HISTORIA DE VIDA DE ADRIANA

There is no universally acceptable definition of family as a sociological or anthropological concept and this is attributed to the different approaches and schools of thought among sociologists, anthropologists, social psychologists, demographers and others (United Nations, 1973b: 5). This could also be due to the fact that individuals, groups and societies differ in their recognition of kin, or in the meaning and importance they attach to kin. For instance an uncle may be someone whom the niece or nephew sees every day and with whom the niece or nephew has strong emotional ties, or an uncle may be someone whom the nephew or niece rarely sees and with whom emotional ties are weak, or an uncle may be someone virtually unknown to the niece or the nephew. Indeed, as the United Nations (1980: 94) puts it:

Families differ quantitatively in the number of kin recognised, and qualitatively in terms of the kinds of ties among kin, whether a kin relationship involves emotional closeness or distance, frequent or infrequent interaction, strong or weak obligations, loyalty and so forth.

While it is recognised that family relationships may go far beyond the members of the household, the household is usually used as the operational unit of analysis. This is because it is the simplest and most convenient point of reference for distinguishing members of the family. However, family or kinship units can also be defined in terms of interaction, cooperation and reciprocal obligations among kin living in different households.

The concepts presented here are limited to those which consider the co­ residence criterion, as the present study employs similar concepts (Section 3.4). With the co-residence criterion, the reference point in defining the membership of the family is the household. A distinction between the two terms family and household is also presented to avoid confusing one term with the other. The nuclear and the extended

3.3.1. The family

It is common in demographic studies using census data to define family as a group of relatives who live together (see for instance Burch, 1967; Van der Tak and Gendell, 1973; Kuznets, 1978; and studies utilising Philippine data by Stinner, 1977, 1979; Morada and Gregorio, 1983; and De Guzman, 1985). This definition combines the criteria of kinship and co-residence. This definition of family is also found in other disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, and historical demography. For example, Burgess et al. (1963: 2) defined family as

a group of persons united by ties of marriage, blood, or adoption; constituting a single household, interacting and communicating with each other in their respective social roles as husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister; and creating and maintaining a common culture.

Murdock's (1965: 1) influential work also defined the family as "a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction." Murdock described the family as consisting of adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and of one or more children of the co-habiting adults. These children may either be their own or adopted. This definition, which embodies the concept of the nuclear family, has been the most widely cited definition in the sociological literature of the family (United Nations, 1973b: 5). The United Nations attributed this to the definition's emphasis on the morphological characteristics of the family, namely common residence and the fact that its coherent members are related to each other by blood, marriage or adoption.

3.3.2. The household

The concept of family may be confused with that of household because the two terms are closely related to each other. Burgess et al. (1963: 2) defined household as "a group of persons residing at the same place and constituting a single housekeeping unit." Similarly, the United Nations (1973b: 5) defined the household as "a socio­ economic unit consisting of individuals living together." Further, the United Nations (1973: 6) recommended for inter-national use the definition of household based on the arrangements made by persons for the provision of their food or other essentials for

living. According to this definition, a household may fall under the following categories:

(1) a one-person household, that is, a person who makes provision for his own food or other essentials for living, or

(2) a multi-person household, that is, a group of two or more persons who make common provision for food or other essentials for living. The persons in the group may be related or unrelated persons, or may be a combination of both.

The United Nations (1973b: 6) definition further stated that a household may occupy the whole, part of, or more than one housing unit. Households consisting of extended families which make common provision for food may occupy more than one housing unit.

3.3.3 The nuclear versus the composite forms of the family

In his survey of 250 representative human societies, Murdock (1965: 1) identified three distinct types of family organisation: the nuclear family, the

polygamous family and the extended family. The first and most basic is the nuclear family, which Murdock (1965: 1) described as consisting typically "of a married man and a woman with their offspring, although in individual cases one or more additional persons may reside with them."

The nuclear family is found to be the universal human grouping, either as the sole prevailing form or as the basic unit from which the more complex composite familial types are formed (Murdock, 1965: 1). These composite families are of two types: the polygamous families and the extended families.

Polygamous families are formed through plural marriage. Polygamy is the general term that refers to all marriage forms that involve plural spouses, either husbands or wives. The marital system that allows the taking of multiple wives is called

polygyny, while that which involves one wife with plural husbands is termed polyandry'

(Leslie and Korman, 1989: 26). Polygyny is more common than polyandry. Under

When these nuclear families combine to form a larger familial group, the outcome is a

polygamous family.

In contrast, extended families are created through an extension of the parent- child relationship rather than of the husband-wife relationship, that is, by joining the nuclear family of a married adult to that of his parents. An example of this type of family is the so-called patriarchal family which consists of an older man, his wife or wives, his unmarried children, his married sons and their wives and children (Murdock,

1965: 2).

Castillo et al. (1968: 3), in their scrutiny of the operational definitions of

nuclear and extended family used by different authors, noted that the common element in the definitions of the nuclear family is the presence of father, mother, and unmarried children. Beardsley et al. (1959: 225, cited in Castillo et al., 1968: 3-4) used the term

immature instead of unmarried. Castillo et al. (1968: 3) pointed out that the term

immature here may imply that mature children, although unmarried, are no longer considered as members of the nuclear family. As to which term is appropriate will depend on the culture and norms of a society's living arrangements. In the Philippines, for example, a household consisting of husband, wife, and never married son or daughter, even if he or she is more than thirty years of age, will be classified as a nuclear family. Such a living arrangement is acceptable in the Philippines. This may not be the case in a place where there is a general expectation that at a certain age, irrespective of marital status, a person should have a place of his or her own.

The extended family, by comparison, can be distinguished based on the number of generations. Castillo et al. (1968: 15, 1979: 105) maintained that the number of generations is a very adequate basis for determining the extended character of a household. The extended character of a family can also be based on the lineality and collaterally of kin relations involved (Castillo et al., 1968: 15, 1979: 105). The

patriarchal family described by Murdock (1965: 2) or the parent-child-grandparent composition is a lineal extension. This is also known as a vertically extended family or

stem family. In contrast, a household consisting of a nuclear family plus siblings of either the husband or the wife, or cousins of the same generation as either husband or wife is laterally extended. This is also called a horizontally extended family or joint family. When the kinds of relatives described in these two types of extended family are

present in the same household, it is then called a vertically and horizontally extended family or stem-joint family.