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Family as a social institution social science. The family as the main social institution. Family as a complex social phenomenon

In social science, a family is qualified as a small group in which a person realizes his needs: food, sleep, housing, procreation, care and support. The family as a social institution is one of the most widespread and durable. Consider briefly the main features that characterize the family and its functions.

Concept

A family is a social group in which the relationship between members is based on consanguinity or marriage.

There is such a concept as the life cycle of a family, according to which several stages are distinguished in the development of a family. Let's present them in the form of a table.

Types of families:

nuclear (parents and children);
multigenerational family (parents, children, grandmothers, grandfathers).

The pre-industrial society was characterized by the tradition of creating large, multi-generational families. IN modern society nuclear families predominate.

Signs of the family as a social institution

the presence of special roles: husband and wife, mother and father, son, daughter, brother, sister and others;
the presence of norms of family behavior;
marriage as an official form of family creation;
the presence of special family values: marriage, raising children, family ties, and so on.

The functions of the family as a social institution of society are associated, first of all, with the satisfaction of the most important social needs.

The importance of the family in modern society is great. Let's highlight a number of trends that are characteristic of this institution:

changes in traditional family roles (for example, a woman participates in both industrial and political activities on an equal basis with a man);
a decrease in the family's dependence on laws, traditions, morals and an increase in dependence on the relations between its members, mutual affection;
an increase in the number of legally unregistered families;
falling value of the family.

The state continues to play an important role in supporting the institution of the family.
The measures it is taking include:

provision of benefits and additional parental leave;
introduction of special benefits for pregnant women and large families;
development of family legislation aimed at protecting families, children, and encouraging marriage.

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What have we learned?

The family is one of the social institutions within which a person realizes special roles: spouse, parent, child. The family as a form of organizing life arose long ago and continues to exist now, although its forms and characteristics are constantly changing. The main function of the family is to fulfill the needs of people. The family has a close connection with the institution of marriage, since the state recognizes as family only those relations that are officially registered in special bodies (registry office). Global changes in society are reflected in family relationships and often give rise to some problems. For example, currently there is a tendency for the value of the family to fall and an increase in single-parent families. It is important for the state to preserve the institution of the family, since it is the most stable form (family roles are preserved throughout a person's life). It provides social support to families, creates favorable conditions for marriage.

ROLE RELATIONSHIP
ROLE EXPECTATIONS
FAMILY ROLE
FAMILY
SOCIAL INSTITUTE
ROLE CONFLICT

The article is devoted to the development and functioning of the most important social institution of the family. For a better understanding of the family, an analysis of role relationships and role conflicts in the family is carried out.

The process of formation and functioning of a modern family

The family as a social institution emerged with the formation of society. The process of family formation and functioning is conditioned by value-normative regulators. Such, for example, as courtship, the choice of a marriage partner, sexual standards of behavior, the norms that govern the wife and husband, parents and their children, etc., as well as sanctions for non-compliance. These values, norms and sanctions represent the historically changing form of relations between a man and a woman, adopted in a given society, through which they order and sanction their sexual life and establish their marital, parental and other kinship rights and obligations. At the first stages of the development of society, relations between a man and a woman, older and younger generations, were regulated by tribal and clan customs, which were syncretic norms and patterns of behavior based on religious and moral concepts.

With the rise of the state, regulation family life acquired a legal character. The legalization of marriage imposed certain obligations not only on the spouses, but also on the state that sanctioned their union. From now on, social control and sanctions were carried out not only by public opinion, but also by state bodies.

The family, being a subsystem of society, plays a primary role in ensuring its vital activity both in quantitative (population reproduction) and qualitative (socialization) aspects. As a small social group, the family is part of the social structure of society and is influenced by the state, economy, culture and social consciousness. As a social institution, the family participates in the development of social orientations and attitudes, moral norms, in the socialization of the individual. The role of the family as a social institution is determined by its functions: reproductive, educational, economic, household, recreational. Of course, such a division of family functions is very arbitrary, since in reality the family is a kind of integrity.

For understanding the family as a social institution, the analysis of role relationships in the family is of great importance.

The family role is one of the types of social roles of a person in society. Family roles are determined by the place and functions of the individual in the family group and are primarily subdivided into:

married (wife, husband);
parental (mother, father);
children's (son, daughter, brother, sister);
intergenerational and intragenerational (grandfather, grandmother, senior, junior), etc. ...

The fulfillment of the family role depends on the fulfillment of a number of conditions, first of all, on the correct formation of the role image. An individual must clearly understand what it means to be a husband or a wife, the eldest or the youngest, what behavior is expected of him, what rules and norms are expected from him, what rules and norms are dictated to him by this or that behavior.
In order to formulate his behavior, the individual must accurately determine his place and the place of others in the role structure of the family. For example, can he play the role of the head of the family, in general, or, in particular, the main manager of the material wealth of the family. In this regard, the consistency of a particular role with the personality of the performer is of no small importance. A person with weak volitional qualities, although older in the family or even in role status, for example, a husband, is far from suitable for the role of head of the family in modern conditions.
The successful fulfillment of its functions by a family largely depends, on the one hand, on how conscientiously each family member holding a certain position fulfills his social role, and on the other hand, how much "role behavior" corresponds to the "role expectations" of family members in relation to to each other .

For the successful formation of a family, sensitivity to the situational requirements of the family role and the associated flexibility of role behavior, which manifests itself in the ability to leave one role without much difficulty, to be included in a new one immediately, as the situation requires, is also of no small importance. For example, one or another wealthy family member played the role of the material patron of other family members, but his financial situation has changed, and a change in the situation immediately requires a change in his role.
Role relationships in the family, formed during the performance of certain functions, can be characterized by role consent or role conflict. Sociologists note that role conflict most often manifests itself as:

conflict of role models, which is associated with their incorrect formation in one or more family members;
inter-role conflict, in which the contradiction is inherent in the opposite of role expectations emanating from different roles. Such conflicts are often observed in multigenerational families, where the second generation spouses are both children and parents at the same time and must accordingly combine opposite roles;
intra-role conflict, in which one role includes conflicting requirements. In a modern family, this kind of problem is most often inherent in the female role. This applies to cases where the role of a woman involves a combination of the traditional female role in the family (housewife, educator of children, etc.) with a modern role that presupposes the equal participation of spouses in providing the family with material means.
The conflict may deepen if the wife is in a higher social or professional field and transfers the role functions of his status to intra-family relationships. In such cases, the ability of the spouses to switch roles flexibly is very important.

A special place among the prerequisites for role conflict is occupied by difficulties with the psychological mastering of the role associated with such characteristics of the spouses' personalities as insufficient moral and emotional maturity, unpreparedness for the performance of marital and, especially, parental roles. For example, a girl, having got married, does not want to shift the household chores of the family onto her shoulders or give birth to a child, tries to lead the same way of life, not obeying the restrictions imposed on her by the role of a mother, etc.

The concept of a social institution is widely used both in our country and abroad. With regard to the family, it is used primarily as a complex system of actions and relationships that performs certain social functions. Or, the concept of a social institution is viewed as an interconnected system of social roles and norms that is created and operates to satisfy important social needs and functions. The social roles and norms included in a social institution determine the appropriate and expected behavior that is focused on meeting specific social needs.

The family is analyzed as an institution when it is especially important to clarify the correspondence (or inconsistency) of the family's lifestyle and its functions to modern social needs. The model of the family as a social institution is very important for predicting family changes and trends in its development. When analyzing the family as a social institution, researchers are primarily interested in patterns of family behavior, family role, features of formal and informal norms and sanctions in the field of marriage. family relations.
As a small social group, the family is considered when relations between individuals belonging to the family are studied. With this approach, the motives for marriage, the reasons for divorce, the dynamics and nature of marital relations and relations between parents and children are successfully investigated. Although it should be borne in mind that group behavior is influenced by socio-economic and socio-cultural conditions.

