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Haralambos, M(2000)The Sociological Perispective;Rondom House.New York. Schaefer,R,T and Lamm R (1992)Sociology;McGraw Hill.New York Thomas J.Sullivan.Sociology
Linda L. Lindsey.Sociology

According to Thomas J. Sullivan, the family is the eldest and most fundamental of all social institutions. In fact the family was at one time the center of the political economic educational and religious activities. Every society has rules or norms that shape the family and kin relationship and the family can take many different forms depending on which particular combination of rules develop in a given society. Once the rules are established people are socialized to accept their society’s form of the family as “natural in fact the rules are usually embodied in central cultural values that are internalized the violence of which is considered unthinkable.

According to macionis and Plummer 2002, the family has been seen as a social institution that unites individual into cooperative groups .most families are built on kingship a social bond based on blood, marriage or adoption that joins individuals into families.

According to giddeons 2001:173, a family is a group of persons directly linked by kin connections the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children

According to Murdock 1949 define family as a social group characterized by common residence economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children own or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adult.

So the family is a social institution found in all societies that unites people in a cooperative group to care for one another including any children. It is a social bond based on common ancestry marriage or adoption .so all societies contain family.

Most of sociologist describe different types of family and according to them there are two major types of family which are.

Extended family. This is a family consisting of parent’s dependent children and other relatives usually of at least three generation living in the same household are typical in rural areas through out the world .in urban areas larger families consume but not produce goods. Nuclear family is a family consisting of a wife husband and their dependent children who live apart from other relatives in their own residence are more typical globally in urban areas.

Also sociologists tell us that there are different and a lot of functions of the family. Which help to shape and maintain any society as in every society there is families where the family is the one which help to shape the society. The following are some of functions of family;

Reproduction. In a fundamental sense the future of the society is in the hands of the family. Families ensure that dying member of society will be replaced in an orderly fashion so there is the new generation to carry on. In most societies the family of procreation is established at marriage and is the culturally approves sexual union that legitimate child bearing.

Regulation of sexual behaviour. In any society there is restriction on sexual relations and reproduction among certain family members .here taboo is a powerful cultural universal .through this the family ensure the continuity of society which constrains sexual desires within the context of marriage .in the society this is forbidding sexual relation or marriage between certain relatives clan due to defending purpose right which obligations toward one another and this is known as exogamy where people marry outside the particular group and create a big society.

Socialization. The family is the vehicle for primary socialization of children providing both social and individual benefits. In the family children learn basic competencies such as language ,sexual rules, gender...
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