What is a family legally? Family in modern society

Every person’s life begins with the word “family”. We are born, grow and develop in this unit of society. Every person in the world, sooner or later, thinks about creating their own. The concept of “surname” is very individual. For some it is living together in each other's company, and for others - these are certainly children.

What is family? Definition

The concept of “family” has several characteristics. It begins when young people get married. And also when people are connected by a common life and the desire to give birth to offspring. After the marriage, members of this social unit become relatives.

For each person, the concept of “family” is individual, however, the older a person becomes, the more expressed is the desire to create their own niche in society.

For a husband and wife, marriage is, first of all, confidence and stability. After marriage, spending time between spouses outside each other’s company is, as a rule, not very welcome. Couples usually go to holidays and other events. Marriage binds people a number of responsibilities, which they must fulfill if they decide to link their destinies with each other. First of all, this union requires the loyalty of both halves. Honesty, frankness and mutual understanding are also integral factors in the formation of a normal, healthy family name.

Although marriage implies a certain “bondage” from single life, however, it gives you the person you need next to you. Family is source of satisfaction all human needs: from physical needs to cultural ones. People develop emotionally and intellectually in each other's company.

In addition to these two functions, the family has several more:

• Household;
• Educational;
• Communicative;
• Sexy.

Household function implies satisfaction of material and biological needs, as well as maintaining normal psychological and physical health. During the work process, each family member spends strength and energy, and this function “discharges” the spouses.

Educational function satisfies the needs of fatherhood and motherhood. After the birth of a child, the life and priorities of the husband and wife change, and all attention is focused on the children. The process of education is the longest, as it takes time from birth to the independent life of the child. This activity develops the child not only in his family, but also in society.

Communication function is responsible for the spiritual formation of the couple, cultural development and leisure. The higher the degree of family communication, the faster everyone’s personal growth occurs.

satisfies the physical needs of husband and wife and is also responsible for reproductive purposes. A normal sex life promotes biological reproduction and procreation. A family that performs all functions is called functional. Accordingly, a dysfunctional cell of society is one in which there are obvious violations.

Family structure

There is a complete and incomplete family. The triangle of a full surname implies the presence of two parents and one child. Incomplete means a child and one parent.

In addition to the structure, there are also forms of this social unit:

• extended;
• big;
• clan.

The first form implies joint two generation living on one living space. Often these are parents, children and grandparents.

Big surname- this is a group of relatives living in one place, not necessarily maintaining a common budget. In such surnames, as a rule, patriarchy reigns. This form of living is typical for the outskirts of cities and towns, where it is possible to live in private houses.

Family-clan- these are blood relatives who do not necessarily live together and have a leader. This is a large group of relatives, meaning parents, children, sisters, brothers, grandparents, and so on.

Every family, unfortunately, has its end. The end is considered to be the death of one of the spouses or divorce.

What is a family for children?

For a child, the understanding of the word “family” is him, mom and dad. Any baby feels more confident and calm in a full family, that is, with mom and dad. In the first years of life, the child receives all the necessary emotions in his “nest”. The future character of the child depends on the relationship between mom and dad. If he grows up in constant scandals and quarrels, then in the future he will be nervous. In the worst cases, it requires treatment by a neurologist.

In a healthy family the baby is developing harmoniously, receives the necessary emotional nourishment, and most importantly, receives love. Every adult, without thinking, projects relationships that he has seen for many years onto his other half and children. WITH early years It is necessary to explain to the child that he is a necessary and important member of the family. The main thing is to be able to correctly explain to the child what this unit of society means, to introduce the concept of tolerance, love and mutual assistance.

When communicating with a child, you can immediately understand what kind of relationship reigns between his parents. Children from prosperous and scandalous families differ even at a very young age. The desire to quarrel, fight and use obscene language has been observed in children as early as one and a half years old. They rarely find friends, play less with other peers and do not know how to communicate.

To create a normal and healthy family - you need to start with yourself. For harmony to reign between husband and wife, both need to learn compliance and patience. Never forget that you are the most important people for each other. The future of the child and relationships in his own family depend on this. Love and be loved!

