Introduction

Precise and unambiguous use of basic concepts is one of the main requirements for sociological research. The categories of marriage and family are the most difficult to define rigorously. First, their understanding and interpretation are significantly affected by the traditions of everyday consciousness and word usage, which do not always coincide with scientific and theoretical. Secondly, both marriage and the family are studied not only by sociology, but also by a number of other sciences, which gives rise to a plurality of approaches to them and, accordingly, a narrower or broader, more abstract or more concrete interpretation of them.

There are three or four equally legitimate approaches in Russian sociology. The family is a relationship through which and thanks to which the reproduction of man is carried out, the social mechanism of this reproduction. Historical development leads to the transformation of the family into both a social community and a social institution. In these incarnations, the family is considered as an element of the social structure of society and turns out to be dependent on the mode of production, the economic basis of society, because socio-psychological ties become the dominant factor in its unity and functioning, in which the natural basis of marriage also finds expression.

With all the variety of scientific approaches, the modern family can be defined as an institutionalized community that develops on the basis of marriage and the legal and moral responsibility of spouses for the health of children and their upbringing that it generates.

The family brings the fullness of life, the family brings happiness, but every family, especially in the life of a socialist society, said the outstanding Soviet teacher A. S. Makarenko, is, first of all, a big deal of great national importance.

The purpose of the essay is to consider the family as a social institution.

The essence and structure of the family

The family is a cell (small social group) of society, the most important form of organizing personal life, based on marital union and family ties, i.e. relations between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, and other relatives living together and leading a common household on the basis of a single family budget. Family life is characterized by material and spiritual processes.

Being a necessary component of the social structure of any society and performing multiple social functions, the family plays an important role in social development. “The social order,” emphasized F. Engels, “in which people of a certain historical epoch and a certain country live, are determined ... by the stage of development, on the one hand, labor, on the other, the family.” Through the family, generations of people are replaced, a person is born in it, the race continues through it. The primary socialization and upbringing of children takes place in the family, and the obligation to take care of old and disabled members of society is also largely realized. The family is also a unit of life organization and an important consumer unit.

The basis of the family is the marriage union between a man and a woman in one form or another, sanctioned by society. It is not limited, however, to relations between them, even legally formalized, but involves relations between husband and wife, parents and children, which gives it the character of an important social institution. This is determined primarily by the fact that the family owes its emergence, existence and development primarily to social needs, norms and sanctions that require spouses to take care of their children. At the same time, the family is considered as a small social group based on marriage or consanguinity, whose members are connected by a common life, mutual moral responsibility and mutual assistance.

The family, its forms and functions directly depend on social relations in general, as well as on the level of cultural development of society. Naturally, the higher the culture of the society, therefore, the higher the culture of the family.

concept family should not be confused with the concept of marriage. The family is a more complex system of relationships than marriage, because. it unites not only spouses, but also their children and other relatives.

Intra-family relationships can be both personal (relationships between mother and son) and group (between parents and children or between married couples in large families).

The essence of the family is reflected in its functions and structure.

The family structure is understood as the totality of relations between its members, including, in addition to kinship relations, a system of spiritual, moral relations, including relations of power, authority, etc. Allocate an authoritarian structure, where families are divided into: authoritarian and democratic. An analogue to this is the division into patriarchal, matriarchal and egalitarian families. Egalitarian families currently occupy a leading position in developed countries.

The nature of the family structure is ultimately determined by the socio-economic conditions of life. Changes in the composition, structure and functions of the family are an integral and in many ways the main part of sociocultural differences throughout the globe. Such changes are by no means easy to explain. Apparently, there are no unambiguous links between the social image of the family and the socio-economic and technical development of society. Very similar types of family are observed in completely different societies, and vice versa. Although there is no doubt that the general socio-economic and technological conditions of life have a profound impact on the form of family organization.

In particular, the American researcher of family issues D. Murdoch found that the "family core", i.e. the "elementary" or "simple" family, consisting of men, women and their socially recognized children, is the ubiquitous "building material" of all human communities, of all communities. Despite the fact that some functions of the family may be performed by other persons and even social structures (for example, relatives, educators, guardians), the family core remains the paradigmatic institution of the greatest social significance for the sociology of the family.

Changes in the structure and functions of the family, even sudden and revolutionary, are quite natural in historical development. We can say that they accompany the development of an individual family core, where the birth of a child, the marriage of older children and their departure from the family, other joyful and sad events usually cause sudden and abrupt changes in the family structure. However, the family (not a special form of it, but simply a family) turned out to be an extremely flexible and adaptable system to any circumstances. It is the family that is an integral part of all social changes taking place in society.

An individual family core usually consists of spouses and children as a cohabiting group for about 20-30 years. Changes in the average life expectancy of the population, the regulation of family sizes by the spouses themselves or society (for example, in modern China or Vietnam, where the birth rate is limited by law), as well as other demographic factors, can lead to significant shifts in the life cycle of family units. However, an inherent characteristic of the family core is that it has a beginning and an end during the life span of one of the spouses, namely, the life span of the married couple who are its founder.

A very common type of modern family is the nuclear family, reduced to a natural core: wife, husband and children, with the addition of one or two spouses' parents. Such a family is typical for most European countries, the USA, Russia, etc. This version of the family, obviously, is an improvisation in the family organization, which arose as an attempt to cope with some problems typical of modern industrial-urban civilization.

A form of family of great historical importance and still preserved, especially in rural areas, is the large undivided family (joint family) consisting of several family groups. The extended family is a variant of the undivided family, which differs in that the founding groups may live apart. However, they usually settle in the neighborhood and take part in some common activity (for example, the cultivation of land).

The structure of the family is closely related to the order and way of life, its customs and traditions, as well as its relationship with other families and with the whole society.

Family Functions

The main purpose of the family is the satisfaction of social, group and individual needs. As a social cell of society, the family satisfies a number of its most important needs, including in the reproduction of the population. At the same time, it satisfies the personal needs of each of its members, as well as general family (group) needs. From this follow the main functions of the socialist family: reproductive, economic, educational, communicative, organization of leisure and recreation. Between them there is a close relationship, interpenetration and complementarity.

