Which One of the Following Statements About Family Communication Is Not Correct?

J Family Med Prim Care. 2013 Oct-Dec; 2(4): 306–310.

The Family and Family unit Structure Classification Redefined for the Electric current Times

Rahul Sharma

Department of Customs Medicine, Academy College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Infirmary, Delhi, India

Abstruse

The family unit is a basic unit of report in many medical and social science disciplines. Definitions of family have varied from land to country, and likewise within country. Considering of this and the irresolute realities of the electric current times, there is a felt need for redefining the family and the common family construction types, for the purpose of study of the family unit as a gene in health and other variables of involvement. A redefinition of a "family" has been proposed and various nuances of the definition are besides discussed in detail. A classification scheme for the various types of family has also been put forrard. A few exceptional case scenarios accept been envisaged and their classification every bit per the new scheme is discussed, in a bid to clarify the classification scheme further. The proposed scheme should prove to be of use across various countries and cultures, for broadly classifying the family structure. The unique scenarios of item cultures can be taken into account by defining region or culture-specific subtypes of the overall types of family unit structure.

Keywords: Classification, definition, family, family structure, types of family

Introduction

The family unit as an integrated and functional unit of society has for a considerable menstruation of time captured the attention and imagination of researchers.[one] While the family itself is a matter of report, equally important for research is its role as a factor influencing and affecting the evolution, behavior, and well-being of the individual. The family is a basic unit of report in many social scientific discipline disciplines, such equally sociology, psychology, economic science, anthropology, social psychiatry, and social piece of work.[2] It is also a unit of study in the medical sciences especially in understanding the epidemiology and the natural history of diseases. It likewise forms the basic unit of measurement for family unit medicine. Census definitions of family unit take varied from country to country and also from census to census within land. The word household has oftentimes been used as a replacement for family. Using the definition as "all people living in 1 household" may exist erroneous, as on one manus information technology may include people who exercise not share kinship, and on other hand may exclude those kin members who are temporarily away.[3] This type of definition fails to identify units that function as families in an economic, social or emotional sense only do not usually reside in the same household.[iv] Although the literature often focuses on family living arrangements, family membership includes obligations across and betwixt generations, no thing where family members are living.[v]

The UNESCO report stated that a family is a kinship unit and that fifty-fifty when its members do not share a mutual household, the unit may exist as a social reality.[3] This definition may exist too broad to serve the purpose of identification of a family unit for the purpose of cess as a cistron in variables such as health. But to requite an example, a family in a developing land has a son living in the U.s., happily married at that place with a wife, and he sends across some money to the other family members back domicile occasionally and visits the country in one case in many years. Should he still exist counted equally a fellow member of the original family? Does this person (and his wife) share the same risks to their immediate health as the other family members back in the shared household? Would this individual and his dependants in the new surround accept admission to the same kind of health care options as the other family members living in the country of birth? And would the offspring of this person born in the foreign country experience the aforementioned sociocultural and environmental exposures, as (south)he would have come into contact with growing up in the land of origin?

Trask[6] observed that while in the by, locale mattered, today social relationships are maintained over nifty distances with ease. Global communications such as the net, electronic mail, and satellite linkups are facilitating these relationships over infinite and time. Notwithstanding, keeping in listen the previous pertinent questions that are raised if we desire to consider the "family" as a gene influencing and interacting with other variable characteristics (such equally wellness, environment, social behavior, etc.), the scales are still tilted toward defining the family equally people unremarkably sharing a mutual living area. The pregnant of the term "family" also depends on whether it is existence interpreted in a social, biological, cultural, or statistical sense.[4] It is of import to place a family unit and the members constituting the unit, for the purpose of studying their health, for case.

Need for Redefining

Desai (1994), as cited in Sonawat[2] divers the family as a unit of two or more persons united by marriage, blood, adoption, or consensual spousal relationship, in general consulting a single household, interacting and communicating with each other. While the definition is generally fine, the interacting and communicating with each other may exist a difficult affair to arm-twist or determine. An existing textbook of the medical specialty of community medicine makes it more than objective by defining the interdependence office as "individuals living together and eating from a common kitchen."[seven] It considers and defines three types of families: Nuclear, joint, and three generation families. However, practical experience in community has shown that these categories are not mutually exhaustive.

