the rest because of divorce. Specialists define a special type of marriage unions as alternative ones. They arise either in the period of courtship and engagement in the form of "youth" legally informal relationships, or as "konkubinat", which is understood as the connection of a married man with an unmarried woman who has children from him. There are many different predictions about the future of family and marriage relations. In assessing particular aspects, individual authors suddenly begin to assert that loners, single-child families and divorces will disappear in the 21st century, although there are no grounds for such assumptions yet. Regarding general trends in family development, serious researchers do not risk looking into the distant future due to the limited statistical material. But there is an opinion that the main direction of the development of the family is its evolution into a new, to a certain extent already existing, form, conventionally called the married family. The spectrum of motives for entering into a marriage is very wide: love, common interests and views, a feeling of loneliness, the likelihood of having a child, the material security of the future spouse, the presence of an apartment, etc. etc., etc. Some researchers conditionally reduce the motivation of marriage to three subgroups: marriage for love, marriage according to a stereotype of behavior, that is, according to the reflex of imitation, and marriage of convenience. Others talk about five types of motivation: for love, for spiritual closeness, for material reasons, for psychological adequacy, for moral reasons. Of course, various combinations of motives are possible.

Obviously, most marriages are for love. In Russia, according to some polls, 2/3 of men and 3/4 of women indicate love and mutual affection as a motive for marriage. However, the concept of "love" is ambiguous and ambiguous. In a successful marriage, the initial attachment begins to be assessed as love, and in a divorce, love turns out to be a frivolous hobby. The understanding of love and the appreciation of its role in marriage varies from country to country. So, in a survey conducted at one time by Soviet and American magazines, to the question: "What is the basis of a happy marriage?" - 52% of American women said "friendship", and 54% of the representatives of the USSR called "love." A large proportion of marriages are marriages of convenience. In most cases, the calculation is material, often selfish. Such calculations are more mundane (registration, car, etc.) and more sophisticated. There is not a material calculation, but a moral one, when people marry out of fear of loneliness, the desire to have children, out of gratitude. Such marriages can be successful, especially when mutual understanding and love replace calculation. Assessing the prospects for the functioning of the social institution of the family, we can distinguish two, in our opinion, important aspects of the problem: first, the family's ability to perform the functions assigned to it, aimed at meeting the needs of society; secondly, the functions of the family in the future, in accordance with the changing needs of society. For example, the need for reproduction, which is so urgent today, may lose its significance - it is possible that in the near future humanity will learn to produce its own kind without the participation of the family.

- this is a relatively small association of people based on consanguinity, marriage or adoption, which is connected by a common budget, everyday life and mutual responsibility, and, consequently, by a set of social relations based on biological ties, legal norms, rules of adoption (adoption), guardianship, etc. ...

The history of the family is actually the history of mankind. The family is one of the most ancient social institutions. Today, in some primitive societies, the family is the only stable functioning institution (tribes of Central Africa, Oceania, peoples of the North). In these societies, order is maintained without the establishment of formal laws, the participation of the police, the court; the main authority is that of the head of the family.

Each society has its own special forms of family organization, but sociologists note some common features of family life. There are usually two main types of family structure:

  • nuclear, consisting of a husband, wife and their children;
  • an extended family that includes the nuclear family along with many relatives - grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins, and cousins. This list can be continued.

It is characterized by the weakening of many family ties and a clear predominance over the extended one.

Forms of marriage

According to traditional views, the basis of a typical family is marriage - a historically conditioned and society-sanctioned form of relations between a man and a woman. The family either consists of a married couple with or without children, or in the past included such a couple, which then broke up as a result of divorce or widowhood. In sociological literature, a family consisting of one parent with children is usually called single-parent family.

If society limits the choice of a partner in marriage to the fact that it allows it only outside a certain narrow group, then this phenomenon is called exogamy. So, in order to avoid incestuous relationships, moral and legal norms prohibit marrying siblings and cousins. In a number of societies, it is forbidden to choose a partner within one's clan, village, or tribe. Endogamy- this is a limitation in the choice of a marriage partner. It can be chosen only within its group (racial, class endogamy - when marriage with a partner of another race or from the lower strata of society is prohibited or disapproved).