Formation and development of the institution of the family

The formation and development of the institution of the family was a long and multifaceted process, which was preceded by the accumulation of factual data and various views on the family and marriage, and their rethinking by outstanding thinkers at all times.

In the sociology of family and marriage, there are two main areas:

study of the history of family and marriage;

analysis of modern family and marriage.

Within the framework of the historical direction, the origin of the family and its development in various socio-economic formations are considered. A systematic study of the family, according to the American sociologist H. Christensen, began at the end of the 19th century. Until that time, religion, mythology, and philosophy had strongly influenced views on the family and marriage. As you know, in Plato's social concept, the interests of society (the state) dominate over the interests of the individual. “The ideal state is a community of wives and children”, “Every marriage should be useful for the state,” Plato wrote. Aristotle assumed that the nature of a normal person is determined by his "embeddedness" in the political system, and "every family is part of the state."

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), developing the problems of moral and civil philosophy, refuted the point of view on marriage as something unclean, devoid of holiness, wishing to return to the earthly institution of marriage its spiritual value.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a French educator of the 18th century, who was noted for his particular democratism, denied the legitimacy of social inequality between the sexes. But at the same time Rousseau drew attention to their natural, functional and, to some extent, social differences. He assumed a differentiated approach to the characteristics of women and men.

Of great interest are the views on the family and marriage of the classics of German idealism I. Kant (1724-1804) and I. Fichte (1762-1814), who considered the problems of marriage and family based on the theory of natural law, the inequality of men and women. They believed that marriage is a moral and legal institution, that sexual desire is ennobled by exclusivity and should be regulated by laws. Another classic of German idealism, G. Hegel (1770-1831), having a great historical instinct, saw the connection between a certain form of family and the corresponding social and political system. Hegel came to the conclusion that legal relations are alien to the family union in itself. This conclusion is based on the idea of ​​a contradiction between the spiritual and moral unity in the family and the external (legal) regulation of these relations.

For a long time (until about the middle of the 19th century), the family was regarded as the original and, by its very nature, monogamous unit of society. Therefore, philosophers and scientists of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and partly of the New Age, were interested not so much in the family as a specific social institution, but in its relation to general social orders and, above all, to the state.

The historical view of marriage and the family was established in two ways:

1) through the study of the past of the family, in particular, the marriage and family structure of the so-called primitive peoples;

2) by studying the family in various social conditions. At the origins of the first direction is the Swiss scientist Johann Bachofen (1815-1887). He initiated the study of family history. In his work Mother's Right (1861), he put forward the thesis about the universal historical development of primitive man from the initial disorderly communication of the sexes ("hetaerism") to maternal and then to paternal law. Through the analysis of ancient classical works, he proved that before monogamy, both the Greeks and the Asians had such a state when not only a man had sexual relations with several women, but also a woman with several men.

Of particular importance for substantiating evolutionary ideas was the work of the American scientist Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881), who for the first time examined the history of primitive society on a scientific basis. He wrote his book Ancient Society for about 40 years and published it in 1877. It sets out the theory of a single path for the development of human society, substantiates the universality of the maternal clan, and refutes the patriarchal theory. On the basis of a huge amount of factual material, Morgan analyzed the kinship system on different continents. According to his scheme, marital relations went from promiscuity (promiscuity) through group marriage to monogamy. The most important result of all his research was the establishment of the diversity of historical types of marriage and family relations and their dependence on specific historical conditions. Morgan's book "Ancient Society", which was outlined and commented on by K. Marx (1818-1883), served as the reason for the creation of the work of F. Engels (1820-1895) "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" (1884). Fulfilling the testament of K. Marx, F. Engels, using the work of Morgan, proved the deep organic relationship between the production of means of life and the production of the person himself, the development, on the one hand, of labor, and on the other, of the family. The objective historical pattern of changes in the family, its contradictory and at the same time progressive nature, was revealed. Engels pays special attention to the evolution of family forms, its development from group forms of marriage to monogamy.

The theory of "social groups" had a certain influence on the sociology of the family. Its author is the American sociologist Charles Cooley (1864-1929). Cooley introduced the distinction between primary groups and secondary social institutions. Primary groups (family, neighborhood, children's groups) are the main social cells. They are characterized by intimate, personal, informal connections, direct communication, stability, and small size. In the primary groups, the socialization of the individual takes place. Secondary social institutions (classes, nations, parties), according to Cooley's theory, form a social structure where impersonal relations are formed and in which the individual is included only as the bearer of a certain function.

In 1945, the book by E. Burgess and H. Locke "Family - from Institute to Commonwealth" was published. Representatives of the Chicago School tried to prove that changes in family life occur because there is a normal transition from the institution (traditional family model) to the community (modern family model). The strength of a marriage depends mainly on the psychological efforts of the spouses. In other words, the family changes when it loses all signs of a social institution and turns into a free association of individuals who interact for the sake of their personal desires and needs, namely, a commonwealth. Burgess and Locke understood family changes not just as a loss of their functions, not in its disorganization, but in reorganization, in a change in the whole appearance of the family, its structure and functioning. The slogan "From the Institute to the Commonwealth" was sociologically naive, but the idea of ​​changing the family as its reorganization was picked up and developed further.

Already at this stage, which H. Christensen called the period of "emerging science", the most important problems for the theory of the family met: family formation, compatibility of spouses, satisfaction with marriage and its success, stability of marriage. Scientists have developed theoretical concepts that are similar in content to those that were used later.

From the middle of the 20th century, a stage began in the development of the sociology of the family, which was called the "period of building a systematic theory." It was from this time that the accumulation of a large amount of empirical data on numerous aspects of marriage and family relations began. The rapid development of electronic computing technology made it possible to more deeply and seriously analyze the data obtained.

The problem of the family in this period is becoming increasingly relevant, which is associated with the beginning of the destabilization of the family and marriage. The number of research centers is increasing. First in the USA, then in England, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Sweden, etc. Later - in the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe.