Almost every person living on this planet sooner or later finds a soul mate. Some couples live together for decades, enjoying each other's company, and do not complicate everything with stamps in their passports. Others go to the registry office to tie the knot. In any case, this is a family. After all, they are united by love and feelings. But what is a family for? This question has probably crept into the minds of many of us. Well, it's worth trying to find the answer.

Definition

To begin with, we can note how it is customary to characterize a family in words. That is, turn to terminology. The definition states that it is a social institution and the basic unit of society. And it is characterized by certain characteristics. In particular, the union of two loving friend friend of people and voluntary marriage. Subsequently, they become connected by a common life. But the most important thing is that family is, first of all, the most important social value.

Benefit

For an adult, it is a source of satisfaction of certain needs of a very different nature: from care and intimacy to the help of a partner at home and the performance of work.

For younger members of society, the family is an environment in which favorable conditions for development are created. Not even so much physical, but emotional, mental and intellectual. The parents are obliged to give all this to the child. Which, in turn, must themselves become established as individuals capable of raising a full-fledged member of a civilized society. Therefore, the birth of a child, if planned, must be treated with maximum responsibility. In modern society, many people, unfortunately, do not realize it.

Other features

Now we can talk in more detail about why a family is needed, in addition to the above. Sociologists additionally highlight several more of its functions.

The first is household. That is, the essence of the function is to satisfy the material needs of both family members. People get married, work, buy an apartment with jointly accumulated funds, furnish it with appliances and furniture - this is the most primitive example. But visual. After all, by pooling you can buy everything faster.

Emotional component

But of course, the first and main thing a family is needed for is feelings. Love, sympathy, care, respect, recognition, mutual support. The desire to engage in spiritual enrichment together, after all. This is all that is needed for a family.

And of course, another important function is sexual and erotic. Each partner must satisfy the corresponding needs of the other. At will, of course. Although, in fact, is it really different in happy couples?

No, but in other families - yes. Often unions break up due to sexual incompatibility. Adult and young married couples collapse, as partners dissatisfied with each other begin to get angry, break down and, finally, seek consolation on the side.

Ideas about a normal family

There are no “standards”. In our time - certainly. What a family is for has been said, and now we can pay attention to its characteristics. Still, there are some ideas about a healthy union now. And they are quite adequate and correct.

In a family, each partner should perceive the other as an equal person. Show trust, openness, be honest and remain faithful. The last aspect becomes more and more utopian every year. But he is correct. People get married because they love each other and cannot imagine life without their partner, who suits them in everything. Then why look for something else?

What a family needs is the responsibility of each member. If any problems arise, you need to solve them together, and not try to shift the blame onto your partner.

Also, in a healthy family, people relax together, enjoy something and are happy. They also respect each other’s traditions. If one of the partners is of German origin and the other is Russian, then why not celebrate National holidays both?

Even in a normal family there should be a right to privacy. We all sometimes need to be alone with the most dear person- With myself. And he understands correctly. And not as a desire of his soulmate to move away. And one more thing: both partners are obliged to accept each other’s characteristics and differences, without trying to “reshape” the essence of the beloved person. If all of the above is observed, and not because it is necessary, but because it comes from the soul and heart, then happiness is guaranteed.

About problems

So, it was told in great detail about what a family is. The definition of a normal, healthy relationship is also given. And now we can pay attention to the key points that indicate the couple’s failure and incompatibility in marriage.

Partners should think about it if they deny problems and support illusions. If, for example, a wife spends 15 of 24 hours in a day at work, this is worth discussing. Most likely, in this situation, the man feels single.

Lack of intimacy is also a problem. As well as the rigid distribution of roles in the family. If a woman is at work, and a man has a day off that day, why doesn’t he spend 30 minutes wiping off the dust? Many people have great prejudices about this and all others like it.

The problem is conflictual relationships. Especially hidden ones, when the couple creates the illusion that everything is normal. Let's say a wife finds out about her husband's infidelity, but says nothing and behaves as if nothing had happened, but subconsciously hating her husband. Any problem must be solved, otherwise the microclimate in the family will be extremely unfavorable.

conclusions

Well, the key to a happy life together is mutual tolerance, correct prioritization, the ability to find compromises, as well as maintaining your individuality (after all, this is what people fall in love with). By the way, it is important to preserve that very “spark” that many people love to talk about. But to do this, you just need to get rid of the routine and regularly introduce variety into your life.

