Some definitions:
George Murdock's definition (over 50 ago) - "The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. It includes 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."
Popenoe's definition – “the minimum number constituting a family is one adult and one dependent person, the parents do not have to be of both sexes, and the couple does not have to be married. The functions of the family are procreation and socialization of children, sexual regulation, economic cooperation, and provision of care, affection and companionship.”
Nuclear family: wife/mother + husband/father + their children.
The one-parent family: one parent (divorced/unmarried parent) + children.
Extended familiy: at least three generations: the grandparents, the wife/mother, husband/father, children, kin of the wife and husband.
Popenoe's definition – “the minimum number constituting a family is one adult and one dependent person, the parents do not have to be of both sexes, and the couple does not have to be married. The functions of the family are procreation and socialization of children, sexual regulation, economic cooperation, and provision of care, affection and companionship.”
Nuclear family: wife/mother + husband/father + their children.
The one-parent family: one parent (divorced/unmarried parent) + children.
Extended familiy: at least three generations: the grandparents, the wife/mother, husband/father, children, kin of the wife and husband.
Islamic nations
Northern Europe and North America
India
In Islamic nations there is a possibility to exist family consist of one men and four wives and their children. This situation is called polygynous. But the number of polygamous families today is very small (almost 90% of husbands in Islamic countries have one wife).
The interesting news is the fact that in Pakistan, a man who wants to have a second wife, has to get an official permission from his first wife. The permission has to be delivered to an Arbitration Council. Marriage has to be made by people who belong to the same caste, religion, race (same situation we can observe in India).
Northern Europe and North America
The most common type in this parts of the world is nuclear family, which stays apart from the relatives of both spouces (this way of living is called Neolocal). As we know, there are many one-parent families.
India
A family type called joint family seems to be the most popular type in this country. This type is characterized by two or more nuclear families living together. In India we can find polygynous and polyandrous families also. Polyandrous families can be in the Todas of Nilgiri hills of South India. They contains one women and few man, who sometimes are brothers.
China
In the 20th century everything has changed. Nowadays men and women are equal in law, education, business. Many young people resign from extended family type and start to live in nuclear families. In 1979, the limited birth policy has been entered so the modern families have one or two children.
Carribean Families
In Carribean families, father is a breadwinner and protector of the family. He is not responsible for daily care of children. However father takes a part in disciplining the children, especially boys. Mother provides care to the children and household chores. Children should bring honor to the family by behaving well and getting achievements. 80 – 90% of families in the Carribean are from African background.
Baganda people (Africa)
The family system is few nuclear families with one men (common father) as a head of the family. The household family also includes other relatives of the father (patrilineal type).
Bemba people (Africa - Northern Zambia)
Polygamy or polygyny, which is common in many traditional African families (patrilineal and patriarchal) is uncommon among the matrilineal Bemba people in Northern Zambia.
When travelling to this place we can find matrilocal marriage. It means the situation in which men goes to live in his wife’s village. The family is rather extended, composed of married couple, their married daughters, son-in-laws and their children.
Sources:
http://asia.isp.msu.edu/wbwoa/east_asia/china/culture.htm
http://family.jrank.org/pages/203/Caribbean-Families-Family-Structure.html#ixzz3KCyQCHmD
http://www.importantindia.com/10057/different-types-of-families-in-india/
http://people.bridgewater.edu/~mtembo/menu/articles/TraditionalAfricanFamily.shtml
http://www.wwu.edu/culture/georgea.htm
Do you live in extended family or in nuclear one?
What do you think about polygamy?
Do you know more types of families around the World?
Very good presentation :) There are so many different types of families in the world, and in some of them polygamy is a common reality but, like many people in Europe, I can't imagine living in one. I live in a nuclear family and I think that is the most common type in Europe.
ReplyDeleteI live in a nuclear family. I've never been interested in this topic so I don't know more types of families around the world. So I have question: why did you choose this topic? Polygamy for me it's unnatural and of course in Poland it's an illegal form of relationship beetwen people.
