Family as an Institution

Essay by mrsjohnspencerCollege, Undergraduate February 2009

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In ones life, we begin as an infant, born from our mother, and we are supported through "family" to meet our daily needs. Family is what consists of groups of people whom are related either by blood, marriage or kinship. The family is where it all happens, because everyone born on this planet has to come from a mother. The family is a social institution that helps form a bigger picture. Not all societies are the same, just as not all persons are the same. There are many forms of institutions in societies. The family is just one-stepping stone of how we shape and mold our young for the future years ahead. Along with the different types of institutions in society we have already created.

The family institution is a very important and very crucial point in one persons life. We are all raised in a family whether it is by a nuclear family or by an extended family.

We are all brought up a certain way and each family in every given society must do its part to participate in the community as a whole. Before the industrial age, many families produced what they consumed. Families that were large in size usually had gardens and lived on a farm producing their own milk and meat. Nowadays, things have changed in a way where we are no longer living on farms producing our own food. Although there are still some cultures that do this, America is not one of them.

The main characteristics of a family are found universally. "There is no human society in which some form of the family does not appear. The emotional basis of the family is grounded with emotions and sentiments. It is based on mating, procreation, maternal devotion, fraternal love and parental care." (Retrieved...