In conclusion, we note that the family, as a social institution, and a small social group, performs the most important public functions- reproduces new generations, moral norms and patterns of behavior, actively participates in the socialization of the individual. Consequently, the task is to create the most favorable conditions for the family for its normal functioning.

Bibliography

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Family Is a small social group based on marriage or consanguinity, the members of which are connected by a community economic activity and community of life, mutual assistance and moral responsibility.

Families are classified according to three reasons:

by the nature of the marriage - monogamous and polygamous;
by composition - individual(one marriage group) and composite(two or more marriage groups);
by the nature of the supremacy of power in the family - patriarchal(ruled by a father or one of the brothers), matriarchal(ruled by the mother) and democratic(equality of spouses) (fig. 1).

Three features of the family as a social institution

The family is a special social institution, the specificity of which is that it:

has a stable structured organization of two or more people connected by blood relationship, marriage ties;
acts as a self-regulating system;
exists as a society sanctioned union.

A family is a complex education that has gone through a number of critical milestones... In primitive society, the concept of "family" was synonymous with the concept of "genus", and the social regulation of relations between the sexes was prohibitive, society persecuted marriages that threaten its survival. The associated system of prohibitions led to the denial of any lasting rights of a man or woman to each other.

Rice. 1. Family classification

This was most characteristic of the customs of exogamy and endogamy.

Exogamy(from ancient Greek. external marriage) - a custom that prohibits marriages within a certain social group (for example, clan, tribe).

Endogamy(from ancient Greek. internal marriage) - the custom of marrying within a certain social community (for example, a tribe or caste). And today, in some ethnic and religious communities, there is a tendency towards endogamy.

With the emergence of private property and the transition to the class structure of society, the main goal of the marriage union was to increase wealth and ensure the indisputable origin of the heir from a certain father, the wife was given under the unconditional authority of her husband.

In modern societies, marriage is a cultural phenomenon that sanctions a more or less permanent union between partners and ensures the legitimacy of their offspring. Depending on tradition, marriage is either monogamous(concluded at the same time with one person), or polygamous(concluded with two or more partners). The degree of constancy of the marriage is also variable. The rise in divorce rates leads to "serial monogamy," in which most divorced people subsequently remarry.

In modern social science, it is customary to distinguish between nuclear and extended families. Nuclear family(eng, nuclearfamily) is a family consisting of a man and a woman (parents) and their children or only spouses. Signs extended family: cohabitation of relatives of different generations and joint economic activity - ownership of property, housekeeping.

Social institution on the example of the family

A family is a relatively small association of people based on consanguinity, marriage or adoption, which is connected by a common budget, everyday life and mutual responsibility, and therefore by a set of social relations based on biological ties, legal norms, rules of adoption (adoption), guardianship and dr.

The history of the family is actually the history of mankind. The family is one of the most ancient social institutions. Today, in some primitive societies, the family is the only stable functioning institution (tribes of Central Africa, Oceania, peoples of the North). In these societies, order is maintained without the establishment of formal laws, the participation of the police, the court; the main authority is that of the head of the family.

Each society has its own special forms of family organization, but sociologists note some common features of family life. There are usually two main types of family structure:

nuclear, consisting of a husband, wife and their children;
an extended family that includes the nuclear family along with many relatives - grandmother, grandfather, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins, and cousins. This list can be continued.

It is characterized by the weakening of many family ties and a clear predominance over the extended one.

Forms of marriage

According to traditional beliefs, the basis of a typical family is marriage - a historically conditioned and society-sanctioned form of relations between a man and a woman. The family either consists of a married couple with or without children, or in the past included such a couple, which then broke up as a result of divorce or widowhood. In sociological literature, a family consisting of one parent with children is usually called single-parent family.

If society limits the choice of a partner in marriage to the fact that it allows it only outside a certain narrow group, then this phenomenon is called exogamy. So, in order to avoid incestuous relationships, moral and legal norms prohibit marrying siblings and cousins. In a number of societies, it is forbidden to choose a partner within your clan, village, tribe. Endogamy- this is a limitation in the choice of a marriage partner. It can be chosen only within its group (racial, class endogamy - when marriage with a partner of another race or from the lower strata of society is prohibited or disapproved).

Modern Western society knows one basic type of civilized form of marriage - monogamy, i.e. simultaneous marriage of one man to one woman. But in a number of societies it is practiced polygamy- a form of marriage in which there is more than one partner in the marriage. Although rare, exotic forms of polygamy are found: group marriage, in which several men and several women are at the same time among themselves in a marriage relationship; polyandry when one woman has several husbands. The most common form of polygamous marriage is polygyny, or polygamy. Supporters of European cultural traditions negatively assess polygamy, seeing this as a danger to personal development women.

Divorce became so widespread in our life that half of Russians who marry for the first time are “doomed” to divorce (sociologists first drew attention to the existence of this problem back in the 1970s). They are trying to look for an explanation of this phenomenon in the diverse macrostructural changes and the nature of intimate relationships.

Some studies note that during economic downturns, the divorce rate decreases, and during economic recovery, on the contrary, increases. Perhaps the reason for this is that a developed industrial society opens up alternative sources of financial stability, professional well-being, moral and personal satisfaction for a person.

Any instability in the institution of the family counteracts the sustainable functioning of society. Therefore, in almost every society there are certain rules and laws that make it difficult to divorce or give privileges to one of the parties. So, in some Catholic countries, for example in Italy, traditionally divorce was generally impossible. Only at the end of the XX century. Italian society has taken a step towards those who made a mistake in choosing a partner and would like to terminate the marriage union. In most developed countries, in the event of a divorce, the ex-spouse must provide his ex-spouse with the financial situation that she had in marriage. In Russia, in such cases, a division of property takes place, a verdict is issued on the payment of alimony; children usually stay with the mother.

Social institutions of the family

In a society of any type, families inevitably arise and develop. Growing up on the basis of specific biological traits of a person, they acquire their social nature through the implementation of the most important social functions by the family. From a biological point of view, only human beings lack the time-limited seasons during which intimacy between male and female creatures is possible, only humans have the possibility of conceiving offspring throughout the year. The second biological feature of humans is a much longer period of helplessness than all other creatures. born child, which dictates the need to preserve for a long period of care for him by the mother who feeds him and the economic support of the family by the father.

For millennia, in every society, the mother's concern was caring for the child, the father's concern was the material support of the family and its protection (hunting, hard peasant labor, war). As a result, a uniform structure arose everywhere: men and women entered into permanent relationships, during which the most effective development of the offspring was achieved and the necessary economic activity based on the separation of the sexes was carried out.

In the conditions of agricultural production, the family performed the function of the most important production unit, an economic structure within which material resources were created and accumulated, which predetermined the need for the emergence of such specific institutions as the institutions of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Through them, material resources were distributed and redistributed, power and privileges were inherited. No society can exist without creating a special mechanism that ensures the continuous replacement of some members of society by others. The family, as a social institution, performed this social function, ensuring the continuity of generations through the perception by individuals of the social role of a father or mother, and the responsibility associated with this role.

A child legally born into a family acquires a stable position in society. Not only material condition is inherited, but also social status, often remains belonging to the same ethnic group to which the family belongs, to the same class or to the number of followers of the same religion. The origin of a person is a significant factor that determines a person's position in society, his social status. In a modern modernized, dynamically developing society, along with this kind of prescribed (data guaranteed by family origin status), all more possibilities is granted to gain an attainable status, to gain a position in society through the efforts of the person himself. Nevertheless, family affiliation retains the role of a factor that, to a certain extent, determines the social status of an individual.