Relationships are never perfect, but they can be built. And put love at the core. And under no circumstances should you follow standards. The union will be happy if the partners live the way they both want. What else is a family for, if not for this?

Developing and functioning according to its own laws. It depends on society, the existing political system, economic, social and religious relations. And at the same time, the family is a relatively independent unit of society.

Marriage represents the beginning and core of the family. The nature of marital relations depends primarily on what motives led to the conclusion of this marriage. The impact on the family of the economic basis of society and the entire social existence is largely carried out through motives and is mediated by them. If many scientists define marriage as a socially and personally appropriate stable form of sexual relations sanctioned by society, then the family is a small social group based on a single family activity, associated with the bonds of marriage - parenthood - kinship.

Although the basis of the family is a married couple, there are families who live under the same roof, run the same household, raise children, but their marriage is not legally registered. There are also single-parent families where one or both parents are absent. There are nuclear families (parents and children live together) and extended families ( married couple, children, parents of one of the spouses: grandfather, grandmother). So, in the current family we see relics of past centuries family relations and the germs of a future family.

As society develops, marriage and family change. Legislators and specialists in family and marriage relations are increasingly recognizing the need for a contractual basis for marriage. Such a marriage is a voluntary union between a man and a woman in which both parties must have the same rights. Perhaps this will be in a legal state, which Immanuel Kant dreamed of. On this occasion, he said that the ideal state of society is a rule of law state and legal interstate relations that ensure universal peace. Peace should reign in every family by observing not only moral, but also legal norms.

The family performs a number of functions that ensure the functioning of society. The most important of them, according to most experts, are reproductive, educational, economic and recreational.

Reproductive function

The first function (reproductive) is the reproduction of their own kind. So that the human race does not cease to exist, society does not turn into a boarding school for the elderly, and the population level does not decrease, it is necessary that every Russian family have at least 2-3 children. The socio-demographic situation in Russia causes great concern for its future. The population is not only aging catastrophically, but simply dying out. Society is experiencing severe pressure from political and economic problems. Impoverishment of the people, a sharp decline in living standards, structural processes of industrial restructuring and the associated forced release of labor resources, losses in earnings and prestige of the profession - these and many other adversities of today real life place a heavy burden on society and the family as its unit.

TO problems of modern society One of the factors holding back childbearing is early marriage, which constitutes a risk category and accounts for half of all divorces. If in European countries the marriageable age is 28 years, in Japan - 30-33 years, then in our country the bar is lowered to 18 years. Almost until the age of 24, young people are dependents, and, in fact, 18-year-old spouses remain dependents until the age of 40. Early marriage, with rare exceptions, does not give them the opportunity to complete their education or acquire a profession, and, accordingly, deprives them of the chance to occupy a more prestigious and highly paid position. Lack of money, problems with housing, unwanted pregnancy and childbirth - all this aggravates the unstable situation of a young family, leading to divorce. There are alarming statistics of divorces in our country: now half of young families break up in the first year of life, two-thirds in the first five years, in 70% of families that have not broken up after five years of life, the spouses are in tense relationships.

Another side of the fertility problem is illegitimate children. Now every third child in Russia is born out of wedlock, and in the age group of mothers 16-18 years old - almost half. Most of these newborns are sent straight from the maternity hospital to baby homes, as their mothers simply abandon them. And that's not the most alarming thing. If 10-15 years ago the birth of a sick child was an exception to the rule, now this exception applies to healthy child. The pathological burden is growing, primarily congenital mental retardation.

Due to these and other difficulties, almost 20% of the surveyed spouses do not want to have children at all. Most often this occurs in families of the intelligentsia. The birth rate also varies by region of the country. Depopulation has affected almost 70 regions of Russia. There are no prospects for overcoming this barrier yet. The situation of female workers, especially single mothers, is such that it is not easy for them to feed at least one child, and it is almost impossible for a woman to be unemployed and to live on unemployment benefits herself. In fact, families limit reproductive function to a minimum. Especially in large cities.

The management clearly understands the importance and relevance of solving this problem for modern Russian society. Therefore, helping the family is one of the key tasks.

Educational function

The educational function of the family cannot be replaced by any other institution. According to Aristotle, “family is the first type of communication” and the most important element of government, where happy life should be built in accordance with virtue and legislation on marriage, ensuring the birth of healthy children, prescribing ways of raising future citizens.

