Family and its types. Types and types of families. Types of single-parent families

Social and pedagogical work with families requires broad and deep knowledge about the socio-psychological processes that distinguish one category of families from another. Taking these features into account and relying on a variety of typologies allows a social teacher and social worker to create a system of ideas and knowledge about the contingent of families with which they work, or about an individual family belonging to a particular type, have a picture of the most important characteristics and more “professionally” evaluate family problems.

There are many family typologies. Let's look at the main ones.

Family typology by family history:

1.Young family . This is a family at the initial stage of development as a small social group, that is, at the stage of marital choice. It is characterized by primary mutual adaptation of spouses: material and everyday, moral and psychological and intimate and personal.

There are three main types of young families.

The first type is traditional. Families of this type are characterized by the spouses’ orientation exclusively to family values ​​and, as a rule, to a family of two children. The leader in the family, at least formally, is the husband.

The second type - husband and wife are focused primarily on personal development. The couple has a plan for a small family. Social-role balance is observed

The third type - young spouses are focused primarily on entertainment. At the same time, the husband and wife have both common friends and each their own from among their former environment. Reproductive attitudes for a childless or small family.

2.Family of middle marital age . It represents a kind of collective, the relationships in which can be defined as the education of educators. If parents want to develop any quality in a child, they must develop it in themselves. In the “middle” period, a stereotype of marital relations had already been developed, and family rules had long been developed.

3.Elderly family . This is most often a mature married dyad living with their children or independently. At this time, spouses, as a rule, retire.

Family typology by number of children:

Childless or infertile family . A family in which there are no children for ten years of married life is considered childless.

Small family . This is a common category of families. Such families usually consist of a husband, wife and two or, most often, one child.

Large family . This is a family with three or more children. The following types of large families are distinguished:

families with conscious large families and love for children. Parents do everything to make their children have a better life;

families in which parents did not strive to have many children. Children in such families are the result of a lack of family planning. Such families can also appear as a result of the birth of twins or triplets, due to fear of terminating the pregnancy, a doctor’s ban on abortion due to the mother’s health, refusal of abortion and contraception due to religious beliefs;

families formed as a result of the merger of two single-parent families, each of which already had children;

families in which the birth of a large number of children can be considered a manifestation of trouble. Children here are often a means of receiving various types of benefits, benefits, benefits.

Family typology by composition:

1. Single-parent family . Single-parent families arise after divorce and breakup of a complete family, on the initiative of single women (“maternal family”), as a result of the death of one of the spouses, or when a child is adopted by a single person.

2."Maternal Family" (family of a single mother). This is a type of single-parent family. She is initially celibate.

3. Blended or remarried family . There are three types of such families:

a woman with children marries a man without children;

a man with children marries a woman without children;

Both the man and the woman, when married, have children from previous partners.

Typology for quality of family life:

Families of unemployed citizens . Families of the unemployed include families with one or more unemployed people.

Refugee families . Refugees are citizens who have arrived or wish to arrive on the territory of a state and do not have its citizenship, who are forced or intend to leave their place of permanent residence in the territory of another state as a result of violence committed against them or persecution in other forms, or a real danger of being subjected to violence on the basis of race or nationality, religion, language, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

Family with a child with disabilities . A family that has a child with anomalies experiences extreme stress. She faces a lot of problems for which she, as a rule, is not ready. These are medical, economic difficulties, problems of raising and caring for a sick child, professional problems (change of place of work and nature of work, taking into account the interests of the sick child).

Family typology by type of relationship between spouses:

1.Family with cooperative relationships characterized by mutual understanding and support both between spouses and between parents and children. This is an ideal case of family relationships.

2.Family with parity relationships presupposes smooth “allied” relations between its members, based on mutual benefit. In a conflict situation, such a family is guided by the principle of equality and equal rights of the parties. However, such a family is characterized by excessive mutual adaptation of the spouses, fatigue, and erosion of feelings.

3.Family with an adversarial relationship characterized by the desire of the spouses to achieve more and better for the family in benevolent competition.

4.In a family with competitive relationships spouses direct all their energy to achieving their own goals, completely ignoring the goals of others and even suppressing them according to the law of the “family jungle.” In a family, contradictions and conflicts arise that separate its members from each other.

Typology of family relationship styles:

Family with democratic style relationships are characterized by cooperation, mutual assistance, a developed culture of feelings and emotions, true and complete equality of all participants in the family union.