The family is the most important type of primary social group, providing socialization of youth in the course of assimilation of the norms of social life by children, giving family members a sense of security, satisfying the emotional need for joint experiences, in the exchange of feelings and moods, preventing psychological imbalance. The family also protects from the experience of a sense of isolation, which in extreme manifestations leads to demoralization of the individual, the emergence of destructive manifestations in behavior (aggression and auto-aggression). It has also been statistically shown that single, widowed or divorced people are more likely to commit suicide than married people, and married people without children are more likely than those who have children. The more united the family, the lower the suicide rate. About 30% of premeditated murders are murders by some family members of other family members.

If one of the results of the successful functioning of the family is the achievement of a result that is vitally important for the individual and the whole society - socialization of the individual, which provides effective prevention of deviations from the requirements of social norms in the overwhelming majority of spheres of public life, the collapse of the family undermines the very foundations of the organization of society as an ordered social system.

The value of the family as a primary social group is predetermined not only by its special role in the socialization of individuals, but also by its special, fundamental role in the accumulation, preservation and transmission from generation to generation of the basis of the social structure of society, the basic structure that, if the family is preserved, undergoes a change. political regimes, institutions. The family acts as a mediator between the individual and society; helps an individual to take his place in society, to realize himself as a member of society, on the one hand, and provides him with protection, protects the sphere of his personal life, helps to preserve his individuality - on the other.

This is the most important social function of the family. The family is addressed to society, it is the unit of society; it socializes the individual. At the same time, the family is addressed to the individual; it guards the strictly individualized sphere of his existence. It is in the relationship between family members that empathy arises - the experience of the feelings of others (their suffering, grief, etc.) as their own. The family, as a place of safety, compassion, consolation, and spiritual comfort, maintains an incentive to be active. With the disintegration of the family as a social institution, that is, a special social structure, the very foundation of the existence of a civilization of this type is lost.

Family in modern society

The social institution of the family in Russia in the post-revolutionary period has undergone significant changes. Only at the end of the XVIII - early XIX in. with the development of industrial production, the disintegration of the patriarchal family as the dominant institution became apparent. The subsequent post-revolutionary violent industrialization of the country, the forced urbanization of the population were supplemented by the extermination of the most productive families of the patriarchal type in agriculture("Kulaks"), deprivation (in rural and urban areas) of families economic basis in the form of private property. Atheism as a part of state ideology has deprived the institution of marriage of its religious component. The assertion of the priority of the public over the personal, of the state over the citizen, of the official ideology over universal human moral, ethical, and religious values has largely perverted the content of the primary socialization of the individual within the family.

In modern society, the structure and functions of the family are also undergoing major changes. An indispensable condition for the development of a modernized, industrial, urbanized society is an increasing level of social mobility; in such a society, there is a constant need for specific family members to move, move to where opportunities open up for getting work, social advancement. This leads to the rupture of family ties, obligations towards the family give way to the imperative of mobility as a guarantee of achieving material well-being and social success. The unity of the lifestyle of family members is giving way to the emerging diversity of their life aspirations, the growing difference in their social status. Family ties are weakened or broken.

In the conditions of the urban environment, the family of three levels (the older generation, their children and grandchildren) is less and less preserved. In this kind of patriarchal family, which served as the main production unit, more family members meant more productivity. In an industrialized, urban setting, this dependence is sharply weakened; many functions of the family (caring for children, their education, treatment, upbringing) are performed by other social institutions, the socializing function of the family is supplemented in the system of relevant institutions, means mass media etc. In conditions when the economic, socializing, educational functions of the family are weakened, there is a tendency to base family ties on emotional, spiritual closeness between spouses and to treat children not as an economic factor family well-being, an object of socialization, education, but as independent individuals.

In modern society, the key to success is not so much the social origin of the individual, which previously determined his fate, as his personal achievements and merits. Family affiliation less and less determines the social status of a person. Personal aspirations begin to take precedence over family obligations. They determine the marriage choice, place of residence and occupation of the individual. The nuclear family (husband, wife, child) that arises in an industrial society becomes more vulnerable in the event of an unfavorable development of events (illness, old age, loss of life, material losses in one of the family members) than a patriarchal family, where all such cases could be compensated due to mutual obligations.

Trends in the development of social functions of the family in conditions modern Russia will be determined in direct connection with the acquisition by families (and citizens) of social and economic rights (property rights among them), the acquisition of a real material basis for the family, firstly, and socio-cultural, spiritual family values of a humanistic nature, and secondly.

Introduction

In sociology, the institution of the family has a special place. In our country, many scientists are engaged in this topic.

The family is one of the most ancient social institutions. It arose much earlier than religion, state, army, education, market.

The role of the family in society is ambiguous and incomparable with any other social institutions, since in terms of the strength of its influence on the formation, development and maintenance of the social well-being of the individual, it is the most significant.

Therefore, at present, the topic of the family for science and practice is relevant and significant.

The relevance of the topic of control work is due to the alarming state of the modern Russian family, the complexity of the demographic situation in today's Russia.

The practical significance of the test is determined by an attempt to reach out to the consciousness of every person that the guarantee of a prosperous society is a happy family, that family values are destined to live on provided that they are treated with care and passed on to future generations.

The purpose of the test is to reveal the theme of the family as a social institution in the most depth.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set and solved:

Explore the essence, structure and consider the functions of the family as a social institution and a small group.

2. To reveal the tendencies of changes in the family. The main forms of the modern family.

Study the problems of marriage and family in modern Russian society.

Theoretical basis Theories and concepts formed in the works of very famous sociologists served as: Kravchenko A.I., Efendiev A.G., Volkov Yu.G. and others.

1. Essence, structure and functions of the family as a social institution and a small group

A family in sociology is a social association whose members are connected by a common life, mutual moral responsibility and mutual assistance, that is, people and their relationships make up a family.

The family is determined by various cultural factors, the mode of production of material goods and the nature of the economic system. A certain family is objectively corresponding to each economic formation.

The family is a specific social phenomenon, therefore it occupies a special place in the social structure of society.

The specifics of the family are as follows:

The stability of the family as a social institution is ensured by the presence of such strong bonds as kinship and marriage.

The family is a universal form of society's life.

The family develops in accordance with general, specific and particular general laws. At the same time, the family is a relatively independent social institution, which, reflecting "in miniature all the contradictions of society," is endowed with its own internal contradictions, and, consequently, internal sources development.

The family as a social institution occupies a subordinate position among large social communities.

The family is a historical, dynamic social phenomenon.

The family contributes not only to the formation of personality, but also to the self-affirmation of a person both within the family and outside it, stimulates his social, industrial and creative activity, helps to preserve and strengthen the physical and psychological well-being of members of society, to reveal their individuality (it should be admitted that this applies only to prosperous families).

The social essence of the family lies in the fact that it is viewed as an important subsystem of society, which, being a social institution itself, is interconnected with other social institutions and with society as a whole. At the same time, the family is a source of social belonging. In the family, there is a continuous process of transferring experience and traditions from one generation to another.

Family as a social institution it is, first of all, a specific organization that ensures the physical and social reproduction of new generations in society. First of all, for this very purpose, human society in the process of its evolution has developed a set of social norms and sanctioned a system of relationships and interactions that led to the emergence of the most ancient social institution - family and marriage. Consequently, at the level of a small social group, any entity that is potentially capable of carrying out such reproduction at certain stages of its development can be called a family, and an actual married couple, regardless of their legal status, can be considered the nucleus of a family.