Modern Western society knows one basic type of civilized form of marriage - monogamy, i.e. simultaneous marriage of one man to one woman. But in a number of societies it is practiced polygamy- a form of marriage in which there is more than one partner in the marriage. Although rare, exotic forms of polygamy are found: group marriage, in which several men and several women are simultaneously among themselves in a marriage relationship; polyandry when one woman has several husbands. The most common form of polygamous marriage is polygyny, or polygamy. Supporters of European cultural traditions negatively assess polygamy, seeing this as a danger to the personal development of a woman.

Divorce became so widespread in our life that half of Russians who marry for the first time are “doomed” to divorce (sociologists first drew attention to the existence of this problem back in the 1970s). They are trying to look for an explanation of this phenomenon in a variety of macrostructural changes and the nature of intimate relationships.

Some studies point out that during economic downturns the divorce rate decreases, while during economic recovery, on the contrary, it increases. Perhaps the reason for this is that a developed industrial society opens up to a person alternative sources of financial stability, professional well-being, moral and personal satisfaction.

Any instability in the institution of the family counteracts the sustainable functioning of society. Therefore, in almost every society there are certain rules and laws that make it difficult to divorce or give privileges to one of the parties. So, in some Catholic countries, for example in Italy, traditionally divorce was generally impossible. Only at the end of the XX century. Italian society has taken a step towards those who made a mistake in choosing a partner and would like to terminate the marriage. In most developed countries, in the event of a divorce, the ex-spouse must provide his ex-spouse with the financial situation that she had in marriage. In Russia, in such cases, a division of property takes place, a verdict is issued on the payment of alimony; children usually stay with the mother.

Social institutions of the family

In a society of any type, families inevitably arise and develop. Growing up on the basis of specific biological traits of a person, they acquire their social nature through the implementation of the most important social functions by the family. From a biological point of view, only human beings lack time-limited seasons during which intimacy between male and female creatures is possible, only humans have the possibility of conceiving offspring throughout the year. The second biological feature of humans is a much longer period of helplessness of a born child than that of all other creatures, which dictates the need to maintain for a long period of care for him by the mother who feeds him and the economic support of the family by the father.

For millennia, in every society, the mother's concern was caring for the child, the father's concern was the material support of the family and its protection (hunting, hard peasant labor, war). As a result, a uniform structure arose everywhere: men and women entered into permanent relationships, during which the most effective development of offspring was achieved and the necessary economic activity based on the separation of the sexes was carried out.

In the conditions of agricultural production, the family performed the function of the most important production unit, an economic structure within which material resources were created and accumulated, which predetermined the need for the emergence of such specific institutions as the institutions of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Through them, material resources were distributed and redistributed, power and privileges were inherited. No society can exist without creating a special mechanism that ensures the continuous replacement of some members of society with others. The family, as a social institution, performed this social function, ensuring the continuity of generations through the perception by individuals of the social role of a father or mother, and the responsibility associated with this role.

A child legally born into a family acquires a stable position in society. By inheritance, not only material condition is transmitted, but also social status, often remains belonging to the same ethnic group to which the family belongs, to the same class or to the number of followers of the same religion. The origin of a person is a significant factor that determines a person's position in society, his social status. In a modern modernized, dynamically developing society, along with this kind of prescribed (data guaranteed by family origin status), more and more opportunities are provided for gaining an attainable status, gaining a position in society thanks to the efforts of the person himself. Nevertheless, family affiliation retains the role of a factor that, to a certain extent, determines the social status of an individual.

The family is the most important type of primary social groups, ensuring the socialization of young people in the course of children's assimilation of the norms of social life, giving family members a sense of security, satisfying the emotional need for joint experiences, in the exchange of feelings and moods, preventing psychological imbalance. The family also protects from the experience of a feeling of isolation, which in extreme manifestations leads to demoralization of the individual, the emergence of destructive manifestations in behavior (aggression and auto-aggression). It was also statistically shown that single, widowed or divorced people are more likely to commit suicide than married people, and married people without children are more likely than those who have children. The more united the family, the less the percentage of suicides. About 30% of premeditated murders are murders by some family members of other family members.

