Why is family important and what is it for?

What is family?

A family is a small social group, a unit of society, which is based on marriage and consanguinity, and its members are connected by a common life and responsibility to each other.

Overprotection

Every good parent takes care of his child - this is how nature intended. However, excessive guardianship can cause great harm to the child’s psyche. In a family with this pattern of behavior, the baby may become withdrawn and uncommunicative. He will be afraid of everything that surrounds him. The role of the family in the formation of a child is to introduce him to the world around him, and not to hide the baby from him.

Signs

A close circle has many properties:

The decision to marry and have children is made on a voluntary, relaxed basis.
The common things between spouses are: finances, housing, household, cars, valuables.
Joint offspring.
Following the law and properly observing all rights.
The presence of general morality, psychological component and morality.

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What is a modern family and what is its significance?

Unlike the times of the USSR, modern unions are autonomous and closed to society. Intervention in their affairs occurs only in extreme cases, when this cell becomes destructive. In Soviet times it was more open to the state. Supervisory authorities monitored the development of every officially formalized relationship between citizens. When conflicts and divorces arose, they intervened and tried to influence, took possible steps to resolve quarrels and save the marriage.

Distinctive features: the uniqueness of modern unions

Today, it is impossible to define a family unambiguously due to the different types - Swedish, adopted, open, and so on. The essence of relations between the sexes has long gone beyond the classical formula: one woman, one man and children. In the Russian Federation, same-sex and Swedish marriages are prohibited, but in some foreign countries they are recognized by law, and this phenomenon is considered the norm.

Let us note some features that characterize the unions of our country over the past 25 years:

Increase in the number of legal marriages. Young couples increasingly prefer to formalize their relationship at the registry office, although the institution of civil marriage still remains.
Increasing age of marriage. The average age of newlyweds is 22 years, while 30-40 years ago newlyweds barely reached the age of majority, and 50 years ago our grandparents got married even earlier: at 15-16 years old. The growing up of newlyweds is associated with the need to obtain higher education and the need to improve their everyday life. Modern youth in most cases think about a career and preparing the ground for marriage.
Later birth of children after the formalization of the relationship. According to statistics, the birth of the first child occurs in the 3-5th year of marriage.
The desire to live separately from parents. Since Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, several generations have lived in the same house. After the wedding, the newlyweds did not strive to separate and lived with the parents of the wife or husband, leading a common life and even a budget. Modern couples strive to start living separately as quickly as possible.
Showing interest in traditions. Modern youth are increasingly thinking about their roots, origins and ancestors. It has become popular to compile your own family tree, pedigree. This surge of interest is normal. At a certain period in the life of the country, it was not customary to talk about origin, especially to those whose ancestors were not peasants, but princes, landowners and merchants. You can preserve your traditions and strengthen your family ties by creating a family tree. The House of Genealogy will help with this. The company’s specialists will find information about ancestors and relatives in the archives and prepare a genealogical book, which can become not only a good gift, but also a real heirloom.

The state in the 21st century pays more attention to the development of the family institution, improving its quality, and developing spiritual values. Today, marriage is a sign of a person’s well-being, his support and support. Times change, but the basic principles of building relationships between a man and a woman remain unchanged: love, mutual respect, trust and care.

Formation of a child up to 6 years old

The first and most important group in the life of any person is his family. This is the smallest and most mysterious unit of society. The most important stage in the formation of a child’s personality occurs from 1 year to 6 years. During this period, children try to spend as much time as possible with mom and dad. At this age, babies are very observant. What seems trivial to parents is a huge experience for children, which they are already able to accumulate. A good family is what a baby needs during this period of life. Children, like sponges, absorb the entire atmosphere of the family, and if the family is dysfunctional, then in the future this will greatly affect the child’s character.

Children of any age always pay attention to all the details: how mom behaves, how dad behaves, how they talk to each other and in what tones. That is why the model of the relationship between father and mother is most often reproduced by the child in adulthood. On a subconscious level, the son is looking for a bride who is similar to his mother, and the daughter is looking for a guy who is similar in character to her father.