Thus, family as a small group it is the subject of physical and social reproduction of generations. Therefore, the definition of the concept of "family" should reflect the noted features of the family as a small social group, while simultaneously indicating the institutional nature of this phenomenon. Based on this, the most satisfactory is the definition of A.G. Kharchev, according to which the family is a historically specific system of relationships and interactions between spouses, parents and children in a small social group, whose members are linked by marriage or kinship relations, community of life and mutual moral responsibility and the social necessity of which is due to the need of society for physical and spiritual reproduction population.

It is important that in the above definition:

mentions two most important functions of the family, reproductive and socializing ("physical and spiritual reproduction of the population");

it is noted that the effective implementation of these functions by the family is necessary condition successful functioning of society itself, which determines its need for the existence of this social institution;

the historical conditionality of the family structure is emphasized;

the characteristics of the family as a social institution and as a small social group are combined and not opposed to each other.

The types of family structures are diverse and are formed depending on the nature of marriage, kinship and parenthood. Thus, the structure of the family is the composition of the family and the number of its members in the aggregate of their relationships.

The analysis of the family structure makes it possible to answer the questions: how are the functions of this family realized? How many generations does a family have? how is the marriage relationship presented? who directs the life of the family? who is the performer? how are responsibilities and roles assigned?

Sociologists divide families into parental, i.e., families of the older generation, and procreational, created by adult children who have separated from their parents.

By the number of generations that make up, families are divided into extended (three or more generations) and nuclear (two generations).

Division by another criterion - the presence of parents - gives the types of complete (two parents) and incomplete (one parent) families.

By the number of children, families differ into three types: childless (no children); one-child (one child) and large (three or more children).

The leadership criterion differentiates families into three groups: paternal (male dominance), material (female dominance), egalitarian (equality of roles).

The most democratic is considered to be an egalitarian family, in which control is divided between husband and wife, both of them are equally involved in making family decisions. This does not negate the rights of the husband to make fundamental decisions (after joint discussion) in one area, for example, in the economic sphere, and for the wife in another, say, everyday life. Children can also take part in making family decisions.

Speaking about the functions of the family, it should be remembered that we are talking about the societal results of the vital activity of millions of families, which have generally significant consequences and characterize the role of the family as a social institution among other institutions of society.

Social functions are understood as the basic needs of society and people who are satisfied by the family. The most important functions of the family and marriage include:

Reproduction of the population. Society cannot exist if there is no well-established system for replacing one generation with another. The family is a guaranteed and institutionalized means of replenishing the population with new generations.

Socialization. The new generation, replacing the old, is able to learn social roles only in the process of socialization. The family is the cell of primary socialization. Parents pass on their life experience, modal attitudes to their children, inculcate ("positive") manners accepted in this society, teach crafts and theoretical knowledge, lay the foundations for mastering oral and written speech, and control the actions of children.

Care and protection. The family provides its members with guardianship, protection, social security. Children not only need a roof over their heads, food and clothing, but they also need the emotional support of their father and mother at a time in their lives when no one else offers them such protection and support. The family supports those of its members who, due to disability, old age or young years, cannot take care of themselves.

Social self-determination. Legalizing the birth of a person means his legal and social definition. Thanks to the family, a person receives a surname, name and patronymic, the right to dispose of the inheritance and housing. He belongs to the same class, race, ethnicity and religious group to which the parental family belongs. It also determines the social status of the individual.

In addition to those listed, the most important functions of the family include: organizing everyday life, organizing personal consumption, psychological and material and household support for family members, etc.

The life of the family, directly related to the satisfaction of certain needs of its members, is called family function.

The main, legal function of the family, as follows from the definition of A.G. Kharcheva, - reproductive, that is, the biological reproduction of the population in the social plane and the satisfaction of the need for children - in the personal plane.

Along with the main function, the family performs a number of other important social functions:

educational - socialization of the younger generation, maintenance of the cultural reproduction of society;

regenerative ("renewal") - the transfer of status, property, social status;

household - maintaining the physical health of members of society, caring for children and elderly family members;

economic - receiving material resources of some family members for others, economic support for minors and disabled members of society;

the sphere of primary social control is the moral regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life, as well as the regulation of responsibility and obligations in relations between spouses, parents and children, representatives of the older and middle generations;

spiritual communication - the development of the personalities of family members, spiritual mutual enrichment;

sexually erotic - satisfaction of the sexual needs of spouses, sexual control;

social status - the provision of a certain social status to family members, the reproduction of the social structure;

leisure - the organization of rational leisure, mutual enrichment of interests;

emotional - receiving psychological protection, emotional support, emotional stabilization of individuals and their psychological therapy;

recreational ("recovery") - the function of restoring psychological health, achieving psychological comfort.

Each function plays a specific role in the life of the family and is important both for society and for the individual. The social and individual significance of the functions of the modern family is reflected in Table 1.

Table 1

Social and Individual Significance of Family Functions

Family activities	Significance to society	Significance for personality
Reproductive	Biological reproduction of society	Meeting the need for children	Socialization of the younger generation. Maintaining the cultural continuity of society	Meeting the need for parenting, contacts with children, their upbringing, self-realization in children
Household	Maintaining the physical health of members of the community, caring for children	Receiving household services by some family members from others
Economic	Economic support for minors and disabled members of society	Receipt of material resources by some family members from others (in case of incapacity for work or in exchange for services)
Sphere of primary social control	Moral regulation of the behavior of family members in various spheres of life, as well as responsibility and obligations in relations between spouses, parents, children, representatives of the older and middle generation	Formation and maintenance of legal and moral sanctions
Sphere of Spiritual Communication	Personal development of family members	Spiritual mutual enrichment of family members. Strengthening the friendship foundations of the marriage union
Social status	Granting a certain social status to family members Reproduction of the social structure	Meeting the need for social advancement
Leisure	Organization of rational leisure. Social control in the field of leisure	Meeting the need for joint leisure activities, mutual enrichment of leisure interests
Emotional	Emotional stabilization of individuals and their psychological therapy	Receiving by individuals psychological protection, emotional support in the family. Meeting the need for personal happiness and love
Sexy	Sexual control	Satisfaction of sexual needs

The reproductive function of the family consists in the birth of children, the continuation of the human race. It includes elements of all other functions, since the family participates not only in the quantitative, but also in the qualitative reproduction of the population, which is primarily associated with the introduction of the new generation to the scientific and cultural achievements of mankind, with the maintenance of its health, as well as with the prevention, as indicated by A.G. Kharchev and M.S. Matskovsky "reproduction in new generations of various kinds of biological anomalies."

If earlier in Russia the type of large family was widespread, nowadays the majority of families have one child, two, or have no children at all. There are very few families with three or more children. There are several reasons for this: the spread of urban lifestyles, the mass employment of women in the industrial sphere, the growth of people's culture, an increase in needs, a sharp deterioration in the material lifestyle of the bulk of the population in the 90s, difficulties with housing conditions.

Along with the decline in the birth rate, the structure of families also changes. They mainly consist of two generations: parents and children. Currently, there are very few families that unite three or four generations. There is also a historical explanation for this: large families live there and then, where it is difficult for a “small” family (husband, wife and children) to survive alone, without relying on numerous relatives. A reduction in the average family size leads to a weakening of family ties and acts as an objective factor in the destabilization of family relations.

With the birth of a child, the family begins to perform an educational function, and both adults and children are brought up in the family. The influence of the family on the younger generation is especially important. One cannot but agree with the American sociologist J. Bossard that family relations include not only what parents pass on to their children and children to each other, but also what children pass on to their parents. These "gifts" of children are: the enrichment of intra-family ties; in expanding the range of interests of the family; in emotional satisfaction lasting a lifetime; in the possibility of returning to the passed stages of life; in a deeper understanding of life processes and the "true meaning of life."

The success of fulfilling the educational function depends on the educational potential of the family - a whole complex of conditions and means that determine its pedagogical capabilities. Family education is characterized by primacy, continuity and duration, stability and emotionality.