ReplyDeleteI live in a nuclear family, too.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, polygamy is in some reasons a very interesting topic. I don't assent polygamy in my family because of tradition and beliefs and just like Asia said, it is illegal in Poland. In our world there are so many cultures with different beliefs from ours that it is very curious issue.
Unfortunately , I don't know more types of families.
Asia, to be honest, I had to make presentation connected with our lessons topic ;) But I am glad that I could write about family types, because It is always good to learn something about different cultures.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Asia. Polygamy is unnatural. However in my opinion, the one-parent family is unnatural too. How single mother could show her son how to be a man? Likewise father can't show his daughter how to be a woman and how to be a mother. It is impossible. I think that real family is a nuclear family.
ReplyDeleteAs my predecessors I also live in a nuclear family. I can't imagine that would be different. I am a traditionalist and religion is very important for me, and polygamy is incompatible in what I believe. I regard it as something awful. Unfortunately the world is changing, so I think that in a few years it will be much confusion to introduce polygamy in Poland, as was with homosexual marriages. As for other types of families in the world I think that there is nothing to add, Marta exhausted topic :)
ReplyDeleteGood presentation, I'd like it. I live in nuclear family, but for me the best kind of family is the popoenoe's definition of family. For me the most important is that the real family must accept and loves each other's members. There is no important, is only one child or five in family, also is there only one parent or two, it's no important sex (I know some gay couple and is really nice to look at them). I can understand also polygamy but is still a lot for me. But there are some situations in live, for examle - divorce, and there are one man, two women's and two childrens (both has different mothers). Man should accept both of children so we could say is a kind of polygamy. Those people never be indifference for each other.
ReplyDeleteI also live in a nuclear family - nothing new ;)
ReplyDeletePolygamy? For me it's strange, I just can't imagine, how this family works...I agree that is unnatural.
I have heard something about matriarchal tribes, but I don't remember where they live. It means that there is some more types of families, but probably they are really unusual.
I live in nuclear family too, and it's the most natural type of family for me.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion polygamy is unacceptable probably because of our traditions and beliefs like Basia said. But polygamy (for men) is very natural, it's instinct. It's evolution, they want to pass on their genetic material in many "copies". Of course people in contrast to animals have some values and they think a bit differently now. Fortunately.
I also live in nuclear family. In my opinion polygamy is a factitious type of family. Such familes don't create good environment to raising children. Moreover polygamy often involves with discriminations involves women, so for example in the Islamic world. You have discribed so many different types of families that I don't know any other.
ReplyDeleteIt's seems I'm from a nuclear family, which is pretty interesting way to name it. Overall nice presentation, I knew about China, India and Islamic nations, but never heard about Caribbean Families or Bemba people. Don't really know much about polygamy, but I'm pretty sure it will not appear in Europe. We have a different set of socially acceptable thing in our brain, so people will be definitely against it.
ReplyDeleteWell.. I don't understand a family in Islamic type. I think that this is not good for people, specially for women. India's family are very interesting. I like their culture, but sometimes when the man and the woman love each other, they can't be together, because their parents do not agree. And this is very sad.
ReplyDeleteI like modern family in China. This is good that women and men are equal in law, education, business.
Most models of the family assumes that man is the head of the family, but I do not think it was the right solution. People are different, and men and women are different. And both should have the right to vote and decide.
I live in extended family and I know, that it has it's pros, because my great-grandmother always mollycoddles me. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs to the subject of polygamy, it is dependent on the culture, so for a person who live in the poligamy, a monogamy isn't natural.
I don't know many types of families around the world, but I recommend you to read about traditions of Jewish family, it is very interesting topic. :)
It is a very interesting presentation, I did't know much about different types of families before. I live in a nuclear family and I like it, I can't imagine living with my grandparents who have strong characters and don't like opposition. I also can't imagine being one of a few wifes, it is unfair because you are not 'the one', special and the most important, how it is in European culture. I think if men have possibility to have more than one wife, women should have same right.
ReplyDelete