If one of the results of the successful functioning of the family is the achievement of a result that is vitally important for the individual and the entire society - the socialization of the individual, which ensures effective prevention of deviations from the requirements of social norms in the vast majority of spheres of public life, then the collapse of the family undermines the very foundations of the organization of society as an ordered social system ...

The value of the family as a primary social group is predetermined not only with a special role in the socialization of individuals, but also with a special, fundamental role in the accumulation, preservation and transmission from generation to generation of the basis of the social structure of society, the basic structure that, if the family is preserved, undergoes a change of political regimes , institutions. The family plays the role of an intermediary between the individual and society; helps an individual to take his place in society, to realize himself as a member of society, on the one hand, and provides him with protection, protects the sphere of his personal life, helps to preserve his individuality - on the other.

This is the most important social function of the family. The family is addressed to society, it is the unit of society; it socializes the individual. At the same time, the family is addressed to the individual; it guards the strictly individualized sphere of his existence. It is in the relationship between family members that empathy arises - the experience of the feelings of others (their suffering, grief, etc.) as their own. The family, as a place of safety, compassion, consolation, and spiritual comfort, maintains an incentive to be active. With the disintegration of the family as a social institution, that is, a special social structure, the very basis of the existence of a civilization of this type is lost.

The social institution of the family in Russia has undergone significant changes in the post-revolutionary period. Only at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. with the development of industrial production, the disintegration of the patriarchal family as the dominant institution became apparent. The subsequent post-revolutionary violent industrialization of the country and the forced urbanization of the population were supplemented by the extermination of the most productive families of the patriarchal type in agriculture ("kulaks"), deprivation (in rural and urban areas) of families of the economic basis in the form of private property. Atheism, as a part of state ideology, deprived the institution of marriage of its religious component. The assertion of the priority of the public over the personal, the state taxed the citizen, the official ideology over universal human moral, ethical, and religious values ​​has largely perverted the content of the primary socialization of the individual within the family.

In modern society, the structure and functions of the family are also undergoing major changes. An indispensable condition for the development of a modernized, industrial, urbanized society is an increasing level of social mobility; in such a society, there is a constant need for specific family members to move, move to where opportunities open up for obtaining work and social advancement. This leads to the rupture of family ties, obligations in relation to SMS give way to the imperative of mobility as a guarantee of achieving material well-being and social success. The unity of the way of life of family members is giving way to the emerging diversity of their life aspirations, the growing difference in their social status. Family ties are weakened or broken.

In the conditions of the urban environment, the family of three levels (the older generation, their children and grandchildren) is less and less preserved. In this kind of patriarchal family, which served as the main production unit, more family members meant more productivity. In an industrialized, urban setting, this dependence is sharply weakened; many functions of the family (caring for children, their education, treatment, upbringing) are performed by other social institutions, the socializing function of the family is supplemented in the system of relevant institutions, the media, etc. In conditions when the economic, socializing, educational functions of the family are weakened, there is a tendency to base family ties on emotional, spiritual closeness between spouses and to treat children not as an economic factor in family well-being, an object of socialization, education, but as independent individuals.

In modern society, the key to success is not so much the social origin of the individual, which previously determined his fate, as his personal achievements and merits. Family affiliation determines the social status of a person less and less. Personal aspirations begin to take precedence over family obligations. They determine the marriage choice, place of residence and occupation of the individual. The nuclear family (husband, wife, child) that arises in an industrial society becomes more vulnerable in the event of an unfavorable development of events (illness, old age, loss of life, material losses in one of the family members) than a patriarchal family, where all such cases could be compensated due to mutual obligations.

Trends in the development of the social functions of the family in the conditions of modern Russia will be determined in direct connection with the acquisition by families (and citizens) of social and economic rights (property rights among them), the acquisition of a real material basis for the family, firstly, and socio-cultural, spiritual family values ​​of a humanistic nature, secondly.

The family is a social group within which there is a certain connection. It could be consanguinity, marriage, or adoption. All its members have a common budget, way of life, and responsibility for each other is present. There are also between them, which lead to biological ties, legal norms, responsibility, etc. The family is the most important social institution. Many experts are concerned about this topic, so they are diligently researching it. Further in the article we will consider this definition in more detail, we will learn the functions and goals designated by the state before the "cell of society". The classification and characteristics of the main types will also be given below. Consider also the basic elements of the family and the group in society.