The family has the most active influence on the development of spiritual culture, on the social orientation of the individual, on the motives of behavior. Being a micromodel of society for a child, the family is the most important factor in the development of a system of social attitudes and the formation of life plans.

If a family has several children, then natural conditions appear for the formation of a full-fledged family team. This enriches the life of each family member and creates a favorable environment for the family to successfully fulfill its educational function.

The influence of the economic function on the relationship in the family collective can be twofold: a fair distribution of household responsibilities in the family between spouses, the older and younger generations, as a rule, favors the strengthening of marital relations, the moral and labor education of children.

At present, the function of the family in organizing leisure and recreation is noticeably increasing, since free time- one of the most important social values, an irreplaceable means of restoring the physical and spiritual forces of a person, the all-round development of the individual.

Family life is multifaceted. In this test, only its purpose and main functions are briefly considered. But this analysis also shows that the family satisfies the diverse individual needs of the individual and the most important needs of society.

As society affects the family, creating a certain type of it, so the family has a significant impact on the development and lifestyle of society. The family plays an important role in accelerating the economic and social development of society, in educating the younger generation, in achieving happiness for every person.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the family is one of the fundamental institutions of society, giving it stability and the ability to replenish the population in each next generation. At the same time, the family acts as a small group - the most cohesive and stable unit of society. Throughout life, a person is part of many different groups, but only the family remains the group that he never leaves.

family marriage social institution

2. Trends in family change. The main forms of the modern family

Currently, there are concerns about the stability of the institution of family and marriage. Scientists are trying to predict what awaits the family in the 21st century, will it remain in its traditional form or acquire new forms?

There is no single answer to these questions.

Within the framework of scientific polemics about the standing of the modern family, two conceptually opposing approaches stand out - the paradigm of the “institutional crisis of the family” and the “progressive” theory.

Among progressive sociologists (A.G. Vishnevsky, A.G. Volkov, S.I. Golod and others), the ongoing changes are viewed as processes associated with the democratic revolution of social relations.

In contrast to the modernist position, supporters of the crisis approach (A.I. Antonov, V.A. Borisov, V.M. Medkov, A.B.Sinelnikov, etc.) believe that the family is in deep decline, which must be assessed as a value institutional crisis. "Crisis" raise the problem to the category of global civilizational ones, they consider it, with insufficient efforts to resolve it, which can lead to catastrophic consequences. The supporters of the crisis paradigm are extremely strict about the definition of the family. Defending the traditional family and the traditional in the family, they insist on the illegality of considering a full-fledged family and its fragmented forms as equivalent. “Crisis people” deny extended interpretations of the family, believing that this leads to the leveling of the specificity of this social and to the “oblivion” of its social essence.

An increase in the number of families consisting of only two people: incomplete, maternal, “empty nests” (spouses whose children have left the parental family) are noted as a tendency emphasizing the “narrowing” of the object. In an incomplete family resulting from a divorce, children are raised by one of the spouses (usually the mother). A maternal (illegitimate) family differs from an incomplete one in that the mother was not married to the father of her child. Domestic statistics indicate an increase in the "illegitimate" birth rate: at the beginning of the millennium, every fourth child in Russia was born to an unmarried mother.

Despite the disagreements in assessing the degree of anxiety of the problem under discussion, none of the authors can dismiss the obvious common features of the destruction (or "growing pains") of family and marriage relations:

falling birth rates;

an increase in the number of unregistered marriages;

an increase in the number of illegitimate births;

transformation of the moral foundations of the family;

strengthening of the contradictions between the individual and the family;

transformation of the economic function (reduction of the economic role of men in the family);

strengthening of stereotypical problems that prevent a lasting marriage (lack of housing, decent earnings, insufficient socio-psychological readiness for marriage, psychological overload of partners);

decrease in the effectiveness of interaction between generations in the family.

The spectrum of types, forms and categories of the modern family is quite diverse. Different types (categories) of families function differently in certain spheres of family relations. They react differently to the influence of various factors of modern life. Family typologies are determined by different approaches to the selection of the subject of study. Modern families differ among themselves on various grounds (table №2).

table 2

Forms of the modern family

Family signs	Forms of the modern family
by the number of children	childless, or infertile, family, one child, few children, many children;
by composition	single-parent family, separate, simple or nuclear, complex (family of several generations), large family, maternal family, remarriage family;
by structure	with one married couple with or without children; with one of the spouses' parents and other relatives; with two or more married couples with or without children, with or without one of the spouses' parents and other relatives; with mother (father) and children;
by type of headship in the family
family life, way of life	family - "outlet"; child-centered family; a family such as a sports team or discussion club; a family that prioritizes comfort, health, order;	socially homogeneous homogeneous) and heterogeneous (heterogeneous) families;
by family experience	newlyweds, a young family expecting a child, a family of middle and senior married age, elderly couples;
on the quality of relationships and the atmosphere in the family	prosperous, stable, pedagogically weak, unstable, disorganized;
geographically	urban, rural, remote (regions of the Far North);
by type of consumer behavior	families with a "physiological" or "naive consumer" type of consumption (mainly with a food orientation); families with an “intellectual” type of consumption, that is, with a high level of spending on the purchase of books, magazines, entertainment events, etc., families with an intermediate type of consumption;
according to the conditions of family life	student family, "distant" family, "illegitimate family";
by the nature of leisure activities	open or closed;
on social mobility	reactive families, families of medium activity and active families;
by the degree of cooperation in joint activities	traditional, collectivist and individualistic;
on the state of psychological health	healthy family, neurotic family, victimogenic family.

Each of the categories of families is characterized by socio-psychological phenomena and processes inherent in it, marriage and family relations, including the psychological aspects of practical activity, social circle and its content, features of emotional contacts of family members, socio-psychological goals of the family and individual the psychological needs of its members.

In the family, marriage and family relations are formed and developed as a reflection of diverse and multivariate interpersonal contacts, and in general of the entire system of values and expectations of the socio-psychological aspect.

The motives for marriage are largely determining the success of future family relationships.

To date, various forms of marriage and family relations have developed, the most common of which are as follows:

Marriage and family relations based on an honest contractual system. Both spouses clearly understand what they want from marriage and expect certain material benefits. The terms of the contract themselves cement and help solve vital problems. Emotional attachment, which can hardly be called love, but which still exists in such a union, as a rule, intensifies over time (“they will live to see love,” in the words of IS Turgenev). Although, if the family exists only as an economic unit, the feeling of emotional upsurge is completely lost. People entering into such a marriage have the most powerful practical support from a partner in all practical endeavors - since both the wife and the husband pursue their own economic benefits. In such marriage and family relations, the degree of freedom of each of the spouses is maximum, and personal involvement is minimal: if he fulfilled the terms of the contract, he is free to do whatever he wants.

Marriage and family relations based on a dishonest contract. A man and a woman try to derive one-sided benefits from marriage and thereby damage the partner. There is no need to talk about love here either, although often in this version of marriage and family relations it is one-sided (in the name of which the spouse, realizing that he is being deceived and exploited, endures everything).

Marriage and family relations under duress. One of the spouses somewhat "besieges" the other, and he, either due to certain life circumstances, or out of pity, finally agrees to a compromise. In such cases, it is also difficult to talk about a deep feeling: even on the part of the "besieger", ambition, a desire to possess an object of worship, and passion are more likely to prevail. When such a marriage is finally concluded, the "besieger" begins to regard the spouse as his property. The feeling of freedom that is necessary in marriage and the family in general is absolutely excluded here. The psychological foundations for the existence of such a family are so deformed that the compromises required by family life are impossible.

