Individual
Family
Society
Ms. Park – SHDHS
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The social sciences are not concerned with ‘absolute
truth,’ and do not pretend to be.
All disciplines within the social sciences (Anthropology,
Sociology, Psychology) report on patterns or trends of
behaviour.
Once a pattern / trend can be identified, predictions can
be made about future events.
In order to identify a pattern / trend, many subjects
(people) need to be observed over a long period of time.
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Please do not take offence to the course
material.
Everyone has their own story, and our
perceptions of the world are largely based on
our experiences.
Education informs our decisions, but
ultimately it is you, the individual, who makes
the choices that concern your lives.
NO!!!
Defining the Family
Functions of the Family
Families are like belly buttons…
…we all have one!
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Take about 5 minutes in your table groups to
come up with a working definition of what you
think the word “family” means.
◦ Consider your own family and what we see in our
everyday lives
◦ It should be detailed but not too specific that it
discriminates or excludes
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In all societies, individuals live in families
When you mature, you will probably leave your
family, form a new family and raise children
◦ Cycle of human life (remained for tens of thousands
of years)
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Thus, to understand families in a diverse
society such as Canada’s, it is necessary also to
understand individuals
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Individuals are motivated to carry out these
functions due to their membership in a smaller
group of people, such as a family or household,
with whom they agree to co-operate in order to
survive
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In turn, societies support individuals and
families as they carry out these functions
through such institutions as government,
education, and health care
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Definitions are used to determine who qualifies
for the benefits of families, such as eligibility
of dental care
Its effective if you can use it to differentiate
between families and other groups
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Individuals define families based on their own
personal experiences and expectations of what
family means to them.
◦ Consider the following chart
Views of what constitutes a family by age
Percent indicating “yes”
Nationally
18-34
35-54
55+
Married man and woman w/ at least 1 child
96
97
97
95
Unmarried man and woman w/ at least 1 child
68
82
71
48
Divorced or separated person w/ at least 1 child
68
80
71
52
Unmarried person w/ at least 1 child
61
77
65
40
Married man and women w/ no children
56
64
55
49
Two people of the same sex w/ at least 1 child
46
68
45
24
Unmarried man and woman w/ no children
33
36
34
28
Two people of the same sex w/ no children
24
35
22
15
One single person w/ no child
9
8
10
9
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Reflect both the actual nature of families as
well as the desirable nature of families
In the Social Sciences, definitions have evolved
to reflect our understanding of human society
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They define families based on the functions
they perform – actions necessary for the
society to survive
The family performs functions that could be
theoretically performed by others in society,
but no societies have separated these
functions successfully
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Therefore, they’ve identified the universal
functions of the family – any group that
performs these functions is a family
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Most definitions based on individuals being
related through blood or marriage
Unlike what anthropologists say, there is no
mention of the behaviour or actions of
individuals
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Statistics Canada gathers important
demographic information every five years as
part of the Census
This data is helpful to both government and
industry
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Stats Can definition is based on residence
“Census family is defined as a married couple
and the children, if any, of either or both
spouses; a couple living common law and the
children, if any, of both partners; or, a lone
parent of any marital status with at least one
child living in the same dwelling and that child
or those children. All members of a particular
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census family live in the same dwelling. A
couple may be of opposite or same sex.
Children may be by birth, marriage, or
adoption regardless of their age or marital
status as long as they live in the dwelling and
do not have their own spouse or child living
in the dwelling. Grandchildren living with
their grandparent(s) but with no parents
present also constitute a census family.”
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Sociologist Anne-Marie Ambert argues that a
definition of family should not be so broad that
it does not allow for identification of the
family
◦ She states, “the family is a social group, an
institution, and an intergenerational group of
individuals related to each other by blood, adoption or
marriage/cohabitation” (pg 7 new I&F)
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By defining family as an institution, she is
implying that families are groups that have a
set behaviours they are expected to perform
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...any combination of two or more persons who are
bound together over time by ties of mutual
consent, birth and/or adoption or placement and
who, together, assume responsibilities for variant
combinations of some of the following:
Physical maintenance and care of group members
Addition of new members through procreation or adoption
Socialization of children
Social control of members
Production, consumption, distribution of goods and
services, and
– Affective nurturance — love
– Pg.6 I&F
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Using pgs. 7&8 of Individuals and Families in a
Diverse Society textbook, each table group
will spend 10 minutes discussing a function of
families (designated by teacher)
◦ Complete the handout chart, providing an explanation
of the function, an example, and how other
institutions in Canada, such as government, education,
health, religion, law, business, etc., support the family
to fulfill the function
•We
are all individuals, yet we are also part of
different households, we have different histories,
experiences and expectations...
So let us keep this complexity in mind throughout
the course as we dive into ourselves, our families and
our society...
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(Don’t you worry, there will be
moments of seriousness but I
will try my best to balance it
with some humour!)