There are several new social dynamics and realities emerging with time. For example, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 of Republic of india recognizes and provides protection to female living in a relationship in the nature of a marriage with a male partner.[viii] Family enquiry provides insight into the construction of lodge and the changes taking place in the types, composition, and growth of families.[4] Families can exist classified in several different dimensions, for example, past wedlock blazon (monogamous, polygamous), by location (patrilocal, matrilocal, and avunculocal), authority (patriarchy, matriarchy), and past kin composition (nuclear, articulation).[three] In the present new nomenclature, only the kin limerick has been taken into account. Adjectives tin can exist added to define the family every bit per union type or past locus of residence or authority.

In a social sense people may run into themselves as existence members of several families, as members of families with their parents and siblings and also members of families that they accept formed themselves.[4] However, in the current proposed classification for the purpose of family unit, the view is that an individual will in usual circumstance belong to one family just in a given role.

Because of the multitude of definitions of "family unit" and the changing realities of the current times, there is a felt need for redefining the family and the mutual types, for the purpose of study of the family as a cistron in health and other variables of interest. The post-obit definition of a "family" is hence proposed:

"People related by marriage, nativity, consanguinity or legal adoption, who share a common kitchen and financial resources on a regular basis."

Nuances of the Definition

The family volition incorporate of people usually living in the same firm, unless work, study, imprisonment, solitude, foreign sojourn, or whatever other exigencies compel a member to temporarily live away from the shared firm. Members who take been disowned legally will cease to be members of the family. Members living away from the concrete bounds of the shared firm, who are not expected to render back to living in the business firm in the future, will also cease to be considered as members of this family, even though they may be sharing financial resource.

Mutual kitchen does not but mean just sharing of a concrete infrastructure of a kitchen, just also sharing of common cooked meals in the kitchen. In such families where sets of members share the kitchen together but do non share financial resources, and those where sets of members share financial resources but practise not share the kitchen together, the different sets of members should be counted as different families. Regarding common financial resources of the family, it is the sharing that is more of import than contributing. An single relative may be there who is not earning and thus not contributing economically to the family purse, but will be counted toward the family unit if (s)he is sharing the family financial resources.

The term "on a regular basis" in the definition, is left open-ended deliberately. In some families, people may have had tiffs and stopped sharing food together for a menstruation of time that may be few days, few weeks, or few months. Subsequently what menstruum of time practise nosotros say that they finish comprising a single family? Similar dilemma is there for a time period cutoff regarding nonsharing of fiscal resources. And a very important aspect in this decision would be futurity intent, that is, whether the constituents think the differences are irrevocable or they think the possibility of getting together is there, whatever may be the catamenia of nonsharing thus far. In case of whatsoever incertitude, it is all-time left to a subjective cess of the individual family unit at hand. The researcher may directly ask the constituents whether they still consider themselves equally belonging to a unmarried mutual family unit or not. It has been noted earlier that family membership and obligations are subjective and can only be fully understood from the perspective of the family concerned.[v]

A student who goes to reside in whatsoever other city for few years of education and stays in a hostel, with guardians, or in a private accommodation, does not cease to be a role of the original family for those years, simply because (s)he is not sharing the family's mutual kitchen. However, to exist counted as a member of the original family, (s)he must continue to share in or receive money or other things of budgetary value from the financial resource puddle of the family. One of import caveat would be that the individual must have the intent of returning to the original family in the future, unless compelled by needs of higher studies or job.

Another case may be of a young adult member of the family who has gone abroad for piece of work, or who went away for college teaching and ends upwardly finding a vocation there. Such a person may visit back on rare occasions to his or her family of origin, but is reasonably expecting to be staying put in the new location for the foreseeable future. Such a fellow member would not then be exposed to the run a risk factors or the protective social factors common to the other members sharing a residence. So this person should exist counted as belonging to a split new family unit, irrespective of whether (southward)he has married and irrespective of sharing of financial resources with the original family back habitation.

