social institution

The family is the most basic social institution found in all societies. The standard sociological definition of the family is a social group made up of a group people who get related to each other by bonds of marriage, blood, law or adoption and who reside together, form an economic unit as well as reproduce and raise children (Tischler, 2013). This social institution is made up of at least two adults of both sexes and one or more children, either own or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adults. The adults in this social group must maintain a socially approved sexual relationship. This social group must also be dwelling together and also perform various fundamental roles. The functions include overseeing the bearing as well as raising of children thus ensuring continuity of humanity. Another role is economic cooperation in which the family members are obligated to care for as well as support each other. The family social group also provides the members with necessary financial requirements that include shelter, clothing, and food. The two adults who make up a family are bind together through marriage, blood, law or social norm. Another role of the household is the sexual satisfaction of the two adults. Most societies, religions, and other groups regard sexual intercourse between people who are not legally married to be a taboo. In other societies, kinship ties in the family also serve as a way through which property gets transferred or inherited, goods get produced and distributed and also power gets allocated or inherited. Various principles get used to classify families in sociology. One of the principles employed is classifying families according to the number of people living within marriage bonds that include monogamous, polygamous and polyandrous marriage. The other principle is classifying according to the choice of spouse. The types in this principle include endogamy and exogamy. The family also gets categorized into different types according to family structure. The types in this principle include the nuclear family, extended family, the lone-parent household, and the reconstituted family.

This critical social group that undertakes fundamental roles in the society is, however, facing various social issues that threaten its existence. The social problems include cohabiting, adoption, stepfamilies, grandparents as parents, gay/lesbian families and also abuse/neglect of family members.

Literature Review

Step-families

Step-family gets defined as a household in which at least one of the adult members has children from a previous relationship or marriage. Sociologists also refer to this group as reconstituted families. In the modern society, step-families are common. For instance, in the United States, there are over 20.6 million stepparents and one out of three Americans get involved in some way with a reconstituted household (Kornblum, 2011). Step-families get associated with certain joys and benefits and also various difficulties. One of the problems is that whereas the biological parent is living elsewhere, their influence over the child or children remains dominant. Another problem that arises in step-families is that cooperative relations between divorced persons get strained when the one or both get remarried. For instance, when an outside parent insists on visiting the child or children, significant tensions get involved in mixing with such a newly established household. The other problem that arises in step-families is that children from different backgrounds get merged thus causing conflicts because of the varying expectations of the required behavior within the family. The family members of the reorganized social group must learn and adapt new relations as stepchildren and stepparents. Therefore, the family social group is threatened since the family members do not live together and the group does not remain intact.

Grandparents as Parents

The trend of grandparents raising their grandchildren is so common in the contemporary world as compared to the ancient past. Various reasons get attributed to this trend. The primary reason is that the biological parents of these children are incapable of caring and supporting them. The parents cannot care for them since some may have died, while others are ill such as HIV/AIDs, homeless, addicted to drugs, involved in long working hours or demanding jobs such as military service, or serving a jail term. The problem of neglect and abuse of children also contributes to grandparents bringing up their children. In Australia, the incidences of grandparents and great-grandparents parenting in Indigenous households are very common. The trend of grandparents raising their children has an adverse impact on the generation of Indigenous adults because the children gain very little or no experience about family life. The policy of Indigenous child removal also causes various social problems to the children. The grandparents raising their grandchildren also face various challenges that include stress and frustration due to different norms of child behavior, financial challenges, and also unexpected responsibilities of parenthood (Henslin, Possamai, Possamai-Inesedy, Marjoribanks & Elder, 2015).

Same-sex Households

Homosexual (same-sex) families with children have become a common trend in the contemporary society. Lesbian couples are the most common same-sex households with children who are as a result of artificial insemination. Most of the gay couples acquire children by adopting them or getting then through surrogate mothers. A same-sex family may also get created when a divorced person takes their children into a new gay or lesbian relationship. The topic of gay and lesbian families has received tremendous attention in the recent past as sociologists examine the insights they give into problems and possibilities presented by the detraditionalized family life. Same-sex unions and partnerships have been legalized in many nations that include Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Argentina, some states in the US (such as New-Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and New Hampshire), Norway, etc. Children raised in homosexual families tend to have certain social issues that include developing a confused sexual identity, suffering discrimination from children and parents in heterosexual families and also show a tendency of becoming gays or lesbians themselves (Brym & Lie, 2012).

Functionalism Theory

The functionalism theory emphasizes that social structure, not just personal motivation, produces deviance. Functionalism theory sees the society as a set of social institutions that carry out certain fundamental functions so as to ensure continuity. According to the functionalist perspective, the family undertakes significant tasks that contribute to the society’s basic requirements as well as assist to perpetuate social order. Sociologists working in the functionalist tradition consider the nuclear family as a vital social group that meets specialized roles in the contemporary society. Today, as the society becomes more industrialized, the family has become less significant as a social unit of economic cooperation and increased focus on reproduction, child-rearing as well as socialization.

American sociologist Talcott Parsons described the primary functions of the family to be primary socialization and personality stabilization. Primary socialization describes the process by which children learn and internalize the cultural norms of a society that they belong. The cultural norms include language, history, and societal values and occur during the early childhood years thus the family is a vital arena. Personality stabilization describes the family’s responsibility in helping adult family members emotionally. According to Parson’s the family assists to stabilize personalities through the sexual division of labor in the family (Browne, 2006).

Conclusion

The family is a critical social group that undertakes fundamental societal roles. The issues of cohabiting, adoption, stepfamilies, grandparents as parents, gay/lesbian families and abuse/neglect cause various social problems to the different family members. In my opinion, the problems of stepfamilies, grandparents bringing up children and gay or lesbian households threaten the existence of this social institution.

 References

Browne, K. (2006): Introducing Sociology for AS level. Polity.

Brym, R. J., & Lie, J. (2012): Sociology: Pop culture to social structure. Cengage Learning.

Henslin, J. M., Possamai, A. M., Possamai-Inesedy, A. L., Marjoribanks, T., & Elder, K. (2015): Sociology: A down to earth approach. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Kornblum, W. (2011): Sociology in a changing world. Cengage Learning.

Tischler, H. (2013): Cengage Advantage Books: Introduction to Sociology. Nelson Education.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for Medicine Essay Writing.