The role of family in human life and society

The family performs many important functions that ensure its functioning. Let's look at some of them:

The first priority is reproductive. Pursues the implementation of social and individual tasks. The first is responsible for the reproduction of the population, the second is the satisfaction of the natural need for the birth of children.
Educational. This is the socialization and education of children until they reach adulthood. Family traditions and values are passed on to the baby, and moral principles are instilled.
Economic. The family provides satisfaction of primary needs - shelter, food and drink, clothing. Members of a small community manage a joint household, acquire and accumulate material goods and values with the aim of passing them on to the younger generation.
Restorative. A person needs protection, love and care. Failure to satisfy these basic needs leads to problems associated with physical and psychological illnesses, resulting in depression, outbursts of aggression and nervous breakdowns both within the family and outside it. This entails the dissolution of the marriage, the children do not grow up in a full-fledged family. It all depends on the family members: if the common spirit is strong, loved ones respect, love each other, appreciate each other, make concessions, can organize leisure time and everyday life, their family ship will never crash on the reefs of problems.

A favorable emotional environment in a family is very important. Let's talk about it.

Briefly about traditions

Family traditions are the norms, principles of behavior, views, and customs adopted in the family that are passed on from the older generation to the younger. The presence of a paradigm for such phenomena is a sign that relationships within the family union are being built in a healthy and fulfilling manner.

However, this is not the only importance of family customs. This is also part of a large-scale mechanism for transferring the foundations of life, morality, relationships between people to the next generation, transferring the laws of intrafamily interaction, rules, laws, principles of relationships. They are transformed and supplemented by their own intra-family elements.

List of family traditions

Despite the fact that throughout the existence of the family, marriage and family traditions were gradually replaced by unified requirements and changed due to changes in the environment, principles of education, and social structures, many managed to preserve monumental customs and pass them on to their descendants.

Today, young people are returning to traditions and are beginning to take an interest in their roots and the origins of their ancestors. This may be due to the disunity of people, with the spread of “online life”, in which there is no connection to reality and historicity.

Traditions help to bring relatives closer together, making a family a family, and not just a group of people united by blood or marriage.

The role of family in the life of every person

Since ancient times, starting a family has been the most important part of human life. As a rule, it began with the registration of a marriage union. Marriage and family were sanctified by religion, registered by the authorities, and their functioning was subject to state laws, as well as unwritten social rules. Why was so much attention given to this social structure?

Obviously, the reason was the all-round helplessness of man - before the forces of nature, social laws, and authorities. The shortage of basic resources (food, housing, etc.) forced people to unite in certain small groups; raising the younger generation also required joint efforts. With rare exceptions, a person could not live without a family at all. One consideration was joint farming; this was also the reason for the large number of children the spouses had: children were additional workers, and the more of them, the more prosperous the family. By the way, the concept of “child” initially did not exist at all; As soon as the little person acquired the ability to act independently, he was immediately assigned to work.

But times changed, and the importance of family relationships decreased. Currently, a person is quite capable of feeding and equipping himself on his own, alone, so a family is not something irreplaceable. Nowadays, it’s just a person’s choice: for some it’s easier to live in family ties, while for others it’s easier and better to live alone. In this case, a person is not left completely alone, since he can be part of other social groups: work in a large, crowded organization, communicate with friends, he can be a public person (politician, actor, teacher), play in a rock band...

In ancient times, family relationships were the only legal opportunity to realize one's sexual life. The sexual sphere of human life was strictly controlled, and there were sound reasons for this, in addition to the usual religious ignorance. After all, any sexual contact implied the birth of children. This created a lot of problems (for example, intercourse of close relatives led to the appearance of unhealthy and non-viable offspring). In our time, it has become clear to people that it is possible to lead a free sex life without the need to give birth and raise children, so the family union has lost its significance from this point of view.

But this does not mean that the family has become completely unnecessary. Moreover, many considerations have appeared for creating a family union in addition to the function of reproduction. Today, for example, it becomes clear that an indispensable condition for a strong and long marriage is a commonality of interests: spouses love the same music, equally prefer to spend their free time, have similar professions, vote for the same candidates in elections - and so on. Further. Some people start a family for the purpose of traveling together, others – to organize a family business. There are known musical groups consisting partially or entirely of members of the same family.

Financial support

It is no less significant. A person comes into this world completely helpless and defenseless. To feel confident in their future, many are forced to rely not only on themselves, but also on their closest relatives. The material side of life sometimes leaves a serious imprint on everyday reality. When a person has such support, he feels truly protected. He is not afraid of any instability and crises in the country. Financial assistance is never superfluous; it can really give you strength at the right time.

Family functions and their characteristics

Now the question arises: why does humanity need family unions at all?

