FAMILY

DEFINITIONS

Different people have defined family in different ways and the definition
reflects some thinking about the concept of family.

A family is a group of individuals who live together as a social unit usually

but not always, related by blood or social or legal contracts. They live as a
household usually under the headship of one senior member and share
same food and environment.

“A family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or

adoption constituting a single household, interacting and inter-
communicating with each other in their respective roles, cradling and
maintaining a common culture,” (Burgess and Loke).

United Nations defines family as “those members of a household who are

related to a specific degree through blood, adoption and marriage”.

Family can also be defined as a group of two or more persons related by

birth, marriage or adoption and residing together in a household (US
bureau of census 1980).

The structure of the family varies from society to society. Nuclear family is
the smallest family unit consisting of a husband and wife and their
immature offspring. Units larger than the nuclear family are usually known
as extended families.

Nurses must be aware of the types of family structures, functions of the

family, theories that provide foundation for understanding the changes
within a family and for directing family oriented interventions.

FAMILY STRUCTURE/COMPOSITION

A family consists of individuals each with socially recognized status and

positions who interact with one another on a regular recurring basis in

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socially sanctioned ways. When members are gained or lost through
events (marriage, divorce, birth, death, abandonment, and incarcerations),
the family composition is altered and roles must be redefined or
redistributed

Types of family;

 There is the nuclear family that is composed of a father, mother

and child living together but apart from both sets of their parents.
 The extended family that has three generations, including married
brothers and sisters and their families all living together.
 The generational family, which is any combination of first, second
and third generation members living within a household e.g. most
Indian families are generational in nature
 Dyad type of family that composes of husband and wife or other
couple living alone without children.
 The single parent family-These are divorced, never married,
separated or widowed male or female and at least one child. Most
single parent families are headed by women.
 The step-parent family which arises when one or both spouses
have been divorced or widowed and have remarried into a family
with at least one child.
 The blended or reconstituted family which is a combination of
two families with children from one or both families and sometimes
children of the newly married couple.
 The single adult living alone- These are the never married,
divorced or widowed.
 Cohabiting family comprising of an unmarried couple living
together.
 There is also no-kin family-This is a group of at least two people
sharing a relationship and exchanging support who have no
legalized or blood ties to each other.
 The compound family comprising of one man or woman with
several spouses.

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  The gay family which is a homosexual couple living together with or
without children. Children may be adopted from previous
relationships or artificially conceived.
 The commune family comprising of more than one monogamous
couple sharing resources.
 Group marriage where all individuals are married to each other
and are considered as parents of all the children.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FAMILY

 Mating relationship which comes into existence when a man and

woman establish mating relation between them.

 A form of marriage that can be either monogamy or polygamous.

Partners may be selected by parents (arranged marriages) or the
choice may be left to the wishes of the individuals concerned.

 A system of nomenclature reckoning its descent. Descent may be

reckoned through the male line, i.e. patrilineal or through the
female line, i.e. matrilineal.

 It must have some economic provisions to meet the economic

needs associated with child bearing and rearing.

 A common habitation, with family members living together in a

habitation, a home or household.

DISTINCTIVE/KEY/MAJOR FEATURES OF THE FAMILY

Within a society none of the organizations (large or small) transcends the

family in the intensity of its sociological significance. It influences the
whole life of a society in numerable ways and its changes reverberate
through the whole social structure. It is capable of endless variation and
yet reveals a remarkable continuity and persistence through change.
Some of its distinctive features are as follows;

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 Universality; It is found in all societies at all stages of social
development and exists far below the human level among a myriad
species of animal.

 Emotional basis; A family is based on a complex of the most

profound influences of our organic nature, those of mating,
procreation, maternal devotion and parental care. These are fortified
in man by a highly significant and close knit group of secondary
emotions from romantic love to pride of race, from the affection of
males to the desire for the economic security of a home, from the
jealousy of personal possession to the baffled yearning for
perpetuity.

 Limited size; A family is a small sized organization. Biological

conditions are primarily responsible for this size.

 Formative influences; Family helps a lot in formulating character

and influence of the members. It moulds the character of people by
the impression of organic and mental habits. A child exhibits the
same character and mental tendencies in adult age which he
acquires in the family.

 Nuclear position in the social structure; Family controls the

social life of individual. The society structure is built of family units.

 Responsibility; Other organizations have precise and limited

responsibility of the members while in a family responsibility is not
limited, all family members work in the spirit of give and take.

 Social regulations; Family is peculiarly guarded by social taboos

and by legal regulations which rigidly prescribe its form. By
sustaining the institution of marriage, family directly regulates the
sex urge of individuals without which the whole society would be
disorganized within a short time.

