THE FAMILY
CTS College Private Secondary School
1-The Family, Functions and Types
Shnola Cox-MSc, BSc
TOPIC TRACKER
Section A of CSEC Social Studies Syllabus:
Individual, Family and Society
Unit 1- The Family
Topics:
1. Functions and types
2. Roles and Responsibilities
3. Parenting, social issues and laws
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this session students should be able to:
1. Explain and use correctly concepts and terms associated
with the family as listed in content (1)
2. Describe the major functions of the family
3. Compare different family types and unions in the
Caribbean
WHAT IS THE FAMILY?
▪ A group of people related by blood, marriage or adoption who usually share the
same home support and maintain each other socially, economically and socially.
▪ Strong families= strong communities and societies
FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
▪ 1. Reproduction/Procreation- This fulfilment of sexual needs allow for the
populating society and ensuring continuation of the human species.
▪ 2. Economic –Family members work and pool resources to meet their basic needs-
food, clothing, shelter.
▪ 3. Psychological- The family meets the emotional needs through ensuring family
members are loved, wanted and protected.
▪ 4. Socialisation- Teaching children acceptable and necessary values, skills and
behaviours for proper living in society.
HOW GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS THE FAMILY
▪Welfare
▪Feeding programmes
▪Foster homes
▪Care services
▪Counselling
FAMILY TYPES
▪ Nuclear family- mother, father and children.
▪ Extended family- more than 2 generations- grandparents, niece, nephews, aunts,
uncles, cousins.
▪ Sibling family- in the absence of both parents due to death,
migration,imprisonment etc. The elder siblings takes charge.
▪ Single-parent family-1 parent present in the home.
PAST PAPER QUESTIONS –JAN 2019
▪ 1. Samuel lives with his grandmother, uncle, aunts and their
children.
▪ (a) (i) Name the family type to which Samuel belongs.
▪ (ii) Outline ONE likely challenge of living in a family type similar
to that of Samuel. (iii) State ONE other family type found in the
Caribbean.
▪ (b) One function of the family is procreation. Outline TWO other
functions of the family.
ANSWERS
▪
1. Samuel lives with his grandmother, uncle, aunts and their children.
▪ (a) (i) Name the family type to which Samuel belongs.
▪ Samuel belong to an extended family
▪ (1 mark)
▪ (ii) Outline ONE likely challenge of living in a family type similar to that of Samuel.One disadvantage is that there will be less privacy as
there are a lot of people sharing the same space.
▪ (2 marks)
▪ (iii) State ONE other family type found in the Caribbean.
▪ Nuclear family
▪ (1 mark)
▪ (b) One function of the family is procreation. Outline TWO other functions of the family.
▪ 1Socialisation is a function of the family where parents or older ones teach children right from wrong and acceptable ways of behaving
in the society.
▪ 2. Another function of the family is economic where parents or members provide for their needs eg food, clothing, and shelter.
▪ (4 marks)
2 STRENGTHS AND 2 WEAKNESSES OF
EACH FAMILY TYPE
IMPORTANT FAMILY CONCEPTS
▪ Status- Relative rank or standing within a family or society
▪ Incest- human sexual activity between family members or close relatives.
▪ Legal separation- The legal procedure by which a married couple remains legally
married while living apart.
▪ Divorce-Completely ending a marriage according to divorce laws.
▪ Annulment-A legal process which cancels a marriage between a man and a woman as
though it never happened and declares it invalid. Based on grounds like force, hiding a
STD etc.
▪ Alimony –Payment due to one partner by the other by court order, following a divorce.
▪ Sibling –a brother or sister
▪ Inheritance- money or property that passes to a person’s beneficiary after their death.
FAMILY/UNION PATTERNS IN THE
CARIBBEAN
▪ Legal Marriage- The union of a man and woman united through religious and or
legal ceremony.
▪ Common-law union- A man and woman living together without legal ceremony.
▪ Outside Family- when 1 partner has a 2nd family with another other than his or her
spouse.
▪ Step-family or reorganized family- Formed when both parents have children
from a previous relationship.
FAMILY TREE BASICS
▪ Younger ones at the bottom
▪ Each generation is usually in 1 level
▪ Horizontal like shows marriage _________
▪ A bracket from a upper to lower box shows children
DRAW A QUICK FAMILY TREE SHOWING 3
GENERATIONS
KINSHIP TERMS
▪ Kinship refers to the culturally defined relationships between individuals
who are commonly thought of as having family ties.
