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Historical stages of family development. Sociology of marriage and family Hunger family and marriage historical sociological analysis

EE "BELARUSIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY" NAMED AFTER M. TANK

ABSTRACT

in the course “Psychology of Higher Education”

on topic no.

Golod S.I. "Family and marriage: historical and social analysis"

Master's students of the 1st group

Danube Yulia Andreevna

Scientific adviser:

Doctor of Psychology sciences, prof.

L.A. Kandybovich

Minsk, 2008

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical types of marriage

Chapter 2. Monogamous family: crisis or evolution?

2.1. Patriarchal family type

2.2. Child-centric family type

2.3. Married family type

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, attention to the problems of marriage and family has increased significantly. Family- the main institution of society. In turn, the institution of family includes many more private institutions, namely the institution of marriage, the institution of kinship, the institution of motherhood and paternity, the institution of property, the institution of social protection of childhood and guardianship, and others.

Marriage- an institution that regulates relations between the sexes. In society, sexual relations are regulated by a set of cultural norms. Of course, sexual relations can occur outside of marriage, and marriage itself can exist without them. However, it is marriage in human society that is considered the only acceptable, socially approved and legally enshrined form of not only permitted, but obligatory sexual relations between spouses.

Getting married, having and raising children, creating a strong family is by no means such a simple matter. Only those who enter into marriage with an awareness of their enormous responsibility can successfully solve this task of great social significance.

Increased public attention to family and marriage is associated with modern demographic development. When talking about the demographic development of society, we do not mean just simple population growth. It is important that it is accompanied by positive qualitative changes, that the general cultural level of the population increases, which in turn favors a high level of child rearing. Among the reasons for increased attention to family problems is the desire of society to eradicate such negative social phenomena as crime, drug addiction, suicide. Since the family plays a role in the development of certain personality traits.

In the course of cultural and historical development, not only the form of family and marital relations changed, but also the very content of these relations, in particular, between husband and wife. With the advent of monogamy, this change was largely of a qualitative nature. Consideration of the reasons for the emergence of certain forms of marriage is of interest for cultural and historical analysis, consideration of the causes of the family crisis at the present time.

CHAPTER 1. HISTORICAL TYPES OF MARRIAGE

In the history of mankind, four systems of marriage relations sometimes existed simultaneously, but in different places:

- group marriage– a marriage union of several men and women (it was widespread in primitive society);

- polygyny– one man and several women (this type is especially characteristic of nomadic pastoralists);

- polyandry– one woman and several men (an extremely rare case that existed among one of the peoples of Indochina);

- monogamy– one man and one woman (the predominant form of marriage among agricultural peoples).

Monogamy occurs in two forms: lifelong And allowing divorce, or easily bred. Single-parent families (one parent with children) were extremely rare.

According to marriage customs they are divided into endogamous And exogamous. With endogamy, a person is chosen only from the group to which the person entering into marriage belongs. Exogamy involves choosing a mate from an out-group.

One of the criteria for family typology is inequality of spouses. An unequal marriage implies that the spouses differ on some significant basis: social status, age, income. So-called status marriage suggests the advantages of choosing marriage partners for those occupying the highest steps in the social hierarchy. This is where the concept of “unequal marriage” comes from. In caste, class and partly class societies, unequal marriages were prohibited in cases where they threatened the stability of the social hierarchy. Essentially, this is a return to the principle of endogamous marriage, which allows entering into unions only within one’s own group - clan, tribe, class, caste.

Another classification criterion is the marriage fee. The institution of purchased marriage arose at the dawn of history simultaneously and within group marriage, when a woman was involved in the exchange process as a commodity. The two groups exchanged “gifts” that the woman could serve. The woman’s relatives “gifted” the man’s future spouse to the man’s relatives in exchange for equal services and assistance, which the latter obliged the former. The early form of purchased marriage can be called gift exchange.

The practice of purchased marriage led to the revival of such customs as the abduction of brides, often purely symbolic, on a white horse, with whooping and whistling. In South America, a kidnapped bride was even wrapped in a carpet or bag, emphasizing her supposed refusal to marry. When kidnapping a bride, different nations practiced different customs. For example, among the ancient Gauls, this was done by women - relatives of the groom. The Bataks from Sumatra always left a sign - clothes or weapons - in the house of the stolen woman, otherwise the marriage was considered illegal. Legalization of marriage after abduction usually came down to the payment of a ransom and a purely symbolic battle for the honor of the kidnapped bride and her parents.

A special type of paid marriage is considered holy matrimony. In his book “The Golden Bough,” James Frazer provides a lot of evidence that the custom of marrying maidens to patron gods was widespread among many ancient peoples. Thus, the Indians of Peru gave a 14-year-old girl in marriage to a stone that was shaped like a person and was revered as a god. The entire tribe took part in the marriage ceremony, which lasted three days. The girl had to preserve her virginity and make sacrifices to the god-husband on behalf of her fellow tribesmen, who showed her the greatest respect. The Kikuyu tribe of Kenya worshiped the river snake, so every few years a young girl was married off to the snake god.

Sacred marriage was so widespread that its plot was included in folk tales of almost all peoples of the Earth. These are various tales about how a certain city or settlement was in the power of a many-headed serpent or dragon, and its inhabitants were forced to give him young girls as wives until a hero appeared and freed the girl and the city. In the Maldives, every month, residents cast lots to decide who would give their daughter to the sea genie this time. The purpose of a sacred marriage is to pay off the gods (good and evil), bring about fertility in the vines, bring rain to the earth, get help in a hunt, or save the tribe from some kind of misfortune.

In contrast to the ancient forms of purchased marriage, carried out in the form of an equivalent gift exchange, its later forms, especially in the era of patriarchy, manifested themselves in the form unequal gift exchange. The dominant sex, that is, the man, presented the bride with more expensive gifts than he received from her, according to his privileged position, the amount of wealth and political power. Inequality, in fact, is what makes a purchased marriage in the precise sense of a purchased marriage. Marriage turns into an object of purchase and sale. The establishment of private property turned marriage into a commercial transaction. The size of the husband's rights to own his wife is made directly proportional to the amount of the ransom paid for her. Among the Nubian Arabs, the number of days in a week during which a wife remained faithful to her husband depended on the number of heads of cattle paid for her.

Since then, we can talk about a new form of purchased marriage - buyout marriage. The wedding ceremony has become much more complicated, it has become formalized. A verbal agreement between young people or their parents was no longer enough. IN formalized marriage Witnesses were required, and the wedding ceremony took place in public.

