Family—Functions

Family—Functions 

Family is the primary group in society, the most elementary form of society. It is the first and most immediate social environment to which a child is exposed. It is in the family that the child develops physically, psychologically and socially.

The reasons for the Universal existence of the family can be explained through the functions played by the family. Maclver classifies functions into two categories: essential and non-essential.

1. Essential or primary functions:

i. Stable satisfaction of sex needs: 

Sex desire is powerful in human beings. Family regulates the sexual behaviour of a man and a woman through marriage. Thus, it provides for the satisfaction of the sex need.

ii. Reproduction or Procreation: 

The process of reproduction is institutionalized in the family. Hence, it assumes the regularity and stability that all societies recognize as desirable. Family makes reproduction a legitimate act.

iii. Provision of Home: 

Family performs the function of providing a home for common living to all its members. It is only in a home that children are born and brought up. Even if children are born in hospitals in modern times, they are still taken care of and properly nourished in a home. Because family or home has no substitute. In a home, all the family members live together, and a child is brought up under the strict vigilance of all its members. A home provides emotional and psychological support to all its members. All the members need a home to live happily in peace, comfort, and protection.

iv. Socialization: 

It is another essential function of the family. It is said that man is not born human but made human. A newborn baby becomes a human being after being socialized, and the family plays an important role in this process.

It is one of the primary agents of socialization. Living in a family, a human baby learns the norms, values, morals and ideals of society. He learns the culture and acquires character through the process of socialization. His personality develops during his life in a family. From family, he learns what is right and wrong and what is good or bad. Through socialization, he becomes a social man and acquires good character.

2. Non-essential or secondary functions:

i. Economic function: 

A family’s traditional function is to fulfill its members’ economic needs. The income generated by the members is used for the family’s development and progress.

ii. Educational function: 

Another important role of the family is to provide education and enable its members to socialize. The family provides the basis for the child’s formative learning. Parents teach society’s culture and tradition, the dos and don’ts of society, and its values at home. The family is also responsible for the shaping up of the personality of the individual members.

iii. Religious functions: 

The family is the centre of all religious activities. All family members offer their prayers together and observe different religious ceremonies, rites, rituals, and practices. Children learn different religious values and virtues from their parents. Living in a spiritual atmosphere, spirituality develops among the children. It is through the family that religious inheritance is passed on to the next generation.

iv. Health-related functions: 

Family, as a primary social group, performs several health-related functions for its members. It looks after the health and vigour of its members. It takes care of the sick and elderly members of the family. By providing necessary nutritious food to its members, the family takes care of the health of all.

Of course, the modern family delegates some of its health-related functions to the hospital. Today, a child is born in a hospital or in a clinic and taken care of by nurses.

v. Recreational function: 

The family performs several recreational functions for its members by entertaining them in various ways. Loud reading, singing, dancing, story-telling and playing in-door games, etc., bring together the entire family. In the ancient period, the family was the only centre of recreation. The family celebrated different festivals together, organized picnics and had family feasts. The grandparents taught moral values through story-telling, which was effective as well as entertaining. The effect of this on the cohesion of the family was considerable.

vi. Cultural functions: 

The family also performs several cultural functions as well. It preserves different cultural traits. Man learns and acquires culture from family and transmits it to succeeding generations. That is why family is considered the centre of culture.

viii. Social functions: 

The family performs a number of social functions. It teaches social customs, mores, traditions, norms, and etiquette to the coming generations. The family exercises social control over its members and brings them into conformity with accepted standards. Senior family members directly control the behaviour of children, and thereby, they become good citizens.

Family roles change with time, but even now, the family persists as the most fundamental social unit. People in a complex, competitive world are always searching for a cordial and safe corner, and they are still interested in making a family consisting of parents, children and siblings.