Biologically unrelated individuals living together in an institutional setting, for instance, hostel, boarding school, working women's hostel, and and so on, or living together in a single business firm, will be counted as belonging to their family of origin or every bit separate family units (single individual families) every bit the case may exist depending on their future intent. They will not be combined or considered together to class new family units. A person imprisoned for a known period of time does not finish to be a fellow member of the original family (unless legally disowned by the caput of the family, or by the next head of the family if (south)he happens to exist the head). This is because the person is expected to have the intent of returning to the original family unit of measurement every bit soon as the period of solitude is over.

Classification Scheme for Family Construction

A new nomenclature scheme for the various types of family unit structure is being proposed, keeping in listen the redefined "family unit." The various types of family nether the proposed classification scheme are detailed in the Table 1. The commencement step was to define the various types of family possible, which will cover the myriad variations possible in the current times. And then came the question of coming up with suitable terms to characterization the categories of family types, and information technology was thought of to come with a uniform terminology scheme-based on the classic terms.

Table 1

The proposed classification of types of family

The word "nuclear" was picked upon, that represents a married couple as forming the "nucleus" of a family unit, as per existing classifications of family structure. Standing with the discussion "nucleus," terms from the atomic globe were explored to extend the analogies to the family unit structure types. For example, a proton would be an incomplete nucleus, a solitary existence. Electrons would be something outside the nucleus, that is, a married couple (nucleus) is not there. An atom would be having a single nucleus only and possibly multiple electrons. Two nuclei cannot be there in an atom, it would have to exist a molecule. And then the presence of ii married couples makes a family "molecular." It may be clarified here that terms from physics were chosen hither just for the nomenclature of the proposed family types. This was washed as the word "nuclear" was already being used. Use of these terms borrowed from physics is expected to aid in easier appreciation and recall of the various family unit types.

The classic term of "joint family" has been retained to define the complex sharing of resource by multiple couples. However, the traditional "articulation family unit" has also been redefined and has two different meanings depending on the number of generations present. Generally across diverse cultures, obligations to siblings are usually weaker than to parents.[five] This is the reason why the proposed definition of articulation family considers different number of couples, depending on the number of generations involved. Two married brothers (or two sisters) living together with their corresponding families would qualify to be termed as a joint family.

Information technology is a difficult task to categorize families according to whatever theoretical type or to generalize across or within cultures.[5] An endeavor has been made to endeavor to redefine the family besides as the types of family to continue up with the changing times. Withal, as per practical experience, the community throws upwards scenarios which may test whatever theoretical model of classification. Keeping this in heed, an exercise was washed to contemplate a few infrequent case scenarios and discuss their classification every bit per the new model, in a bid to analyze the nomenclature scheme further [Table two].

Table 2

Word of a few instance scenarios and examples of classification as per the new scheme

Changing Family Dynamics in the Current Times

A paper on the structure of families in New Zealand over time has observed that the family unit is constantly changing and diversifying there. Same-sex activity couples have been included in the data, but they can exist identified as subsets of couple-only and two parent families. Certain types of family that are becoming more prevalent at that place include i-parent families and couple-only families.[4] As per the new classification, these types of families can be identified as Two-Electron and Three-Nuclear family, respectively. The situation of a family with a married couple only and no children can be termed as a "nuclear couple family", merely it should be classified as a subtype of the nuclear family simply and not as a separate type. Similarly, the sole-parent family can be identified as a subtype of an electron family (type II).

