1. The Family

2. The Family The most universal social institution is the family
Every society organizes its members into families
What constitutes a family varies from culture to culture

3. Family Systems
A family is a group of people who are related by marriage, blood, or adoption who often live together and share economic resources

4. Nuclear Family
A nuclear family consists of one or both parents and their children.
This is the most recognizable family unit in America.
There are two overlapping nuclear families:
Family of Orientation
Family of Procreation

5. Family of Orientation
An individual’s family of orientation is the nuclear family into which the person is born or adopted.
This family consists of his or her brother, sisters, and parents

6. Family of Procreation
When an individual marries, a new nuclear family is formed
This new family is now a family of procreation, consisting of the individual, his or her spouse and their children

7. Extended Family An extended family consists of two or more generations
In an extended family, grandparents, parents, children, aunts & uncles and cousins may all live in one house or a grouping of houses

8. Kinship Families are part of a much larger kinship system
Kinship is a network of people who are related by marriage, birth, or adoption

9. Marriage
The set of norms that establishes and characterizes the relationship between married individuals
There are no universal norms limiting the number of marriage partners an individual may have, where married couples reside, how they trace their decent, or who has authority in the family

10. Marriage Patterns
In most industrial societies, people are married to one person at a time, called monogamy
In pre-industrial societies, people are permitted to have multiple marriage partners at one time, called polygamy

11. Polygamy Polygamy can take two forms: polygyny and polyandry
Polygyny is when a man is permitted to marry more than one woman at a time
Polyandry is when a woman is permitted to marry more than one man at a time

12. Residential Patterns
Once individuals are married, they must decide where to live.
Patrilocality, most commonly in the world, is when married couples are expected to live near the husband’s parents
Matrilocality is when married couples are expected to live near the wife’s parents

13. Descent Patterns Societies trace kinship in different manners
Societies that trace descent through the father’s family is called patrilineal descent
Societies that trace descent through the mother’s family is called matrilineal descent
Societies that trace through both mother and father (industrial societies) are called bilateral descent

14. Authority Patterns
There are three possible patterns of authority in families:
Patriarchy: father holds the most authority
Matriarchy: mother holds the most authority
Egalitarian: mother & father share authority
Most societies in the world are patriarchial, although industrial societies like the USA are becoming more egalitarian.

15. Functions of the Family
The most important functions of the family are:
Regulation of sexual activity: cannot marry or have sex with relatives
Reproduction: Allows societies to survive
Socialization: Children are taught the ways of the society
Economic & Emotional Security: labor is divided among members and needs of family members are met