by Georgia Fay

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2008

FAMILY is the primary unit of social institutions in which members share and cooperate for mutual benefit and to get their basic needs met. In contemporary families, family types and structure consist of; traditional family (father, mother, child(ren)), single parent families(mother or father and child(ren)), blended families (stepmother/father or adoptive parent and child(ren)), extended family(aunt/uncle, grandparents and child(ren)), and fictive family(foster parents and kinship caregivers and child(ren)).

The function of a family consist of socialization, protection, nurturing, and acculturation of the young and giving mutual emotional, spiritual and physical support. Most of all
the family is for procreation. The family unit is a minute reflection of the larger society, but is influenced by the mores, values, economical and political activities of the larger society. This is not true for minority families who are mostly isolated and suppressed by the larger society. American family structure, type and life has undergone dynamic changes overtime through adapting to social, economical, and political factors of the larger society.

Demography of family life today is reflected from increased poverty among Americans, more openness in relationships leading to divorce, separations, cohabitation (common law) teenage pregnancy, and more women entering the workforce. Some of these factors influence the roles and functions of family members dramatically. For instance, in divorced families, the children seem to take on a peer-like role with the spouse remaining in the home. Likewise, children are placed at risk in families of same sex couples. Although they seem to get more love, affection and better care than traditional families. It has been noted that in lesbian families, women cope with hostile environments to their life styles by putting energy into parenting, self-improvement and social relationships. These are positive activities and give positive feed back to children in the home. On the other hand, children of same sex parents have great stress placed on them from ridicule of the larger environment institutions of school, libraries, police, medical people, peers and relatives. Because of these issues, there is great debate about the effectiveness of same sex parenting on todays children. However, the Jury is still out on this issue and the similar issue of trans-racial families.

Nevertheless, the group that is at the foundation of society especially American society is still the family and it's function is still the same even though the members change, and there may be role reversals and other dynamic changes, the family remains the single most important social institution in America today.

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