▪ Mono=1
▪ Poly=Many
▪ Bi-=2
▪ Neo=New
KINSHIP TERMS-UNION/MARRIAGE
▪ General: Monogamy =1 spouse
Polygamy= more than 1 spouse
Bigamist= legal term for more than 1 spouse at a time
▪ Gender-Specific: Polygyny= more than 1 wife
Polyandry (LIKE ANDREA) = more than 1 husband
KINSHIP TERMS- LOCATION
▪Neolocal -Establish one’s own residence after
marriage
▪Patrilocal-Newlyweds living with husband’s
family
▪Matrilocal -Newlyweds living with wife’s
family
KINSHIP TERMS- HEADSHIP
▪ Family:
Patrifocal
Father as head
Matrifocal Mother as head
▪ Society:
Patriarchal Men in control
Matriarchal
Women in control
KINSHIP TERMS- RIGHTS & DUTIES
▪Patrilineal-
Rights, decisions and
responsibilities follow the father’s lineage
▪Matrilineal- Rights, decisions and
responsibilities follow the mother’s
lineage
KINSHIP TERMS- ETHNICITY
▪Endogamy - Choosing partner within
their own ethnic group (tribe, religion,
class)
▪Exogamy - Choosing partner outside
their own ethnic group (tribe , religion
,class)
IN CLASS WORK -PAST PAPER
JAN 2018
▪ 1. (a) Define the term ‘extended family’.
▪ (b) (i) State ONE condition that may cause an extended
family to be formed.
▪ (ii) Give ONE advantage which living in an extended
family might have over living
▪ in other types of families.
CORRECTIONS
▪ 1. (a) Define the term ‘extended family’.
▪ Extended family consists of at least three generations living under the same roof. (2 marks)
▪
▪ (b) (i) State ONE condition that may cause an extended family to be formed.
▪ When parents get old and cannot take care of themselves they may have to move in with their children. (1 mark)
▪
▪ (ii) Give ONE advantage which living in an extended family might have over living
▪ in other types of families.
▪
Grandparents can help to raise the children and in so doing pass on the culture/ Grandparents may stay with the
children while their parents go to work. (1 mark)
▪ (iii) Describe TWO ways in which greater access to education and training by women
▪ has affected the economic functioning of families.
▪ Way 1 Because of education and training women can now contribute to the income in the home which can improve the
family standard of living.
▪
▪ Way 2The father no longer has the burden of being the sole provider/breadwinner in the family as the mother now
contributes financially to the running of the home.
▪ (4 marks)
SUMMARY
✓A family helps produces new members for a society , meet the
basic needs of its members, trains and nurtures individuals.
✓There are a number of family types in the Caribbean region:
nuclear, extended, single-parent, sibling household etc.
✓There are a number of unions around which a family can be
based: legal marriage, consensual or common law and visiting
relationships.
▪Read pages 2-5 of CSEC study guide and class
notes.
▪
1.
(i)
(a) Define EACH of the following terms:
Matrifocal (1 mark)
(ii) Matrilineal (1 mark)
▪ Mary and her brother Roy live in the same household with their younger sister. They take care of their
younger sister as their parents live abroad.
▪ (iii) State TWO factors, other than migration, that could have led to the creation of Mary’s type of family.
▪ (2 marks)
▪ 2.Describe TWO ways in which the roles of parents are likely to help children to become well-rounded and
responsible adults.
▪ (4 marks)
▪ 3. Maya and Sam have been married for many years. They live with their two adult sons and three
granddaughters. The family is very close, and they communicate openly. Recently, Maya's aging mother
moved in with the family.
▪ (a) (i) Identify the form of marriage referred to in the passage. (1 mark)
▪ 4. Paul previously lived in a home with his parents and two sisters. His grandmother, Molly, who is 85 years old has
recently joined the family. She suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure and uses a wheelchair. The family does
not want her to live in the home for the elderly which is located approximately six miles away. They have discussed
with Grandmother Molly the changes that will be made to improve her quality of life.
▪ (a) (i) Name the family type to which Paul previously belonged. (1 mark)
▪
(ii) Name the family type to which Paul now belongs. (1 mark)
▪ (b) Identify TWO possible changes in the family which may improve the quality of life for
▪ Grandmother Molly. (2 marks)
▪ 5. ‘In the Caribbean today some couples are choosing common law unions over marriage; however,
▪ they still need to prepare themselves for parenthood.’
▪
▪
(a)
Define the term ‘marriage’.
(2 marks)
(b) Name TWO different forms of marriage.(2 marks)
▪ (c) Give TWO reasons why some couples may choose common law unions over marriage.
▪ (4 marks)
WEEKLY TEST 1
▪ https://forms.gle/PTrrhqxF7SNxUgku5
NEXT WEEK’S TOPIC
Family- Roles and
Responsibilities