Throughout this chapter we are introduced to the ever-changing and dynamic nature of the family. While there are many different interpretations of a family, the author does tell us that the family unit holds a few things consistent: families live together in committed relationships, care for one another, and share with one another time and activities. While the diversity of families may hold these things true in theory, there are many similiarities and differeneces as well. A few functions of families include child rearing, the regulation of sexual activity, and a determination of social class which is established by the elders of the family itself. Differences in families are constantly changing and growing farther from one another and therefore we find many general names for our diverse family systems such as nuclear or extended (the most general). These two groups branch off depending upon who is considered the leader of the family and the type of relationship the 'parents' of the household have, whether that entails no marriage, monogomy, or polygomy.
We are also introduced to three theories stating that the family unit is breaking apart, growing stronger, or neither breaking nor growing strong.
From this chapter, I was able to take away a sense of place. While we are all aware of our own situations in life, placing our families into a category may not always seem like a simple task. While I found the above statement to ring true for me, I also found the myths section to be quite interesting.
In class I would like to discuss the different types of marriage and how the ability for humans to adapt to the changing world affects the family unit as a whole.
The thing that struck me the most in this blog was the fact that you said families are placed in a category and its not a simple task. I understand fully where you are coming from becasue sometimes a family may not want to except the category that they are placed in which makes it that much more difficult. I also feel that all families are unique and no one family is the same so all families are placed in many different catagories when it comes to descibing each aspect of a family. Like some separated families function well as oppose to some bonded families that do not function as well. Thats just an example. So now you have the catagory of families that do function well and those that do not. Then you can break those down and say if the families are still together or separated. So you have many different catagories in which you can place a family.
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