However, the educational role of the family is decreasing. We have outlined the reasons for this phenomenon. In addition, the decline in the educational role of the family is due to the changes taking place in it. In a modern family, spouses are formally equal. But most of the worries actually fall on the woman, including raising children. There are many pros and cons to this. There are often families where children are simply left to the streets, to their own devices, or they strive to do business by washing cars, collecting bottles, etc., forgetting about studying at school.

• The family's child-centrism is expressed in excessive adoration of its child, especially when there is only one child. Such a child often grows into an egoist, a person not adapted to practical life;
• professionalism - parents shift the care of education to kindergartens, schools, and colleges. In the future, such a child may grow into a cold young man, alien to affection towards parents and elders;
• pragmatism - all education is aimed at developing such qualities as being able to live, seeing, first of all, material gain.

Objective conditions prevailing in modern Russia, promoted spiritual values ​​contribute to the education of this type of personality. Encouraged individualism can promote a war of each against all.

Very extensive economic function of the family. It includes a wide range of family relationships: housekeeping, budgeting, organizing consumption and leisure, etc. The family is of great importance in organizing consumption and everyday life. It not only satisfies, but also partially shapes the material needs of a person, creates and maintains certain household traditions, and provides mutual assistance in housekeeping.

Restorative function

Important for the life of every person (big or small) is recreational(restorative) function families. As it was said in “Domostroy”, to enter a family “is like entering heaven.” Experts say that a good family is half the success in a career, business, study, etc. We live in a race for the leader. It’s not for nothing that Americans say that in order to stand still, you need to run quickly. Everyone is running. And in order to overcome this marathon distance every day, you need to be in good shape. The form is restored and maintained in a good family. It should become a place of relaxation and inspiration, self-confidence, the need for loved ones to create a very important feeling of psychological comfort for an enterprising person, and maintain a high vitality.

Recreational function family is manifested more effectively, the higher culture of family and marriage relations. Here we come to another aspect of the problem - culture. family life as part of the culture (spiritual, moral, etc.) of society. In this area of ​​society, as in many others, we see, if not regression, then stagnation. The general “barbarization” of morals had a very painful impact on the family. Negative trends in its functioning have intensified. The number of divorces and disadvantaged children is growing. In 2008, about 950 thousand families broke up in Russia. More than 700 thousand children were left without one of their parents. There are extremely many reasons for this: the economic independence of women, and the influence of urbanization, and with it the growth of social anonymity, and the scientific and technological revolution, and its impact on the intensification of labor, especially associated with assembly line or deeply technological production, reasons for socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, religious nature.

Interpersonal relationships of spouses in the family

One of the most important indicators of the quality of a family union is the level and quality of interpersonal relationships between spouses.

The scale of interpersonal relationships can be presented as follows:

1. Domination. Treating another as a thing or a means of achieving one’s goals, ignoring his interests and intentions. Open without disguise, imperative influence (from violence, suppression to imposition).
2. Manipulation. The desire to achieve one's goal with an eye on the impression one makes. Hidden influence: provocation, deception, intrigue, hint.
3. Rivalry. Allows recognition of the fact of influence, but the goals, as a rule, are hidden. The interests of the other are taken into account to the extent that this is dictated by the objectives of the fight against him. The means are temporary tactical agreements.
4. Partnership. Treating another as an equal who must be taken into account is based on an agreement, which is both a means of unification and a means of exerting pressure.
5. Commonwealth. Treating others as self-worth. The desire for unification joint activities to achieve similar goals.

The main instrument of interaction is no longer an agreement, but consent.

For a family to be prosperous, the behavior of one spouse in his family role does not contradict the ideas of the other; the ideas about marriage of a woman and a man must either be or become compatible. “Adjusting” ideas and eliminating their possible conflict does not always go smoothly at the stage of primary role adaptation of spouses.

General motivation for family union includes four leading motives, if you focus your expectations on: economic and household union, i.e. sincerely believing that the main thing in the family is a well-established life, high earnings, a bank account that allows you to maintain a well-to-do or normal ) life; on a moral-psychological union, wanting to find true friend and a life partner who understands him (her) well, capable of being there in joy and in trouble, in work; on the family-parental union, believing that the main function of the family is the birth and upbringing of children; on an intimate-personal union, seeing its main goal in inexhaustible mutual love.

