SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

2. THE FAMILY
SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS
 The smallest and most important social institution, with
the unique function of producing and rearing the young.
 composed of a group of interacting persons united by
blood, marriage, or adoption, constituting a household,
carrying a common culture and performing basic
functions.
 a socially sanctioned group of persons united by
kinship, marriage or adoption who share a common
habitat generally and interact according to well-defined
social roles that maintain and protect its members and
perpetuate the society. (Bertrand)
 a relatively small domestic group of kin who functions as
a cooperative unit for economic and other purposes
(Popenoe)

3. CLASSIFICATION OF
FAMILY
FAMILY OF
ORIENTATION
> the family into which
people are born and in
which the major part of
their socialization
takes place.
FAMILY OF
PROCREATION
> the family that people
create when they
marry and have
children.

4. Family
Structure/Composition
Based on Internal Organization or Membership
Nuclear or conjugal
(based on marriage)
> a two generation family
group which consists of a
couple and their children
usually living apart from
other relatives; places
emphasis on the
husband-wife
relationship.
Extended or consanguine
(shared blood)
> a group which consists of one
or more nuclear families plus
other relatives; consists of
the married couple, their
parents, siblings, grandparen
ts, uncles, aunts, and
cousins; place primary
emphasis on the “blood ties”
with various relatives.

5. Based on Dominance of
Authority
 Patriarchal – a family in which the authority is
held by the father and makes the major
decisions
 Matriarchal – authority is held by the mother
 Matrifocal – the woman is the central and
most important member
 Matricentric – the female is the authority figure
in the absence of the male at work
 Equalitarian – a family structure in which the
husband and the wife are equal in authority
and privileges

6. Based on Residence
 Patrilocal – a custom in which the married
couple lives in the household or community of
the husband’s parent
 Matrilocal – involves a married couple living in
household or community of the wife’s parents
 Neolocal – the couple lives apart from either
spouse’s parents or other relatives
 Avunculocal – prescribes that the newly
married couple resides with or near the
maternal uncle (mothers’ brother) of the groom.
This type of residence is very rare. The
opposite is amitalocal residence.

7. Based on Descent or Lineage – the way in
which kinship and lineage are traced over
generation
 Patrilineal – the father’s side of the family is
defined as kin
 Matrilineal – the mother’s side of the family is
defined as kin
 Bilateral – the system used in most industrial
societies (e.g. U.S.), children’s kinship is tied
to both sides of the family and both male and
female children are entitled to inherit.
 Bilineal - descent is through the father’s and
mother’s line

8. Based on Number of
Spouses
 Monogamy- consisting of only one husband
and one wife married at a time. This means
that a widower or a widow can marry again.
 Polygamy- one man married to two or more
women at the same time.
 Polyandry- one woman married to two or
more men at the same time.
 Cenogamy- group sex. Two or more men and
two or more women having sex together at
the same time one after the other.

9. Choice of Mate
 All societies place some restrictions on
the choice of sexual and marriage
partners.
 Incest taboos are powerful prohibitions,
against sexual relations between close
relative (e.g. between father and
daughter, mother and son, brother and
sister).

10. Marriage Norms or Patterns
 endogamy – prescribes marriage within
one’s group – same social category (e.g.
race, religion, village, social class).
 exagomy – the social norm that
prescribes marriage outside one’s own
group
 homogamy – the practice of marrying
people with the same social, racial,
ethnic, and religious background (as
most Americans do)

11. IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS
 it increases the
chances that the
children of a union
will be exposed to
reasonably
consistent
socialization
experiences.
 it reduces disputes over
issues other that child
socialization.
Although people tend to
marry others much like
themselves, another
tendency operates and
this is called…
marriage gradient – the
tendency of men to
marry women below
them in age, education,
and occupation

12. Other Forms of Marriage
 monogamy – marriage between one man
and one woman – serial monogamy
 polygamy – marriage involving more than
one husband or wife; plural marriage
 polygyny (Greek, meaning many women) –
one man is married to two or more women
at the same time
 polyandry (Greek, meaning many men) –
one woman is married to two or more men
at the same time
 cenogamy – when two or more men mate
with two or more women in group marriage.

13. > reproduction and rearing of the young
> cultural transmission or enculturation
> provide the needed socialization of the child
with respect to his role and status
> provide love and affections and a sense of
security for its members
> provide environment for personality
development and growth of self-concept in
relation to others
> serve as an important mechanism for social
control.
sexual regulation
General Functions of the Family

14. Alternative Family Norms
(Macionis, 1998)
 one-parent families – headed by a single
mother/father
 cohabitation – the sharing of a
household by an unmarried couple
 gay and lesbian same sex couples
 singlehood

15. Educational Implications
 since the family is a very important institution,
education for the family life should be part of
the curriculum
 people who intend to get married should be
oriented regarding their obligations so that
the marriage will be successful
 in Japan, there is a school for brides. There
should be a school or course, not only for the
brides but also for grooms.
 since the average Filipino family is big, the
school should teach the advantages of small
families.

16.  enculturation being a function of the family
should pass on only worthwhile values,
customs, mores, beliefs, and traditions.
(healthful living, ethical standards,
socialization, psychomotor, others skills)
 sex is the propagation of the race and should
therefore be engaged only by married people
 it is not only the children who need an
education, but also the parents
 young people should not rush into marriage,
but should give themselves time to find out
whether they are really in love and suitable for
each other.

17.  since children are the ones who suffer
from broken homes, couples should try
hard to be reconciled and their parent,
relatives, and friends, should help them
toward this end.
 couples should consult marriage
counselors if they often quarrel or are
drifting apart so that the marriage may
be saved.

18. All the educative functions mentioned above
belong to the cultural transmission or
enculturation function of the family, that of
transmitting the knowledge, beliefs and
practices of the old generation of the young
generation.

19. Presented by:
SHARON F.
GEROQUIA