Purchasing marriage has ceased to be a matter only of those getting married, turning into part of tribal events. In the Muslim East, a new form of purchased marriage arose - kalym marriage. Kalym is a bride price, initially paid to the clan, and later to the parents as compensation for the loss of a worker.

According to tradition, the bride price is considered a sign of respect for the bride and her relatives. But it is also perceived as an integral part of the market economy and thus forms a new phenomenon - the marriage market. One of the predecessors of the marriage market should be considered a custom that existed in ancient Babylon, called in modern language a marriage auction. Unlike the dowry, here there was a redistribution of money received for beauties in favor of girls deprived of attractiveness. In this way they all turned out to be married.

Marriage of convenience originated at the dawn of mankind, when people entered into marriages to secure alliances between tribes or for other beneficial purposes. Subsequently, the rulers of ancient countries gave their daughters and relatives as wives to the rulers of other countries in order to receive political or diplomatic benefits, strengthen the interstate union, increase their status, etc. Over time, the motives for marriage changed, but its essence remained the same. It lacked an emotional component, a feeling of mutual love. An arranged marriage is the opposite of a love marriage.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, the high marriage rate among the bulk of the population, the peasantry, was largely explained in economic terms. The peasant boy was not taken seriously in the village before he got married; he had no voice in the family, at the peasant gathering; he was not allowed to leave the village even for a short time. Only after the wedding did he become a full member of the family and the “world” - the rural community, the holder of the rights and responsibilities of a full member of peasant society. The situation of unmarried peasant girls was similar. Thus, the impossibility of a farmer’s single life is explained by material necessity.

Economic, moral and ethical necessity forced peasants to marry at the first opportunity, making celibacy almost impossible. This is what led many researchers of peasant life to conclude that such a marriage is an economic transaction, and not a mutual inclination.

Another reason for arranged marriage is the desire to avoid military service.

CHAPTER 2. MONOGAMIC FAMILY: CRISIS OR EVOLUTION?

The panicky conversations of domestic demographers and sociologists about the family crisis cannot but cause surprise. What fuels such pessimism? As a rule, over the last century, the same factors have been cited: the number of single men and women is increasing, the number of divorces is growing, the birth rate is decreasing, there are more “single-parent” families, extramarital affairs are intensifying, etc.

Rising number of divorces, according to S.I. Golod, is not least predetermined by the transition from “matchmaking” as a method of marriage to individual selectivity, or, more broadly, to a fundamentally different type of family relationships. The freedom to choose a partner implicitly implies the freedom to dissolve the marriage if it does not go well.

The fact of a decline in childbearing, therefore, is certain. How can this be explained? The vast majority of researchers associate the fall in the birth rate with a sharp deterioration in the socio-economic situation in the country. And there is some truth in this.

However, the processes listed above, according to S.I. Golod, are predominantly determined by the historical type of family.

Back in the early 80s, he put forward a hypothesis about the existence of three ideal historical types of monogamy (see: Golod S.I. Family stability: sociological and demographic aspects. L., 1984). In the 90s A few demographers and sociologists began to develop the concept of the diversity of family types. Golod S.I. writes: “The main thing is the recognition of the plurality of ideal types of family and the actual diversity of their forms.”

Family analysis, like any system, has two vectors: one is aimed at revealing internal the mechanism of its functioning and interaction of elements; the other - into the world surrounding the family, interaction with which constitutes it external functioning.

Family and marriage: historical-social analysis: textbook / S.I. Hunger: Open Society Institute...
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The objectives of psychoprophylaxis. References Golod S.I. Family And marriage: historical-social analysis. St. Petersburg, TOOTC "Petropolis", ... "psychological workshop") Zatsepin V.I. and etc. Family. Socially– psychological and ethical problems: a reference book. Kyiv...
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Hunger in your work " Family And marriage: historical-sociological analysis", the most archaic type families specifically patriarchal. Presenters... S.I. Family And marriage: historical-sociological analysis. – St. Petersburg: TK Peropolis LLP, 1998. 11. Goreva L.V. Socially-cultural...

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EE "BELARUSIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY" NAMED AFTER M. TANK

ABSTRACT

in the course “Psychology of Higher Education”

on topic no.

Golod S.I. "Family and marriage: historical and social analysis"

Master's students of the 1st group

Danube Yulia Andreevna

Scientific adviser:

Doctor of Psychology sciences, prof.

L.A. Kandybovich

Minsk, 2008

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical types of marriage

Chapter 2. Monogamous family: crisis or evolution?

2.1. Patriarchal family type

2.2. Child-centric family type

2.3. Married family type

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. HISTORICAL TYPES OF MARRIAGE

In the history of mankind, four systems of marriage relations sometimes existed simultaneously, but in different places:

- group marriage– a marriage union of several men and women (it was widespread in primitive society);

- polygyny– one man and several women (this type is especially characteristic of nomadic pastoralists);

- polyandry– one woman and several men (an extremely rare case that existed among one of the peoples of Indochina);

-monogamy– one man and one woman (the predominant form of marriage among agricultural peoples).

Monogamy comes in two forms: lifelong And allowing divorce, or easily bred. Single-parent families (one parent with children) were extremely rare.

According to the custom of marriage, they are divided into endogamous And exogamous. With endogamy, a person is chosen only from the group to which the person entering into marriage belongs. Exogamy involves choosing a mate from an out-group.

One of the criteria for family typology is the inequality of spouses. An unequal marriage implies that the spouses differ on some significant basis: social status, age, income. So-called status marriage suggests the advantages of choosing marriage partners for those occupying the highest steps in the social hierarchy. This is where the concept of “unequal marriage” comes from. In caste, class and partly class societies, unequal marriages were prohibited in cases where they threatened the stability of the social hierarchy. Essentially, this is a return to the principle of endogamous marriage, which allows entering into unions only within one’s own group - clan, tribe, class, caste.

Another reason for arranged marriage is the desire to avoid military service.

CHAPTER 2. MONOGAMIC FAMILY: CRISIS OR EVOLUTION?

However, the processes listed above, according to S.I. Golod, are predominantly determined by the historical type of family.

Back in the early 80s, he put forward a hypothesis about the existence of three ideal historical types of monogamy (see: Golod S.I. Family stability: sociological and demographic aspects. Leningrad, 1984). In the 90s A few demographers and sociologists began to develop the concept of diversity of family types. Golod S.I. writes: “The main thing is the recognition of the plurality of ideal types of family and the actual diversity of their forms.”

