Essay Sample on Family: A Social Institution with Transforming Dynamics

Introduction

A family is a group of persons who are directed connected to some kin thereby being related. In this social institution, the adults take care of the children. Family plays a very significant role in people's role around the world. The family system has transformed in recent years, whereby the families are becoming smaller. A contemporary family has an average of four persons.

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Additionally, the number of children born out of wedlock is increasing, and the interracial marriages are in the rise. The number of unmarried couples is increasing, and there is a rise in one parent households. Cohabitation has become a common trend whereby people live together without the benefit of cultural, religious or legal sanction. Same-sex marriages are increasing, and some people are embracing voluntary childlessness. Family is, regardless of how many members are constituted.

Importance of Family

Traditionally a family constituted of a man, woman who are married and with children (Cheal, 2008). This has however changed, and a family may comprise of two individuals of any gender. The couple may be married or not, and the parents of adopted may bear the children. One of the importance of family is a sense of belonging and identity. These needs belong to the love and belonging class in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The family also provide happiness and satisfaction because when one is in a problem, they have somebody they can count on. Families also share good times, so a healthy family is a source of joy

Theories Related to Families

Different theories are used to explain families and kinship and relationships that arise from the family social institution. One of these theories is the social exchange theory, which was derived from Utilitarian economics. In the concept of social relationships, it means that individuals enter and remains in the relationship as long as it is satisfactory, so there are rewards and costs (Smith, Hamon, Ingoldsby, & Miller, 2012). One of the assumptions presented in this theory is that human beings tend seeking rewards and to avoid punishments. This explains why a couple will prefer a divorce if marriage is no longer satisfactory or they do not get what they were aiming for when they settled in the relationship. The second assumption presented in this theory is that in the course of interacting human beings aim at maximizing benefits and

The second theory in families and kinship is structural functionality theory. In this theory, structure refers to the social institution that builds the society (Smith, Hamon, Ingoldsby, & Miller, 2012). For the society to function properly, institutions such as family have to be functioning effectively. The function, on the other hand, is the role that the institutions play in impacting society. Family is part of the society, and traditionally the purpose was procreation to allow the continuation of the kinship and socialization. In the context of marriage, traditionally, the husband is viewed as the, and the function of a female is to take care of the husband and the children. This has, however, changed in the modern age because women work. In this theory, however, working women are criticized as they do not give the children quality care. The rising cost of living is one of the reasons why women have to work because it is becoming difficult for a man alone to sustain the family. This theory is applicable in a marriage where each is expected to carry out their roles or for the good of the entire family and subsequently the society.

Types of Marriages

Marriage is a contract between two individuals that unites their lives legally, emotionally and economically (Mondal, n.d.). Marriage is an institution established and nourished by the society. The two partners decide to live together forever or until they decide to divorce. Marriages can either be civil, traditional or religious. One form of marriage is monogamy, whereby a man is married to a single woman at a time. This is the most common form of marriage as it is predominant even in societies where other forms of marriage exist. The second form of marriage is polygamy, which is a form of marriage that allows an individual to marry more than one spouse at the same time. This was commonly practised a couple of decades ago, but the trend is now changing to monogamy. There are three forms of polygamy, namely polygyny, polyandry and group marriage. Polygyny is a type of marriage where a man has more than one wife at the same time, while polyandry is a form of marriage where a woman can have several husbands at the same time.

Why People Get Married

People get married for reasons the primary being companionship (Cheal, 2008). People marry so that they can get partners who they can be with both in good times as well as bad times. There are those who marry for recreation purposes and others marry for better parenting. Married couples find parenting easy as compared to those who raise children as single parents. Some people marry for financial reasons as well as live in stable homes.

Changing Patterns of Family Life

Postmodern families are characterized by a decline in paternal authority, lack of distinct roles between the family members and instability in marriages evidenced by the increase in divorce (Cheal, 2008). Even in royal kinship, there have been cases of divorce. Families are also reconstituted whereby when a person is a divorce, he or she marries, and his/her children are constituted in the new union. In the British royal family, for example, Charles, who was the Prince of Wales, divorced Diana Spencer and remarried Camilla Parke Bowles. Camilla Parke Bowles has two children named Thomas and Rose who are step-children to Charles.