The desire to correct the concepts that are necessary for the analysis of family processes, the elucidation of the dependencies between these concepts becomes essential. The special role of the American sociologist Talcott Parson (1902-1979) in this process should be noted. In the fifties, he developed the so-called "system of social action", which turned out to be sufficiently open for interdisciplinary interactions and suitable for solving special problems. In addition, it contributed to the conceptual and linguistic interpretation of social reality. The formalism of this system included an a priori system of concepts, many of which oscillate between purely theoretical interpretation and operational application in the process of research. To analyze the American family, Parsons used a technique that is widely used in cultural anthropology and ethnography, namely, the study of kinship terminology. Parsons and his colleagues were the first to conduct research on the role of spouses in society. Parsons admitted the possibility of a process of disorganization of the family without any connection with the processes of functioning and development of broader social structures. Features of marriage and family relations in the US T. Parsons explains the process of social differentiation. In connection with the change in the level of structural differentiation of society, writes Parsons, "the importance in our society of all units of kinship, except for the nuclear family, is decreasing." There is a transfer of all its main functions (in particular, to the employment sector), except for two: the primary socialization of children and the emotional stabilization of the personality of adults. Parsons believes that this is not evidence of the decline of the family, but of its "specialization" and increasing role in society, because. these vital functions are carried out exclusively in the family.

A lot has been done in the sociology of family and marriage. There is a significant progress in the development of the theory, its conceptual and categorical apparatus, practical recommendations for improving social policy in the field of marriage and family relations, there are fruitful approaches to the study of family and marriage, and a huge amount of empirical material has been accumulated. With proper systematization and additions, the developed concepts, statements, and conclusions obtained could give fundamentality and strengthen the integrity of the special sociological theory of family and marriage.

The integrity of the family is formed due to the mutual attraction and complementarity of the sexes, creating a single "androgenic being", a kind of integrity that is not reducible either to the sum of family members or to an individual family member. It can be concluded that the family is both the result, and, perhaps, to an even greater extent, the creator of civilization. The family is the most important source of social and economic development of society. It produces the main social wealth - man.

Conclusion

So, the family is one of the most ancient social institutions. It arose much earlier than religion, state, army, education, market. The family is the only and indispensable producer of the person himself, the continuation of the family. But, unfortunately, it performs this main function with failures. And it depends not only on her, but also on society. The family arises from the need to satisfy the personal needs and interests of individuals. Being a part of society, it connects them with the public interest. Personal needs are organized on the basis of socially accepted norms, values, patterns of behavior, and it often happens that the unceremonious intervention of society in the life of the family destroys it and the life of its constituents, brings it to a beggarly existence.

There are many reasons that encourage people to unite in family groups, to create stable ties and interactions, but the basis is primarily human needs. In scientific terms, the spiritual, physiological and sexual needs of men and women encourage them to unite for the joint implementation of goals: the reproduction of the human race, the creation of material conditions for existence - housing, clothing, food; satisfaction of the need for children, the biological dependence of children on their parents, the need for sex. Can't a person satisfy this need outside the family? Of course it can. But isn't the experience of ancestors instructive? Turning our gaze to the past, we realize that society as a whole, and hence the people who make it up, are interested in ensuring that these biological needs are fulfilled within the family. Only by identifying these specific features in the realization of human needs in a family environment can one understand the essence of the family as a social institution, and along with this, the origins of the family's vitality, its resilience, and attractiveness to a person.

List of sources used

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2. Dorno I.V. Modern marriage: problems and harmony. - M.: Pedagogy, 2008

3. Eliseeva I.I. Perestroika - family, family - perestroika: a review of articles published in periodicals. - M., Thought, 2009.

4. Kovalev S.V. Psychology of the modern family. - M., 2008.

5. M.S. Matskovsky, Sociology of the family. Problems, theories, methodologies and techniques "- M .: 2003

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This is the definition of a family:

family An association of people based on consanguinity, marriage or adoption, connected by a common life and mutual responsibility for the upbringing of children, is called.

Marriage is the foundation of family relationships.

Marriage- it is a historically changing social form of relations between a woman and a man, through which society streamlines and sanctions their sexual life and establishes their marital and family rights and obligations.

The family, as a rule, is a more complex system of relations than marriage, since it can unite not only spouses, but also their children, as well as other relatives.

The family should be considered not just as a marriage group, but as a social institution, that is, a system of connections, interactions and relationships of individuals that perform the functions of reproduction of the human race and regulate all connections, interactions and relationships on the basis of certain values ​​and norms, subject to extensive social control through the system. positive and negative sanctions.

The family as a social institution goes through a series of stages, the sequence of which develops into a family cycle, or family life cycle.

Researchers identify a different number of phases of this cycle, but the main among them are the following:

1) family formation - entry into the first marriage;

2) the beginning of childbearing - the birth of the first child;

3) the end of childbearing - the birth of the last child:

4) "empty nest" - marriage and separation of the last child from the family;

5) termination of the existence of the family - the death of one of the spouses.

At each stage, the family has specific social and economic characteristics.

The family as a social institution arose with the formation of society. The process of formation and functioning of the family is determined by value-normative regulators.

Such, for example, as courtship, the choice of a marriage partner, sexual standards of behavior, the norms that guide a wife and husband, parents and children, etc., as well as sanctions for their non-compliance.

In the early stages of the development of society relations between a man and a woman, older and younger generations were regulated by tribal and tribal customs, which were syncretic norms and patterns of behavior based on religious and moral ideas.

With the advent of the state, the regulation of family life acquired legal nature. The legal registration of marriage imposed certain obligations not only on the spouses, but also on the state that sanctioned their union. From now on social control and sanctions were carried out not only by public opinion, but also by state bodies.

Proponents of functionalism analyze the family from the point of view of its functions or social needs, whom she serves. Over the past 200 years, the main changes in the functions of the family are associated with its destruction as a cooperative labor association, as well as with the limitation of the ability to transfer family status from parents to children.

main, determining family function, as follows from the definitions of the domestic sociologist A.G. Kharchev and American researcher N. Smelzer, - reproductive, that is, the biological reproduction of the population and the satisfaction of the need for children.

Along with this main function, the family performs a number of other social functions:

1. Educational function - socialization of the younger generation, maintaining the cultural reproduction of society. The family is the main agent of socialization in all societies. It is in it that children learn the basic knowledge necessary to play the roles of adults.

But industrialization and the social changes associated with it to some extent deprived the family of this function. The most important trend was the introduction of a system of mass secondary education.

