CHAPTER 8 JOURNEYING BACK TO

ONE’S FAMILY:THE FILIPINO FAMILY

IN RETROSPECT

WHAT IS FAMILY?

THE FAMILY IS THE BASIC SOCIAL INSTITUTION AND THE PRIMARY GROUP IN ANY SOCIETY, WHICH PUBLIC POLICY CHERISHES AND PROTECTS. 

ACCORDING TO MURDOCK, THE FAMILY IS ASOCIAL GROUP CHARACTERIZED BY COMMON RESIDENCE, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, AND REPRODUCTION.

Burges and Locke defined the family as a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption, constituting a single household, interacting and communicating with each other in their

Respective social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother or sister, and creating and maintaining a common culture.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE FAMILYThe family may be classified according to various categories.

1. According to organization and membership:a. The nuclear (primary or elementary) family is composed of husband and his wife and their children in the union recognized by the society. Any individual belongs to two kinds of families:

• Family of orientation- into which one is born, and where one is reared and socialized.• Family of procreation- establish by the person by his marriage.

b. The extended family is composed of two or more nuclear families related to each other economically and socially.

Two types of families can be derived from this classification:

• The conjugal family which considers the spouses and their children as a prime importance and which has a fringe of comparatively unimportant relatives. The marriage bond is stressed.

• The consaguineal family which considers the nucleus of blood relatives as more important than the spouse. The relationship of the persons with the blood kin formed during childhood are prime importance.

2. According to place of residence:

a.) Patrilocal family requires that the newly wed couple lived with or near the residence of the parents of the bridegroom.

b.) Matrilocal family requires that the newly married couple live with or near the residence of the parents of the bride.

c.) Bilocal family provides the newly wed couple the freedom to select where to reside.

d.) Neolocal family permits the newly wed couple to reside independently of their parents.

e.) Avunlocal family prescribes that the newly wed couple reside with or near the maternal uncle of the groom.

3. According to descent

a.) Patrilineal descent affiliates a person with a group of relatives related to him through his father. The child is also related to his mother’s kin, but in terms of closeness, he turns to his father’s kin.

b.) Matrilocal descent affiliates a person with a group of kinsmen related to him through his mother.

c.) Bilateral descent affiliates a person with a group of kinsmen related to him through both his father and mother

4. According to authority

a.) Patriarchal family is one where authority is vested in the oldest member, often the father .

b.) Matriarchal family is one in which authority is vested in the mother or the mother’s kin.

5.According to form of marriage

a.) Monogamy permits the man to have only one spouse at any time.

b.) Polygamy a plural marriage. It assumes any of the following:

•Polygyny – refers to the marriage of one man to two or more women at a time.

•Polyandry – is the marriage of one women to two or more men at the same time.

•Group marriage – is the marriage or union of several men and several woman at a time.

c.) Equalitarian family is one I which the husband and wife exercise a more or less equal amount of authority.

d. ) Matricentric family where the absence of the father who may be working gives the mother a dominant position in the family.

FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY

1.The family is the unit of reproduction. It regulates the sex behaviour of people in any given society.

2.It performs the functions of biological maintenance. As a child is born, the parents take the role of providers and protectors providing the child his basic needs.

3.The family socializes the members.it is the major agency for socialization. It transmits culture from generation to generation through the family.

4.It provides status to the members. Every child is born to his family which provides him status name, and lineage.

5.It serves as an important mechanism for social control. It exerts efforts on the members on what it considers desirable behaviours according to societal standards and norms.

6. The family serves as the first and foremost school where every child learns the major lessons in life. The parents perform a very vital role in the child’s development and formation. Basic values are learned from parents.

7. It performs such other functions to meet the material and economic, religious and social needs of the child. It is the family where the child learns basic concepts of authority, structure, etc. and where he develops his self-image and self-concept.

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT TASKS

The following are the functional prerequisites/task of the family.

1. Physical maintenance- providing shelter, food, clothing, health care, etc.

2. Allocation of resources- meeting family needs and costs, apportioning material goods, facilities, space, authority, respect, affection, etc.

3. Division of labor- deciding who does what, assigning responsibility for procuring income, managing the household, caring for the family members, and other specific task.

4. Socializing the family members- guiding the internalization of increasingly mature and acceptable pattern of controlling elimination, food intake, sexual drives, sleep, aggression, etc.

5.Reproduction, recruitment, and release of family members- bearing or adopting children and rearing them to release at maturity, incorporating new members by marriage, and establishing policies for inclusion of others.

6.Maintenance of order- providing means of communication, establishing types and intensity of interaction, patterns of affection and sexual expression.

7.Placement of members in the larger society- fitting into the community, relating to church, school, organizational life, political and economic systems and protecting family members from undesirable outside influence.

8.Maintenance of motivation and moral- rewarding members for achievements, satisfying individual needs for acceptance, encouragement and affection, meeting personal and family crises refining a philosophy of life and sense of family loyalty through rituals and festivities.