Description of Words Family or Friend Essay

The term a family has become a standard phrase for evaluating human beings together. A family instead contains a people with a common or similar origin. On the same note, different scholars have defined the word family in many and varied terms. Some have gone to the extent of referring to a family as people who are living under one roof despite them not having any ancestral relation. Traditionally it consists of father mother and children who have an inherited connection. These group of individuals has a continuity which lasts from one child to the descendants.

There are different types of families. The first is the nuclear family which is composed of the father, mother and their children. When these children find their way out and get their own families, they seize to be nuclear family members. Another form of family is the extended family, polygamous family and the monogamous family.

Every human being, however, has a common origin and a family which might be existing on not. When a family is unable to unite or live together, they divorce or disintegrate but does not lose the blood relation. The dividing of families has become a standard issue in many homes. The question still lies unanswered by many if when one divorces or unsubscribes from his/her family still has a right to belong to them more so a child. It, however, has its interpretation in every society in its way. Every set of the family is different regarding its economic, social, cultural perspective.

Due to modernity, the collective knowledge of a family has gradually changed. Extensively many people in the 21st Century do not give value or value a family itself. As a result, they end up not getting married or not getting children. A rhetoric question also outlines in that, what will happen if one cannot deliver and adopt a child, will this child be a family member? Children have been raised up by people who are not their blood or birth parents. It, however, happens because of wish or misfortune. Children are raised by single parents, their grandparents, or even guardians.

Many have broken this social unit by opting for shortcuts or not wanting. Some mothers have gone to the extent of throwing away or neglecting their children. A family plays a vital role in uniting a nation or even a region. For instance, if one wrongs the other, he or she has in mind that the person might be a family member thereby doing away with the issue. Economically, the heads of the family that is the father and the mother are responsible for maintaining and providing the family needs. It, however, varies from one society to the other depending on their /socio-economic and political beliefs.

Then the success of an individual begins from a family. If someone fails to handle or accomplish the family wants, he can be counted not successful. Many parents have neglected this societal role and have opted not to care (Mann, 2015 p.124). In this context, it has put the life of their children. In a majority of countries, lawful measures have been put in place to make sure that this is curbed. However, this neglecting might come about due to weak economic status or even irresponsibility.

Scholars go ahead to state that a family is an essential social unit which is responsible for rearing children. When families are held together, they form a clan, village and a community. Family members communicate using one language or which most of its members understand. Each set of the family has its own rules and policies which are set aside by the parents. All these rules govern them. Nevertheless, families strive towards achieving good morals and which are accepted in the society.

In many cases, a family begins from two individuals having an affair. An affair can come out of love, interest, attraction, affection or needs. After that, the relationship results to a bearing of children who are taken care of. With time, the family has the distribution of labor. Every member has a role to play in the family. Precisely, fathers are known to be the heads of the family followed by the mother. In the Christian perspective, a father is the head of the marriage institution and deserves all the respect. It has gradually changed from one time to the other due to civilization. The fertility and ability of a mother to give dictates the size of the family.

Historically, a family is known as the organization of kinship of people with a genetic correlation. Establishment of the concept has come about from the myths from different sets of religions. For instance, the Romans refer a family to every person who recognizes a common father despite the difference in blood or ancestral relation. In the political set up, the leadership was passed from every person in the royal family. A good example is in Nigeria, Egypt, and China.

Ancient families have quite some similarities with the modern families. A family in the old came into existence due to civilization. Different families with common ancestors refer themselves to as relatives. However, the concept of 'family' has evolved as time has moved by. During the early times, a woman has no opportunity to choose the kind of man she could get married to. It has however changed in the 21st century where a lady has a chance to weigh and decide the man she likes. The forcing of marriage came about because of the poor economic status of a family which they needed to upgrade by getting married to a more prosperous man.

In the 19th Century, the man was responsible for guiding the family and gave instructions and orders. The wife was responsible for the proper installation of the children and friendly services to the family. With time, these roles changed after the women's' wages increased overtaking that of men. All these series of events took place in the early 1960s. Women rose up politically and needed some freedom Goodwin's (Freegan, 2015 p.434). They came to realize that they were being oppressed as a result of enlightenment. Not all men could accommodate these policies by women. Nevertheless, it increased the cases of divorce in many families.

From the different definitions of the word family, there is a similarity in the idea that it involves a group of individuals. Gradually, about someone hundred years back, many families lived together or even close to each other. With time this has however changed because of social, economic and political factors. One or some members of the families have gone out to perform their tasks or look for a living. With time it has led to the settlement of new environments. The extended family met their needs communally and worked in harmony. Capitalism has made this disintegration of families to be scarce.

In other African communities hunters and gatherers, made their families as they shifted from one place to the other (Kubitza, 2015 p. 392). They could intermingle with those people they found in the region they pre-occupied. Improvement of infrastructure and technology has become another factor of family evolution. Family members have traveled to far distances because of a better communication network. They have taken less interest in the continuity and their previous togetherness.

After World War II, the elemental composition of the family entirely changed. It came about because men went out to fight and left their women alone behind. As a result, the men learned how to be self-reliant and perform all the roles independently. Contrary, the women on the other side also changed their positions and could fully accomplish the needs of their children. Children being part of the family have even deviated their characters. Parents in the past too much time to mold and shape their sons and daughters. Presently, parents have got less time to give their children the best morals. Significantly, it has outlined the societal behaviors where children cannot tell what is right and wrong.

Children from wealthy families have lacked enough time with their parents where mostly they spend their day alone. Parents also go to the extent of employing people who do house chores (Mann & Wood, 2011 P.124). It has made the children lazy and cannot identify what they are expected to do. Similarly, they have lacked role models who they can copy and live up to.

Media has also been a catalyzer of all these changes. Viewers have lived in standards of what they see on television and movies. For instance, the soap opera movies which become so addictive. As a result of all these radical evolutions of the marriage institution, it has even changed the definition of being a single social unit. Currently, there has also erupted a type of family with the same sexes. Children being part of a family, it is, therefore, difficult to recommend if this is also an example of a family. The traditional structure of family has however lost its meaning in the 21st century. Nevertheless, it has led to the many cases of adoption by parents who cannot give rise to young ones.

Single mothers have gradually risen because failure to agree on some policies by their husbands. It, therefore, has become difficult to convince their children of the importance of having a family. Scholars on the same note argue that children who are single-parented lack the missing partners love. They, however, turn to be rebellious, timid or aggressive. Also, there has been a trend that people of the same class marry each other. For instance, the rich marry the rich and poor marry the poor. It has however led to a more significant family crisis.

References

Geisen, C., & Alley, R. W. (2015). Growing into a family: A kid's guide to living in a blended family. St. Meinrad, Indiana: Abbey Press.

Kubitza, Christin. Foraging, Dumpster Diving, Voluntary Unemployment, a Life Without Money: Freegan Identity Construction Through Symbolic Anti-Consumption. Odense: Syddansk Universitet, 2015.

Mann, T., & Woods, J. E. (2011). Buddenbrooks: The decline of a family. New York: Vintage eBooks