The single parent family is one of the “fastest growing family structures” of the past decade (Benokraitis 35). This type of family tends to be temporary because the single parent tends to remarry or marries for the first time. The single mother, the most common form of this type of family, must cope with low pay, child-care problems, and the overburden of working and continuing to shoulder household and child rearing duties. A successful single parent, particular a single mother, finds a way to balance a low wage with high day care costs and just living costs in general. They find adequate housing in a satisfactory neighborhood, which is difficult. The successful parent finds the time to juggle work, home maintenance, child care duties and have social interactions with other adults to avoid social isolation that occurs with most single parents. Sharing the cost of rent with a roommate may “alleviate some of the social and emotional isolation” that happens while also lessening the financial burden of raising children on their own (Benokraitis 57).
The nuclear family includes a husband, wife and children. This type of family has the following functions are “procreative, affectional, economic consumption” (Lamanna 67) Extended Family includes one or more nuclear families plus other family positions such as grandparents, uncles, etc. This type of family serves all social, educational, economic, reproductive, affectional, and religious functions. The composite Family is two or more nuclear families sharing a common spouse, functions are normally the same as those of a nuclear family. Tribal Family is many families living in close proximity as a larger clan or tribe and usually has the same functions as those of the extended family.
Consensual family (cohabitation) includes a man, woman, and children living together in a legally unrecognized relationship. This type of family serves any function it needs to. The commune “is a group of people living together sharing a common purpose” with assigned roles and responsibilities normally associated with the nuclear family (Lamanna 78). It can provide all functions with leadership vested in an individual, council, or some other organized form to which all families are beholden. Single-parent family is usually a mother and child. Father and child combinations are less common. This family’s functions are the same a monogamy without a legally recognized reproductive function.
The concubine type of family contains an “extra female sexual partner recognized as a member of a household” but without full status (Benokraitis 156). The functions of this type of family are usually limited to sex and reproduction. The reconstituted (blended) family consists of a husband and wife, at least one of whom has been previously married, plus one or more children from previous marriage and/or marriages and can serve any function.
Socialization can be defined as the physical and psychological nurturing of children into adulthood or passing society’s values on to new members beginning at birth. The family retains the greatest overall influence on young children. The social learning theory has pointed out the importance of modeling in learning for young children. Modeling is learning by observing other people’s behavior.
Parents and other family members are the most significant models for young children. Society often blames the family for the problems of their individual members but social problems such as economic depression, inflation, unemployment, civil unrest etc. also work to shape the individual. Each family has their own opinions about these problems based on their value systems, which may lead to the family to take certain actions when these problems touch their family. Personality theories of socialization can also be used to account for traditionalization, in regard to sex roles. The child’s parents are used for the models in early sex role socialization; boys take after their fathers and girls their mothers. Because there is no formal education for parenthood new parents tend to fall into the rigid sex roles of their parents before them to get things done, perpetuating the cycle.
