What Is A Family?HUMAN DYNAMICS 2201

What is a Family?

In a small group:

Define Family

As a class:

Come to a consensus of what a definition of family should be.

Is it easy to define what a family is…..if your answer is no…explain

why?

The Definition of “Family”

“. . . any combination of two or more persons who are bound

together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or

adoption/placement and who, together, assume responsibilities

for variant combinations of some of the following:

Nuclear

Extended

Blended

Childless

Lone-parent

Task

In groups, list as many possible family structures as the group can in

the time period given.

As a class, try to divide these into 8 groupings as listed in the slides to

follow. Is it easy to define and categorize what a family structure is?

Variations of Family

“Nuclear” families

two parents

one or more biological or adopted children

living together

when the nuclear family was led by a male wage earner, it was the conventional family of the 1950s, although now it is only one of many types of family

TV:___________________________

Nuclear Family

Variations of Family

“Extended” families

parents, children, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other blood

relations living together, or not.

TV:______________________

Extended Family

Variations of Family

“Blended” or “recombined” or “reconstituted” families

parents who have divorced their first spouses, remarried someone else and formed a new family that includes children from one or both first marriages, and/or from the re-marriage

TV:___________________________

Blended Family

Variations of Family

“Childless” families

consisting of a couple

TV:____________________________

“Lone-parent” families

a parent, most often a mother, with a child or children

TV:______________________________

Childless Family

Lone Parent Family

Variations of Family

Cohabiting couples/ common law marriages

family arrangements that resemble other forms, but without

legalized marriage

TV:___________________________

Cohabitating Couple

Variations of Family

Same Sex parent(s)

same as all above but with a same sex couple

instead of a heterosexual couple.

TV:______________________

Gay / Lesbian Parent Family

Variations of Family

Chosen family

can be used to include mentors and father/mother figures

who provide a support system.

TV:_________________________

Chosen Family