Family with an authoritarian style relationships are, first of all, peremptory and unceremonious relations between spouses, parents and children. In such families, cruelty, aggression, dictatorship, callousness and coldness towards each other flourish. Children from such families often develop psychogenic illnesses.

Family with a permissive style relationship is characterized essentially by the absence of any relationship: detachment and alienation of the members of the family union from each other, their complete indifference to each other’s affairs and feelings, which is expressed either in the acceptance and subsequent implementation by children of the same “principles”, or in their complete rejection any assimilation of parental experience, alienation from parents.

Typology, which is based on the harmony of the family union:

Harmonious a family union should be considered one in which the family turns into an open system, revealing the widest opportunities for creative growth and personal development of all its members.

Disharmonious the family union prevents the realization of the individual qualities inherent in the spouses. The family turns into a kind of theater, where everyone is forced to fulfill an imposed, alien, but prescribed role by the family union.

It is customary to distinguish the following types of family disharmony:

Outwardly a “calm family.” Relationships are orderly and coordinated, events in the family proceed smoothly (an outside view). Upon closer acquaintance, it becomes clear that the husband and wife experience feelings of dissatisfaction, boredom, and their lives are accompanied by a feeling of wasted years.

In a family where relationships are built on the basis of apparent goodwill, the child feels useless. His life is filled with a feeling of constant anxiety, the child feels danger, but does not understand its source, lives in constant tension and is unable to relieve it.

Volcanic family. Relationships are fluid and open. Spouses constantly sort things out, often break up and get back together, quarrel and make up. Spontaneity and emotional spontaneity prevail over a sense of responsibility.

Family is a fortress. The basis of such a family union is the learned ideas about the threat, aggressiveness and cruelty of the surrounding world, about universal evil and about people as carriers of evil.

Family theater. Such families assert stability through a specific “theatrical lifestyle.” As a rule, one of the spouses in such unions experiences an acute need for recognition, constant attention, encouragement, admiration; he experiences an acute lack of love. Sometimes family members act out a performance in front of each other, sometimes the whole family forms one ensemble, maintaining the appearance of well-being.

Family is the third wheel. This is a family where the personal relationships of the spouses are of particular importance to them, and parenthood is unconsciously perceived as an obstacle to marital happiness.

Family with an idol. In such families, raising a child is the only thing that holds the marital relationship together. Both parents show exaggerated attention to the child, transferring their unrealized feelings onto him.

Masquerade family. This type of family is characterized by inconsistency of life goals. Parents place the child in a situation of different demands and inconsistent assessments.

The life of any person begins with family. Just as there are no perfectly similar people, there are no completely identical families. What is it? What are they and how do they differ?

The family is a subject of study in various social sciences. Each gives its own definition of this concept.

1. From a sociological point of view, is a group of people related by blood and marriage.
2. Legal science supplements this definition and says that a family is an association of several people living together who are connected by legal relations and a certain range of responsibilities that arise after marriage and kinship.
3. In pedagogy and psychology focuses on personal relationships between family members and different generations, on the educational and social role of representatives of the older generation in the development of younger members of the social group.

This concept is multifaceted. But each definition confirms that this is a small group, a unit of society in which people are connected to each other by certain relationships.

Signs

The family as a small community has distinctive features:

• a union of two people (traditionally a man and a woman), confirmed by the norms of the Law;
• entering into marriage on a voluntary basis;
• commonality of life and housekeeping, acquisition of material assets;
• moral, psychological and ethical unity;
• entering into close, intimate relationships;
• birth, upbringing and socialization of children.

Basic functions

The institution of family implies the connections that arise between it and society, the direction of its activities. There may be several such connections, and they vary for each individual small group.

However, there are a number of traditional functions performed by the family:

• reproductive. Goal: establishing sexual relations with subsequent birth of children. This function is leading, since it assumes that, having entered into an intimate relationship, a man and a woman fulfill their main purpose - procreation;
• economic. Goal: creating common material assets, setting up and maintaining a joint household, organizing everyday life, pooling funds and capital, making general payments;
• regenerative. Goal: preservation of family, ancestral values ​​and heirlooms, transfer of experience of the older generation to the younger;
• educational. Goal: fulfillment of the needs of parental qualities in contacts with children, their education, moral and psychological development, education of moral and ethical standards, etc. In this case we are talking about family education.

Structure

Demographic statistics identify several types of families, characterized by a certain set of characteristics.