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  Permanent and temporary; While family institution is so
permanent and universal it is the most temporary and most
transitional of all organizations in a society.

 Closed group; A family is not open to every individual. Its

membership is open to few related people.

FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

A society can survive only if its members through their activities perform
certain social functions. The following are the functions of the family;

 Satisfaction of sexual needs; human sex urge requires established

and socially recognized channels of satisfaction. Family enables
adults of both sexes to maintain a socially approved sexual
relationship. It also shapes, channelizes and restricts the sex drive of
man in all societies in terms of social norms.

 Reproduction of children; satisfaction of sex needs leads to

reproduction of children. Children perpetuate race which is desire of
every individual.

 The family also provides minimum basic facilities; a family

transforms a biological organism into a human being. Through the
gift of brain man builds several cultural aids to protect him, to collect
food, build shelter among others. He builds a family in order to be
fed, protected and taught what nature has not provided.

 Social functions; a family provides the basic unit of the society.

 Socialization of members; the child’s first human relationships are

with the immediate members of his family. He experiences ideal
love, authority, direction, protection, setting of examples and ideals.
Habits form according to the treatment they give him and reactions
determined by his inherited capacity. As he grows older initiation of
parental actions and exposures to their suggestion leads him to form

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 habits which affect his social life more profoundly than he will
recognize until many years later.

 Helps in building integrated personality; man is a cultural being and

as such he has both emotional and physical needs. He needs food,
protection and care for his survival. He also needs love, affection,
understanding and sympathy for satisfaction of his emotional needs.
The family creates the necessary environment in which he develops
a well-rounded personality.

 Formational of traits; family is responsible for universalization of

personality i.e. sentiments of love, feeling of right and wrong and of
sympathy find their expression through the family. It is responsible
for the formation of a child’s basic personality traits derived from the
standards and values peculiar to the family. The traits are handed
down through family tradition and custom from generation to
generation.

 Economic function; family ensures proper division of work and

meeting of economic needs of people.

 Religious function; the type of religion, modes and methods of

worship are taught in the family.

 Educational functions; family teaches the children and ensures good

education for them.

 Recreational provision; family members get together, sing and

dance at the time of festivals.

FAMILY AS A UNIT OF SERVICE

The reasons why the family is referred to as a unit of service;

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  Family is a natural and fundamental unit of society. Every individual
in the community is the member of the family and families comprise
a community.
 The family as a group generates, prevents, tolerates or corrects
health problems within its membership.
 Health problems of family are interlocking. The health of any family
member may affect health of others e.g. the toddler child who is sick
in the family may have its effect on mothers’ health or the person
who is caring for the child because of extra effort involved or disease
transmission.
 A family also provides crucial environment force. Each person in the
family serves to reinforce, to preserve or to modify the existing
physical environment which in the end strengthens or weakens the
cohesiveness of family as a unit.
 Most health decisions and action in personal care are made in the
family. The health decisions may be influenced by one member of
the family e.g. a father may influence mother’s decision to receive
proper immunization of child. Care of person with minor ailments,
long-term illness, pre & post hospital care for acute illness are
generally provided at home by family members. Hence, the ability of
the family to provide nursing care for its members is an important
factor in health care.
 Family is an effective and easily available channel for most of the
community health nursing effect. Through family approach, the
nurse is able to reach all the members of the family.

The community health nurse may consider family as a unit of service just
as a clinical nurse in the hospital setting may consider an individual
patient as a unit of service.

FAMILY AS A UNIT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING PRACTICES

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Nursing services at the community level depend on the type of the family
and its membership or the needs reflected by the family. These will
depend upon how;

 Family presents as a unit of community health nursing service.

 The family is a product of time and place. Family is a universal
phenomenon. The type of family and how it is organized will vary
with time and place, increasing technology and urbanization
encourages both parents as wage earners.
 The family develops its own life style; each family develops its own
set of values, its own style of life. Families also develop their own
power systems for decision making which may be balanced or
biased (one of the members gain dominance).
 The family operates as a group. The family develops its own ways of
operating and dealing with common problems, whereas others do
not, some give up when trouble strikes.
 The family accommodates the needs of individual. Each individual is
a unique social human being. The needs for an individual, group and
family may sometimes find a natural balance. In situations where
family members do not accommodate each others needs, conflict
results.
 The family has its growth cycle; families have their own growth
cycle. When a couple gets married generally children are born and
new parental tasks arise. They provide guidance and enable their
children to live independently. After children have grown and moved
away, the couple readjusts to difficult period. They face retirement
and try to cope with special aging problem.

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