It’s not for nothing that a family union is called a “unit of society.” This means that it is like a miniature model of a “big” society, and therefore its functionality is varied.

We inherited the most basic functions from our animal ancestors. These are childbearing and educational functions. With childbirth, everything is clear: the family union was originally created to organize reproduction. Education is a more complex function, primitive forms of which are found only in mammals, as well as birds and crocodiles that are evolutionarily close to them. Education involves preparing offspring for adult life: this, in particular, is protection, theoretical and practical training, introduction to work and social interactions.

Another function of the family community is the fulfillment of sexual needs. This view of marriage appeared in ancient civilizations when people were faced with the need to control sexual intercourse.

The next function of the family is household chores. Members of a family community run a common household and jointly satisfy each other’s material needs. Family work becomes more efficient and productive than single work.

Other functions of the family include spiritual (joint spiritual enrichment and leisure activities), recreational (joint restoration of physical and mental strength), social (socialization, social control, familiarization with culture and moral standards), emotional (satisfying the needs for understanding, recognition , protection, etc.).

It is clear that the family community in humans has a much deeper meaning than in animals. Small groups in mammals have evolved along with the species themselves. In various animals, even the rudiments of “higher functions” of the family union, which seem to be characteristic only of humans, are observed. Thus, in birds, the female and the male, after “marriage,” build a joint nest. Many animals have developed joint “economic activities”, including division of labor: the male hunts, and the female protects the cubs.

The emergence of the family as a social unit

The Russian concept of “family” is of Slavic (and, accordingly, Indo-European) origin. It goes back to the meaning of territorial community.

In the Old Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages there was also the word “semiya”, denoting the family as a whole (this term included all members of the clan who live together), as well as servants, serfs, and household members.

The concept of “seven (seven) people like me” has long been found in Rus'

When exactly the first family union appeared is unknown. We can say for sure that at the dawn of evolution, man preferred to lead a solitary lifestyle. But when people realized that it was easier to survive in a group, the first cells began to appear - prototypes of the family.

Ancient women switched their attention from alpha males to male breadwinners, who, in addition to offspring, could also provide a safe life.

Before the Great Patriotic War, Russia was predominantly populated by patriarchal family unions. A man was recognized as the head of them, and all other members of the cell were subordinate to him.

After the war, the dominant role was taken by the child-centered family, for which children were the main value (hence the desire to preserve the marriage for the well-being of the children).

I.S. Cohn writes in his writings that Russian mothers and wives in pre-revolutionary Russia were strong personalities. In classical literature there are statements about a Russian woman: “She will stop a galloping horse and enter a burning hut.”

Relatively recently, a marital union arose in Russian society, in which equal relations are dominant. The stability of a marriage directly depends on the quality of the relationship between spouses, and the quality of these relationships depends on the desire and desire of the partners to work on them.

Connection with the word sprout - seed

Male needs

Now I will try to explain, does a man need a family? Of course, this is a circle that includes your closest and dearest people, an area where you can relax and replenish lost energy. What does a married man get from this:

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He receives a devoted adviser who organizes his vacation, takes care of him, and gives advice.
The ability to create a large family and raise children with good upbringing and character.
A man becomes a leader, takes responsibility for all concerns about his family, and protects his interests.
Creating a family budget.

Stages of the family life cycle

Like any other process that occurs over time, the family goes through certain stages, accompanied by changes and crises.

Young family

Covers the period between marriage and the birth of the first child.
At this stage, feelings between partners are usually the strongest, but the divorce rate is also highest. Spouses go through a difficult period of “grinding in”, discovering in everyday life with each other all the angles of their character and the character of their partner. Another problem is the forced interference of relatives in the life of a young family, because... often she does not have her own separate living space.

Adapting to living together is a great stress on the psyche.

Family with minor children

Includes a minimum of 18 years - the interval between the birth of the first child and the age of majority of the last child.
It may be longer if there are several children and they are of different ages. Emotional stress at this stage reaches its peak, because the spouses not only have to perform an educational function, guiding the child through all age stages, but also financially provide for the new family member.

The end of this period is marked by the “empty nest crisis,” when spouses again find themselves alone with each other after many years. For many couples, this becomes the reason for divorce, because... growing children were the only thing that husband and wife had in common.

