Topic > A look at the impact of cultural change on the family

IndexTypes of familiesCultural construction of the familySolutionConclusionWorks CitedThe effects of cultural change on the family are so diverse and evident in our contemporary society. This article examines the effects of cultural change on the family, which includes both positive and negative aspects. The main discussions are hosted in the body following the introductory part of this document. In the next part you will find the sentence and finally on the last page the references appear. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are blurred lines between the family as an institution and the cultural change of society since change is inevitable. Murdock (1949), cited by Haralambos and Holborn (2008), defines the family as “a socio-cultural group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a culturally approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, their own or adapted, of the adults who cohabit sexually. Giddens, on the other hand, defines cultural change as the alteration of the cultural order that can result in progress. It describes cultural change as cultural, physical, environmental, or political (Giddens, 2006). The family as an institution is part of society, so a change in one part of society can affect the family directly or indirectly with negative or positive impacts. Types of families Family is a social unit created by blood, marriage or adoption and can vary in types, for example nuclear and extended families. These types of families are based on organization, form of marriage, authority or residence. Some are as follows: Nuclear family consisting of only father, mother and children. The extended family is also a type in its own right that includes members of the nuclear family plus relatives such as uncle, aunt, cousin and other closely related relatives. Single-parent families are part of this categorization where these families consist of one parent raising one or more children. Stepfamilies are evident in today's society which involves the merging of two families into one in case of previous divorces or death of spouses. There are grandparental families where grandparents raise their grandchildren (Nam, 2004). Patriarchal and matrilineal families are based on authority while avunculocal and neolocal families fall under the residency categorization. The types of families are many and today so fluid due to cultural changes. Cultural Construction of the Family Cultural change affected the family as the industrial revolution had a great impact on the family as an institution. For example in Kenya, the patriarchal nature of the family. In pre-modern families, men went to work while wives performed household chores. The husband was considered the head of the family. However this concept of family has changed where women have received education and now work in professions just like men. The number of single-parent families and divorce cases has increased, which has a negative impact on the family. On the other hand, it is beneficial for the family in which both husband and wife work because it gives them the ability to support family needs (Zeitlin et al., 1995). Cultural roles in pre-modern families are quite different from modern families due to cultural change. Among the Dinka, for example, boys used to graze livestock while girls and young women went to gather them. Currently this is not the situation of today's families.The cultural roles that girls and boys take on are so fluid. For example, nowadays girls go to dig in farms and are also employed in different jobs like M-pesa shops where they work and earn income. Similarly, the children of current families also go to work and do household chores such as cooking, cleaning utensils and washing their clothes. The bright side is that family members are now versatile and any job or task can be done. However, this (economic) independence has led many women to refuse to marry because they feel they can support themselves enough to invest in test tube babies (Van Den Berghe, 1979 cited by Graemem, 2013). Bane (1976) cited by Nam (2004) postulates that family sizes are shrinking and mobility has separated some families. Cultural change has contributed to the reduction in the percentage of "classic" nuclear and extended families. Society is currently dominated by single-parent families and quasi-family units based on non-marital cohabitation. This has negatively affected the family as an institution because the culturalization of children is not effective. That is, a child raised by a parent will automatically lack the values ​​and cultural aspects that the missing figure would have transmitted. The recreational activities that families engaged in in the past have changed in modern society. This is the result of human innovations and creativity. This cultural shift has had a major impact on family recreational values. Family members in today's society have adapted new values ​​and recreational activities. For example, in the families of ancient society, children gathered around the fireplaces with their grandparents who told them stories and legendary tales. This was highly appreciated as it was a way for children to learn life lessons and also to become culturalized into the cultural traits of society (Zeitlin et al., 1995). This is not the case in current families. Nowadays, parents buy their children gadgets like PlayStation and brick games, among others, which they play with their children at home. Even children in contemporary families have smartphones and are much more interested in the Internet than in fairy tales from the past. Postmodern families value the Internet to the point of installing home-faiba and Wi-Fi connections at home. Time that would have been spent listening to stories is now spent on the Internet through devices such as smartphones and other digital activities such as watching movies and soap operas. Therefore, this cultural change has influenced the culturalization of children at the family level to some extent (Graemem, 2013). The negative side of this effect is therefore an ineffective culture of the younger generation engaging in deviant activities such as premarital sex and drug abuse due to exposure. In contrast, the positive impact of this effect is that family members are more literate as a result of the exposure. There has been a great transition from the agricultural society to the current industrialized society. Economic activities at the household level have changed due to this cultural shift. The means and ways of obtaining income to support families have changed, which has had a great impact on the family as a cultural institution. For example, in the agrarian era, production was family-based and children and women were the source of labor. So families were large so they could cultivate the family land for mass production. Polygamous families with many children dominated the society, which is not the case in today's society. Currently most areas have been urbanized and people are moving away.