The Authors Suggest That Singles Create Their Own "Family." the Best Description of This Concept Is

J Family Med Prim Intendance. 2013 October-Dec; two(4): 306–310.

The Family and Family Structure Classification Redefined for the Current Times

Rahul Sharma

Section of Community Medicine, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India

Abstract

The family is a basic unit of study in many medical and social science disciplines. Definitions of family have varied from country to country, and also within state. Considering of this and the changing realities of the current times, at that place is a felt demand for redefining the family unit and the common family structure types, for the purpose of report of the family as a factor in health and other variables of involvement. A redefinition of a "family unit" has been proposed and diverse nuances of the definition are besides discussed in detail. A classification scheme for the various types of family has also been put frontwards. A few exceptional instance scenarios have been envisaged and their classification as per the new scheme is discussed, in a bid to clarify the classification scheme further. The proposed scheme should prove to be of use beyond diverse countries and cultures, for broadly classifying the family unit structure. The unique scenarios of item cultures can be taken into account by defining region or culture-specific subtypes of the overall types of family structure.

Keywords: Nomenclature, definition, family, family structure, types of family

Introduction

The family every bit an integrated and functional unit of gild has for a considerable flow of time captured the attention and imagination of researchers.[1] While the family itself is a matter of study, equally of import for inquiry is its function as a factor influencing and affecting the development, behavior, and well-being of the private. The family is a basic unit of study in many social science disciplines, such equally sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology, social psychiatry, and social work.[two] It is also a unit of study in the medical sciences especially in understanding the epidemiology and the natural history of diseases. It also forms the bones unit of measurement for family medicine. Demography definitions of family have varied from land to country and too from census to demography within country. The word household has ofttimes been used equally a replacement for family unit. Using the definition equally "all people living in 1 household" may be erroneous, as on one hand it may include people who do not share kinship, and on other hand may exclude those kin members who are temporarily away.[3] This type of definition fails to place units that part as families in an economical, social or emotional sense but do not usually reside in the same household.[4] Although the literature often focuses on family unit living arrangements, family membership includes obligations across and between generations, no matter where family members are living.[five]

The UNESCO report stated that a family is a kinship unit and that even when its members exercise not share a common household, the unit may exist as a social reality.[iii] This definition may exist too broad to serve the purpose of identification of a family unit for the purpose of cess as a factor in variables such every bit health. Just to requite an example, a family in a developing country has a son living in the USA, happily married there with a wife, and he sends across some money to the other family members back home occasionally and visits the country once in many years. Should he even so exist counted as a member of the original family? Does this person (and his wife) share the same risks to their immediate health every bit the other family members back in the shared household? Would this private and his dependants in the new surroundings have access to the aforementioned kind of wellness care options as the other family unit members living in the land of birth? And would the offspring of this person born in the foreign land experience the same sociocultural and environmental exposures, as (s)he would accept come into contact with growing upwards in the country of origin?

Trask[six] observed that while in the by, locale mattered, today social relationships are maintained over smashing distances with ease. Global communications such every bit the internet, email, and satellite linkups are facilitating these relationships over space and fourth dimension. Still, keeping in heed the previous pertinent questions that are raised if nosotros want to consider the "family" as a factor influencing and interacting with other variable characteristics (such as wellness, surroundings, social behavior, etc.), the scales are yet tilted toward defining the family unit as people ordinarily sharing a common living expanse. The significant of the term "family" too depends on whether information technology is existence interpreted in a social, biological, cultural, or statistical sense.[4] Information technology is important to identify a family unit unit and the members constituting the unit of measurement, for the purpose of studying their health, for instance.

Need for Redefining

Desai (1994), equally cited in Sonawat[2] divers the family unit equally a unit of measurement of two or more persons united by marriage, blood, adoption, or consensual union, in general consulting a unmarried household, interacting and communicating with each other. While the definition is generally fine, the interacting and communicating with each other may be a difficult thing to elicit or determine. An existing textbook of the medical specialty of community medicine makes it more objective by defining the interdependence part as "individuals living together and eating from a common kitchen."[7] It considers and defines iii types of families: Nuclear, articulation, and three generation families. Nonetheless, practical experience in community has shown that these categories are not mutually exhaustive.

There are several new social dynamics and realities emerging with time. For instance, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Human action, 2005 of India recognizes and provides protection to female living in a relationship in the nature of a spousal relationship with a male partner.[8] Family inquiry provides insight into the construction of order and the changes taking place in the types, composition, and growth of families.[iv] Families can exist classified in several different dimensions, for example, by marriage type (monogamous, polygamous), by location (patrilocal, matrilocal, and avunculocal), authority (patriarchy, matriarchy), and by kin composition (nuclear, articulation).[iii] In the present new classification, simply the kin composition has been taken into account. Adjectives tin can be added to define the family as per marriage type or by locus of residence or authority.