Due to the age characteristics of the couple, this time also often coincides with a midlife crisis or a crisis of achievement. A person realizes that he has crossed the equator of life and, looking at his own successes and status, remains dissatisfied with the results.

Final stage

A new period of adaptation of the spouses to each other begins, as well as adaptation to the new, adult status of the children.
The stage is accompanied by age-related changes in the bodies of the husband and wife, deterioration of health, and weakening of physical strength. [media=
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]

Value guidelines

Friendly and strong relationships are a small brick for building a strong and reliable foundation for a family community. Values are traditions, foundations, moral and moral principles by which a person lives and never violates them, only in rare cases. I will list the main ones for you:

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Sincerity. Loyalty and honesty are a stable basis for relationships, without which it is impossible to build a strong and healthy union. To maintain such stability, it is necessary to accept criticism without hysterics and think sensibly. If you calmly respond to the truth and try to cope with your shortcomings, your loved one will always be sincere with you.
Compliance. Showing loyalty is a great way to avoid pointless arguments.
Cohesion. Each family member needs to have his own personal space and have his own area of activity. But he must know that he has a family that he must not forget about, and periodically return to it, leaving behind problems at work. Uniting with loved ones is not difficult - just spend time together.
Mercy. Learn to forgive people and not be offended by little things. Let go of all adversity and misunderstandings, life is short, don’t waste it. Touchiness takes away time, energy, good mood and strength.
Generosity. It is important that spouses raise their child, attaching special importance to good nature. You should not instill in your child a sense of mutual benefit. Well-mannered individuals have the following qualities: tact, sincerity, empathy, humanity, kindness.
Traditional customs. They are different for every family. Some gather every year to celebrate a relative's birthday. Others host movie nights on Thursdays. It is necessary to teach children from childhood to honor their ancestors and follow traditions. Draw a tree of life together - this will help your child get to know his loved ones better.
Curiosity. Give your child the opportunity to study and understand the world, answer the endless questions of your why.
Sociality. It is necessary to talk about everything and always with your husband, child, close relative. Communication is the path to trust, which in turn maintains healthy relationships.
Responsibility. It develops with age, but it is necessary to educate children from infancy. First, make them clean up the toys scattered throughout the room, then entrust them with caring for the pets. Possessing this quality, it will be easy for the baby to follow the path of life.

Depending on value guidelines, a good climate, and moral principles, a healthy family image is formed.

Family types

The main criterion for classification is family composition, i.e.
number of people who are family members. For example, depending on the number of parents

highlight:

single-parent families (only father or only mother and child).
complete families (family members include both parents and one or more children).

According to the number of generations included in the family
, there are:

nuclear families (consist of one or two generations - spouses and their minor children).
extended families (also includes parents of spouses).

Depending on the number of children
, the following classification is carried out:

childless family (dyad of spouses without children)
small family (from one to two children)
medium-sized family (three or four children)
large family (five children or more)

But, as a rule, families with three or more children are considered large.
Despite the advantage of wealth and diversity of internal connections, which contribute to faster and more effective socialization of the younger generation, large families are exposed to many risks. First of all, economic. Thus, families with many children often become poor as a result of household expenses.

A low-income family is one whose average income per person is less than the subsistence minimum. The total family income is taken into account, which includes:

salary;
income from individual entrepreneurial activity;
scholarships;
pensions;
benefits;
income from rental property, etc.

Low-income status is assigned only when a family, for objective reasons, has a low income level. The financial issue also arises acutely in young families, which, due to, as a rule, the inexperience of members, are not always able to ensure their survival, as well as rationally control expenses.

Let's talk about family values

A strong and friendly family is a small brick of a reliable foundation of a large healthy society, therefore the role of the modern family in the life of each person individually and society as a whole is very great.

Values are the walls of a small cell of society, these are the rules and moral principles, foundations, traditions by which it lives, which it tries not to violate. Judging by them, one can determine what importance family has in a person’s life.

Let's consider the main ones:

Truthfulness. Honesty in relationships is the basis of everything. Without it, it will not be possible to create a strong and reliable rear. It is necessary to honor any manifestation of it, to take criticism sensibly, because next time you will not hear the truth addressed to you.
Flexibility. It is very important to show loyalty to avoid unnecessary quarrels and infighting.
Cohesion. Family members need to have personal space and freedom for various activities. But everyone should clearly know that they have a strong family to which they can always return.

To be one, you need to spend leisure time together and meet with relatives.

