Perspective on Family

Family
• Is a type of small group with societal functions

Structural – Functional – Situate the family as part of the social system;

emphasizes harmony; Focuses on the function of the family in society

Social Conflict – recognizes conflict within the family and conflict

between the family and other parts of the social system
Symbolic Interactionism
- Also known as -“role theory” -,” action theory” ,- “role process
approach”- “emphazises the role of meanings and symbols in the
interaction of family members
Social exchange – Also known as –social change theory- posits that
individuals act in order to maximize benefits and minimize costs
Developmental – employs –family life circle- and –family life course-
approaches in understanding family composition, roles and functions
Feminist – examines power dynamics within the family
Two categories of families
1. Biological – family origin – blood ties (vertical – multigenerational;
horizontal-kinship) included are adoptive members and fictive kin
(not related by blood but function as and considered as part of the
family)
2. Family as intimate environment – two or more people who may not
be related by blood but decide to live together as family.
Functions of Family
A. Biological
1. Sex and Production
2. Provision of basic need (clothing, food, shelter and other basic neceessities)
B. Psychological
1. Affection and emotional security
C. Social
1. Social maintenance
2. Transmission of culture through socialization
3. Maintenance of the labor force
4. Status placement – confers status on the individual
5. Welfare and protection
Process in Family Building
1. Courtship – process of interaction toward mate selection
2. Dating – process where 2 people mutually agree to meet a
designated time and place for the purpose of knowing each
other toward building intimacy
3. Going steady – process when 2 people agree to
“date”exclusively
4. Engagement – a formal ceremony where a couple publicly
declare their commitment to build a family
Types of Wedding
1. Civil
2. Religious
3. Cultural
4. Symbolic
Void or marriages considered not valid from
the onset as per Family Code of the Philippines
1. Between collateral blood relatives, whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the
fourth civil degree
2. Between step-parent and step children
3. Between parents-in-law and children-in-law
4. Between the adopting parent and adopted children
5. Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child
6. Between the surviing spouse of the adopted child and the adopter
7. Between the adopted child and the legitimate child of the adopter
8. Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
9. Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that
other person’s spouse or his or her own spouse.
Theories of Mate selection
1. Homogamy – also known as “assortative mating” – a tendency to marry
someone like oneself
2. Heterogamy- a tendency to marry one who is opposite of oneself
Example: interclass marriage: Hypogamy (marrying somebody belonging to a
social class lower than one’s class) and hypergamy (marrying somebody
belonging to a social class higher than one’s own)
3. Stimulus – Value – Role – (Murstein) This theory posits that in a free
choice situation couples go through three stages:
a. Stimulus stage
b. Value comparison
c. Role stage
3. Stimulus – Value – Role – (Murstein) This theory posits that in a free
choice situation couples go through three stages:

• This is the shallow stage in which the other person is evaluated based
on physical attributes. A man or woman sees the other person as
attractive, a boss looks at an employee and believes they have the
strength characteristics to do the job.
• Value: Now the evaluation moves a little deeper. What attitudes does
the other individual have toward values you feel are important? An
exact mesh is not required, but values have to be close enough that
the other individual passes this stage.
• Role: The two have talked what is important to them, not that they
move on how to they can build a relationship together.
Changes in the Filipino Family attributed to
modernization, urbanization and
industrialization(Medina,2001)

1. More favorable attitudes towards working wives and mothers

2. Changing role structure of the family
3. Decline in the authority of the husband / father
4. Decline of the family’s influence on the individual
5. More permissive norms and behavior
6. Breakdown on the consanguinial family as a functional unit
Family Life Models
A. Child-centered Model – Evelyn Duvall and Reuben sited in
Shriver,2011) – Major assumption : Parenting children is the central
activity of adult family life.
Three major factors(criteria) affecting family life
a. Major change in family size;
b. Development age of the oldest child
c. Change in the work status of “father”