It’s good if the spouses’ ideas about this coincided from the very beginning. Otherwise, conflicts in the family are inevitable, especially during acute, turning points, crisis periods family life, when often unconscious, previously unidentified contradictions in the expectations of the spouses and their mutual claims are exposed and collided.

The need for moral and psychological adaptation of spouses to each other, not noticeable at first in the intoxication of hot and blind love, the importance of combining ideals, interests, value orientations, attitudes, as well as personal and characterological characteristics, reminds of itself in later life. A husband and wife should have many points of contact. The mutual agreement between husband and wife must exceed a certain average level, without which the spouses’ life together turns out to be either short-lived or completely spoiled.

Intimate-personal adaptation consists in spouses achieving physiological, moral and psychological satisfaction with each other in intimate relationships. Rigid programming for some kind of super-intense sex life is not at all necessary.

Adaptation to family life involves the spouses’ adaptation to the new status of husband and wife, to the roles associated with it, as well as the coordination of patterns of extra-family behavior, and the inclusion of spouses in the circle of mutual family ties with mother-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, etc.

What is the difference between friendly families and unfriendly ones?? First of all, the degree of mutual adaptation of the spouses. IN friendly family their needs, interests, desires and intentions gradually become closer. The interests of the husband become the interests of the wife, and vice versa. In a conflictual marriage, the extreme autonomy of the two “I”s is preserved. The needs, desires and intentions of both spouses are often opposed, and the processes of rapprochement between the two “I” and the mutual identification of husband and wife proceed very slowly. When the love between spouses gradually fades away, does not turn into a lasting marital friendship, mutual understanding and mutual mental support are not established, isolation and alienation are growing. At times, mutual respect is often lost, there is a mismatch of aspirations in the sphere of household chores, and negative feelings and emotions towards each other accumulate, which significantly exceed positive emotions. Sometimes it happens, especially among young couples, that a particular kind of negative adaptation increases. Its essence lies in the spouses becoming too accustomed to each other and losing the necessary distance, shyness, and forgetting marital love.

A complicating factor may be the very different intellectual development, in the level of education and culture. In the first years of marriage, this is not so acutely felt due to the youth of the spouses, passionate physical love, sexual harmony and sexual satisfaction. Subsequently, this difference, if not smoothed out, will interfere. True, a marriage with differences in intellectual development can be strong if there is a good material and financial basis, and relationships have developed with each other, both love children, etc.

Basic social functions of the family

The family as a social institution is called upon to perform the following functions.

The first function is sexual regulation

The family acts as the main social institution through which society organizes and regulates the natural sexual needs of people. Of course, in society there are other opportunities to satisfy the mentioned needs. In patriarchal families, premarital sexual experience is strictly prohibited (at least for women). Puritan morals associated with religious prohibitions and widespread in European culture in past centuries (remember I. V. Goethe’s tragedy “Faust” and the suffering of the young, inexperienced Gretchen) have been replaced in modern society by a new “philosophy of marriage.” Today, marriage of virgins is considered absurd by many, and premarital sexual relations are more than tolerated.

The second function is population reproduction, which is carried out by the family

Natural population decline must be constantly reproduced by new generations, with physically and mentally healthy children being preferred. The fulfillment of this important function, without which society will cease to exist, is entrusted mainly to the family. At the same time, it is important for society to regulate the birth rate in order to avoid demographic explosions or recessions.

The third function is socialization

The family is the main carrier of cultural patterns transmitted from generation to generation. It is in the family that a child becomes familiar with the culture of society and its traditions, acquires knowledge about the rules of behavior in society, moral standards, concepts of honor, goodness, and justice. We can say that in the family the foundations for the formation of a person as an individual are laid, abilities are determined, and the choice of profession for the future worker is made. The main way of family socialization is by children copying the behavior patterns of adult family members.

The fourth function is to satisfy a person’s needs for emotional, spiritual communication, love and intimate support, empathy and compassion.