Divorces. Statistical data

The family is a small social group linked by many factors, such as marriage. But, unfortunately, in our time, according to statistics, the number of divorces is growing steadily, and Russia has recently taken a leading place in such a list. Previously, it was always overtaken by the United States. Although, of course, many new alliances are being created. Every year 2 million marriages are registered in our country.

The needs of humanity

The family as a social group and social institution emerged a long time ago, before religion, the army, 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 a family as a social group includes:

1. Sexual and physiological needs.

2. Confidence in the safety of existence.

3. Communication with other people.

4. The need to be recognized as a person in society.

5. Self-realization.

Thanks to the totality of these needs, the entire structure of the family is formed. There are several categories of it. By the number of children, families are divided into childless, small and large. There is also a classification according to how long spouses have lived together: newlyweds, middle-aged married couples, elderly couples. There are also rural and urban, authoritarian and egalitarian families (according to who is in charge of the family).

Historical facts

The family, as the most important social institution, creates the history of all mankind. Indeed, 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 stable functioning. There are no specific laws, the police and the court are not responsible. But any such unions, nevertheless, have as a social group. For example, which includes a husband, wife and their children. If there are still relatives - grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren, cousins, etc. - then it will already be an extended family. But, unfortunately, at the present time, most people do not really keep in touch with other relatives, so the nuclear family is a social institution that is more widespread today. Which is very bad, because under any life circumstances one could get help from relatives, if one does not forget that they exist.

Forms of marriage

The concept of the family as a social group includes the traditional concept. It all starts with a relationship between a man and a woman that grows into something more. And it doesn't matter if this union has children or not, they can join their destinies together. Subsequently, he may break up as a result of divorce or death of one of the spouses. Such a family in which a child is raised by one parent is called incomplete in 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 standards for your own brother - a sibling or cousin. Some societies prohibit the choice of a future spouse within their clan, tribe. It also happens that an alliance between individuals of different races, different strata of society is impossible. More popular in the West is monogamy, which involves marriage between two people of the opposite sex. Although there are peoples in which polygamy is preferred (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 in a family. And it also happens that one woman has several husbands. This phenomenon is called polyandry. But polygamy is the most popular among non-standard marriages. Thus, the family as the most important social institution must comply with the laws adopted where it was formed.

The prevalence of divorces, their causes

Sociologists noticed that starting in 1970 the number of divorces began to increase, and now they are so widespread that, according to statistics, half of Russians who form families will certainly divorce after a while. By the way, it has been proven that when there is an economic recession in the country, the number of divorces also increases, and when the economy is calm, then there are fewer of them. Probably, if a person feels the financial stability that gives him, then other factors come back to normal, he feels satisfaction. 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 nearly impossible, or by giving privileges to one of the spouses. For example, in Italy before the twentieth century. the task of dissolving the marriage was impossible. Only then did the government take pity on those whose unions turned out to be unsuccessful, allowed divorces. But in most countries, if a husband leaves his wife, then he must provide her life at the level at which she was during the marriage. In this case, the man loses his financial condition. In Russia, people divide up property. If the children stay with their mother (this is basically what happens), then the father must provide them financially. There are many different nuances in the legislation of each country.

Human features

In one country or another, the 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 in the period they want. After all, many animals reproduce only at a certain time, and a person does not have such restrictions, on any day an intimacy between a woman and a man can be realized. Another difference is that a newborn baby is in a helpless state for a long time. He needs care and attention, which the mother can give, and the father, in turn, must provide him economically, namely, give him everything he needs: food, clothing, etc. Back in ancient times, when society was just beginning to develop , the mother took care of the baby, cooked food, took care of her relatives. At the same time, the father, in turn, provided them with protection and food. The man has always been a hunter, a breadwinner, doing hard work. People of opposite sexes entered into a relationship, offspring developed, children appeared. No one performed the tasks of another, it was considered wrong, because everyone had their own responsibilities. This is inherent in the human body by nature and is transmitted genetically from generation to generation.