Family is my fortress. No one can ever refute this simple statement. However, you can try to delve into this term a little deeper and find out what types of families exist.

A look into history

Before considering the types of modern families, it is necessary to look back into history. So, sociologists have long distinguished the following types of it:

1. Traditional family. In this case, several generations most often live on the same territory (except for a young family, parents, grandparents). In this case, the wife depends on her husband and performs all household duties. The main responsibility of a man (who is also the head of the family) is to ensure material well-being.
2. Unconventional family. It is also called exploitative in history. In this case, a woman works equally with a man (this happened during the era of attracting women to social work, as well as during the emergence of the first feminist movements). Representatives of the fairer sex are forced to combine work in production with household responsibilities and raising children.
3. Egalitarian (equal) family. This is a type of modern relationship between participants in a marriage. In this case, man and woman are equally involved in social relations. At the same time, all household responsibilities are also divided equally. Such a family is also characterized by emotional richness (love, friendship, responsibility, mutual respect).

Typology depending on the main function

Different types of families and their characteristics are a topic that will be discussed further. What other types of marriage relationships exist?

1. Patriarchal family. Its main goal from this perspective is running a joint household and achieving economic well-being.
2. Child-centric family. Here the main task of the couple is to raise children and prepare them for public life. However, often such families cross an unacceptable line when the younger generation turns out to be dependent and spoiled.
3. Married family. Sociologists say that this is the relationship of the future. Its main goal is the emotional satisfaction of the spouses. Most often, such families do not have children and live their whole lives to satisfy their needs and desires.

Types depending on family composition

1. Nuclear. When children and parents live in the same area.
2. Expanded. In this case, in addition to the young family, other relatives also live on the same territory.
3. Incomplete. A common type of family in modern society. In this case, the child lives in the same territory with one of the parents.

Life cycle

Families are also distinguished depending on the life cycle:

1. Young family (no more than a year has passed since the wedding).
2. Family with first child.
3. A family with a teenager.
4. "Abandoned Nest" This is a family in which the children grew up and left their father's house in order to create their own families.

Form of marriage

What other types and types of family are there? So, according to the form of marriage they distinguish:

1. Monogamous family. In this case, we are talking about a man-woman couple.
2. Polygamous family. In this case, one of the partners has several marital obligations. There are polygyny (a man can have several wives) and polyandry (a woman can have several husbands). It is worth saying that such marriages are not allowed in our country.

Depending on gender

Families are also distinguished depending on the gender of the partners:

1. Diverse family (male-female).
2. Same-sex family (when a family is created by representatives of the same sex - two men or women). In our country such marriages are prohibited.

Depending on place of residence

There are also different types of family depending on where its members live:

1. Patrilocal. In this case, the family lives on the territory of the man with his parents.
2. Matrilocal. In this case, the spouses live on the wife’s territory with her parents.
3. Neolocal. A young family lives separately from their parents. It is worth saying that this is also one of the types of modern marriage relationships.

Depending on the number of children

There are also different types of families depending on the number of children.

1. Infertile family (in which there are no children).
2. One child family.
3. A small family (we are talking about a family in which there are not enough children for natural population growth, i.e. two).
4. Average family (3-4 children).
5. Large family (five or more children).

Depending on the relationship of the spouses

There are also several types of marriages depending on the relationship that develops between the spouses.

1. Dictator families. All important decisions are made by one member of the couple, while the other may only be responsible for resolving minor issues.
2. Democratic families. The most unstable. This type of relationship is most often characteristic of newlyweds. The couple tries to resolve all issues together and make concessions to each other. However, more often than not, one partner thinks they are giving more and getting less.
3. Autonomous families. In this case, the couple strictly demarcates the spheres of influence. A man is responsible for one thing, a woman for another.

Other classifications

It is also worth mentioning that several more different typologies of families can be distinguished. So, these can be foster families. In this case, we talk about adoption, guardianship, patronage. Separately, sociologists single out large families. In this case, a distinction is made between:

1. Deliberately large families.
2. Large families that arise as a result of remarriages.
3. Dysfunctional large families.