Marriage and family relations as a ritual performance of social and normative attitudes. At a certain age, people come to the conclusion that everyone is married or married and that it is time to start a family. This is a marriage without love and without calculation, but only following certain social stereotypes. In such families, the preconditions for a long family life are not often created. Most often, such marital-family relationships develop by chance and just as accidentally disintegrate, leaving no deep traces.

Marriage and family relations, consecrated by love. Two people unite voluntarily, because they cannot imagine their life without each other. In a love marriage, the restrictions that spouses take upon themselves are purely voluntary: they enjoy spending their free time with their family members, they like to do something good for each other and for the rest of the family. Marriage and family relations in this version are the highest degree of unification of people, when children are born in love, when either of the spouses retains their independence and individuality, with the full support of the other. The paradox is that by voluntarily accepting such restrictions ("I am happy if you are happy"), people become freer ... The marital-family form of such relations is built on trust, on greater respect for a person than for generally recognized norms.

3. Problems of marriage and family in modern Russian society

The problems of the modern family are among the most important and urgent. Its significance is determined by the fact that, firstly, the family is one of the main social institutions of society, the cornerstone of human life, and secondly, that this institution is currently experiencing a deep crisis.

Our sociologists, demographers, psychologists, psychiatrists are more and more unanimous in recognizing that the main role in the emergence of all kinds of problems in family life in our country is played by reasons of a socio-psychological order, first of all, the socio-psychological culture of young spouses, their ability to achieve mutual understanding.

Analysis of the current situation shows the need for state support for the young primary cell of society. At the same time, we are not talking about supporting family dependency, we are talking about creating a favorable space for the functioning of the family, conditions for the self-realization of its interests. A law "On state support for young families in the Russian Federation" is needed. It should include existing mechanisms that allow a young family to independently solve housing, social, financial and other problems.

Special attention and a delicate approach is required for the issue related to the implementation of the most important function of the family - its reproductive purpose. In the overwhelming majority of countries in the world, childbearing has been included in the rank of state policy. Despite the extremely low fertility rate, our state does not sufficiently stimulate this process. In a number of regions, child benefits are being canceled, large families are poorly supported, and there is no purposeful preparation of young people for family life and conscious parenting.

The Russian Federation, even by Western standards, is characterized by a uniquely low birth rate. In four of the seven most developed countries, a steady natural population growth is still maintained: in the UK - 1.6, France - 3.4, Canada - 4.8, and the United States - 5.6 per 1000 people. In our country, there is a steady depopulation of the population not only due to the low birth rate, but also due to the supermortality of infants and men of working age. At the same time, it is known that in a normal family people live much longer and work longer.

By 2015, according to forecasts, the number of Russians entering the working age will be reduced by almost 2 times, and the number of those going beyond the working age will also exceed them by almost 2 times. How will the youth feed such an army of pensioners ?!

According to the forecast of the State Statistics Committee of Russia, the country's population will decrease by 11.6 million by 2016. The UN demographic services predict a decrease in the population of the Russian Federation by the middle of the XXI century to 121 million. The results of the latest census show that there are a lot of foreign citizens in the country, especially in the border areas, and this does not meet the economic and geopolitical interests of Russia.

The development of the demographic situation in our country depends on:

solving key socio-economic problems and preserving state potential that meets modern conditions;

the role that the Russian Federation plays in the consolidation of the CIS countries;

the development of vast territories and a more large-scale involvement in the economic turnover of natural resources and the country's geographical advantages;

preservation of the territorial integrity of the federation.

The "Concept of the demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2015" is aimed at solving the demographic problem, which basically describes the problems and speaks of the need to solve them. But how to correct the situation specifically needs to be through the adoption of appropriate laws.

The demographic crisis is a threat to Russia's national security. Overcoming this crisis requires society and the state to morally raise the role of the family in the reproduction of life, legal regulation of this main function and provide it with material, financial support from the state, increase the scientific substantiation and practicality of the latest complex scientific and technical, socio-economic, health care, educational programs.

The study of the modern family also confirms that while the more frequent natural disasters and anomalies urgently require more and more cohesion and concerted actions of peoples and states, the crisis of the "modern" family is facilitated by such negative signs of modern civilization as the acuteness of geopolitical contradictions in the interaction of modern states; local wars, increased terrorism, man-made disasters. Speech here, not just in the indicated factors, but in the death of people, their children, fear for their future, damaging the integrity of the modern family, in the destruction of mankind's hopes for the humanization of civilization.

The effectiveness of the legal regulation of family relations is achieved under the following conditions: when family legislation is based on RIGHT as the essence of laws - requirements from a person and human society and the state of freedom for all citizens to create good, ensure the safety of life, equality and justice; when the main law of the state - the Constitution proceeds and protects the fundamental rights of a person and a citizen; when the Constitution and the family legislation proceeding from it reflect the specific historical needs of society, family, children in family well-being and progress of the whole society.

A study of the current aspects of the legal regulation of family disputes shows that real family relations go far beyond the framework of the current family and civil legislation and therefore require constant improvement. The legal consequences of divorce, deprivation of parental rights, issues of guardianship and trusteeship and adoption need special attention of society and the state.

The main features of the modern Russian family are shown in Scheme 1.

Scheme 1

A necessary condition for the recovery of the Russian family is the turn of the state and local authorities to the problems of the family, overcoming the pernicious, degrading influence on the family.

Conclusion

The family as a unit of society is an inseparable part of society. And the life of society is characterized by the same spiritual and material processes as the life of the family. The higher the culture of the family, therefore, the higher the culture of the whole society. The family is one of the mechanisms of self-organization of society, with the work of which the affirmation of a number of universal human values is associated. Therefore, the family itself has a value and is built into social progress. The main functions of the family in a traditional society, in addition to reproduction of the population, are economic, household and social status. The institution of the family performs very significant functions in the life of society.

The modern young family is going through a severe crisis and has its own peculiarities peculiar only to it.

Objectively insufficient level of material and financial security. Today, the average per capita income in young families is 1.5 times less than the national average. Moreover, 69% of young families live below the poverty line.

Objectively increased material and financial need in connection with the need to arrange family life: the purchase of housing, the organization of everyday life.

The time when spouses are forced to go through certain stages of socialization: to get an education, profession, job.

Necessary psychological adaptation to family life. 18% of young families need psychological counseling.

Unresolved problems of young families, weak state support often lead to family conflicts that contribute to the breakdown of the family. 70% of all divorces occur in the first 5 years of marriage.

Measurements of the state of the modern family show that the type of family is changing both in the world and in Russia. Unregistered marriage is becoming more and more widespread. 43% of young people point to the lack of funds as their main problem; about 70% of young people are afraid of unemployment to one degree or another; the global problem of today's youth is dissatisfaction with a society in which there is no order and no guaranteed future. The Russian legislation does not provide for a mechanism to support young families, so the only means of maintaining a satisfactory standard of living is the help of parents.

Bibliography.

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2. General Sociology: Textbook. allowance / under the general ed. prof. A.G. Efendieva. - M .: INFRA - M, 2007.

Sociology: Course of lectures / Yu.G. Volkov and others - Rostov on Don: Phoenix, 2006.

Lavrinenko V.N. Sociology: a textbook for universities. - Moscow: Culture and Sport, UNITI, 2002.

Gurko T.A. Marriage and parenting in Russia .. - Moscow: Institute of Sociology RAS, 2008.

Borisov V.A. Degradation of the family institution // Family in Russia. 1995. No. 1-2.

I. V. Grebennikov The basics of family life. - M., 1991.

Kravchenko A.I. Foundations of Sociology and Political Science. Textbook for High Schools, Moscow, 2006.

Social science. Ed. SOUTH. Volkova. Textbook for applicants to higher educational institutions. M., 2005.

Kharchev A.G., Matskovsky M.S. Modern family and its problems. - M., 1978.