In a social sense people may come across themselves equally being members of several families, every bit members of families with their parents and siblings and likewise members of families that they have formed themselves.[4] All the same, in the current proposed classification for the purpose of family, the view is that an private will in usual circumstance belong to 1 family unit merely in a given role.

Considering of the multitude of definitions of "family" and the changing realities of the current times, there is a felt need for redefining the family and the common types, for the purpose of study of the family as a cistron in health and other variables of involvement. The post-obit definition of a "family" is hence proposed:

"People related by marriage, nativity, consanguinity or legal adoption, who share a mutual kitchen and financial resources on a regular basis."

Nuances of the Definition

The family will comprise of people normally living in the same house, unless work, written report, imprisonment, confinement, foreign sojourn, or any other exigencies compel a member to temporarily alive away from the shared business firm. Members who accept been disowned legally will cease to be members of the family. Members living away from the physical premises of the shared house, who are non expected to render back to living in the house in the time to come, will besides cease to be considered as members of this family, even though they may be sharing financial resources.

Common kitchen does not only mean just sharing of a physical infrastructure of a kitchen, merely too sharing of common cooked meals in the kitchen. In such families where sets of members share the kitchen together but do not share fiscal resource, and those where sets of members share financial resource simply do not share the kitchen together, the different sets of members should be counted as different families. Regarding common financial resource of the family unit, it is the sharing that is more important than contributing. An unmarried relative may exist there who is not earning and thus not contributing economically to the family unit purse, merely will be counted toward the family if (s)he is sharing the family financial resources.

The term "on a regular basis" in the definition, is left open-ended deliberately. In some families, people may have had tiffs and stopped sharing food together for a period of fourth dimension that may exist few days, few weeks, or few months. Afterward what flow of time do we say that they stop comprising a unmarried family? Like dilemma is there for a fourth dimension menstruation cutoff regarding nonsharing of financial resources. And a very important aspect in this determination would exist future intent, that is, whether the constituents think the differences are irrevocable or they think the possibility of getting together is there, whatever may be the menstruation of nonsharing thus far. In case of whatever dubiety, it is best left to a subjective assessment of the individual family unit at hand. The researcher may directly ask the constituents whether they still consider themselves as belonging to a single common family unit or not. It has been noted before that family membership and obligations are subjective and tin only be fully understood from the perspective of the family concerned.[5]

A student who goes to reside in any other city for few years of educational activity and stays in a hostel, with guardians, or in a private adaptation, does non stop to be a part of the original family for those years, merely because (south)he is not sharing the family unit's common kitchen. Notwithstanding, to be counted every bit a member of the original family unit, (s)he must go along to share in or receive coin or other things of monetary value from the financial resources pool of the family. One important caveat would be that the individual must have the intent of returning to the original family unit in the futurity, unless compelled by needs of higher studies or chore.

Another instance may be of a immature adult fellow member of the family who has gone abroad for work, or who went abroad for higher education and ends up finding a vocation there. Such a person may visit back on rare occasions to his or her family of origin, merely is reasonably expecting to exist staying put in the new location for the foreseeable future. Such a member would not and so be exposed to the adventure factors or the protective social factors mutual to the other members sharing a residence. So this person should exist counted as belonging to a separate new family, irrespective of whether (s)he has married and irrespective of sharing of financial resources with the original family back domicile.

Biologically unrelated individuals living together in an institutional setting, for case, hostel, boarding school, working women'due south hostel, then on, or living together in a single house, will be counted as belonging to their family unit of origin or every bit separate family unit units (single private families) as the instance may be depending on their hereafter intent. They will not be combined or considered together to course new family unit units. A person imprisoned for a known period of fourth dimension does not cease to be a fellow member of the original family (unless legally disowned by the head of the family, or by the adjacent caput of the family if (s)he happens to exist the head). This is because the person is expected to have the intent of returning to the original family unit of measurement every bit soon as the period of confinement is over.

Classification Scheme for Family unit Structure

A new nomenclature scheme for the various types of family unit construction is beingness proposed, keeping in mind the redefined "family." The various types of family nether the proposed classification scheme are detailed in the Tabular array 1. The first step was to define the various types of family possible, which will embrace the myriad variations possible in the current times. Then came the question of coming up with suitable terms to label the categories of family types, and it was thought of to come with a uniform terminology scheme-based on the classic terms.

Table 1

The proposed classification of types of family

The discussion "nuclear" was picked upon, that represents a married couple as forming the "nucleus" of a family, as per existing classifications of family structure. Standing with the word "nucleus," terms from the atomic world were explored to extend the analogies to the family structure types. For instance, a proton would be an incomplete nucleus, a solitary existence. Electrons would exist something outside the nucleus, that is, a married couple (nucleus) is not in that location. An atom would be having a single nucleus only and mayhap multiple electrons. 2 nuclei cannot be there in an atom, it would have to be a molecule. Then the presence of ii married couples makes a family unit "molecular." Information technology may exist antiseptic hither that terms from physics were chosen here but for the classification of the proposed family types. This was done as the word "nuclear" was already being used. Utilize of these terms borrowed from physics is expected to aid in easier appreciation and remember of the various family types.