Analysis of the family, like any system, has two vectors: one is aimed at revealing the internal mechanism of its functioning and the interaction of elements; the other - into the world surrounding the family, interaction with which constitutes its external functioning.

Shifting the research focus to one’s own patterns posed the task of an unconventional definition of the concept of “family.”

Family is a collection of individuals who are in at least one of three types of relationships: consanguinity (brother - brother, brother - sister, etc.), generation (parents - children), properties (husband - wife). The nature of these relationships (roughly speaking, authoritarian-egalitarian) can, according to S.I. Golod, serve as a criterion determining the stage of development of monogamy. Following this logic, one can construct three ideal historical family types: patriarchal(or traditional) child-centric(or modern) and married(or post-modern).

However, history also knows era of matriarchy, when in ancient society the dominant position was occupied by a woman, and there were special reasons for this. When a strict taboo was imposed on incest, a clan was formed as a new form of family, which was based on the principle of maternal kinship. Due to the fact that husbands and wives were common, it was virtually impossible to trace the paternal line, and therefore only the mother and her children, who remained with her and constituted her maternal clan, could be recognized as truly blood relatives.

During the period of matriarchy, inheritance always went through the female line, and in marriage agreements the groom's property was often transferred to the possession of the bride. Many pharaohs married their sisters and even daughters in this regard, as this helped preserve the throne, dynasty and inheritance.

So Cleopatra (69 - 30 BC) was first the wife of her older brother, then after his death, the wife of her younger brother. Each marriage gave them the right to own Egypt.

Let us quote the words of F. Engels: “The overthrow of maternal right was a world-historical defeat for the female sex. The husband seized the reins of power in the house, and the wife was deprived of her honorable position, enslaved, turned into a slave of his desires, into a simple instrument of childbearing.”

With the advent of private property, a woman becomes a powerless domestic servant with numerous household responsibilities; she cannot even dispose of personal property without the permission of her husband, and in the event of his death, power in the house passed to his son.

According to historians, a woman could share a bed with her husband, but not a meal. In Ancient Greece, a beautiful woman was worth several head of cattle.

2.1. PATRIARCHAL TYPE OF FAMILY

The most archaic type of family is patriarchal. It relies on the dependence of the wife on her husband and the children on their parents. This type arose as a result of the overthrow of maternal law. One illustration of the transition from maternal to paternal kinship account can be the custom of “couvade” (from the French cuvade - hatching eggs), discovered among the primitive tribes of Africa. After delivery of the pregnancy, the woman immediately begins her daily activities, while the man is put to bed. It simulates contractions and postpartum weakness and is carefully looked after. The father thus demonstrates his decisive role in the reproduction of his offspring.

The dominance of the husband, in particular, is manifested in the fact that economic resources and major decisions are concentrated in his hands. In accordance with this, there was a rigid consolidation of intrafamily roles.

It would be a great simplification to believe that the elimination of the economic and moral priorities of the head of the family and accompanying customs occurs with ease. The traces of the classical form of the traditional family appear most clearly in the Central Asian region. Ancient customs are found among the indigenous population. For example, the ritual of publicly displaying a sheet after the first wedding night is still in use (mostly, however, in rural areas).

In Russia, patriarchal principles, although not in such an overt form, are also tenacious. Let me remind you of two patrilineal traditions: the daughter-in-law changes her family surname to her husband’s surname; When naming a newborn, the family name registry is used.

Another central axis of the family: the parent-child relationship. For many years, the traditional family was dominated by absolute parental power and an authoritarian system of education.

There are, no doubt, fewer rituals left in procreative relationships than in marital relationships. And, nevertheless, one of the customs is quite stable - “matchmaking”. Among peoples who profess Islam, in most cases, marriage contracts are still concluded between parents; young people become actors only after this. According to Muslim norms, the will of parents is law for children, even if it is directed against their interests. One can only be surprised at the naivety of local demographers and ethnographers who, hiding behind the dubious ideal of family stability, tend to defend all patriarchal prescriptions without exception. Here is a typical passage: “... directing the spearhead of ideological and educational work against the purchase and sale of a bride (kalym), one cannot ignore the connection of this custom with elements of the tradition of respectfully subordinate attitude of children towards elders and especially towards their parents, with the principles of a peculiar strengthening of family and marital relations relations and the institution of family as a whole.”

So, the meaning of patriarchal monogamy can be simplified to two principles: strict gender and age subordination and lack of individual selectivity at all stages of the family cycle. These principles have been revised in different national regions with varying degrees of intensity in the current century. And when today are stressed crisis phenomena, then, we must understand, we are talking primarily about the traditional type of family. In fact, the emancipation of women and all the accompanying socio-economic changes undermined (but did not eliminate) the foundations of authoritarianism, and as a result - an increase in the number of divorces, a decrease in the birth rate, a revaluation of the concept of “virginity”, etc. Many researchers saw in these trends a threat to the family in general and they began to actively call for the restoration of patriarchy. Make no mistake about this: attempts to revive it as a mass form are doomed to failure.

2.2 CHILDREN-CENTRIC FAMILY TYPE

From the second half XIX century in Europe is formedchild-centricfamily type. It is characterized by an elevation of the role of private life, the sensual side of marriage and intimacy. More or less equal relations between husband and wife led to the emergence of a stable dependence of expressive satisfaction on marriage, on the one hand, and on the other, to the realization that sexuality practiced within the confines of marriage is not reducible to childbearing. All this leads spouses to think about the need to plan the time of birth of children and their number. Because of this, the reproductive period is limited to a short time (within 5-10 years) and the birth of one or two children. The desired child turns into an object of parental love and lasting affection. Thus, the custom of having many children sank into oblivion.

The decision on the number of children is made primarily by the spouses themselves. The possibilities of external pressure, as practice shows, even carefully developed measures of demographic policy (for example, such as the French one after the Second World War) are extremely small. It should be emphasized that a child-centric family by nature has few children.

In Russia, parental behavior motivated by intimate and emotional attachment to children has become widespread. spread from the second half of the 20th century. Even in a village family, where in the recent past little attention was paid to children, since the 60s many parents, including those who themselves only completed primary school, dream of giving their children the best possible education. Children, judging by the statements of the majority of rural residents surveyed, are the main meaning of the family. Changes in this direction have also been noticed in the Central Asian region. According to the observation of a local ethnographer, in a Kyrgyz family, no matter how modest its budget, funds are sought to buy clothes for children, attend the cinema, etc. Many parents strive to give them an education and a profession.