Psychiatrists, sociologists, lawyers, and teachers testify that people who were deprived of affection in the family in childhood, brought up in orphanages without a father or mother, are more often than others susceptible to somatic diseases, mental disorders, and deviant behavior. The care and love of loved ones, trusting emotional contacts with father, mother, brothers, sisters are a vital element of everyone’s existence, the key to their mental and mental health, optimistic attitude and success in life. Family support is especially important in difficult times for a person, in life’s trials and tribulations, when the whole world seems hostile to him and only the family becomes a support and helps to cope with the situation. Guilt, shame or pride in a person is usually shared by all members of his family. In all societies, the institution of the family carries out varying degrees physical, economic and psychological protection of its members.

The fifth function is economic, household

The family, as a rule, satisfies the primary needs of a person - feeds, clothes, shoes, gives a roof over his head. As a result, family members maintain a common household. A family not only develops a certain way of life and way of life, but also accumulates material benefits that children inherit from their parents and then pass on to their children, etc. A family’s belonging to a certain social stratum largely determines a person’s fate.

Trends in the development of modern families

The dynamism of modern society has led to changes in such a traditional institution as the family. Firstly, there is a downward trend in the number of marriages. Secondly, the number of divorces is increasing. Thirdly, the number of divorced women who have not entered into remarriage, and women with illegitimate children. Fourthly, a lot of children are raised without one of their parents. Fifthly, the number of people with children is noticeably decreasing and there is a further trend towards childlessness among married couples. Sixth, the family's monopoly on regulation intimate relationships adults is partially destroyed by freedom of morals.

Modern women have equal opportunities with men in business, which, of course, is progressive. But such a trend inevitably changes the nature of family relationships. In particular, it is expected that the child's dependence on his parents will be kept to a minimum. Early maturation and the emergence of “full-fledged” children into life provide an opportunity for parents to devote more time and attention to each other, which also affects the nature of interpersonal relationships between generations.

In industrialized societies, caring for the health of older people and the disabled has become a function medical institutions, special homes for the elderly, although family members today still decide whether to seek help from doctors, give consent to an operation or discharge the patient on their own responsibility, etc. Life insurance, unemployment benefits and social security funds partly take over the economic and economic function of the family, partly supporting people in economically unstable times. Thus, the family loses some of its inherent functions, performing only some of them (for example, the function of emotional support for family members).

What future awaits the family? Do the changes in family life that we observe mean that the family has reached a state of deep disintegration and this process is irreversible? Quite often, experts express the point of view according to which the traditional family is a thing of the past and its revival is not expected. However, there is another, more reasonable position. Over the millennia of the family's existence as a social institution, it has undergone numerous changes; its functions and forms of marriage have changed and are still changing. However, the family, as a small unit of society, will always occupy a special place among the social institutions that govern reproduction, socialization and regulation of intimate relationships. Of course, the functions of the family will change, the number of family forms will increase, and there will probably be an increase in families where couples lead a life together without entering into an official marriage.

Thus, family can be considered as a small group and a special socio-cultural institution that binds individuals through a common life and mutual moral responsibility. The family is the oldest and most widespread of small social groups. Its foundations are living and farming together, mutual assistance, and spiritual communication. The family is the foundation of society, since it is it that forms the basic qualities of a person and introduces him to the world of social relations.

Today we will talk about the academic concept of family and find out what it really is. If we talk about a brief definition of the concept, then a family is a small group based on consanguinity or marriage, the members of which are connected by mutual assistance, a common life, as well as legal and moral responsibility.

A family is also called a certain circle of persons who are bound by property and non-property responsibilities and rights that arise from kinship, marriage or adoption.

A different look at family

Family is one of the most important social values. Some scientific theories report that the form of the family has been able to influence the general direction of development of macrosocial systems for many centuries.

In addition to material and property status, social status, as well as ethnic background, all members of society from the time of birth until the end of their years have a characteristic called family and marital status. Conditions have been created for large families.

For a child, a family is an environment in which the basic conditions for his mental, intellectual, physical, and emotional development take shape.

Many assume that another demographic wave will soon begin, during which those people who were born during the 1990s, that is, during the lowest birth rate in Russia in the entire history of its existence, will marry.

As a result, a generation is expected to emerge that will become the smallest in number. The number of women in the age group 20-29 years old will almost halve by 2025. If the birth rate among the female population of this age remain at the same level, the number of births in the country will also decrease significantly.