Simple conclusions

Finally, I would like to tell you what is the difference between a traditional and a modern family. Main differences:

1. The desire and desire to live separately. The newlyweds want to run a household separate from their parents and live on their own territory.
2. Economic independence. The modern family provides for itself. The couple is completely independent from their parents.
3. Participation in public life. Both members of a modern family work as equals, learn, and develop.
4. Distribution of responsibilities. In a modern family, men and women do household chores equally.
5. Age. Nowadays young people do not strive to enter into family relationships early. Therefore, the age of members of a modern family is slightly higher compared to the same indicators in a traditional family.
6. Children. Members of modern families do not strive to have children right away. Babies are born after the young family “gets on its feet” and has enough funds to provide for offspring.
7. Few children. Modern families are not characterized by having many children. Couples most often have no more than two children.

The family is a kind of cast of society, only reduced in size. The family is the unit of the state and it performs a number of important functions.

In a legal sense,

Family - is a group of persons interconnected by mutual rights and obligations that arise in connection with consanguinity, marriage, adoption.

Family functions:

1. Reproductive: birth of children.

2. Educational: raising children, self-realization of parental feelings.

3. Protective: health care, maintenance and protection of the family.

4. Economic: meeting the material needs of family members.

5. Educational: teaching children.

6. Recreational: restoration of physical and intellectual strength.

7. Emotional: meeting the needs for respect, recognition, support, emotional protection.

8. Spiritual: joint leisure activities and spiritual enrichment.

9. Social: transferring social experience to children.

10. Sexual-erotic: satisfaction of sexual and erotic needs.

Family types.

1. Depending on the forms of marriage:

- monogamous family- consisting of two partners

- polygamous family- one of the spouses has several marital partners (for example, polygyny- the simultaneous state of a man being married to several women and polyandry- the simultaneous state of a woman being married to several men. (peoples of Tibet, Hawaiian Islands).

2. Depending on the gender of the spouses:

- same-sex family- two men or two women raising adopted children together.

- mixed-sex family

3. Depending on the number of children:

Childless family; one-child family; small family; average family; large family.

4. Depending on the composition:

- simple family- consists of one generation, represented by parents (parent) with or without children.

- complicated family- a large family of several generations...

5. Depending on a person’s place in the family:

- parent is the family into which a person is born

- reproductive- a family that a person creates himself

6. Depending on where the family lives:

- matrilocal- a young family living with the wife’s parents,

- patrilocal- a family living with the husband’s parents;

- neolocal- family living separately from parents

3. The procedure and conditions for marriage.

Marriage

1. Marriage is concluded in the civil registry office.

2. The rights and obligations of spouses arise from the date of state registration of marriage in the civil registry office.

Marriage procedure

1. Marriage is concluded in the personal presence of the persons entering into marriage, after a month has passed from the date of their submission of an application to the civil registry office.

2. If there are good reasons, the civil registry office at the place of state registration of marriage may allow marriage to be concluded before the expiration of a month, and may also increase this period, but not more than by a month.

3. If there are special circumstances (pregnancy, birth of a child, immediate threat to the life of one of the parties and other special circumstances), the marriage can be concluded on the day the application is submitted.

4. State registration of marriage is carried out in the manner established for state registration of civil status acts.

5. The refusal of the civil registry office to register a marriage may be appealed to the court by persons wishing to get married (one of them).

Conditions for marriage

1. Mutual voluntary consent of a man and woman entering into marriage,

2. They reach marriageable age.

3. Absence of circumstances preventing marriage.

Marriage age

1. The age of marriage is set at eighteen years.

2. If there are valid reasons, local government bodies at the place of residence of persons wishing to get married have the right, at the request of these persons, to allow persons who have reached the age of sixteen to marry.

The procedure and conditions under which marriage, as an exception, taking into account special circumstances, may be permitted before reaching the age of sixteen years, may be established by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Circumstances preventing marriage

Marriage between:

1. Persons of whom at least one person is already in another registered marriage;

2. Close relatives (relatives in a direct ascending and descending line (parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and grandchildren), full and half (having a common father or mother) brothers and sisters);

3. Adoptive parents and adopted children;

4. Persons of whom at least one person has been declared incompetent by a court due to a mental disorder.

Types of families can be viewed from different perspectives in a social studies course. Constant changes within the story had an impact on the structure and relationships in small groups.

A family is based on marriage or blood ties and is united by everyday life and mutual rights and responsibilities.

Types of families and their characteristics

Let's consider the main classifications of small groups that exist today. Each family is a combination of different characteristics and is a rather complex social institution.

The relationship between spouses, as well as parents and children, is studied by several sciences, the first among them being psychology and sociology.