Already at the age of 4 or 5, children were brought up not only at home, but the teacher had a profound influence on them. The development of a system of preschools and voluntary associations for children (for example, scouts and summer camps) has increased the number of socialization agents who perform this function along with the family.

2. Household function means maintaining the physical health of members of society, caring for children and elderly family members.

In traditional peasant and craft societies, the family performed many welfare functions, such as caring for sick and elderly family members. But these functions have changed radically in the course of the emergence and development of industrial society. In the developed countries of Western Europe and the United States, doctors and medical institutions have almost completely replaced the family in terms of caring for people's health, although family members still decide whether there is a need to seek medical help.

Life insurance, unemployment benefits, and social security funds have reduced the need for families to take full responsibility for helping their members during times of economic hardship. Similarly, social benefits, hospitals, and retirement homes have made it easier for the family to care for the elderly.

In modern Russian society, the level of well-being of the bulk of the population is very low, on the other hand, the social sphere is poorly developed, as a rule, the family takes responsibility for disabled members of society.

3. Economic function means receiving material resources of some family members for others, economic support from the family of minors and disabled members of society.

Among the great changes brought about by the advent of industrial production was the destruction of cooperative production system.

Workers began to work outside the home, and the economic role of the family was reduced to spending money earned by the breadwinner of the family. Although the wife sometimes worked, her main duty was to raise the children. In modern society, as a rule, both spouses work, who either have a joint budget, or each has its own individual one.

In peasant agriculture and handicraft production, the family was a joint cooperative labor association. Responsibilities were distributed according to the age and sex of family members.

4. The function of primary social control means the moral regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life, as well as the regulation of responsibility and obligations in relations between spouses, parents and children, representatives of the older and middle generations.

5. The function of spiritual communication covers the development of the personality of family members, spiritual enrichment.

6. Social status function means granting a certain social status to family members, the reproduction of the social structure.

In medieval society, there were various customs and laws that more or less automatically fixed the status occupied by families from different walks of life.

Hereditary monarchy is a prime example of this custom. Aristocrats who owned land and titles could pass on their high status to their children. Among the lower class, there were systems of guilds and training in crafts - thus, professions could be passed on from one generation to the next.

The revolutions that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries were carried out with the aim of destruction of class privileges some groups. Among these privileges was the right to pass on title, status and wealth to the next generation. In some countries, including Russia, the United States, the inheritance of aristocratic titles is outlawed.

Progressive taxes, as well as taxes on insurance and in the event of death, also limit the ability to preserve wealth and pass it on by inheritance. However, wealthy high-ranking families still have an advantage when it comes to passing on wealth and status to children. But this is done rather than on the basis of inheritance, but in the form of preparing children for the kind of education and kind of work that provide high status.

Upper-class members are able to pay for elite education and maintain "acquaintances" that promote high status. But these advantages have largely lost their significance, becoming less stable and reliable than before.

7. Leisure function includes the organization of rational leisure, mutual enrichment of interests.

8. Emotional function involves the possibility of obtaining psychological protection, emotional support, emotional stabilization of individuals and their psychological therapy.

Sociologists, comparing the structure of the family in different societies, distinguish several parameters according to which all families can be differentiated into certain varieties. These parameters include: the form of the family, the form of marriage, the pattern of distribution of power in the family, the choice of partner, the choice of residence, and the origin and mode of inheritance of property.

In modern developed societies, the dominant monogamy- Marriage between one man and one woman. However, there are reports of several other forms. Polygamy is called a marriage between one and several other individuals. A marriage between one man and several women is called polygyny; marriage between one woman and several men is called polyandry. Another form is group marriage- between several men and several women.

Most societies favor polygyny. George Murdoch studied many societies and found that 145 of them had polygyny, 40 were monogamous, and only two were polyandry. The rest of the societies did not fit into any of these categories. Since the ratio of men to women is approximately 1:1 in most societies, polygyny is not widely practiced even in those societies where it is considered to be preferable. Otherwise, the number of unmarried men would greatly exceed the number of men with several wives.

Some scholars emphasize the importance economic factors for the predominance of a certain form of family in society.

For example, in Tibet, land belonging to a family is inherited by all sons together. It is not divided into separate plots that are too small to feed each brother's family. Therefore, the brothers use this land together and have a common wife.

Of course, economic factors only partially explain the uniqueness of various forms of the family. Other factors also play an important role.

For example, polygyny is beneficial to women in societies where many men die in war. Similarly, among the inhabitants of the Todas tribe in southern India (where the number of women was declining because it was customary to kill born girls), so-called fraternal polyandry (brothers had a common wife) was also practiced.

The British colonialists put an end to the practice of infanticide, and the number of women among the Todas began to increase rapidly. However, pair marriages never became widespread among the Todas. Instead, brothers who previously would have had one wife in common began to have several common wives. Thus, in Todas society, there was a rarely observed tendency towards group marriage.

Depending on the structure of family ties, simple (nuclear) and complex (extended) are distinguished. family type. Nuclear family is a married couple with unmarried children. If some of the children in the family are married, then extended or complex a family that includes two or more generations, such as grandparents, cousins, grandchildren, etc.

Most family systems in which extended families are considered the norm are patriarchal. This term refers to the power of men over other members of the family.

With matriarchal In the family system, power rightfully belongs to the wife and mother.

In recent years, there has been a shift from patriarchal to egalitarian family system. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of working women in many industrialized countries. Under such a system, influence and power are distributed between husband and wife almost equally.

Depending on the preferred partner distinguish between exogamous and endogamous families. The rules governing marriages outside certain groups, such as families or clans, are rules of exogamy. Along with them, there are endogamy rules, prescribing marriage within certain groups. Endogamy was characteristic of the caste system that developed in India. The most famous rule of endogamy is prohibition of incest(incest), excluding marriage or sexual relations between persons who are considered close blood relatives.

In almost all societies, this rule applies to the relationship between a child and a parent, as well as siblings. In many societies, this even applies to cousins ​​and other close relatives. The prohibition of incest is not universal, despite its widespread use. Marriages between siblings were encouraged in the pharaonic family in ancient Egypt.

