The family is the basic primary group and the natural matrix of personality

The word family has been taken from the Roman word ‘famulus’ meaning as a servant. Mark and young have defined family as “The family is the basic primary group and the natural matrix of personality.” Family has acquired the status of that of an institution. It is as old as civilization. It is the oldest and is a universal institution; found in every society. Socialization begins from a family. For most of the primitive societies, the family was the only institution where they exercised their power.

Even today, in most of the remote areas, the power of authority resides in a family, thus fulfilling all the other societal functions, one which is that of economics, education and as well as cultural. It is thus, a basic social institution. The significance of family cannot be denied. It is the back bone of our social structure. Though many of the functions that a family performs has now been shifted to other institutions. But no one can deny the worth and the way it best fulfills the needs of man is of the utmost importance. The family has a nuclear situation.

Whatever we do in life is either for our parents, our children, wife or any other family member. Most of the entire socializing factor cannot be ignored. Man learns to live in a society through family. Family also promotes culture. The awareness of culture is given to an individual through a society. A family helps in the organization of a society. If the family disintegrates, so does the society. Therefore Confucius rightly remarked that if you want to improve society, improve its families. Family serves as an institution. The family is the only institution through which one can fulfill his/her sexual desires. With varying degree of indulgence each society also tolerates some sex behavior.

 In every society there are mores which bound persons access to one another, therefore for such a society marriage is the only means through which they can fully welcome sexual desires without the fear of being marginalized. Since most of the societies do not appreciate pre martial sex as mentioned above therefore, they have institutionalized it. They have defined it as a proper activity. No institution other than Family can help produce children.

Only family can perform this task. Thus, family as a social institution performs a very important function. Since family is the first primary group of a child, here is where the socialization begins. Children in West are involved more in extracurricular activities because this way a child learns more as he/she directly interacts with a society. But a child would only be able to interact freely once the upbringing is framed accordingly. Parents and other family members act as a member of society. A girl, who was kept in one single room by her father in Australia for twelve years, did not know how to speak when finally she was freed. One other study showed that when children were totally kept in isolation did not even know how to talk; they only knew how to produce sounds, not words. Apart from that, the process of socialization also provides model. A child sees his/ her mother, father, and other siblings as his role models and if they are missing he would rely on second hand models.

The process of socialization also creates great influences like racism and inequality. Children learn what they are taught. Socialization in a multi problem family is always a distorted one. A family which is extremely poor or are victims of drugs or that of a broken family fail to fulfill any of the functions adequately and thus sometimes leads to alienation and isolation. In all the societies the family offers some degree of economic, physical and psychological protection. Man usually acts as agent of protection. This was certainly true for primitive societies. In modern times, man has become more of an independent creature. Even then, the picture of a family gives you a sense of protection. Family was the basic economic unit in most of the primitive societies. Women before the First World War that is till 1920s were not even allowed to vote. Therefore, the concept of family was engraved in their minds and that too in most cases with that of an economic one.

The function of a family has evolved with the passage of time and is still under going through a change. It is no longer a place which was considered as a school, where subjects of different kinds were taught. Like that of religion, philosophy, History and Literature. Basic duties like cooking, washing and caring as now hardly performed.

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