In the modern age, both men and women are considering to pursue careers and remain single (Marsh, & Keating, 2006). People are considering to either marry and not have children or have children but not marry. Nowadays, marriage is not a requirement of getting a child. Families are changing to dual-earner- dual care, where both men and women are engaged in economic activities. The women, however, retain their responsibility for child care and other home chores. Cases of involuntary childless are increasing, thereby triggering the invention of procedures.

Challenges Affecting Families

Marriages face many challenges where the members of the family face challenges that threaten the continued existence of the family. The challenges include a lack of trust between the partners (Eyring, 2017). Trust is the key pillar in families because the stakeholders are sure that their partners mean well for them; therefore, they trust them in whatever they do. Partners who trust with each other will not likely live together for long because the partners believe that their partners don't mean well for them. It's also a risk to live with people who they do not trust.

The other challenge affecting marriages is financial problems where the families lack finances to pay for the bills. Finances are required to pay bills and other expenses that are required to sustain the lives of the people (Eyring, 2017). When families lack finances, there is increased disputes because each family member will think that it's the responsibility of the other member to provide. Many marriages break because the partners are forced to go separate ways to find out how they can sustain their lives. Infidelity also affects marriages where one partner cheats the other because of the lack of sexual satisfaction.

Solving the Challenges Affecting Families

Solving family challenges is an effort that all the kinship members need to embrace a positive attitude towards the embrace engaging in ways that strengthen the families and kinship (Barish, 2012). The kinship enables all the related people to live as one community and one people. Kinship also important is solving challenges and conflicts affecting families they provide a neutral view to the conflicting parties. If the challenges remain persistent, then the families face the risk of breaking up.

Family members and the entire kinship can choose to counsel from professional with problem-solving skills. Some causes of conflicts in families can be solved, and therefore, the counsellor will help them to identify the problem and find the solution (Barish, 2012). When the problem is irreconcilable, then the conflicting parties can proceed to court for divorce and the separation of the family members. Some members of the family might not be willing to resolve the conflict; hence, the court can give a guideline on how the conflict can be settled.

Stakeholders in Marriage

Conflicts influence different stakeholders in marriages; the stakeholders affected include the children and the rest of the kinship family members (Nickalls, 2018). The children are the most affected when there is a conflict between the children. The children depend on their parents to be provided with the needs that they require. The partners are also major stakeholders because they are the ones who come together to form families. The partners are the ones who determine whether the marriage will continue to exist or not. The rest of the stakeholders include the kinship extended family members.

Divorce

Conflicts in marriages lead to divorce, which is the separation of the partners that had formed the families. Divorce occurs when conflicting parties can no longer settle their differences (Winch, 2019). Partners usually have high expectations from their partners, and when the partners fail to meet the expectation, they end up divorcing them because they are not what they look for. Many people have unrealistic expectations that are difficult to satisfy. There are also those who change once they enter into marriages; therefore, their partners lose the taste of what they used to like about them.

Some marriages are formed in the form of contracts; hence, when the contract ends the marriages is definite end through a divorce. When people get separated geographically, then there is a high likelihood of divorce because love will diminish (Winch, 2019). The partners cannot supplement each other in solving their needs, such as sexual need. The partners will search for other people to satisfy such needs. The economic challenges force the partners to work in different geographical locations where they can find jobs. The partners cannot live together because of the geographical challenge.

Effects of Divorce

Divorce has negative impacts on all the stakeholders, including the children and the entire kinship members. The children are affected the most because they depend on the relationship between the parents to be provided with all the needs that they need while growing up (Jackson, n.d.). The children need the support of both parents; hence, when divorce occurs, the children get emotional torture. Both parents provide emotional support to the kids because they teach them the ways of life and the things that they need to do in life.

The partners and the extended kinship family get influenced because family members usually depend on each other for support; therefore, after the divorce, they can no longer get support (Jackson, n.d.). Some people rely on others on financial support; therefore, when divorce occurs, they cannot continue to get the support. The other kinship members are affected indirectly from divorce. The society is also affected by divorce because society is the basic unit of society; there can be no society without the families. The partners who divorce are affected the most because they lose their partners that they had lived together for some time.

In conclusion, life has to continue after divorce; hence, the ex-partners need to find a way on how they can support the kids if they had children before the divorce. It's the responsibility of the...