Increasing material and spiritual care for children is a positive phenomenon. However, the hypertrophy of duty, complemented by a departure from the ascetic tradition, sometimes leads to the opposite results. Excessive tenderness can also be harmful. This can be observed in the study of neurotic children. According to clinical studies, mothers of children suffering from neuroses, unlike mothers of the control group, are less likely to communicate with their child on an equal basis. They impose their opinion on him, not allowing the child to show independence.

Golod S.I. believes that the child-centric type of family is a significant step in the evolution of monogamy. The best proof of this, according to S.I. Golod. - a detailed consideration of the nature of marital relations, and then relations of generation.

The emergence of selectivity in the premarital period predetermined a new family strategy. Living together between a husband and wife in the absence of ritualized expectations and clearly defined roles requires the adaptation of their individual plans and behavioral stereotypes in relation to each other. In other words, a series of closely interconnected adaptive relationships must arise, each of which, to a greater or lesser extent (but certainly to a significant degree), affects the stability of the individual family. Based on the empirical materials of Golod S.I. (survey 1978,1981 and 1989), there is seven adaptation niches: spiritual, psychological, sexual, informational, relational, cultural and everyday. These niches have a flexible hierarchical structure, shifts in it are predetermined by the stage of development of the individual family. For example, in the initial stage, that is, in the interval between marriage and the birth of a child, the hierarchy is as follows: spiritual, psychological, sexual and cultural. At the next stage, “cultural” is replaced by “everyday”.

Between adaptation niches there is close connection. In a word, if there is no psychological, everyday or spiritual compatibility, then it is difficult to expect, say, sexual harmony.

A deeper layer of family relationships - intimacy(intim - internal), which represents a qualitatively different intimacy than adaptation. In instrumental language, intimacy is mutual sympathy, affection, appreciation and erotic affection between husband and wife, parents and children.

It would seem that if intimacy, in fact, contributes to marital satisfaction, then it, in all likelihood, should be combined with the entire adaptation fan. And indeed it is. Survey data indicate a correlation between the “intimacy” parameter and at least four components of the syndrome: psychological, spiritual, sexual and informational. Therefore, the values of adaptation and intimacy not only coexist, but constitute a single structure that unites husband and wife both along the external behavioral perimeter and through intrapersonal channels, thereby forming private lifestyle.

From all of the above, the image of a child-centered family seems more attractive. However, ultimately, in this family, the manifestation of personal potential is constrained and limited, which is most clearly evident along the parent-child line. At the same time, we must not forget the following. The ideal type is presented here, but in real practice its forms are varied.

2.3. MARRIED FAMILY TYPE

In recent decades, there has been the emergence of another type of monogamy, which Golod S.I. conditionally named matrimonial. In this kind of family, the strategic relationship is determined not by kinship (as in a patriarchal one) and not by parenthood (as in a child-centric one), but by property. You can understand it this way. The norm of family life is changing: parents in such a family refuse to completely subordinate their own interests to the interests of their children. Fixed movement is regarded by some researchers as one of the fundamental ones that determine the face of modern civilization.

Married family- historically the least stereotyped education. If we keep in mind its mature stage, then here unique opportunities open up for moving away from the dominance of dependent relationships and revealing an active palette across all structural components: husband - wife, parents - children, spouses - relatives, children - grandparents. In other words, within the boundaries of one family type, diverse and rich relationships arise between the sexes and between generations, and opportunities for individual self-realization for everyone. This general idea, in order to be adequately perceived, requires clarification.

First. Why are special hopes placed on marriage? Didn’t it exist in the past? Yes, it wasn't. It goes without saying that spouses, i.e. husband and wife, at least in European civilized society, constituted the fundamental basis of the family. But we are not talking about spouses, but about marriage.

Marriage- this is the personal interaction between husband and wife, regulated by moral principles and supported by inherent values. This is based on the non-institutional nature of the relationship and the symmetry of the rights and responsibilities of both spouses. This, by the way, indicates the historically recent origin of this phenomenon. In fact, the principles underlying marriage could be practically realized only as a result of social changes, accompanied by the individualization of men (expanded selectivity, internal responsibility, increased self-control) and the spread of these qualities to women, which would have been impossible without their economic and civil emancipation .

The second clarification is related to the decoding of the values of the post-modern family. Apparently, there is no particular need to prove the commonality of the “roots” of the child-centric and marital types. They are based on the same thing - the institution of courtship. Hence the coincidence of two basic values - adaptation syndrome and intimacy - is not surprising. At the same time There is also a significant difference between modern and post-modern family types. For example, after about ten to fifteen years of marriage, the wife (husband) is just about to open her mouth, and the husband (wife) can say with great certainty what will be discussed. This point is dangerous: marriage partners are well adapted, and therefore easily predict the reaction of the other, which opens the way to alienation. In a child-centric family, routine often contributes either to a shift in emphasis to the relationship of generation, or to the involvement of one of the spouses (sometimes in parallel) in drunkenness, drug addiction, and sexual debauchery. All this, of course, is fraught with conflicts and divorces.

In a post-modern family, an anti-routine mechanism is developed - autonomy.

It is important not to forget the common truth: a socialized person is, to some extent, autonomous; in the technogenic world there is always room for variations and independent decisions. The higher the level of civilizational and cultural development of a society, the more clearly a member of such a society recognizes himself as an individual, the more urgent his need for isolation. A similar trend can be seen in the family. Here, in particular, autonomy is expressed in the fact that the interests of each spouse are broader than family ones, and the circle of meaningful communication for each of them goes beyond the scope of marriage. Their emotional aspirations are regulated not so much by customs, traditions and external regulations, but by individual ideas, aesthetic ideals and moral values.

Concluding the consideration of the immanent basis of the post-modern family type, we can note the interdependence and complementarity of the mechanisms of stability (adaptation, intimacy) and development (autonomy). Indeed, the empirical data of Golod S.I. found a strong positive relationship between intimacy and autonomy. Thus, the vast majority of men who achieved a high level of intimacy reported that their wives actively encourage their originality, only one in ten emphasized the opposite. The mirror image was obtained at low intimacy. Fundamentally the same trends were found in women: in the first version - 50% versus 20, in the second - 4% versus 80.

CONCLUSION

At this time, the topic of family has not been fully studied and cannot be fully studied, since family relationships, problems, and family functions change with the change in the social situation in the country, with changes in the main goals facing society. But the main conclusion with which sociologists of any period of time agree is that the family is the main fundamental institution of society, giving it stability and the ability to replenish the population in each subsequent generation. The role of the family is not limited to the reproduction of the population; the family contributes to the development of society and its progress.