Why is the incest taboo so widespread? This issue is the subject of heated debate. Some researchers have suggested that people have an aversion to incest. Others believe that people have long been aware of the dangers of the genetic consequences of incest. Still others emphasized that rules prohibiting sexual intercourse between non-spousal family members reduced the likelihood of jealousy and conflict.

However, the latter argument loses credibility when you consider that many people are able to share a sexual partner with someone else without any jealousy. And polygyny, which often breeds rivalry between wives, persists despite conflicts. In addition, it was emphasized that the prohibition of incest forced to look for a life partner outside the groups to which people belonged.

Different societies have different residence rules newlyweds. Depending on the nature of the choice of place of residence, sociologists distinguish neolocal, patrilocal and matrilocal types of families.

patrilocal residence, the newlywed leaves her family and lives with her husband's family or near his parents' house. For example, according to the customs of Irish peasants, a young wife enters her husband's family and is under the authority of her mother-in-law.

In societies where the norm is matrilocal residence, Newlyweds must live with or near the bride's parents.

neolocal residence, considered the norm in the West is rare in the rest of the world.

Only in 17 of the 250 societies studied by Murdoch did the newlyweds move to a new location. Patrilocal residence found its way into societies where polygyny, slavery, and frequent wars existed; the members of these societies were usually engaged in hunting and gathering plants. Matrilocal residence was considered the norm in societies where women enjoyed the right to own land. Neolocal residence is associated with monogamy, a tendency towards individualism and the equal economic status of men and women.

In the sociology of the family, a particular problem is the problem of determining the pedigree and the nature of the inheritance of property. If a person could count all the people with whom he is related by blood (including ancestors and the most distant relatives), this list would be huge. The rules for determining a pedigree shorten this list and indicate which relatives play an important role in a person's life. There are three types of systems for determining pedigree and property inheritance rules.

The most common is the pedigree through the male line.

In rural Ireland, the main family ties are considered to be between father, son and grandson. Although the wife maintains a relationship with her relatives to some extent and her child inherits her genes to some extent, the children become members of the husband's family.

In some cases, kinship is determined through the female line.

As is customary in the Trobriand Islands, the newlyweds live in the village with their husband, but the property and daily assistance comes from the wife. The mother's property becomes the property of the daughter, and the wife's brother provides the main support for the young family. The way of family life in the Trobriand Islands is based on family ties through the male and female lines.

There is a family system based on two-way ancestry. It is common in 40 percent of the world's cultures. In such systems, blood relatives on both the paternal and maternal sides are considered equally in determining kinship.

The concept of family and marriage- the object of study of sociologists, psychologists, religious scholars, jurists and even talk show hosts. We, of course, are interested in the family not in the understanding of Andrei Malakhov, but from the point of view of social science.

“The family is the cell of society,” says the host of the ceremony in the registry office and does not even suspect that this is the main thesis family sociology, that is, the branch of sociology that studies marriage and family relationships. In fact, the definition of a family is somewhat more complicated. Family- it small social group, and also this. Every person in society has some kind of marital status (single, divorced, married, married, widower, widow, etc.; in active search, by the way, this is not marital status). Thus, every inhabitant of our planet has something to do with institution of marriage and family.

Marriage (also known as a marriage union or matrimony) is a historically conditioned, socially and (almost always) state-sanctioned form of an agreement between a woman and a man, the purpose of which is to create a family. Marriage brings the family to the official level: family members have rights and obligations. The marriage union is protected by the state, has restrictions and entails legal consequences in case of violation of the family code. Marriage and Family Code created to protect family members by the state at the legal level.

Family structure.

Family structure (family structure)- These are the different types of family composition:

1. Nuclear family - husband, wife, child (one or more).
2. A completed family (or extended family) - nuclear plus grandparents, uncles, aunts (who live together), sometimes plus another nuclear family (for example, a husband's brother with his wife and child, again - if they all live together ).
3. Blended family (rearranged family) - may include a stepfather or mother (stepfather and stepmother) and, accordingly, one or more stepchildren.
4. Single parent family.

By the number of children, families are:

• childless;
• one-child;
• small children;
• average children;
• large families.

By place of residence:

• matrilocal (with the wife's parents);
• patrilocal (with the husband's parents);
• neolocal (separate from all this joy).

When considering subsequent types of family and its organization, one will have to hit a certain degree of radicalism, from the point of view of generally accepted moral standards.

By the number of partners there are:

• monogamous families (two partners - the most common form of family relations since ancient times);
• polygamous families:
  1. polygyny (polygamy - one man, three or more women, as in Shariah);
  2. polyandry (a rare occurrence - one woman and three or more men; for example, among the peoples of Hawaii and Tibet);
  3. Swedish family (three partners of different sexes - a man and two women or vice versa) - an interesting fact is that this type of family is associated with Sweden only among native speakers of the Russian language, and Swedish society is conservative, and this type of relationship is extremely rare there.

By gender of partners:

• heterogeneous family;
• same-sex family.

Same-sex marriage are allowed in some countries, or in some areas of certain countries (for example, in the USA and Mexico - not in all states). Having mentioned them, it is impossible not to mention that this type of relationship has been the subject of fierce disputes and discussions over the years. I have to move away from an abstract, impartial position and emphasize a few points.

Persecution or oppression of supporters of same-sex relationships is a violation of the Declaration of Human Rights. However, same-sex relationships are one thing and same-sex marriage is another. And the possibility of same-sex partners to adopt and raise a child is generally the third. If the first is normal, but it should have some kind of censorship (that is, gays should not expose their type of relationship, because in this way they can psychologically injure others, and this is also a violation of social norms). The second is not normal, although not critical. The most correct thing (I can’t say for sure) would be to recognize same-sex marriages at the level of society, but not at the level of the state and law; and again - to censor. Everything described in relation to the first and second points coincides with the official policy of the Russian Federation and some other countries. Speaking of censorship, I mean that "if a gay wants to go to the parade, he must be a veteran."

Regarding the third (adoption) - this is unacceptable. Unacceptable, as it contradicts social, moral and religious norms. In addition, it affects the psyche of the child, and is unacceptable from a medical point of view.

Let's go back to family and marriage.

Functions of family and marriage.

Family Functions- these are the relations within this family and the relations of the family with society, that is, its internal and social significant characteristics.