According to family history

Family experience is determined by the length of stay in the union:

1. A young family – the first few years of marriage, they are characterized by primary adaptation, both material, everyday and psychological.
2. Middle-aged - the spouses have already gotten used to each other, most often they are engaged in raising children, that is, they pass on their beliefs and views to their descendants.
3. Elderly - as a rule, spouses are already retired and live either independently or with adult children.

The key feature for determining the type is the number of years that the spouses live together.

By number of children

Depending on how many minor family members live together with their parents, the following categories can be distinguished:

• childless - no children born or adopted;
• small children - consisting of one or two children;
• large families - as a general rule, this is considered a group where three or more children live at the same time.

Sociology studies statistics and identifies trends.

By composition

A key change in the composition of the modern family is its reduction in size. The number of divorces has increased, and it is increasingly common for fathers to simultaneously raise several children from different women.

The main types of family composition are:

1. Full, traditional - there are both parents and at least one child.
2. Incomplete - only one parent lives with the baby, the second is either absent altogether, or participates partially in upbringing, but is not constantly nearby.
3. Maternal - one of the varieties of incomplete, where children are raised by single mothers.
4. Mixed or repeated - a situation in which a person with children enters into a second marriage.

The social feature of single-parent families is that they are the least integrated and matrilocal.

By quality of life

The standard of living also influences the typology of families.

As a rule, groups are distinguished based on class, but there are also specially designated categories. In particular these include:

• unemployed - where both parents, able-bodied citizens, do not have permanent employment and a stable income;
• refugees - small groups who came from another country and do not have social connections in the new area, in most cases also income and permanent residence;
• with a disabled child - a special category, since basically they are full members of society, but one of the parents constantly takes care of the minor.

A homogeneous family often has a low quality of life.

By type of family power

Family relationships have a decisive influence on children and their perception of the world. It is the small group that is entrusted with such functions as educational, leisure, spiritual-emotional and primary socialization.

The main styles of family relationships include:

1. Patriarchy - when the dominant role belongs to men, they make key decisions and lead the destinies of the opposite sex. Characteristic of Islamic countries, but widespread everywhere.
2. Matriarchy is similar to patriarchy, but here women play a key role.
3. Conniving - there are virtually no connections between family members, characterized by indifference to each other and alienation.
4. Authoritarian - unceremonious dictatorship on the part of one or several persons, cruelty and aggression towards weak members of the group are common.
5. Democratic or egalitarian - true equality, mutual respect and cooperation among all.

Worth noting: a partner family is the best option, since in such a small group all responsibilities are divided and everyone has their own area of ​​responsibility.

By type of relationship between spouses

The relationship between husband and wife is critical because children tend to adopt their parents' patterns and transfer their communication to their families.

The main methods of communication and interaction include:

• cooperation - mutual understanding, agreement;
• parity - a union based on benefit and equality;
• competition - the goal of achieving the best for the family through friendly competition;
• competition - strive to achieve exclusively their goals.

The communication style of a bi-career family can be competitive and competitive.

By type of harmony

Harmony in the family is no less important than the above characteristics, since both relationships and interaction depend on it.

Conventionally, families can be divided into:

• harmonious - there are opportunities for growth for all family members;
• disharmonious - there is no possibility of implementation, and everyone just plays roles.

Disharmonies can also be different, for example, a “calm family”, where the spouses are not satisfied and live a boring life, or, on the contrary, a “volcanic” one, where squabbles and scandals are frequent.

Alternative forms of marriage

The most common form of marriage in the modern world is the union of one man and one woman, that is, a monogamous family.

However, there are other forms:

1. Group marriage - several men and several women - is characteristic of primitive society.
2. Polygamous - one person has several spouses. It is divided into polygyny (one man and two or more women) and polyandry (vice versa). Distributed in Asia and Oceania.
3. Exogamous and endogamous or patrilocal - in the first case there is a ban on marriage within the clan, and in the second, on the contrary, outside one’s community.

It is also worth noting such forms of marriage as sacred, dynastic, unequal and a number of others.

The typology of Russian families is very multifaceted. In order to create for yourself an idea of ​​a particular small group, you should carefully study the methods and principles of communication.

First of all, communication between spouses is assessed, then their interaction with children.

Clarifying which family is the most common in modern Western countries, we note that we are talking about monogamous democratic unions, moreover, this category is not child-centric (parents live only for the sake of their children), but nuclear (a complete family with children).

Today, a two-generation (children and parents belong to two generations), full-fledged, neolocal (living separately from adult parents) family is also a common model.