EE "BELARUSIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY" NAMED AFTER M. TANK

in the course “Psychology of Higher Education”

on topic no.

Golod S.I. "Family and marriage: historical and social analysis"

Master's students of the 1st group

Danube Yulia Andreevna

Scientific adviser:

Doctor of Psychology sciences, prof.

L.A. Kandybovich

Minsk, 2008

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical types of marriage

Chapter 2. Monogamous family: crisis or evolution?

2.1. Patriarchal family type

2.2. Child-centric family type

2.3. Married family type

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, attention to the problems of marriage and family has increased significantly. The family is the main institution of society. In turn, the institution of family includes many more private institutions, namely the institution of marriage, the institution of kinship, the institution of motherhood and paternity, the institution of property, the institution of social protection of childhood and guardianship, and others.

Marriage is an institution that regulates relations between the sexes. In society, sexual relations are regulated by a set of cultural norms. Of course, sexual relations can occur outside of marriage, and marriage itself can exist without them. However, it is marriage in human society that is considered the only acceptable, socially approved and legally enshrined form of not only permitted, but obligatory sexual relations between spouses.

In the history of mankind, four systems of marriage relations sometimes existed simultaneously, but in different places:

Group marriage - a marriage between several men and women (it was widespread in primitive society);

Polygyny - one man and several women (this type is especially characteristic of nomadic pastoralists);

Polyandry - one woman and several men (an extremely rare case that existed among one of the peoples of Indochina);

Monogamy - one man and one woman (the predominant form of marriage among agricultural peoples).

Monogamy comes in two forms: lifelong and divorceable, or easily divorced. Single-parent families (one parent with children) were extremely rare.

According to the custom of marriage, they are divided into endogamous and exogamous. With endogamy, a person is chosen only from the group to which the person entering into marriage belongs. Exogamy involves choosing a mate from an out-group.

One of the criteria for family typology is the inequality of spouses. An unequal marriage implies that the spouses differ on some significant basis: social status, age, income. The so-called status marriage presupposes the advantages of choosing marriage partners for those occupying the highest steps in the social hierarchy. This is where the concept of “unequal marriage” comes from. In caste, class and partly class societies, unequal marriages were prohibited in cases where they threatened the stability of the social hierarchy. Essentially, this is a return to the principle of endogamous marriage, which allows entering into unions only within one’s own group - clan, tribe, class, caste.

A special type of paid marriage is considered a sacred marriage. In his book “The Golden Bough,” James Frazer provides a lot of evidence that the custom of marrying maidens to patron gods was widespread among many ancient peoples. Thus, the Indians of Peru gave a 14-year-old girl in marriage to a stone that was shaped like a person and was revered as a god. The entire tribe took part in the marriage ceremony, which lasted three days. The girl had to preserve her virginity and make sacrifices to the god-husband on behalf of her fellow tribesmen, who showed her the greatest respect. The Kikuyu tribe of Kenya worshiped the river snake, so every few years a young girl was married off to the snake god.

In contrast to the ancient forms of purchased marriage, which took place in the form of equivalent gift exchange, its later forms, especially in the era of patriarchy, manifested themselves in the form of unequal gift exchange. The dominant sex, that is, the man, presented the bride with more expensive gifts than he received from her, according to his privileged position, the amount of wealth and political power. Inequality, in fact, is what makes a purchased marriage in the precise sense of a purchased marriage. Marriage turns into an object of purchase and sale. The establishment of private property turned marriage into a commercial transaction. The size of the husband's rights to own his wife is made directly proportional to the amount of the ransom paid for her. Among the Nubian Arabs, the number of days in a week during which a wife remained faithful to her husband depended on the number of heads of cattle paid for her.

Since then, we can talk about a new form of purchased marriage - a purchased marriage. The wedding ceremony has become much more complicated, it has become formalized. A verbal agreement between young people or their parents was no longer enough. In a formalized marriage, witnesses were required and the marriage ceremony took place in public.

Purchasing marriage has ceased to be a matter only of those getting married, turning into part of tribal events. In the Muslim East, a new form of purchased marriage arose - dowry marriage. Kalym is a bride price, initially paid to the clan, and later to the parents as compensation for the loss of a worker.

Arranged marriage dates back to the dawn of humanity, when people entered into marriages to secure alliances between tribes or for other beneficial purposes. Subsequently, the rulers of ancient countries gave their daughters and relatives as wives to the rulers of other countries in order to receive political or diplomatic benefits, strengthen the interstate union, increase their status, etc. Over time, the motives for marriage changed, but its essence remained the same. It lacked an emotional component, a feeling of mutual love. An arranged marriage is the opposite of a love marriage.

Another reason for arranged marriage is the desire to avoid military service.

CHAPTER 2. MONOGAMIC FAMILY: CRISIS OR EVOLUTION?

The increase in the number of divorces, according to S.I. Golod, is not least predetermined by the transition from “matchmaking” as a way of marriage to individual selectivity, or, more broadly, to a fundamentally different type of family relationships. The freedom to choose a partner implicitly implies the freedom to dissolve the marriage if it does not go well.

The fact of a decline in childbearing is thus beyond doubt. How can this be explained? The vast majority of researchers associate the fall in the birth rate with a sharp deterioration in the socio-economic situation in the country. And there is some truth in this.

However, the processes listed above, according to S.I. Golod, are predominantly determined by the historical type of family.

Back in the early 80s, he put forward a hypothesis about the existence of three ideal historical types of monogamy (see: Golod S.I. Family stability: sociological and demographic aspects. Leningrad, 1984). In the 90s A few demographers and sociologists began to develop the concept of diversity of family types. Golod S.I. writes: “The main thing is the recognition of the plurality of ideal types of family and the actual diversity of their forms.”

Shifting the research focus to one’s own patterns posed the task of an unconventional definition of the concept of “family.”

A family is a collection of individuals who are in at least one of three types of relationships: consanguinity (brother - brother, brother - sister, etc.), generation (parents - children), property (husband - wife). The nature of these relationships (roughly speaking, authoritarian-egalitarian) can, according to S.I. Golod, serve as a criterion determining the stage of development of monogamy. Following this logic, it is possible to construct three ideal historical types of family: patriarchal (or traditional), child-centered (or modern) and married (or post-modern).

However, history also knows the era of matriarchy, when in ancient society the dominant position was occupied by a woman, and there were special reasons for this. When a strict taboo was imposed on incest, a clan was formed as a new form of family, which was based on the principle of maternal kinship. Due to the fact that husbands and wives were common, it was virtually impossible to trace the paternal line, and therefore only the mother and her children, who remained with her and constituted her maternal clan, could be recognized as truly blood relatives.