1. reproductive function. This function contains both the sexual need and the need for procreation.
2. Economic and economic function - issues of nutrition, family property, family budget and landscaping.
3. Regenerative function - inheritance (surnames, property, family values, social status, family business).
4. Educational and upbringing - the function of the socialization of children.
5. Initial social control is a function of instilling norms of behavior with elders, the concept of responsibility and duties.
6. Recreational function - entertainment, leisure, recreation, hobbies, etc.
7. The function of spiritual communication (spiritual mutual enrichment).
8. Socio-status - the reproduction of the social structure within the family, since the family is society in miniature.
9. Psychotherapeutic function - satisfies the needs for recognition, support, psychological protection, sympathy, etc.

In conclusion, we can say that the family is the most ancient social institution, and the history of the family is, in fact, the history of mankind. In addition, the family, as a cell of society, shows the problems that exist in this society. Therefore, the sources of problems in the family should be studied not only by family psychologists and Andryusha Malakhov, but also by politicians, lawyers, and sociologists.

F. Engels believed that the defining moment in history is: a) the "stage of development of labor", on the one hand, "and b) the level of development of the family." The family is woven into the fundamental foundations of life and forms the basic preconditions for the functioning of society through the physical and socio-cultural replacement of older generations, thanks to the birth of children and the support of the existence of all family members. Without the reproduction of the population and the socialization of generations, it is impossible to replenish all social formations, to ensure social life.

The family is a complex social formation and is the result of specific social processes taking place in society. The family includes heterogeneous components associated with physiological processes, with the psychology of relationships, with the norms and values ​​of culture, with demographic dynamics, with economic living conditions, with the state and politics, with historical transformations in general. And in this sense, in sociology, the family is seen as a social institution that is in relationship with the institutions and processes in society. On the other hand, sociology considers the family as a small group, as a relatively autonomous social system with specific functions, a system of values, attitudes, and roles. Consequently, in sociology, with its specific approach to studying the social world through the relationship of personal and social, the family acts as an intermediary between the individual and society.

This mediating role of the family at the macro level is studied at the institutional level, i.e. as a simple social institution and its functions. At the micro level, the family as a small social group is studied as a unity of interacting individuals (family members).

In different schools of sociology, these two approaches to the phenomenon dominate.

1) Family as a social institution.

In the sociology of Marxism, functionalism, the patterns of formation and modernization of the family along with the evolution of society.

• 2) The sociology of "social groups" represents the family as a small group, which is expressed in the views of E. Burgess on the family as a unity of interacting individuals.
• 3) The third approach is integral in sociology, it considers the family as a system, it incorporates the institutional and microgroup approach. So T. Parsons and K. Davis noted: "The stability of the family depends both on external sociocultural influences and on internal interactions. According to T. Parsons, the family is a subsystem of society that ensures the stability of society, thanks to the establishment of instrumental relations with other social subsystems and structures.

Definition of the concept of family

There are many definitions of the family in the sociology of A.G. Kharchev defined the family as an association of people based on marriage and consanguinity, bound by common life and mutual responsibility. A family is a historically specific system of relationships between spouses, parents and children, as a small group connected by marriage or kinship.

Marriage is the foundation of family relationships. Marriage is a historically changing form of relationship between a man and a woman, through which society regulates and sanctioned their sexual life and established their marital rights and obligations. However, the family is a more complex system of relationships than marriage, because. unites not only spouses, their children, but also other relatives. The family is a community of people based on the triune relationship of "marriage - parenthood - kinship". This is the main type of family; in Russia, it accounts for 60-70% of the total number of those who have married. Childless newlyweds -15-20% and childless spouses -10-15%.

Therefore, the family, in the strict sense of the word, should not be reduced only to marriage, sex partnership, or cohabitation. They are more commonly referred to as "family groups". The family is not a marriage group, but a social institution, i.e. a system of connections and interactions between family members that perform the function of population reproduction and regulation of relations between the sexes, parents and children.

The types of family structures are diverse and are distinguished depending on the nature of the marriage, the characteristics of parenthood and kinship. The family and marriage as an institution arose and developed with the formation of society.

Depending on the forms of marriage, polygamous and monogamous families are distinguished. Polygamous is the marriage of one spouse to several.

• 1) The stage of savagery corresponded to a group marriage in the clan (herd);
• 2) barbarism is characterized by a pair marriage, i.e. marriage of one spouse with several family members (according to J. Morgan).

Polygamy is of two types: 1) polygyny - the marriage of one man with several women (patriarchy); 2) polyandry (based on andr - husband, man) - the marriage of one woman with several men. The form of marriage of the era of matriarchy, when the power in the clan belonged to a woman, and the ownership of children in marriage was determined not by paternity, but by motherhood (one mother, many husbands). Exogamy is an intermediate form of marriage, where marriage is possible with several partners, but only outside a given family group (phratry). Endogamous marriages take place within the phratry (incestuous).

Monogamy - the marriage of one man with one woman (complemented by polygamous relations of the sexes outside the family). Monogamy is found in family history 5 times less often than polygamy, polyandry is 20 times less common than monogamy, and 1000 times less often than polygyny.

According to the criterion of social status, families are homogeneous (spouses from the same social stratum) and heterogeneous (from different classes, castes, strata), and according to the national-ethnic criterion - interethnic or intranational marriages.

The process of family formation is determined by value-normative regulators (sexual standards of behavior, norms for choosing a marriage partner, relations between parents and children).

In the early stages of society, relations between the sexes and generations were regulated by tribal customs (sacred syncretic norms of behavior), based on religious and moral ideas. With the advent of the state, the regulation of family life acquired a legal character. The legal registration of marriage imposed responsibility not only on the spouses, but also on the state that sanctioned the marriage. Social control and sanctions, in addition to custom and religion, began to be carried out by state bodies. In a modern urbanized society (the West), the main type of family has become nuclear families, consisting of two generations - parents, children. A nuclear family is called reproductive (if minor children remained in it) or orientational (adult children left and created their own reproductive families). Sometimes nuclear families are called conjugal families. The extended family consists of a number of married couples (father-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-sisters, their spouses-children). These are consanguineous families. A complete extended family is when none of the men of different generations leave the boundaries of a large family (China).

