FAMILY INSTITUTION: CHARACTERISTICS, HISTORY, FUNCTIONS IN SOCIETY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The family institution is recognized as one of the basic blocks or constructions of society. The family has a universal character, it is known worldwide as a form of institution. Part of the fundamental roles of the family is the formation of the child, since it is the first social circle with which a person is linked.

The word "family" comes from the Latin "famulus" which means servant or slave. In its beginnings, it was attributed to the set of servants that a person possessed. Currently, the family is a nucleus in which its members are united by blood ties, marriage or adoption. In its basic and most traditional form it is made up of the mother, father and children.

The family is the basic building block of society

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The family is also often characterized as an entity with a life of its own that can complete a life cycle. In this way it is said that it can be born, grow, reproduce and die. It arises as a result of an alliance between human genders.

There are those who, apart, determine two types of family nuclei, the immediate one with a basic structure of parents and child and the extended one in which several generations are constantly linked. The latter is usually an older mode of family structure.

Main characteristics of the family institution

The family institution has some general characteristics that are part of the foundations that sustain the institution and are visible in any family. The fact that the family is a universal concept allows it to be analyzed with relatively constant aspects. The family also integrates other elements that allow its conception, such as the desire for motherhood and economic security.

Universality

The family is universal because it has existed since ancient times and in multiple societies throughout history. Every human being has been part of a family nucleus. From here the family derives as an intrinsic need of the human being.

It should be noted that even in cases of abandonment, the boy or girl involved had an immediate family before being separated and will have a new one, which will be created by himself.

Sense of responsibility

Within each family there is a bond of responsibility with respect to the other members. This is why the family provides states of security and protection that range from the young to the old. The breakdown of this factor can cause a disorganization in the nucleus generating a breakdown of the family.

Emotional ties

Two fundamental parts of family integration are reciprocal emotional connections and blood ties. These to a great extent allow families to stick together.

Habitable place

Each family nucleus has a specific room considered "home" and is capable of providing a sense of security or refuge. It also allows people to have organizational concepts within their life

Economic stability and provisions

An important factor for the well-being and satisfaction of the members of a family nucleus is the economic provision. Stability is sought through work that allows generating income for the home.

Family history

The history of the study of the family is closely linked to the development of disciplines such as sociology or anthropology. Within the nineteenth century, some antecedents or approaches of a scientific nature with regard to the analysis of the family can be framed.

The European development of the social sciences gave birth to concepts in which the family was not only seen as the fundamental basis of social organization, but also a determining element for any organization of a society. Some ideas came from people like the French sociologist Frédéric Le Play.

During the 20th century, some sociologists such as Arthur W. Calhoun made the first attempts to create material related to the history of the family, as reflected in his work History of the American Family (1917). By the 1950s, the structuralist model of the sociologist Talcott Parsons, which related structural changes to family changes, predominated during the second half of the century.

Historians were part of these studies and tried to recover invariable family experiences that could establish a basis for the family relationship.

Concepts such as “proto-industrialization” were also introduced, in which the changes in how families prepared for industrial work were evidenced in relation to production work from home.

On the other hand, other aspects, such as demography, broadened the knowledge about family trends by defining data for sizes or mortality, which gave way to the study of the development of life within families.

Functions of the family in society

The family has functions within society that play a fundamental role within the development of each individual and the preservation of humanity. Besides, as it is the first link of social interaction of a person, it largely determines how the integration of an individual in other social circles will be.

The functions are oriented to the satisfaction of the needs of each member of the family, although not individually, but in a relationship of interdependence since it is a group life dynamic. The activities related to the family transmit the basic and initial knowledge that develop the first personality traits in the children.

Biosocial function

It includes reproduction as a guarantee of the preservation of the human race, through procreation and the possibilities of new births. It also integrates the affective relationships on which family stability depends, the emotional formation of children and their own perception of the family.

Economic functions

It has to do with the work activities carried out by the family in order to support the home through the acquisition of goods and services necessary for life. Ensuring supplies, meeting material needs, preservation and health care are some of the relevant aspects.

Educational function

Education is part of the functions of the family as an institution

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Although the education of children is linked to external factors such as school or the community, the family is also part of the formation and mental development of the individual.

This education accompanies children throughout their lives and is one that is related to habits, feelings, values, communication, convictions, interests, character, self-worth and personality.

Spiritual-cultural function

It is one that links the individual with the culture of society, which includes cultural needs, aesthetic and recreational developments and education of a spiritual nature.

Recreational function

It is the one that guarantees the recreational space for family integration and the integral development of the children. A recreation that works as a way to alleviate the tensions generated by family processes in the fulfillment of other functions.

References

1. Comacchio C. History of Family. Recovered from family.jrank.org
2. Tapia Zunhaid (2017). what is family institution and its characteristics. Sociology group. Recovered from sociologygroup.com
3. Healey J, Boli J, Babbie E. Chapter 11: The Family Institution: Forms and Functions. Recovered from sk.sagepub.com
4. Martín C, Tamayo M. (2013). Basic functions of the family. Reflections for educational psychological orientation. Guantanamo University Center. Recovered from redalyc.org
5. Farooq U (2013). Functions of Family as a Social Institution. Study Lectures Notes. Recovered from studylecturenotes.com
6. Main Functions of the Family. Scribd. Recovered from scribd.com