Chapter 1

Summary:

Beginning with some traditional definitions of the family and some of our current definitions of family, Chapter 1 establishes that these definitions are challenged by social scientists. This chapter then begins to compare and contrast families across different societies and across the world. Within this section Benokraitis also explains the family structure and social change. For instance, she states that most people are either born into a biological family or a family of origin (an example of this being an adopted child). This chapter also talks about some of the common myths about the family and how they can be both functional and dysfunctional and about how our perspective of families and their myths are not always accurate. Chapter 1 also establishes some demographic changes and racial and ethnic diversity and why these families are changing (whether it is the cause of micro-level or macro-level influences). This chapter then concludes with a cross-cultural and global perspective on the family.

What was interesting/what did I learn:

One thing that really stuck out to me in this chapter was how the myth of the perfect family can make us miserable. I have never really given thought to that concept, but I must admit, that now that I think about it, it is true. Almost everyone strives to be perfect but perfection is only a state of mind, and is impossible to achieve. I never thought of the perfect family as a myth because things in our environment, such as television, media, books, etc. make it seem so realistic and as something possible to achieve. This also made me realize the reasoning behind why we sometimes become critical of family members when they deviate from that ideal perfect family. It explains the reasoning behind why some families seem to never get along, thus making them what many would view as dysfunctional.

Question:

After reading about the traditional definitions of the family and the current definitions of the family, I thought that they didn’t vary too drastically. Although I feel this way, I do see that the current definitions of the family are expanded to almost explain all of the varying types that we see in our society. With that being said, do people still generally think of the traditional definitions of the family as the “right” definition? Are there major controversies over some of the current definitions of the family, if in reality they are based off of the traditional definitions?