Family
hideFamily denotes a group of people or animals (many species form the equivalent of a human family wherein the adults care for the young) affiliated by a consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," anthropologists[who?] have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.
One of the primary functions of the family is to produce and reproduce persons, biologically and socially. Thus, one's experience of one's family shifts over time. From the perspective of children, the family is a family of orientation: the family serves to locate children socially, and plays a major role in their enculturation and socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a family of procreation the goal of which is to produce and enculturate and socialize children. However, producing children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a sexual division of labor, marriage, and the resulting relationship between two people, is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household.
A conjugal family includes only the husband, the wife, and unmarried children who are not of age. The most common form of this family is regularly referred to as a nuclear family.
A consanguineal family consists of a parent and his or her children, and other people.
A matrifocal family consists of a mother and her children. Generally, these children are her biological offspring, although adoption of children is a practice in nearly every society. This kind of family is common where women have the resources to rear their children by themselves, or where men are more mobile than women.
For more information about Family, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with family
UN: Fight climate change with free condoms
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.
Study: Internet use leads to more diverse networks
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation.
Bosses exaggerate women's family-work conflict
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Decades into the era of two-earner households, the virtues of family-friendly policies are all but universally assumed in the corporate world. But now new research suggests serious potential pitfalls for ...
Involving family in medical rounds benefits both family and medical team
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Involving family members of pediatric cancer and hematology patients in medical rounds benefits both the family and the medical team, according to a new Indiana University School of Medicine study.
AIDS research reveals a lack of family-planning programs in Uganda
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 23, 2009 |
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University of Alberta graduate student Jennifer Heys wants to make her message clear: there needs to be more education in Ugandan communities about contraception.
DU professor advises families to refocus for holidays to ease financial tension (w/ Video)
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 13, 2009 |
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Martha Wadsworth, associate professor of psychology at the University of Denver (DU), says during the holidays families should focus on what has been proven to matter most in psychological research - quality family time.
Higher health insurance costs force doctors to talk about money with patients
Nov 05, 2009 |
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As health insurers require people to base more treatment decisions on out-of-pocket costs, physicians should learn to talk to patients about money, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Study spotlights efficacy of questionnaire to identify patients at high risk for lung cancer
Nov 01, 2009 |
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A study featured in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology confirms the success of a simple questionnaire designed to identify patients at high risk of lung cancer. Initiated in 2001, the current study confir ...