Unlike a previous definition given by Desai, every bit cited in Sonawat,[two] "relationship by consensual union" has non been taken as one of the criteria for defining the family, in the basic definition proposed. Equally mentioned earlier, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 of India recognizes "domestic relationships in the nature of marriage,"[8] but the legal and social positions are still evolving. However, in view of the social realities, a classification for families based upon such nuclear relationships has been put forwards with the use of qualifier "quasi-" (type VII). Elliott and Gray[5] take likewise discussed the gray zone caused past remarriage families (or "composite families" as they term it) in nomenclature of families. At that place may be differences in both the emotional and fiscal support given to children betwixt "natural" and "new" parents. As well, for many children, both their natural parents may play a very real part in their lives fifty-fifty if they do not alive in the same household.[4] These are emerging social realities in the Indian context too. But, counting an private (e.g., the separated "natural" father/mother) in more than one family may lead to factual mismatches and besides create lot of confusion. It is best to consider the remarriage family too every bit inside the frame of the 7 types of family unit fix in the new classification, and to label them every bit a subtype "remarriage family" if required.

Importance of the Changing Family Dynamics for Health

Wellness has been shown to have multifactorial causation. The family surroundings affect the health of an individual in several ways. Members of a family tin be expected to share the gamble factors for their wellness that may arise from various social characteristics of their shared housing, neighborhood, community, society, and civilisation. They would also share the positive factors contributing toward good health. All the members of a family living together who share the fiscal resources of the family unit would also share the risks of ill-health and costs of health intendance equally well as the protection offered past availability of money with the family to tide over health-related problems.

Living in a family would also mean usually exposure to similar dietary behaviors and wellness-related lifestyles, among the family unit members. Some other of import aspect shared would be the healthcare-seeking design and preference. The irresolute dynamics of family composition can have important bear upon on the protective too as risk factors influencing health. Thus, an updated definition and classification scheme for types of families serves an important purpose for the practitioners of diverse medical and social scientific discipline disciplines in the current times.

Concluding Remarks

It is to be expected that the changing societal arrangements in the current times will exist a huge challenge for whatsoever model of classification of family construction. On height of that is the challenge to go along the possible nomenclature groups to the minimum possible, so that analysis of the family construction as a factor in health and other outcomes, in future studies, does non become an inordinately complex exercise. This is a proposed redefinition of "family" and a proposed scheme of nomenclature of family structure, to effort to match the footstep of modify of current societies. While the objective was mainly to redefine keeping the Indian cultural environment in heed, the sheer heterogeneity of the Indian population in terms of sociocultural milieu is immense. The current proposed scheme should more often than not suffice for use in other countries and cultures, for broadly classifying the family structure. The intricacies and unique scenarios of particular cultures can exist taken into account by defining region or culture-specific subtypes of the overall types of family structure defined in the nowadays article.

Footnotes

Source of Support: Nil

Conflict of Interest: None declared

References

1. Sooryamoorthy R. The Indian family unit: Needs for a revisit. J Comp Fam Stud. 2012;43:i–xi. [Google Scholar]

2. Sonawat R. Agreement families in India: A reflection of societal changes. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa. 2001;17:177–86. [Google Scholar]

3. Bangkok, Thailand: UNESCO; 1992. UNESCO Principal Regional Role for Asia and Pacific. The changing family in Asia: Bangladesh, Bharat, Japan, Philippines and Thailand. [Google Scholar]

4. Hodgson RM, Birks KS. Palmerston N, New Zealand: The Centre for Public Policy Evaluation, Massey University; 2002. Statistics New Zealand's definition of family, its implications for the accuracy of data and effectiveness of policy targeting. Pupil paper no. 4. [Google Scholar]

v. Elliott S, Grey A. New Zealand: New Zealand Immigration Service; 2000. Clearing Research Program: Family Structures. A study for the New Zealand Immigration Service. [Google Scholar]

vi. Trask BS. New York: Springer; 2010. Globalization and families: Accelerated systemic social change. [Google Scholar]

7. Park M. 22nd ed. Jabalpur: Banarsidas Bhanot; 2013. Park'southward text volume of Preventive and Social Medicine. [Google Scholar]

eight. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Gazette of India. No. 43 of 2005. [Last accessed on 2013 Aug 19]. Available at: www.wcd.nic.in/wdvact.pdf .

rodriguescamen1995.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4649868/

Share this post