This term is studied by a variety of sciences, and each gives its own interpretation.

In sociology, the concept refers to several people who are united by blood or marriage.

In the legal sense, these are people living together and connected with each other by legal relations that arose after the official registration of marriage.

The law of the Russian Federation interprets the surname as organized group people connected by common life and moral responsibility.

Psychologists base the concept on personal relationships, noting the important role of upbringing and the continuity of traditions from elders to younger ones.

The term “family” has many definitions and concepts, but in general it is a unit of society that binds two people through a common life and relationships formalized by law.

How the family came to be: an excursion into history

At the dawn of evolution, people lived in communities or alone. According to scientists, the first unions began to emerge when ancient women stopped choosing alpha males and switched their attention to male breadwinners who were more faithful.

The change in priorities occurred for practical reasons - a reliable man could provide food for a woman and children throughout her life. It was calmer with him.

While the alpha males fought for women, the breadwinners brought meat and skins to their chosen ones and arranged a home. Therefore, representatives of the fairer sex quickly figured out who was more profitable to live with.

Historians interpret meaning a little differently than lawyers or sociologists. In their opinion, a group of people who have a common ancestor can safely be called a cell of society.

Each cell has several components.

• The basis. Marriage plays this role. The conclusion of a formal union ensures that both parties have established marital rights and responsibilities.
• System of relations. This includes not only relationships between spouses, but also family ties - children, brothers, mothers-in-law, and so on. There are about 70% of these in Russia.
• Compound. Legislative legal acts list in detail the circle of persons forming one clan. IN different types codes - labor, civil or any other, the composition of this cell is different.

Features and functions

We were able to define the concept of a modern family, now let’s talk about its features and functions:

Any social unit is determined by the presence of the following characteristics:

• officially registered marriage;
• maintaining a common household, living together;
• acquisition of material assets;
• the presence of close, intimate relationships;
• the presence of one or more children.

Functions:

• Continuation of the family. The reproductive function is the most important, it is inherent in us by nature. And thanks to the traditions that have developed in society, the purpose of marriage is to give birth and raise children.
• Creation and accumulation of common material assets, joint farming.
• Upbringing. The goal is to educate and educate your children, instill in them moral values, norms of behavior in society, and also adapt them to normal life in it.
• Preservation of traditions and values. They help strengthen and preserve connections, ensure continuity of generations and shape the history of the family. Unions that have their own family traditions are more closely connected, because different generations of people interact more with each other.

Family structure

As a result of the development of society, scientists have identified several types of unions.

• By the number of partners - monogamous and polygamous. The former represent a union of one woman and one man, the latter allow living with several partners at the same time. Most families are monogamous. Religion often contributes to this. IN Orthodox tradition The love of one man and one woman is sealed by marriage.
• According to the structure of family ties - simple and nuclear. In simple ones, parents and their children live together, and in nuclear ones, several generations lead a common household.
• By the number of children - childless, small children and large families.
• By type of residence. If the newlyweds live with the wife's parents, it is matrilocal; if they live with the husband's parents, it is patrilocal. Separately living spouses belong to the neolocal type.
• According to the form of government - matriarchy, patriarchy, democracy. In a matriarchal system, the woman dominates. She takes most of the responsibility and makes most of the decisions. In a patriarchal system, all power is concentrated in the hands of men. In a democracy, both spouses bear equal responsibility and make decisions jointly.
• By social status – young, adopted, established.
• In terms of moral and psychological state – prosperous, unfavorable.
• According to financial status - wealthy or poor.

Family resources and their types

This term means all property material values, sources of income of husband and wife.

Resources can be divided into several categories.

• Material. These include real estate, cars, household appliances, valuables, and jewelry. Each clan strives to acquire certain resources, as they ensure comfortable living for its members.
• Labor. All relatives do some kind of housework: cooking, cleaning, repairs, etc. All this put together is called labor resources.
• Financial – cash, bank accounts, securities, shares, deposits. Financial resources make it possible to purchase material ones.
• Informational. They are also called technological, since they represent the technology for doing some household chores. For example, a mother prepares food and teaches her daughter or son to cook in the same way. In different cells of society, technological processes occur differently, and therefore the resources differ. The peculiarity of these processes is that they often develop into traditions.

