DEFINITION OF FAMILY

The word “Aile” has passed into Turkish from the word "‫ "عائلة‬in Arabic. In Turkish, words such as bark,
eş, ev, hanedan, karı, odak, ocak, odbaşı, sülale, etc. are also used. In Arabic, the meaning of the word
aile means the dependents of a person. In Old Turkish, the word aile is referred to as "Oguş". Another
definition of family in Turkish is the smallest union in society, which is based on marriage and blood ties,
and is formed by the relations between husband, wife, children and siblings.

According to the Turkish Language Association (TDK) , it is stated that the concept of family has the
following meanings;

1. The smallest union in society, which is based on marriage and blood ties, formed by relations between
husbands, wives, children, siblings. Although this definition is the equivalent of the situation in which the
concept of family is used the most, it is a narrow definition due to its expressions based on marriage and
blood ties.

2. All persons of the same ancestry or with whom there are kinship relations. This definition has a
meaning close to the word used as 'dynasty' in everyday language.

3. All of the relatives and relatives who live together. Here, the concept of family has been taken into an
extremely narrow scope such as cohabitation.

4. Wife, husband

Family Types

Family types are classified by Berksun as follows.

1‐ According to whether the sovereignty in the family is in the mother or father

a‐ Matriarchal family b‐ Matriarchal family c‐ Egalitarian family

2‐ According to the forms of marriage

a‐ According to the number of people to be married

b‐ According to the kinship relationship

c‐ According to the form of residence

3‐ General classification

a‐ Nuclear family b‐ Traditional extended family

This classification does not include some types of families. Below are the types of families that have not
found a place in this classification.

1‐ Types of families born from alternative lifestyles

a‐ Single-parent family

b‐ Fatherless family
c‐ Stepfamily

d‐ Cohabitation

2‐ By place of residence

3‐ According to local characteristics

Family Types According to Mother or Father Sovereignty in the Family

Under this heading, the family is classified as patriarchal, matriarchal and egalitarian family. The so-
called patriarchal family is also called the Roman family.

In the egalitarian family, on the other hand, sovereignty is shared between the mother and father, or in
other words, between the man and the woman. This type of family is also called a symmetrical family.

Family Types According to the Types of Marriage

In terms of the number of people to marry, the family is divided into monogamous and polygamous.
Monogamous family is a marriage made by marrying a single spouse. It is the most common form of
marriage in industrial, modernized societies.

The type of family formed by the marriage of a man or woman with more than one person is called a
polygamous family. The type of family that occurs when a man marries more than one woman at the
same time is called polygyny, and the type of family that occurs when a woman marries more than one
man at the same time is called polyandry.

According to the type of residence, the family is divided into two as patrilocal and matrilocal families,
depending on whether the newly married couples are close to or together with the family of the man
and the woman after marriage.

General Classification

It is the nuclear family and the traditional extended family. Some researchers also call the nuclear family
the modern nuclear family.

In some definitions, the modern nuclear family includes two generations: the modern nuclear family,
the mother and father and the children. Its basis is the extended family.

Attention: It is not only the difference in the number of family members and the generations they
contain that distinguishes the modern nuclear family from the traditional extended family. These family
types also differ from each other in terms of production methods and consumption habits, the functions
they undertake, and the relations between men and women in the family.

The traditional Extended Family consists of many members and exists through kinship ties. It is a type of
family that depends on blood ties. Although the family structure is gradually modernizing, it continues to
maintain its traditional characteristics.

Attention: Increasing urbanization rates mean that families are no longer living in the same residence or
in close proximity to each other.
 The fact that they do not share residences does not mean that the transition from the traditional
extended family to the modern nuclear family has been fully achieved.

Family Types Born from Alternative Lifestyles

Under the heading of family types arising from alternative lifestyles, there are single-parent families,
fatherless families, stepfamilies and cohabitation.

Family Types by Place of Residence

Under this heading, the family is divided into a slum family, a big city family, a town family, a village
family, a nomadic family classified.

FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

Kongar listed the functions of the traditional extended family as follows:

1. Economic function: The traditional extended family is a unit of production and consumption. The
goods and services needed are produced and consumed by this family. Income is collected in one hand
and expenses are made from one source. In addition, there is a highly developed division of labor and
cooperation in this family, especially as seen in agrarian societies.

2. Prestige function: Traditional extended family members derive their social status from their families.
People are primarily evaluated on which family they belong to, and they are affected by the results of
the positive or negative characteristics of that family.

3. Protection function: Since there are no various institutions that protect the individual in traditional
societies as in contemporary societies, the family has also undertaken the function of protecting the
person. In this context, the family acts as a protector both financially and spiritually.

4. Religious function: In the traditional extended family, family members are not only given a religious
education, but also

At the same time, as a full religious union, the worship of the members is also supervised.

Canatan and Yıldırım, on the other hand, made a more general assessment of the functions of the family
and discussed the functions of the family.

It has classified it as follows:

1. Biological function of the family: This function is common to all types of families. In all societies, the
birth of children who will ensure the continuation of the generation at one level or another and the care
of these children can only be realized within the family structure.

2. The function of the family to provide psychological satisfaction: It is a function that arises from
communication and relationship between parents and children, for extended families, other family
members can also participate in it. As well as the quantity and continuity of this communication and
relationship, whether it is supportive or not, whether it creates a feeling of trust or not, determines the
level of psychological satisfaction.
3. Economic function of the family: The traditional extended family is a type of family in which all family
members participate in economic production, consumption is made together, and is suitable for societies
interested in agriculture in rural areas. Women have a structure that does not allow them to work away
from home. With the modern nuclear family, in parallel with the needs of the industrialized society, it is
seen that men and women work outside the home and their consumption habits change.

The fact that women started to work gave her new roles and statuses. However, the woman faced the
necessity of continuing her duties and responsibilities in the old family. This situation is one of the main
causes of conflicts between men and women today. The number of children, which is higher in the
traditional extended family due to its contribution to production, has started to decrease with the child's
departure from business life in the modern nuclear family.

4. The educational function of the family: When a person begins to encounter the external
environment, which we can generally call culture, after he is born, the effort to adapt to this external
environment begins. The first place where this process begins is the family.

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