The classic term of "articulation family" has been retained to define the complex sharing of resource past multiple couples. However, the traditional "joint family" has too been redefined and has 2 dissimilar meanings depending on the number of generations present. More often than not across various cultures, obligations to siblings are usually weaker than to parents.[5] This is the reason why the proposed definition of joint family considers different number of couples, depending on the number of generations involved. Two married brothers (or two sisters) living together with their respective families would qualify to be termed as a joint family.

It is a difficult task to categorize families according to any theoretical type or to generalize across or within cultures.[5] An endeavor has been fabricated to try to redefine the family as well as the types of family unit to keep upwards with the changing times. However, as per practical experience, the community throws up scenarios which may examination any theoretical model of classification. Keeping this in mind, an practice was done to contemplate a few exceptional case scenarios and talk over their classification every bit per the new model, in a bid to clarify the classification scheme further [Table ii].

Table two

Discussion of a few instance scenarios and examples of nomenclature as per the new scheme

Changing Family Dynamics in the Current Times

A paper on the construction of families in New Zealand over fourth dimension has observed that the family is constantly changing and diversifying at that place. Same-sex couples have been included in the data, just they can be identified as subsets of couple-but and two parent families. Certain types of family that are becoming more than prevalent at that place include one-parent families and couple-only families.[four] As per the new classification, these types of families can be identified equally II-Electron and Iii-Nuclear family, respectively. The situation of a family with a married couple but and no children can be termed every bit a "nuclear couple family", just it should be classified as a subtype of the nuclear family unit only and not as a separate blazon. Similarly, the sole-parent family tin be identified as a subtype of an electron family unit (type II).

Different a previous definition given by Desai, as cited in Sonawat,[2] "relationship by consensual wedlock" has not been taken as one of the criteria for defining the family, in the basic definition proposed. As mentioned earlier, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 of India recognizes "domestic relationships in the nature of union,"[8] but the legal and social positions are withal evolving. Notwithstanding, in view of the social realities, a classification for families based upon such nuclear relationships has been put forward with the use of qualifier "quasi-" (type VII). Elliott and Grey[5] take besides discussed the gray zone acquired by remarriage families (or "blended families" as they term it) in classification of families. There may be differences in both the emotional and financial back up given to children between "natural" and "new" parents. Also, for many children, both their natural parents may play a very real part in their lives fifty-fifty if they practise not alive in the same household.[4] These are emerging social realities in the Indian context besides. But, counting an private (east.m., the separated "natural" male parent/mother) in more than ane family unit may lead to factual mismatches and also create lot of confusion. Information technology is best to consider the remarriage family too as inside the frame of the seven types of family set in the new classification, and to label them equally a subtype "remarriage family unit" if required.

Importance of the Changing Family Dynamics for Health

Health has been shown to take multifactorial causation. The family environs impact the health of an individual in several means. Members of a family tin be expected to share the chance factors for their wellness that may arise from various social characteristics of their shared housing, neighborhood, community, society, and culture. They would likewise share the positive factors contributing toward expert health. All the members of a family living together who share the financial resources of the family unit unit of measurement would also share the risks of ill-wellness and costs of health intendance likewise as the protection offered by availability of money with the family to tide over wellness-related bug.

Living in a family would also hateful usually exposure to like dietary behaviors and wellness-related lifestyles, among the family members. Some other important aspect shared would be the healthcare-seeking pattern and preference. The irresolute dynamics of family limerick can have of import affect on the protective every bit well as risk factors influencing health. Thus, an updated definition and classification scheme for types of families serves an important purpose for the practitioners of diverse medical and social science disciplines in the electric current times.

Concluding Remarks

It is to be expected that the changing societal arrangements in the current times will be a huge challenge for whatsoever model of classification of family structure. On tiptop of that is the challenge to keep the possible nomenclature groups to the minimum possible, and so that analysis of the family structure every bit a cistron in health and other outcomes, in futurity studies, does not become an inordinately complex exercise. This is a proposed redefinition of "family" and a proposed scheme of nomenclature of family structure, to endeavor to match the pace of change of current societies. While the objective was mainly to redefine keeping the Indian cultural environment in mind, the sheer heterogeneity of the Indian population in terms of sociocultural milieu is immense. The current proposed scheme should generally suffice for employ in other countries and cultures, for broadly classifying the family construction. The intricacies and unique scenarios of particular cultures can be taken into business relationship past defining region or culture-specific subtypes of the overall types of family construction divers in the nowadays article.

Footnotes

Source of Back up: Nil

Conflict of Involvement: None declared

References

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Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4649868/

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