Resources are an important component that allows us to solve various everyday problems, achieve desired goals and satisfy people’s needs.

Why is a family necessary?

Human psychology is such that he cannot live alone; he definitely needs close people who love him and whom he loves.

The family, as already mentioned above, is the cell of society, its structural unit. Its role is to satisfy human needs, not only material and physically, but also in the spiritual.

When forming a new couple, the spiritual component comes first, since two people are in love, they like to spend time with each other, share their thoughts and experiences. In such a union, a person receives love, understanding, support, without which it is difficult to live in society.

The emotional component of a social unit consists of feelings. For some, love and mutual understanding predominate, for others, negative emotions predominate - reproaches, resentments, anger, etc.

It is believed that all unions go through different stages of their existence - falling in love, getting used to it, the stage of tolerance. Mature couples who have lived together for many years and survived all stages come to true love. Many fall apart during the grinding-in stages, when many conflicts arise.

What is a modern family and what is its significance?

Unlike the times of the USSR, modern unions are autonomous and closed to society. Intervention in their affairs occurs only in extreme cases, when this cell becomes destructive. In Soviet times it was more open to the state. Supervisory authorities monitored the development of every officially formalized relationship between citizens. When conflicts and divorces arose, they intervened and tried to influence, took possible steps to resolve quarrels and save the marriage.

Distinctive features: the uniqueness of modern unions

Today, it is impossible to define a family unambiguously due to the different types - Swedish, adopted, open, and so on. The essence of relations between the sexes has long gone beyond the classical formula: one woman, one man and children. IN Russian Federation Same-sex and Swedish marriages are prohibited, but some foreign countries they are recognized by law, and this phenomenon is considered the norm.

Let us note some features that characterize the unions of our country over the past 25 years:

• Increase in the number of legal marriages. Young couples increasingly prefer to formalize their relationship at the registry office, although the institute civil marriage is still preserved.
• Increasing the age of marriage. Average age newlyweds are 22 years old, while 30-40 years ago newlyweds barely crossed the line of majority, and 50 years ago our grandparents got married even earlier: at 15-16 years old. The growing up of newlyweds is associated with the need to obtain higher education and the need to improve their everyday life. Modern youth in most cases think about a career and preparing the ground for marriage.
• Later birth of children after the formalization of the relationship. According to statistics, the birth of the first child occurs in the 3-5th year of marriage.
• The desire to live separately from parents. Since Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, several generations have lived in the same house. After the wedding, the newlyweds did not strive to separate and lived with the parents of the wife or husband, leading a common life and even a budget. Modern couples strive to start living separately as quickly as possible.
• Showing interest in traditions. Modern youth are increasingly thinking about their roots, origins and ancestors. It has become popular to compile your own family tree, pedigree. This surge of interest is normal. At a certain period in the life of the country, it was not customary to talk about origin, especially to those whose ancestors were not peasants, but princes, landowners and merchants. You can preserve your traditions and strengthen your family ties by creating a family tree. The House of Genealogy will help with this. The company’s specialists will find information about ancestors and relatives in the archives, prepare a genealogical book, which can become not only a good gift, but also a real relic.

The state in the 21st century pays more attention to the development of the family institution, improving its quality, and developing spiritual values. Today, marriage is a sign of a person’s well-being, his support and support. Times are changing, but basic principles building relationships between a man and a woman remain unchanged: love, mutual respect, trust and care.

The role of family in human life

It has a huge impact on the children who live in it. It helps you determine your moral guidelines. Despite the fact that in kindergartens, schools, sections and clubs, teachers strive to convey to the little person basic knowledge, skills, moral truths, and the experience of mom and dad, their attitude towards each other plays a major role in shaping the child’s personality.

Parents and grandparents lay down:

• ability to love;
• understanding your traditions;
• attitude towards people, including the opposite sex;
• the ability to appreciate help and provide it yourself;
• line of behavior in society and the ability to live harmoniously in it.

Only among loved ones and relatives does a person feel protected. He feels needed and this gives a person self-confidence. Helps him overcome difficulties and cope with failures.

The family is the beginning of everything, it is the connection between past generations and current ones. Each cell of society has characteristic features: the presence of marriage, children, maintaining a common household. It is where a person, his views, skills, and spiritual values ​​are formed. And our task is to do everything to preserve it.