Family forms and diversity

Family Forms

The nuclear family consists of parents and their dependent children, living in the same house.
The extended family can include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, all living either together or geographically close.
A single-parent family is headed by one parent, usually because of divorce, death or choosing to have or raise a child without a partner.
The reconstituted family (or stepfamily) involves parents living with their children and children from previous relationships.
The same-sex family is made up of a same-sex couple living with their children.
The childfree family comprises a couple who have chosen not to have children.
The transnational family refers to migrants maintaining family relationships over large geographical distances.

Family diversity

Cultural diversity refers to variations in family life related to cultural, ethnic or racial background. Family forms can vary significantly in line with cultural practices.
Social class diversity acknowledges that class can affect familial structure. Lower social classes tend to have more single-parent families, whilst higher classes often have nuclear families.
Life stage diversity highlights the idea family structures change over time. For example, a newly married couple’s family is different from that of a retired couple.
The concept of cohort diversity recognises that different generations may have different family patterns due to changing social norms or historical events (e.g. World War effects on family structure).
In terms of organisational diversity, families may divide roles, responsibilities and resources differently, leading to diverse structures.
Sexual diversity is the presence of different sexual orientations within families, including heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and others.

Theories of Family Diversity

The functionalist perspective views the nuclear family as essential for maintaining social order and serving as a primary agent of socialisation.
The New Right perspective also supports the importance of the nuclear family for societal order and childrearing. It criticises family diversity, particularly single-parent families.
The feminist view criticises the patriarchal nature of traditional family structures and sees diversity as potentially liberating for women.
The Postmodern perspective welcomes family diversity as a reflection of individual choice and flexibility in postmodern societies.
The Marxist perspective sees the family as serving the needs of capitalism, with diversity seen as a result of uneven distribution of resources in capitalist societies.