Savinov L.I. Family studies. - Saransk, 2000.

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Chernyak E.M. Sociology of the family: - M .: Publishing and trade corporation "Dashkov and K °", 2006

Family concept and typology

The family is the most important social institution of kinship, linking individuals with a common life and mutual moral responsibility.

The family as a social institution is of particular interest, since, on the one hand, it ensures the stability of society and evolves with it, and on the other hand, it acts as a space in which a person's personal development takes place.

A family is a small group based on marriage or consanguinity, whose members are linked by a common life, mutual assistance, moral and legal responsibility. SI Ozhegov defines a family as a group of relatives living together. At the same time, the family, people living together, their household, as well as an apartment, are a home. Everything that relates to home, family and private life is considered home.

According to L.A. Kolpakova, a family is a social group whose members are united by legal or actual marital relations, relations of kinship or property, mutual rights and obligations arising from family legal relations, community of life and emotional and psychological ties.

GF Shershenevich pointed out: "The family is the constant cohabitation of a husband, wife and children, that is, it is a union of persons bound by marriage and persons descended from them." At the same time, he especially emphasized that "the physical and moral makeup of the family is created in addition to the law ... The legal aspect is necessary and expedient in the field of property relations of family members."

The Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev saw the essence of the family in the fact that it "has always been, is and will be a positivist secular institution of improvement, biological and social ordering of the life of the clan"

The Philosophical Dictionary defines the family as "a small social group of society, the most important form of organizing life based on marital union and family ties"

In sociology, the family is defined as a social institution characterized by certain social norms, sanctions, patterns of behavior, rights and obligations that regulate relations between spouses, parents and children. At the same time, in sociology, marriage is understood as a socially confirmed and sometimes legally certified union between a man and a woman, giving rise to rights and obligations in relation to each other and children.

Along with this general (sociological) definition, there is also a special (legal) concept of the family. In the legal sense, a family is a legal connection. In particular, the family is united not only by moral responsibility, but also by legal relations, both between its members and between the family and a number of other institutions of society. Therefore, a family in a legal sense can be defined as a circle of persons bound by rights and obligations arising from marriage, kinship, adoption or another form of child adoption and recognized to contribute to the strengthening and development of family relations based on moral principles. At the same time, in jurisprudence, marriage is understood as a free, voluntary, equal union of a man and a woman, concluded in a state body for the purpose of forming a family, in compliance with established by law claims and giving rise to mutual personal non-property and property rights and obligations between spouses.

As A. N. Ilyashenko rightly notes, the definition of a family from a legal point of view is not simple, since the norms of various branches of law, when determining the circle of family members, proceed from the peculiarities of the relations regulated by them.

Thus, family law does not define a family. The state, using the norms of family law, establishes the conditions and procedure for entering into marriage, terminating a marriage and recognizing it as invalid, regulates personal non-property and property relations between family members: spouses, parents and children (adoptive parents and adopted children), and in cases and within the limits provided for family legislation, between other relatives and other persons, and also determines the forms and procedure for placing children without parental care into a family.

In the theory of family law, there is also no universally accepted definition of the family. So, the concept of a family is given as a certain set (community, group) of people, according to general rule relatives based on marriage, kinship and property, living together and maintaining a common household, forming a natural environment for the well-being of its members, raising children, mutual assistance, procreation.

Housing law uses the term “tenant's family member” of the dwelling instead of “family”. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation itself does not contain a definition of the concepts of "family" and "member of the employer's family". In Art. 31 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation states that the family members of the owner of a dwelling include his spouse who live together with this owner in his dwelling, as well as the children and parents of this owner. Other relatives, disabled dependents and, in exceptional cases, other citizens may be recognized as members of the owner's family if they are moved in by the owner as members of his family.

In inheritance law, the concepts of "family", "family member" are not used at all. However, in fact about family members in question when the law determines the circle of persons who are heirs by law. According to Art. Art. 1142 - 1148 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the number of heirs under the law, that is, in fact, family members, include: relatives of the 1st - 5th degree of kinship (from children, including adopted children, the testator's spouse and parents to his great-great-grandchildren, nephews, uncles and aunts); stepsons, stepdaughters, stepfather and stepmother; citizens who do not belong to the above persons, but by the day of the opening of the inheritance were disabled and for at least a year before the death of the testator were dependent on him and lived with him.

The criminal legislation of the Russian Federation, instead of the terms "family", "family members" uses the concept of "persons close to the victim" (for example, clause "g" of part 1 of article 63, clause "b" of part 2 of article 105, part of 1 article 163, article 316 of the Criminal Code of Russia). In criminal law, "persons close to the victim" are understood to be his close relatives (parents, children, adoptive parents, adopted children, siblings, grandfather, grandmother, grandchildren) and other persons who are related to the victim, property (spouse, relatives of the spouse) , as well as persons whose life, health and well-being, due to the prevailing life circumstances, are dear to the victim (for example, the groom, bride, roommate, roommate, friends, and so on).

The criminal procedural legislation of the Russian Federation instead of the term "family" uses such concepts as "close", "close relatives" and "relatives". According to Art. 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, close relatives are spouses, spouses, parents, children, adoptive parents, adopted children, siblings, grandfather, grandmother, grandchildren; to relatives - all other persons, with the exception of close relatives, who are related; and to close persons - other, with the exception of close relatives and relatives, persons who are in property with the victim, witness, as well as persons whose life, health and well-being are dear to the victim, the witness due to the established personal relations.

Thus, the concepts of "family", "family and marriage relations" are the object of research in many sciences. This is the sociology of the family, demography, ethnography, the psychology of family relations, developmental psychology, medicine, family law, pedagogy, criminology and, in particular, family criminology. In each of these branches, the family is investigated in a certain section, from those positions and from the point of view that is inherent only in this scientific discipline.

There are various approaches to family typology (Fig. 1).

Figure 1 - Typology of a small group family

The most common criterion for systematization is the criterion of childhood, that is, the number of children (their own and adopted). Families are distinguished:

a) large (from four children or more);

b) average children (two or three children);

c) without children;

d) childless.

As already noted, the dominant trend for the industrially developed is an increase in the number of one-child and childless families (having married, spouses are more and more in no hurry to have children, preferring to first get an education, make a career, and so on).

The sovereign criterion shows how power is distributed between spouses. On its basis, there are two types of relationships within the family.

family social children protection

Table 1 Types of relationships within the family

Democratic

(egalitarian)

the type is associated, as a rule, with the dominance in the family of the husband or one of the older relatives (a classic example - Kabanikha from the drama by A. N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm"), much less often - the wife. This type of relationship is characteristic of the pre-industrial stage of the development of society, however, as a woman emancipates, her level of education increases and her involvement in social production gradually disappears. This type is characterized by strict subordination of children to their parents. It should be noted that recently, both in Western and Russian sociology, a direction has been developed that pays special attention to the protection social rights children by society and the state, including by means of law.

type assumes equal participation of spouses in decision-making and raising children, voluntary distribution of responsibilities, etc. In a family based on this type of relationship, there is no pronounced leader, since both of its adult members are endowed with equal legal rights to own property and raise children. Here, a woman, especially if she works, reacts more sharply to manifestations of male despotism and selfishness, accompanied by violence against her and children, which confirms the increase in the number of divorces initiated by her.

The criterion for the distribution of responsibilities (roles).

Usually, there are aggregated (from Lat. Segregatio - separation), joint and symmetric types of marital roles.

The segregated type assumes the separation of marital roles and their isolation, which finds expression in a strict delineation of duties and responsibilities between husband and wife. Thus, the husband, while continuing to be the “breadwinner” of the family, the earner of the means of material existence, performs traditionally male work in housework. The wife, on the other hand, is a housewife, her circle of occupations is limited to the kitchen, raising children, purchasing food, and so on.

