The family in historical and psychological aspects

The growth of productive forces that led to the victory of the patriarchate, expressed in the rise of all branches of economic activity, the development of exchange, and the emergence of commodity production, caused the rapid disintegration of the primitive communal system. Along with the separate property of the family community, private property began to strengthen, the bearer of which became a separate (small, individual) family consisting only of parents and their children. The heads of individual families sought to become the sovereign stewards of their share in the common property, to stand out, to become independent. The disintegration of the patriarchal family, which freed private property from the communal and tribal ties that hindered its development, was at this stage an inevitable consequence of the law of mandatory conformity of industrial relations with the nature of productive forces. Having separated from the patriarchal family, the individual family became the main economy, the unit of society, and at the same time the first form of the family, which was based not on natural, but on economic conditions – namely, the victory of private property over the original, naturally grown common property. In the new family, the monogamous order found its further and final expression: the husband became the sole and uncontrolled ruler. In this form, the family as a unit of society enters into a class society – the slave-owning system.

It is traditionally found in some groups in West Africa, India, Australia, Indonesia, Melanesia, Malaysia and Polynesia. Anthropologists believe that a tribal structure based on two-way ancestry helps tribal members live in extreme conditions because it allows individuals to rely on two groups of families (phratries) scattered over a large area.

The concept of family

A family is a group of people connected either by consanguinity (recognized by birth) or intimacy (marriage or other relationships). It forms the basis of the social order. The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and society as a whole. Ideally, families provide predictability, structure, and security as their members mature and learn to participate in community life. Historically, most human societies have used the family as the primary place of attachment, upbringing, and socialization. Anthropologists classify most family organizations as matrilocal (mother and her children), patrilocal (father and his children), conjugal (a married couple with children, also called a nuclear family), paternal (a man, his sister and her children) or extended (in addition to parents and children, may include grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins).

The field of genealogy aims to trace the family's lineage throughout history. The family is also an important economic unit studied within the family economy. The word "family" can be used figuratively to create more inclusive categories such as communities, statehood, and the "global village".

One of the main functions of the family is to provide the basis for the production and reproduction of people biologically and socially. This can happen through sharing material goods (such as food); providing and receiving care and education (foster kinship); legal rights and responsibilities; and moral and sentimental bonds. Thus, a person's attitude towards his family changes over time. From the point of view of children, the family is an "orientation family": the family serves for the social placement of children and plays an important role in their inclusion in culture and socialization. From the point of view of the parent(s), the family is a "procreation family", the purpose of which is to produce, introduce culture and socialize children. However, the production of children is not the only function of the family; in societies with a sexual division of labor, marriage and the resulting relationship between two people, this is necessary for the formation of an economically productive household.

However, the Western concept of family is ambiguous and is confused with household, which manifests itself in the various contexts in which the word is used. However, this confusion is not accidental, but indicates the family ideology of capitalist, Western countries that adopt social legislation insisting that members of the nuclear family should live together, and those who are not connected by such ties should not live together; despite ideological and legal pressure, a large percentage of families do not correspond to the ideal the type of nuclear family.