Heir advantage

With regard to 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, the parents were confident in the state of the future of their children, between whom the property, statuses, privileges were subsequently distributed and redistributed. This, one might say, is the replacement of some people in a certain place with 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 the parents had was passed on to the children. This ensured not only the heirs' confidence in the future, but also the continuation of this or that 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 disappear, because the heir will continue to take care of it when his father is no longer able to manage the business or dies.

Status

A child gets a stable position when he is born into a legal family. Everything that the parents have will be inherited by him, but not only that, this also applies to social status, religion, etc. None of this will be lost, everything will go to the heir. In general, human relations are built in such a way that you can find out the relatives of a particular person, her condition, status. The family is a social institution that shows a person's position in society, largely due to his origin. Although in the modern world, you can earn some kind of status by your own efforts. For example, a father, working in some firm 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 survived: property (after all, you can transfer inheritance), the social status of an individual, etc. Each country dictates its own rules, so different nations have different laws that relate to marriage, divorce, heredity. But in general, the family is a social institution of society, which has its own rules and nuances.

The importance of parenting correctly

From childhood, the mother teaches the child the lessons of social life, he learns from the examples of his parents to live on. It is very important to ensure a good emotional life for your offspring, because in this case there is a direct connection: how he is raised in a family, so he will be in life. Of course, the character of a person depends on genes, but family education also makes a great contribution to it. Much depends on the feelings, the mood that the father or mother gives. It is close people who should prevent the appearance of aggressive qualities in a developing teenager, give him a sense of security, and share their emotions.

From the very 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 will be observed by their son, so in the future he will relate to women, what feelings his parents will give him, such is he to those around him.

Suicide due to a relationship that didn't work out

E. Durkheim investigated the statistics on suicide. And it has been observed that those who are single or divorced are more likely to commit suicide than married ones, as are those who have no children, even though they are married. This means that the happier the spouse is, the more, the less likely they are to try to commit 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 maintain a relationship?

Many spouses make a kind of plan. In this case, the family as a social group receives certain tasks and goals. Ways to achieve them are jointly found. Spouses must preserve their hearth, provide their children with good upbringing and living conditions, and direct the child's development in the right direction from childhood. These foundations of the structure of the family, laid down in ancient generations, still exist today. 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 the idea of ​​the foundations of the structure of society, which so affect the preservation of the family, regardless of political regimes. The family is a mediator between the individual and society. It is she who helps a person to find himself in this world, to realize his qualities, talents, gives him protection, helps to stand out from the crowd, to be individual. This is the main task of the family. And if she does not do all this, it means that she will not fulfill her functions. A person who does not have a family, with each passing year, will more and more feel his own inferiority. At the same time, some negative qualities may appear and develop in him. 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 brings up an individual who can live in society. On the other hand, it protects from external factors, supports in difficult times. A person does not worry about anyone in the world like that, he does not worry about his relative. And, without hesitation, he helps close people. It is in the family that you can find comfort, sympathy, consolation, protection. When this institution disintegrates, then the person loses the support that he had before.

Meaning

The family is a small social group, but it is very important for the whole society. Changes in politics and economics change its structure and functions. The emergence of a modernized, urbanized and industrial society has had a huge impact on the modern social unit. The level of mobility of its members began to rise. In other words, such situations have become commonplace when one of the family members has to move to another city, where he was offered a job or a raise, leaving his relatives. And since most members of modern society give preference to material well-being, success, 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 relations 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 bonds that bind relatives gradually become weak, and then disappear altogether.

Conclusion

At the present time, especially for urban residents, it is increasingly difficult to maintain communication between generations. Generally speaking, the structure is extremely weakened. Basically, all the care of its members is aimed only at caring for children, their treatment and education. The rest of the relatives - especially the elderly - are often left behind. Misunderstandings and material instability arising on this basis contribute to the destruction of relations between a man and a woman, the occurrence of quarrels, and often even lead to separation. The problems of the spiritual closeness of the spouses are important, but the most important are the 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 affect it, and the origin of the individual, his social position plays a very small role. Personal merit now takes precedence over commitment. After all, with the help of them, a person will decide where to live, what to do. Unfortunately, the nuclear system is more vulnerable and dependent on external factors (disease, death, monetary losses) than the patriarchal, in which everyone supports each other, helps, and if a problem happens, everyone together can solve it. Today, all the 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 nature, and communication between relatives.