So Cleopatra (69 - 30 BC) was first the wife of her older brother, then after his death, the wife of her younger brother. Each marriage gave them the right to own Egypt.

In modern Russia there are options for both family well-being and trouble in general. 1. Families with external (obvious, open) family troubles A distinctive feature of this type of family is that the forms of family troubles have a pronounced character, manifesting themselves simultaneously in several spheres of family life (for example, at the social and material level). IN...

... is the total number of births at the end of the reproductive period of life. The average number of children in a family as an indicator of the intensity of childbearing allows us to assess the birth rate in the country. The reproductive behavior of the individual and family is influenced by current living conditions and conditions of past years. Living conditions directly influence everyday family situations, which become conditions...

– evolutionary approach , which is an attempt to combine various approaches to the sociology of the family into one general system. “Stages and cycles in family life”, “evolution of needs and goals”, “social roles” and “patterns of behavior” - all these concepts are widely used by supporters of this movement.
As empirical research developed during the 50s and 60s. In the last century, more and more developments in the field of family sociology have been made within the framework of the group paradigm. Sociological studies of the family are most widespread in the USA (I. Nye, I. Reis, V. Burr, etc.), in France (A. Girard, L. Roussel, M. Bekombo), in the Scandinavian countries (E. Haavio-Mannila – Finland).

4. Sociology of family in Russia

The sociology of the family in Russia occupies a special place in the development of family science. As a private sociological discipline, it has its own history and certain stages of development:
I – from the middle of the 19th century. until 1917 (in the pre-revolutionary period it was considered one of the general problems of sociology);
II – from the beginning of the 20s to the mid-50s of the twentieth century;
III – from the mid-50s of the twentieth century. until now.
As well as abroad, initially the focus of Russian sociological science on the family was on questions of the origin of the family.
Vl wrote about this. Soloviev, N. Berdyaev, as well as famous publicists and writers.
In the pre-October period, only the prerequisites for the formation of family sociology in Russia were outlined as part of the construction of diverse options for domestic “general” sociology.
In 1880, D. Dubakin’s book “The Influence of Christianity on the Family Life of Russian Society in the Period Before the Appearance of Domostroy” was published. In it, the author, summarizing the contribution to the development of the science of family by ethnographers and writers, based on an analysis of ancient Russian literature, examined the influence of Christianity on family relationships.
In 1895, M. Kovalevsky’s “Essay on the Origin and Development of Family and Property” appeared, in which marriage and family relations of antiquity were deeply analyzed. This work was not appreciated, as it was in the shadow of F. Engels’ work on the origins of the family. Only after the revolution of 1917, perhaps because K. Marx called M. Kovalevsky a “friend in science,” were his works republished. And he was, perhaps, the only Russian sociologist. Moreover, when preparing his work on the origins of the family, F. Engels used materials from the research of M. Kovalevsky.
A detailed psychological and historical analysis of the structure, origin and directions of evolution of basic intra-family relationships belongs to the historian P. Kapterev. His work “The Development of Family Feelings in Connection with Family History” largely anticipated a number of studies of the Soviet period.
Of great interest to this day is the work of I. Kucharzhevsky “General outline of the development of family relations in general and marriage in particular” (1901), in which various theories and concepts related to the legal regulation of marriage in antiquity are commented in detail.
Philosopher P. Sorokin, while still a first-year student, began field research into the forms of marriage and family of the Komi people. In 1911, his article “On the question of the evolution of family and marriage among the Zyryans” was published. Using the material of the evolutionary forms of marriage and family relations among the Zyryans, he confirmed the scientifically proven positions of Bachofen, Lennan, Morgan, Spencer, and Kovalevsky regarding the primitive form of marriage and the origin of matriarchy.
In 1916, P. Sorokin wrote an article “The Crisis of the Modern Family,” in which he showed the reasons for the weakening of the institution of marriage and family in post-revolutionary Russia: the “weakening” of the union of husband and wife, the union of parents and children; changes in the process of primary socialization and characteristics of the economic function of the family, etc.
In the 20-30s of the twentieth century. K. N. Kovalev, L. S. Sosnovsky, E. A. Preobrazhensky, A. M. Kollontai and others dealt with issues of family sociology.
What was done by pre-revolutionary Russian sociologists in the field of family and marriage relations was not developed in the Soviet post-revolutionary period. Basically, research on the institution of the family followed the path “from the communist family to the communist society.”
Thus, in S. Wolfson’s book “The Sociology of Marriage and Family,” the author used a large amount of ethnographic, statistical, and sociological material in the field of family and marriage relations, which was analyzed from a sociological point of view.
Quite authoritative in the 20s. was K. Kautsky’s idea that with the liquidation of commodity production the family would also disappear.
The period from the second half of the 30s. until the beginning of the 60s. XX century left virtually no traces in the history of Soviet sociology of the family: there were few publications, most of them were based on the work of F. Engels “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State.”
The sociology of family and marriage as an independent branch of science originated in the 60s. XX century, when theoretical development of issues of family and marriage relations and empirical research appeared.
The program thesis was the recognition of the family as the primary unit of society, that is, the most important element of the social structure. In those years, only the collective could compare in importance to the family.
In the 70s sociologist A. Kharchev formulated the first sociological concept of the dual status of the family. The family appears in two aspects: a social institution and a small social group.
Sociologist S. Golod argues in his works that the family in its development went through three ideal historical types:
a) patriarchal (or traditional);
b) child-centric (or modern);
c) conjugal (or post-modern).
In his opinion, the monogamous family has not entered a period of crisis, but is evolving from the patriarchal to the marital type. He does not consider the married family to be the ultimate type, but without a doubt recognizes the pinnacle of monogamy.
In the early 80s. The attention of specialists to the lifestyle of the family, the emotional relationships of spouses, conflicts, role relationships, etc. has increased. In other words, there has been a shift in emphasis from a social institution to the study of the family as a small group.
In the 80-90s. XX century A number of monographs and collections of articles were published in which family issues are widely presented. For example, the following problems were considered: personality formation (“Family and Personality Formation”, edited by A. Bodalev); reproductive behavior in a modern family (“Family and Children” by A. Antonov); family and reproduction of social structure in a socialist society (“Family and Social Structure” by M. Matskovsky); social potential of the family (“Social potential of the family” by A. Antonov); the formation of a family as a small social group and the institutional formation of modern marriage and family relations (“The Formation of Marriage and Family Relations” by M. Matskovsky, T. Gurko).
In the 90s of the twentieth century. The most popular research topics: deviant behavior of family members, homosexual behavior, pre- and post-divorce situations, gender studies, preparation for marriage and family life.
A new phenomenon in the institutionalization of family sociology in Russia was the creation of the Family Research Institute (in the first years of work from 1991 to 1993 - the Research Center for Social Protection of Children, Family and Demographic Policy).
The largest contribution to the study of marriage and family relations was made by Russian sociologists: A. G. Kharchev (theory), M. S. Matskovsky (methodology and methodology), A. I. Antonov (fertility), V. A. Sysenko (marriage stability ), I. S. Golod (family stability), V. A. Borisov (need for children), D. Ya. Kutsar (quality of marriage), L. A. Gordon, N. M. Rimashevskaya (family life cycle), N. G. Yurkevich, M. Ya. Solovyov (divorce), I. A. Gerasimova (family typology), T. A. Gurko (young family), E. K. Vasilyeva (stages, types of family life), V. B. Golofast (family functions), Z. A. Yankova (urban family, man and woman in the family).