Family Functions

In sociology, specific and general functions of the family are distinguished. Each social institution has unique functions that determine the profile of a particular institution and functions that accompany the actions of the main functions. Specific functions stem from the essence of the family and reflect its characteristics, while the family is forced to perform non-specific functions in certain circumstances.

Specific Features:

• 1) childbearing (reproductive function). Small families are families with 1-2 children, consisting of two pairs, i.e. no reproduction. For reproduction, approximately 2.5 children are needed in a family, or 1(4-two-child families, and 1(3-three-child families, 20% - four-children, 7% - five-children, or 14% - childless or one-child;
• 2) the function of the maintenance and socialization of children - remains with all the changes in society, but with the strengthening of the role of state institutions in the twentieth century, an increase in the trend of decreasing family need for children is historically noticeable;
• 3) household - maintaining the physical health of the family, caring for minors and the elderly.

Non-specific functions:

• 1) economic - economic support for minors and disabled people;
• 2) transfer of property, status;
• 3) organization of leisure activities;
• 4) primary social control.

In the twentieth century, society and the state are increasingly combining the performance of non-specific functions with the family.

Thus, social institutions are powerful systems that cover a set of statuses and roles, social norms and sanctions, social organizations that support the building of society.

Questions for self-control

• 1. What does the term "Social institution" mean?
• 2. Give examples of simple and complex social institutions.
• 3. What does the process of institutionalization of social relations mean?
• 4. What are the main elements of organized social systems?
• 5. Define the institution of marriage and family.
• 6. What evolution did the forms of the family go through in history?

social institutions family sociological

The family is the primary community of people related by marriage or blood relationship, within which the upbringing of children is provided, and other socially significant needs are satisfied. For sociologists, the family is, first of all, a social institution that regulates the reproduction of a person, with the help of a special system of roles, norms and organizational forms.

The foundation of family relationships is Marriage is a socially conditioned form of relationship between a woman and a man, through which society regulates and authorizes their sexual relations, and also establishes marital and kinship roles. Marriage is considered the only acceptable, socially approved and legal form of sexual relations between spouses. It includes in its structure both norms and a set of customs governing the marital relations of a man and a woman (betrothal, wedding ceremony, honeymoon, etc.).

At present, in Western societies, marriage is associated with monogamy when one man can be married to no more than one woman at a time. At the same time, on a global scale, monogamy is not the most common form of marriage. American anthropologist George Murdoch, who conducted a comparative study of 565 different societies, found that polygamy(that is, a form of marriage in which a man or woman can have more than one spouse) is allowed in 80% of them. There are two types of polygamy: polygyny in which a man can be married to more than one woman at the same time; and the less common polyandry, in which a woman is simultaneously in two or more marriages with different men (as a rule, this form of marriage gives rise to a situation where the biological father of a child born in such a marriage is unknown).

From the point of view of the sphere of choice of a spouse, marriages are divided into endogamous(prisoners within their own community) and exogamous(concluded between representatives of different groups). This leads to the emergence of two types of family: socially homogeneous (homogeneous) in which the spouses and their parents belong to the same social groups, strata and classes, and socially heterogeneous (diverse).

The categories of "marriage" and "family" are closely interconnected, despite the fact that they also have many differences. Unlike marriage, which is only a relationship between spouses, the family is also a social organization that affects both marital and parental relationships. Married individuals become relatives to each other, while their marital obligations are linked by family ties.

a much wider circle of people (blood relatives of one side become relatives of the opposite side).

The family structure includes the following groups of relationships, which together create a family as a special social phenomenon:

• natural-biological, that is, sexual (sexual) and consanguineous;
• economic, based on housekeeping, organization of life and family property;
• spiritual-psychological and moral-aesthetic, associated with feelings of marital and parental love, with the upbringing of children, with caring for elderly parents, with moral standards of behavior.

To date, according to a number of researchers, several main functions of the family can be distinguished:

• - reproductive, that is, the biological reproduction of the population in the social plan and the satisfaction of the needs for children - in the personal plan;
• - educational - socialization of the younger generation, maintenance of the cultural reproduction of society;
• - economic - obtaining material resources of some family members for others, economic support for minors and disabled members of society;
• - the sphere of primary social control - the moral regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life, as well as the regulation of responsibility and obligations in relations between spouses, parents and children, representatives of the older generation;
• - social status - granting a certain social status to family members, reproduction of the social structure;
• - leisure - the organization of rational leisure for all family members;
• - emotional - obtaining psychological protection, emotional support, emotional stabilization of individuals;

There are two main family organization forms:

• related("or extended) family, characteristic of traditional societies, based not only on the marital relationship of two people, but also on the consanguinity of a large number of relatives (in fact, a clan of relatives together with spouses and children).
• nuclear (from lat. nucleus- core,) or married family characteristic of modern societies (where children have the opportunity to live separately from their parents after marriage); the basis of such a family is a couple of people connected by marriage (husband and wife), as well as their children, forming

those who are the biological, social and economic center of the family, all other relatives already belong to the periphery of the family;

Family life, its historical types and structure depend on the general trends in the socio-economic development of society. In the transition from a traditional society to a modern one, the family changes significantly. Due to the fact that the household ceases to be the main producing unit, there is a separation of home and work, there is a transition from the extended family, consisting of several generations with the dominance of the elders, to decentralized nuclear families, in which marriage ties are placed above tribal ties. A large family is being replaced by a one-child family.

In relation to the individual, families are divided into parental and reproductive. TO parent families are those in which a person is born, to reproductive - those that a person forms when he becomes an adult, and within which he brings up a new generation of children. At the same time, depending on the place of residence, families are distinguished matrilocal(when the spouses live with the wife's parents), patrilocal(when a married couple moves in with the husband's parents), or individual(when the spouses live separately from the parents of the wife and husband and run a separate household).

There is a transition from a family based on sociocultural prescriptions to interpersonal preferences. In turn, the family influences all aspects of society. It is a kind of micromodel of society, all its social ties.

In the modern Westernized post-industrial society, model of "non-traditional family", based on same-sex marriage. The most important role in its legalization was played by the Cairo Conference on Population and Development of the United Nations in 1994, which fixed, in principle 9 of the Program of Action for Population Regulation, equality and equivalence of different types of sexual unions, including same-sex ones. Currently, same-sex marriages (as well as same-sex partnerships) are legal in a number of EU countries, in Canada, in some US states and in South Africa.

