Family Functions
Families around the world serve the same two purposes. First they provide for the survival of the family by living in groups. Group living is a basic characteristic of humanity. Security in numbers, sharing of work and tasks, and emotional support are all byproducts of group living and greatly increase the chances of the survival each family member. The second purpose families provide is the nurturing of children. Because children require nearly two decades of nurturing and teaching before they are ready to venture out into the world and start their own families, the family is able to provide “protection, nurturance, and interactions with members of both sexes.” (Searles and Lee, 2002, p. 190). This has many advantages for the children because it not provides for their physical development, but also for their social and emotional development. They learn how to interact with different people, and how to behave according to social norms. The family provides emotional support during trying times, and helps give the child a sense of belonging and worth.
Families in North America have dramatically evolved from Colonial times. The contrast is based on the issues of privacy and the separation between social lives and private lives inside the household. As opposed to modern times, colonial households did not make the separation between public and private life. The home was viewed as the center of economic activity because it was here that agricultural practices took place. Both men and women took part in food production. Wives also “wove cloth, traded with neighbors, managed servants, and helped to keep accounts.” (Haviland, 2002, p. 246). Unlike now where head of household is ideally a shared responsibility between the man and the women, in colonial times the male was the central figure of authority. Everyone attached to the household including the wife, children, and servants were expected to obey the orders given by the man of the house. Women were viewed as subordinates in society and in marriage. In the modern family, women are considered to be on equal status with a man in the marriage. Of course this is dependent on cultural values shared by the family. However many single women are head of household and hold their own power and authority over their families. This would have been unheard of in colonial times. (p. 246). Adultery was a punishable crime during colonial times with severe penalties that often included flogging, exile, or even death. This severity of punishment for infidelity is not seen today, however the offense is grounds for granting a divorce.
References
Haviland, William A. (2002). Cultural Anthropology. (10th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers.Lee, Valerie L., and Searles, Richard T. (2002). Study Guide for the Telecourse Faces of Culture. (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
