Famous Greek Philosopher Aristotle opines that Man is a social animal. He never lives alone. A completely isolated individual is unthinkable. He begins his day as a member of a group i.e. family. Hence of all human groups the family is the most important primary group. No known society, ancient or modern, is free from the family system. Family has undergone several changes over time as Burgess and Locke put it ‘from a hard and fast social structure or institution and becoming a flexible relationship.
The family is the most important primary group in society (C.N.Sharkar, 1990, p.392).. Everyone is a member of a family and has duties to make ourselves become a person who has responsibility and value. Also, the family has responsibility in teaching children as its contribution in building human resources for society. Members of the family have the right to get the body, prevent, take care, and human rights from their parents. Members of the family need meals, clothes, home, education, health prevention, and safety. To complete these needs, the parents try to do anything to raise and complete all needs (MoEYS, 2009, p.186). The family also has a function to provide formal and informal education to children or members of the family. So the function of the family is very important to educate children to become human resources in society.
Definition of Family
According to Maclver. “Family is a group defined by a sex relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children.”
According to Burgess and Locke, “Family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption consisting of a single household interacting and inter communicating with each other in their respective social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister creating a common culture.”
Types of Forms of Family
Mostly the family is three types
- Nuclear family : A nuclear family is a small group consisting of a husband, a wife and children, natural or adopted. It is more or less an autonomous unit that is not under the control of adults or elders of the family. It consists of two generations only. In all modern societies, the nuclear family is the most common type of family.
- Joint Family : The joint family is an extension of the nuclear family (parents and dependent children), and it typically grows when children of one sex do not leave their parents' home at marriage but bring their spouses to live with them.
- Extended Family : An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family, consisting of parents like father, mother, and their children, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, all living in the same household. Particular forms include the stem and joint families.
