Microsoft Word Thesis Guly Salikhova doc

Chapter-I. Family as a Social System
This chapter is aimed to present some common sociological issues of the family 
theory and historical background of two distinct Asian family types, based on cultural, 
religious, ethical aspects of the family living, its structure, values, interactions, 
evolutional shaping through the centuries. Yet, this topic is so broad that I can only touch 
upon few general ideas. 
Theoretical Aspects of the Family as a Social Institution 
 
4 The Book of Changes (I Ching); the Book of Odes (Shih Ching); the Book of History (Shu Ching) the Book of Rites (Li Chi), the 
Book of Music (Yueh Ching) and the Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch'un-ch'iu). 

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A family is a primary social group in any society, typically consisting of a man 
and a woman, or any two individuals who wish to share their lives together in a long-term 
commitment to one another, bring up offspring and usually reside in the same dwelling.
A purely sociological standpoint and understanding of the family, as with all 
social phenomenons, begins with the fundamental definition and functions of the 
family. From the definition, most would agree that the family is a unit of people which 
serves some basic functions in society – reproduction, socialization, economic and 
emotional support, and a sense of belonging.
Basically, the Family is one of the society's main and arguably most important 
social institutions, as it serves to socialize individuals to be productive members of the 
society. We all look to our family for guidance, support, and a sense of belonging. Some 
believe that the Family is the most important social institution as it is our first encounter 
with socialization processes. From a sociological perspective, not only is the family 
viewed as an institution, but also as a social system and a social group. As with all 
institutions, the family has a set of norms within its boundaries, values, roles, which are 
organized to meet specific goals for the whole society and with those norm and roles in 
institutionalized form are designed to guide sexual activity and social relations within a 
sexual union of individuals
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As a social system, the family is viewed as an entity which consists of various 
interrelated parts or statuses that perform particular functions and roles. Further, the 
family as a system is part of a larger system meaning society and contributes to the 
functioning of the society. Within the family system, the statuses and roles interact with 
one another to form a system of relations amongst the members who hold a specific 
status and perform a specified role. The operation of the family system is dependent upon 
the effectiveness of these status-role interactions. As a social group, the focus is on the 
individual members of the family in question. What each person brings to the family and 
how each person contributes to the relationships with other individuals in the family 
determines the reality within each family. 
Whether we examine the family as an institution, system, or group, the interest of 
sociologists who study the family begins with a fascination of the family entity and the 
5 Refer to Eshleman, J. Ross, 2000. The Family, Ninth Editition. Allyn & Bacon: Needham Heights 

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relationships within its boundaries. One of the big issues or challenges within family 
studies lies in its definition. Contemporary society is changing rapidly and we have seen 
many family forms increase in numbers and some relatively new forms emerge. The 
‘ideal image’ of two biological parents and children living in harmony, as with most ideal 
types, does not present a very realistic framework for contemporary society. There are 
growing numbers of the so-called ‘variant family forms’, for instance in American 
society and throughout the world. If we are to arrive at a more accurate analysis of the 
family, from a purely sociological standpoint that is mentioned above, we must be willing 
to accept that the family has many forms, ranging from the two-parent family, single-
parents, blended families, same-sex families, adoptive families, and the list goes on.
To understand the complexity of the sociology of family, one must begin with a 
discussion of the family definition. Accordingly, Science defined family as a group of 
persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household 
and interacting with each other in their respective social positions. 
Stephanie Coontz in her writing says that: “It is worth noting that the word family 
originally meant a band of slaves. Even after the word came to apply to people affiliated 
by blood and marriage, for many centuries the notion of family referred to authority 
relations rather than love ones. The sentimentalization of family life and female nurturing 
was historically and functionally linked to the emergence of competitive individualism 
and formal egalitarianism for men”
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. 
In this era of rampant divorce, reports of family violence, and dramatic change in 
family roles and role relations, many, mainly our parents look nostalgically back to ‘the 
good old days’ of family life when, supposedly, familial bonds were richer and familial 
processes were less likely to be ‘dysfunctional’. Given the interrelationships between 
family structures and processes with broader socio-historical phenomena, past forms – 
even if true – are inappropriate for present times and might be dangerous in sense that 
these idealizations deny the diversity and flexibility of ‘successful’ family forms. Such 
idealizations can lead to false expectations and standards against which to determine our 
current family lives.
6 Refer to: ‘The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap’, pp. 43-44 

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Everyone should understand that the family systems, like biological organisms, 
evolve with time and circumstances. Moreover, the fact is that over the past two centuries 
the family has metamorphosed from being a unit of production to being a unit of 
consumption meaning that the family of the ‘pioneer farm’ was the basic 
economic unit 
of production
. The level of self-sufficiency of the family meant that you almost had to 
have a husband-wife team as a minimum for survival on the farm. Not only did women 
cook, garden, did milking, feed chickens, sew up clothes, but also made tallow candles 
and preserved food for the winter. The loss of a wife or husband wasn't just a 
psychological loss; it threatened their survival because the families’ economic system 
was threatened with bankruptcy. Children also were engaged in meaningful productive 
work early in their lives. With economic development and industrialization, these basic 
rules are demolishing and family is becoming more and more the 
economic unit of 
consumption
. If in the past unit produced essential goods for living and made the 
decisions about how to save the resources that were created through the hard work, 
nowadays, it shares food, housing, and other goods, not necessarily produced by unit, and 
thinks how to spend resources.
Besides, family is also transmuting from extended family form to nuclear
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. 
However, the nuclear family form is found at both ends of the stages of economic 
evolution, predominating in societies with primitive hunting and gathering economies 
where food supply was uncertain and in modern industrial societies where the 
marketplace requires the geographical mobility of small, nuclear systems. 
Nonetheless, whatever the family is and what times it is going through, basically, 
the values remain unchangeable and include such simple principles as to have good 
thoughts and good intentions, to love and care for those who we are close to and are part 
of our primary social group, such as children, parents, other family members and friends.
 
7 Also called elementary family in sociology and anthropology, a group of persons united by ties of marriage and parenthood or 
adoption and consisting of a man, a woman, and their socially recognized children. This unit was once widely held to be the most 
basic and universal form of social organization.

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