Questions and tasks

1. What is the subject of family sociology?
2. What is the connection between family sociology and social anthropology, family law, social psychology, demography, sociology of health?
3. Does the intellectual convergence of sociology with other social sciences mean a dilution of the subject matter of these converging disciplines?
4. What are the specifics of the sociological approach to the study of family?
5. Define the concepts of “marriage” and “family”. How are marital relationships different from family relationships?
6. Name the main characteristics of a family.
7. Do you agree with the point of view about the existence of promiscuous relationships among people?
8. What “taboos” of ancient society do you know that influenced the development of forms of marriage and family relations?
9. How did the emergence of private property affect marriage and family relations?
10. Can the right of a leader (priest, lord, master) to spend the first wedding night with the bride, widespread in some societies, be considered debauchery if this right is based on religious dogmas? (The explanatory dictionary of the Russian language gives the following definition of the concept of “debauchery”: sexual promiscuity, depravity of social mores, moral decay of society).
11. What is the relationship between the economic formation of society and the family? 12. What is the difference between endogamous and exogamous relationships? Why did some norms replace others?
13. What is the difference between a couple family and a monogamous family?
14. Do you agree with F. Engels’ statement that “the fall of mother’s rights was the world-historical enslavement of women”? What role has the feminist movement played in family and marriage relationships?
15. Why are polygamous relationships common among some peoples? 16. What views on the family did the ancient Greeks have? What do you know about heterism?
17. What is the essence of the discussion between Vl. Solovyov and A. Schopenhauer?
18. What works of foreign sociologists made a significant contribution to the development of the science of the family?
19. What stages of the genus were identified by L. Morgan and on what basis?
20. What did Le Play say about family types? Do you agree with his opinion: “To understand society, you need to understand the family”?
21. Why until the middle of the 19th century. Couldn't an independent science of family and marriage arise?
22. Name the main stages in the development of family sociology as an independent branch of sociology.
23. What approaches to studying family do you know? What is special about each approach?
24. How did the sociology of family develop in Russia? What are the prerequisites and problems of its development?
25. What sociologists’ works about the family do you know? Name modern trends in the study of marriage and family relations.
26. What prospects do you see for the development of family sociology as a scientific field?

Literature

Antonov A.I., Medkov V.M. Sociology of the family: Textbook. M., 1996.
Golod S.I. Family and marriage: historical and sociological analysis. St. Petersburg, 1998.
Semenov Yu. I. Origin of marriage and family. M., 1994.
Sociology in Russia / Ed. V. A. Yadova. M., 1998.
Formation of marriage and family relations. M., 1989.
Semenova M. Life and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. St. Petersburg, 2000.
Chernyak E. M. Sociology of the family: Textbook. M., 2003.
Engels F. Origin of the family, private property and the state.
M., 1989.

Topic 2. Social essence of the family

1. Sociological analysis of the family in the unity of structural and dynamic coordinates.
2. Family and marriage as social institutions.
3. Family as a small social group.
4. Typology of family structures and their main varieties.
5. Alternative life styles.

1. Sociological analysis of the family in the unity of structural and dynamic coordinates

In modern society there are many social communities. Some of them unite the majority of citizens of a given country, for example the state. Others include a very certain number of people professionally engaged in a specific type of activity, for example, healthcare, police, etc. But in any type of society there is such a social formation with which the life of almost every person is connected in one way or another - the family, the most a common type of social organization.
Family is a social system of human reproduction based on consanguinity, marriage or adoption and uniting people through a common life, mutual moral responsibility and mutual assistance.
One of the most important distinctive features of this system is that the family simultaneously has the characteristic features of a social institution and a small social group.
When analyzing family relationships, it is necessary to consider them from the point of view of structural features and dynamics. This approach is proposed by sociologists A.I. Antonov and V.M. Medkov (Diagram 1).

Scheme 1

Sociological analysis of the family in the unity of structural and dynamic coordinates

Along the axis of social structure, the family is considered as a subsystem of society, a social institution that interacts with other social institutions and with society as a whole. The structural approach establishes the place of the family in the hierarchy of institutions, fixes the functions of the family that are important for its understanding in society. At the same time, the family is seen as a source of social belonging.
The horizontal axis focuses on family changes and sociocultural dynamics. Analysis along the dynamic axis allows us to combine interpersonal changes with changes in family life in the process of generational change.
This scheme characterizes the desire of family sociology to combine three approaches to the study of the family: social-structural; cultural; socio-psychological.

