WHAT IS

FAMILY ?

FAMILY
The

word Family has

been taken over from
Latin word Famulus
which means servants.
Is the basic or the
most fundamental unit in
any society.

There

is not a set definition for the term

family.
We often use the term family to describe
things and relationships beyond that which we
stereotypically define as family. Consider the
following:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Ancestors
Children
Feeling
Ownership
Shared knowledge and practices
Moral High Ground

Family is the biological social unit composed of husband,

wife and children
-Merrill
Family is a more or less durable association of husband and
wife with or without child or of a man or women alone with
children
-M.F. Nimkoff
Family is more or less durable association of husband and
wife and children
- Ogburn
Family is a system of relationship existing between parents
and children
- Clare

THE FAMILY CODE OF THE

PHILIPPINES
Art. 149. The family, being the foundation
of the nation, is a basic social institution
which public policy cherishes and
protects. Consequently, family relations
are governed by law and no custom,
practice or agreement destructive of the
family shall be recognized or given effect.

Two or more people who are

living together and who are
related by birth, marriage, or
adoption

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
OF FAMILY
Universality
2) Emotional basis
3) Limited size
4) Formative influence
5) Nuclear position in the social
structure
6) Responsibility of the members
7) Social regulation
1)

TYPES OF FAMILIES
Nuclear family
Extended family
Complex family
Step family
Traditional family
Adopted family
Foster family

NUCLEAR FAMILY
Also called a conjugal family, this is the parents and their
children living in the same residence or sharing the closest
bonds.

EXTENDED FAMILY

This

type of family includes all relatives in close

proximity, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins.
This

type of family is also called a joint family or

multigenerational family depending on which members
are included.

COMPLEX FAMILY
This

type of extended family has three or more adults

plus their children.

STEP FAMILY
This

is a family where the adults have divorced and

remarried, bringing children from other unions together to
form a new nuclear family.

TRADITIONAL FAMILY
This

is a family unit defined in the classic sense as the

father working outside the home to support the members
financially, while the mother remains at home and tends to
domestic duties and child-rearing.

ADOPTED FAMILY
This

type of family shares legal bonds but not genetic ones.

FOSTER FAMILY
:

A foster family includes one or more adult parent who

serves as a temporary guardian for one or more children to
whom they may or may not be biologically related.

CLASSIFICATION OF FAMILY
Families can be classified according to
the various categories:
a) On the basis of lineage
b) On the basis of authority
c) On the pattern of residence
d) On the amount of mates

ON THE BASIS OF LINEAGE

Patrilineal

Family
This type of family occurs when
property and title inheritance passes
down through the fathers side.
Matrilineal Family
This is where the property and
title inheritance passes through
the mothers side.

ON THE BASIS OF AUTHORITY

Patriarchal

Family
In this type of family, the father is
considered the head.

Matriarchal Family
In this type of family, authority is
held by the mother

ON THE PATTERN OF RESIDENCE

Patrilocal
When a married couple lives with or near
the husbands family.

Matrilocal
When a couple lives with or near the
mothers family.

Neo-Local

When a married couple sets up a home

separate from either side of their families.

ON THE AMOUNT OF MATES

Monogamous Family
In this instance, a husband only has one wife.
This is the western idea of a typical marriage.
Polygamous Family
In this case, the husband has more than one
wife at the same time.
Polyandrous Family
This family consists of a wife with more than
one husband.