Forgiveness. You need to be able to forgive and not be offended over trifles. Life is too short to waste it on unnecessary quarrels that waste energy, time and effort.
Generosity. From childhood we need to teach children to give without demanding anything in return. This is the foundation of such valuable qualities as empathy, sensitivity, tact, compassion, humanity, and so on.

After all, if this is not given to the baby at the beginning of his life’s journey, he will not fill the emptiness of his soul later.

Traditions. Let's talk about what family traditions are. Each one is different. Some visit the graves of their grandfathers every year, gathering with relatives from all over the world. Others traditionally celebrate their son’s birthday outdoors with tents. Still others organize a home theater with popcorn every Friday.

It is important to instill an interest in ancestors from childhood, teach them to honor and remember them. You can create a tree of life together - you need to know your ancestors, your roots.

Curiosity. It is necessary to notice and satisfy the baby’s curiosity in time, to help him explore the world.
Communication. A very important value in every family. You should always talk about everything. Communication builds trust on which everything rests.
Responsibility. It appears with age, but it is necessary to instill it in a child from childhood. Starting from cleaning up toys, keeping the room tidy, caring for a pet and so on.

It will be easy for a child to go through life, possessing this invaluable quality.

Depending on existing family values, a favorable climate, established moral principles and foundations, an image of a family is formed that will become the face of a cohesive social group.

A strong rear will ensure the healthy emotional and physical development of each family member: wife, child, spouse.

check yourself

Let's check how well you have learned the material about the basic functions of the family and its other characteristics. In this block we have collected 5 tasks that will help you find out.

Exercise 1

Let's consider a fictitious situation.

Mikhail and Oksana are not married, but they have been living together for 10 years and are strictly raising their common child, 5-year-old Sasha. Antonina Vasilyevna, Oksana’s mother, lives in the same apartment with them. Oksana herself is raising her son, takes care of the house, and works part-time as a nail technician in the evening. Mikhail works as a taxi driver and does not help Oksana with household chores, because, in his opinion, this is not a man’s business. He earns less than his common-law spouse, but still makes all decisions and considers himself the head of the family.

Think and classify this family as one of the types according to the categories that we studied in the article. Suggest: what psychological climate can reign in this union? Give reasons for your opinion.

Task 2

Below we have listed 5 statements about the main functions of the family in the life of society and its other characteristics. Divide them into true and false.

This or that psychological climate is the result of relationships between family members.
Based on the number of children, families are divided into 2 groups.
Parents are required to support their child financially until the age of 16, until he finds a job.
At birth, a child takes on the social status of his parents.
All families go through the same life cycle.

Task 3

Re-read the section on the functions and features of modern families. Think about which of them you consider positive and which negative? Give reasons for your answer.

Task 4

Think about why today the extended family model, which was ubiquitous in society before, is outdated? Tell us about your opinion on this trend.

Task 5

Tell us about your attitude to the concept of “family duty.” How does your family treat him?

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Practical tips:

Family always comes first. It is necessary to spend time together as often as possible. These are family holidays, dinners, breakfasts, because children see and adopt the tenderness of feelings that close and dear ones show to each other.
Don't neglect respect. You need to start with yourself. If you do not respect your family, strangers, or your children, in the end they will treat everyone the same way, and this is scary.
Create family traditions together.
Involve your children in homework and be sure to praise them for it.
Show your love for them. Hug, kiss, say kind words more often.
Demonstrate to your sons the ideal of a family man so that he can take advantage of this model of behavior and create his own strong and reliable family in the future.

Children should be raised in healthy families, then they will be emotionally stable and stronger, more balanced, and more self-confident.

Having such baggage behind them, they will never become socially dangerous people and will benefit society, respect themselves, family, the society in which they live, and existing laws, rules and foundations.

Lack of guardianship

This model of behavior, like the previous one, is far from ideal. Parents release their child into the cruel world too early. Instead of teaching the baby to cope with the difficulties of life, they give him the chance to do it himself. Of course, a person who grows up in such an atmosphere will become quite independent, but at the same time he will be very lonely. All that a family gives a person in such an environment is only freedom. This is very little for the formation of a full-fledged personality.

The compromise model of behavior is considered one of the most correct. In such a family, the baby feels that he is loved. He is happy to explore the world, and the composition of his family only pushes him a little in the right direction. A happy childhood and a loving family are the key to a wonderful future for any person.