2. Family and marriage as social institutions

When we talk about the most important social institutions, we name the family among the first. The family is the main institution of human society.
In turn, the institution of family includes many more private institutions, namely the institution of marriage, the institution of kinship, the institution of motherhood and paternity, the institution of property, the institution of social protection of childhood and guardianship, and others.
Social institutions - These are historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities of people. In addition, a social institution is a set of roles and statuses designed to satisfy a specific social need.
The term “social institution” is used in a wide variety of meanings. They talk about the institution of family, the institution of education, health care, the institution of the state, etc. Certain factors allow us to speak of the family as a social institution.
One of the necessary conditions for the emergence of social institutions is a corresponding social need. Institutions are called upon to organize the joint activities of people in order to satisfy certain social needs. Thus, the institution of family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and raising children, implements relations between the sexes, generations, etc.
A social institution is formed on the basis of social connections, interactions and relationships of specific persons, individuals, and social groups. In the family institution, these are its members, the parental union and their children, relatives.
Another important element of institutionalization is the organized design of a social institution. A family is a collection of persons who have a place of residence, acquired joint material resources, benefits, and perform a certain social function.
Social institutions are characterized by a clear delineation of the functions and powers of each of the subjects of interaction, consistency, coherence of their actions, a fairly high and strict level of regulation and control over this interaction, due to which society achieves greater predictability of people's behavior, stability and reliability of social connections, sustainability of social structures.
The process of family formation, from an institutional point of view, appears as a time-extended process of assimilation of social norms, roles and standards governing courtship, choice of a marriage partner, family stabilization, sexual behavior, and relationships with spouses’ parents.
Thus, the family is a classic social institution. The initial basis of family relationships is marriage- a historically changing social form of relations between a man and a woman, through which society regulates and sanctions their sexual life and establishes conjugal and kinship rights and obligations. The family is a more complex social system than marriage.
Institute of marriage does not cover the entire sphere of family life, much less the entire variety of relationships between relatives - close and distant. It implies a set of norms and sanctions that regulate the relationship of spouses. Some norms are of a legal nature and regulated by law, others are cultural and regulated morally - by customs and traditions. These rules regulate two main phases - marriage and divorce.
Family as an institution , more precisely, as a set of institutions, is a sociological category that reflects customs, laws and rules of behavior that consolidate kinship relationships between people. The most important part of the family as an institution is legislation. Family law legally defines what a family is and what the rights and responsibilities of children, parents and spouses are.
Foreign sociologists consider the family as a social institution only if it is characterized by three main types of family relationships: marriage, parenthood, kinship. In the absence of one of these indicators, the concept of “family group” is used.
Analysis of the family as a social institution involves consideration of patterns of family behavior, role set, behavior of family members, features of formal and informal norms and sanctions in the sphere of marriage and family relations. Norms can be implemented in different ways: in one case - thanks to legal, legislative rules, acts; in another - through the use of traditions, customs, moral principles, public opinion, etc.
The family as a social institution has:
– main functions– birth control, socialization and protection of children;
– groups and organizations– all relatives, groups united by family ties;
– values, associated with self-affirmation of the individual, satisfying physiological needs, the need for parenthood, love, communication, the ability to feel relative stability and security;
– roles– wife, husband, mother, father, son, child, grandmother, grandfather, etc.;
– norms– marital fidelity, responsibility for raising children; material support for the family; mutual assistance, cooperation, common goals, etc.
Sociologist S. Frolov points out the following characteristics of the family as a social institution:
– Attitudes and patterns of behavior – affection, respect, responsibility.
– Cultural symbols – marriage ritual, wedding rings.
– Utilitarian cultural features – house, apartment (room), furniture.
– Oral and written codes of conduct – the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Family Code of the Russian Federation.
– Ideology – love at the basis of creating a family, the desire for success and stability of marriage relationships, the desire to create, strengthen and preserve a family.
The family as a social institution goes through a number of stages, the sequence of which forms the family cycle or family life cycle. Researchers identify a different number of phases of this cycle, but the main ones among them, for the family as a social institution, are the following:
– marriage (family formation);
– beginning of childbearing (birth of the first child);
– end of childbearing (birth of the last child);
– “empty nest” (marriage and separation of the last child from the family;
– termination of the existence of the family (death of one of the spouses).
At each stage, the family has specific and economic characteristics.
The family as a social institution arose with the formation of society. The process of family formation and functioning is determined by value-normative regulators, such as courtship, choice of a marriage partner, sexual standards and norms of behavior, norms that guide the husband, wife, children, as well as sanctions for non-compliance.
Sociologists distinguish the family as a social institution from the family as a primary group.

3. Family as a small social group

Sociologist M. S. Matskovsky proposed studying the family as one of the small groups in the system of primary and secondary groups.
Small social group there is a small group in composition, whose members are united by common social activities and are in direct personal communication, which is the basis for the emergence of emotional relationships, group norms and group processes.
Main primary signs small group are:
– common goals and activities common to all group members;
– personal contact between group members;
– a certain emotional climate within the group;
– special group values and norms;
– physical and moral sample of a group member;
– role hierarchy between group members;
– relative autonomy of this group from others;
– principles of admission to the group;
– group cohesion;
– socio-psychological control of the behavior of group members;
– special forms and methods of managing group activities by group members.
Secondary characteristics of a small group are: conformity of group members (the degree of compliance in favor of the group decision); intimacy of relationships, homogeneity (homogeneity in composition); group stability; voluntariness of joining a group.
The family is considered as a small social group in cases where the relationships between the individuals making up the family are studied. This approach allows us to establish the dynamics of marital relations, the nature of the relationship between parents and children, the motives and causes of divorce.
According to sociologist M. S. Matskovsky, when analyzing a family as a small group, it is advisable to distinguish three main types of characteristics:
1. Characteristics of the group as a whole: goals and objectives of the family group, composition and structure of the family, socio-demographic composition of the family, group cohesion, group activities and the nature of group interaction of the family group, power structure, communications in the family, etc.
2. Characteristics of connections and relationships of the family group with broader social systems within the social structure of society. Here, first of all, we should highlight the functions of the family in relation to society.
3. Goals, objectives and functions of the family in relation to the individual, group regulation of behavior and interaction in the family, group control, group sanctions, inclusion of the individual in the family.
American sociologist C. Cooley believes that the family is the primary group, since its influence on a person is primary both in time and in content; it shapes the personality as a whole, while secondary groups influence the personality only in certain aspects. In addition, the family is an “intimate” association and cooperation that reproduces itself.
A person cannot exist without communicating with other people. The need for constant personal contacts is satisfied by participation in small groups, such as family, peers, etc. Usually an individual participates in several small groups at the same time.
Participation in small groups is fundamental to the process of social formation of personality. Small groups are the sphere of socialization through which wider groups and societies influence a person, educating the individual in spiritual values, norms and patterns of behavior. Small groups are transmitters of cultural values.
In a small group in which friendly relations reign, the team has a strong influence on the individual. Feels like “We”. Small groups have formal and informal characteristics.
Groups having informal characteristics are united on the basis of common interests outside of professional activity. They differ primarily in the structure of the social roles of their members. These characteristics are traditionally transmitted to group members and are formed in the process of everyday interaction. Small groups created to perform any special tasks differ in a number of ways: formal characteristics, primarily because the relationships between members of such a group are determined by instructions. Such groups are sometimes called target groups, as they are organized for a specific purpose. The main importance in it is business contacts, often indirect, and relationships are regulated by a formal control system.