The complex nature of the family as a social entity requires different methodological approaches to its sociological analysis. Modern sociology considers the family, first of all, as a system of social and gender roles.

Gender roles represent one of the types of social roles, a set of expected patterns of behavior (or norms) for men and women. Role in social psychology is defined as a set of norms that determine how people should behave in a given social position. Each person performs a number of different roles, such as wife, mother, student, daughter, girlfriend, etc. Sometimes these roles do not overlap, leading to role conflict (for example, between the role of a business woman and the role of a spouse).

In industrial society, there was a so-called "patriarchal" hierarchy of roles of the gender system, based on the gender contract. "housewives"(English - housewife) for a woman and a "breadwinner" (eng. - breadwinner)- Sponsor of family life for a man.

In a post-industrial society, the gender contract of the "housewife" is supplanted contracts of "equal status"(English - equal status), according to which the hierarchy of patriarchy is being replaced by the equalization of the position, rights and opportunities of men and women both in the public (politics, education, career, cultural life) and in the private sphere (housekeeping, raising children, sexuality, etc.). .). Changes in gender contracts are due to the transformations that have taken place in late modern society: the formation of the welfare state, the mass consumer society, the feminization of men and the masculinization of women have influenced a radical change in the traditional gender order.

The problem of divorce is closely related to the change in the type of relationships in the modern family: new family models give rise to their own forms of breaking these relationships. In traditional marriage, divorce is understood as a rupture of relations in legal, economic, psychological terms, while the modern form of family relations brings the psychological problems of parting to the fore. Partners, most often, do not find common ground in personal interaction; and in this case, psychological calm becomes more preferable for them than, for example, economic difficulties.

Among the main factors predetermining divorce today, we can name the following:

• - industrialization;
• - urbanization;
• - population migration;
• - emancipation of women.

These factors reduce the level of social control, make people's lives largely autonomous and anonymous, the sense of responsibility, affection, mutual care is greatly reduced.

The most common causes of direct divorce between spouses are:

• 1. Domestic problems (housing disorder, material insecurity, etc.)
• 2. Interpersonal conflicts (loss of love, respect, affection; jealousy of one of the spouses; different views on life in economic, social, spiritual terms)
• 3. External factors (treason, interference in the relations of third parties, for example, parents of spouses, the beginning of a new relationship, etc.)

“Marriage today has ceased to be a bond aimed at transferring property and status to another generation. As women gain economic independence, marriage is less and less a consequence of the need for economic partnership ... In all likelihood, the increase in the number of divorces is associated not with deep disappointment in marriage as such, but with a growing desire to turn it into a full-blooded union that brings satisfaction.

E. Giddens "Sociology"

The nature of the bonds between people entering into marriage has changed in the last few decades. Political, economic, social changes in the modern world have contributed to the fact that public opinion has become more tolerant of different models of family life. And yet, the situation of divorce is a critically acute experience in the life of an individual, which does not have a one-time character, but develops over a long period of time.

The beginning of the 20th century was not only a period of revolutionary activity, active modernization, feminization, numerous social changes in public life, but also a stage of dramatic changes in marriage and family relations. Changes in family structure around the world in the twentieth century allow us to talk about the transition to an era of small children, an increase in divorces and a drop in the number of registered marriages, the alienation of the individual and his autonomy.

Gradually, there is a transition to a specific model of marriage: late marriage - either upon reaching economic independence from parents, or after completing education and acquiring a profession.

The crisis of the modern family is largely due to significant changes in social life in general. What are the manifestations of crises in the family? First of all, in its instability. In large cities, over 50% of marriages break up (in some places, the divorce rate reaches 70%). Moreover, in more than a third of disintegrating families, life together lasted from several weeks to 4 years, that is, not for long. Family instability leads to the growth of incomplete families, reduces parental authority, affects the possibilities of forming new families, and the health of adults and children.

To the instability of the family, one should add its disorganization, i.e. an increase in the number of so-called conflict families, where the upbringing of children in an environment of quarrels and scandals leaves much to be desired. This has a very negative effect on both adults and children. It is in such families that the sources of alcoholism, drug addiction, neurosis and delinquency are found.

The difficult economic and social situation requires serious tension from a modern person, which often causes stress and depression, which have already become an integral part of our daily life. That is why, today, the need for a “safe harbor”, a place of spiritual comfort, is especially acutely felt, a family should be such a place - stability against the backdrop of widespread variability. However, despite such a clear need, the institution of the family is currently experiencing a rather acute crisis: its very existence, which has been unchanged for many centuries, is under threat.

“In world science, there are various points of view on the state of the family in modern society, which can be ordered on a continuum resembling a battlefield. On one front, there is a position that the family is degrading, going through a deep crisis, the causes of which lie in social cataclysms, ideological or moral and ethical transformations, and this destruction of the family harms both society and the individual. On the other - a diametrically opposite point of view. The social changes that have taken place over the past two hundred years (and in our context also the turbulent changes of recent decades) have revealed the fact that the family as an institution is outdated and, in the old-fashioned form as it exists now, must either disappear or undergo a radical redesign. ... Between these radical points of view, there is a more moderate position, shared, perhaps, by most scientists, that the family, although it is in a state of crisis, turns out to be a very adaptive and strong entity that endures the blows of fate. As we have already mentioned, this is a kind of battlefield for the monopoly of social control over the individual. Is it necessary to say that the points of the lances of all three divisions are directed against each other, at known enemy vulnerabilities? The balance of ammunition, as well as the tempting, apparent accessibility of the object of their claims, convinces that the end of the battle is still far away.

Yarskaya-Smirnova E.R. "Sociocultural analysis of nvtypicality"

• Murdok G. (1949) Social Structure. New York: The Mac Millan Company.
• See, for example, Antonov A.I. Sociology of the family M., 2010; Zritnsva E.I. Sociology of the family M., 2006; Chernyak E.M. Sociology of the family M., 2004, etc.
• See: Zritneva E.I. Sociology of the family. M: Humanist. Ed. Center VLADOS, 2006.