The existing division of roles continues in the formation of so-called networks of contacts that correspond to individual needs and interests. The latter are conditioned, in particular, by the husband's employment outside the home, which predetermines the circle of his contacts, including the sphere of free time. Men, for example, prefer to relax in the company of other men on fishing, hunting, drinking alcohol and the like. On the contrary, women, all the time engaged in domestic work, stand closer to their mothers and sisters, preferring communication with the parental family to all types of contacts.

The joint type is associated with the achievement of greater equality in the family due to the fact that the husband and wife have common interests and goals, as well as with the redistribution of roles within the family as a result of the fact that both spouses work outside the home. In this regard, they spend their free time together, jointly make decisions concerning the whole family. The husband's responsibilities around the house, including raising children, are expanding.

An important factor in the redistribution of marital roles is the alignment of the social positions of men and women. With an increase in the level of education and qualifications, the specific gravity women in decision making. This tendency is especially pronounced in middle-class families, which, as they move away from parental families, are increasingly oriented towards new cultural standards that imply egalitarian relations between spouses in marriage. This is also facilitated by the fact that the wife often makes a successful professional career, while the husband may find himself unemployed.

Family researchers note that the joint type of marital roles is largely characterized by the transition from the old to the new way of family life. If the man’s diktat is already over here, then the load on the woman not only does not decrease, but, on the contrary, doubles because of her employment at work and at home.

The symmetrical type of matrimonial roles is characterized by a greater, than before, a family's closeness from outside influences, the formation of its own world in it. Relationships of this type are characterized by:

1) the husband and wife are focused on problems at home, especially when the children are still young;

2) the influence of the extended family (for example, relatives living nearby) is minimized, due to which the former traditional cultural stereotypes regarding the sphere of "male" and "female" labor are no longer valid;

3) there is a lesser division of labor in the distribution of household responsibilities, for example, a man is more likely to work on taking care of a child or cleaning an apartment.

Today, the husband is increasingly taking on the same responsibility as his wife for family affairs. This is reflected in the legislation of many industrialized countries, where state-paid parental leave can be granted to any parent of their choice. At the same time, a woman gets more opportunities for her professional career.

Thus, the most common criterion for systematization is the criterion of childhood. The authoritative criterion shows how power is distributed between spouses, and the "cultural ideal" of a traditional family in which women are housewives - wives, and husbands are breadwinners of the family, has actually lost its significance today.

Family functions

The family as a social institution has a number of functional features that need to be considered in detail.

1. The most important function of the family is the socialization of the individual, the transfer of cultural heritage to new generations. The human need for children, their upbringing and socialization gives meaning to human life itself. It is quite obvious that the priority of the family as the main form of socialization of the individual is due to natural biological reasons.

The family has great advantages in the socialization of the individual in comparison with other groups due to the special moral and emotional psychological atmosphere of love, care, respect, sensitivity. Children raised outside the family have a lower level of emotional and intellectual development. They have inhibited the ability to love others, the ability to empathize and empathize. The family carries out socialization in the most crucial period of life, provides an individual approach to the development of the child, reveals his abilities, interests, needs in time. Due to the fact that the family develops the closest and closest relationships that can exist between people, the law of social heritage comes into force. Children by their nature, temperament, style of behavior are in many ways similar to their parents.

The effectiveness of parenting, as an institution of socialization of the individual, is also ensured by the fact that it is permanent and long-lasting and continues throughout life as long as the parents - children are alive.

2. The next most important function of the family is the function of social and emotional protection of its members.

In times of danger, most people strive to be close to their families. In a situation that threatens life and health, a person calls for help from the most dear and close person - mother. In a family, a person feels the value of his life, finds selfless dedication, readiness for self-sacrifice in the name of the life of loved ones.

3. The next most important function of the family is economic and household. The bottom line is to support minors and disabled members of society and to receive material resources and household services by some family members from others.

4. The social-status function is associated with the reproduction of the social structure of society, since the family transfers a certain social status to its members.

5. Recreational, restorative function is aimed at restoring and strengthening the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual strength of a person after a hard day's work. Marriage has a more beneficial effect on the health of the spouses, and on the body of a man more than a woman. And the loss of one of the spouses is more difficult for men than for women.

6. The leisure function organizes rational leisure and exercises control in the sphere of leisure, in addition, it satisfies certain needs of the individual in spending free time.

7. Next reproductive function associated with the biological reproduction of members of society. Society cannot exist if there is no well-established system for replacing one generation with another.

8. The sexual function of the family exercises sexual control and is aimed at satisfying the sexual needs of the spouses.

9. The felicitological function is of particular interest in this list. It is now that love and happiness have become the main reason for starting a family, rather than reproductive and economic considerations. Therefore, the strengthening of the role of the felicitological function in the family makes modern family-marriage relations specific in comparison with the family and marriage of other historical periods.

The strength and attractiveness of the family, its essence lies in the integrity that is inherent in the family as a social community, and as a small social group, and as a social institution. The integrity of the family is formed due to the mutual attraction and complementarity of the sexes, which create a "single androgenic being", a kind of integrity that cannot be reduced either to the sum of family members or to an individual member of the family.

A family is created to satisfy not one or two, but a whole complex of vital human needs.

Families that adequately perform all or most of the functions are called functional families. In the case of violations of many functions (especially priority ones), such families are called dysfunctional.

Thus, human existence is currently organized in the form of a family lifestyle. Each of the functions can be more or less successfully implemented outside the family, but their totality can only be carried out in the family.

Socio-economic situation of the family in modern Russia

Polls public opinion in Russia they show that the family is perceived as one of the main values in life and as a condition for a happy life. Moreover, the stability or instability of social life, the health of the nation is directly dependent on the state of the family. A disintegrating family is one of the conditions for the degradation of society.

With the transition to market relations, the standard of living of the population of Russia has significantly decreased. The financial situation of large families, single mothers, families with disabled children, student families has especially worsened. Almost all of the monetary income of these families is used to buy food.

Taking place in last years socio-economic and political transformation the Russian state and society has led to a fundamental breakdown of economic and social structures. In these conditions, the study and preservation of such an important primary basic institution of society as the family is of particular importance.

The basic principles of family policy, proclaimed by the UN, are as follows:

The family, as the most important unit of society, deserves attention, protection and support from the state, regardless of the types of families, the diversity of individual preferences and social conditions;

It is necessary to promote the rights and freedoms of the individual in the family;

Family policy should be aimed at promoting equality between men and women in the distribution of family responsibilities and consolidating their equal opportunities to participate in work and social life;

All family policy measures should strengthen the autonomy and independence of families, ensuring that the family is assisted in performing its inherent functions, without replacing them with government structures.

The world community has also formulated the priority tasks of family policy for all states:

Formation of egalitarian (equal) relations between spouses in the family;

Improving the situation of single-parent families with one breadwinner, with sick and elderly family members;

Protecting families from poverty and deprivation, from the negative effects of changes that are associated with the economy, migration, urbanization, ecology, and as a result of which the family often loses the ability to perform its functions;

Creation of conditions that allow families to make competent decisions on determining the intervals between births of children and their number;

Prevention of alcohol and drug addiction, domestic violence.

Problems faced by the modern Russian family as a result of social and economic changes:

Low material security;

Increased social and geographic mobility; migration, including outside the state;

Deteriorating health status, demographic situation (natural population decline began);

Fundamental changes in the traditional roles of family members, especially women;

Growth in the number of single-parent families;

Increasing the dependency ratio;

Domestic violence, social orphanhood.

The not always consistent building of the statehood of Russia, mistakes made in reforming socio-economic life, have caused damage to such social achievement, as an extensive free system of preschool and out-of-school education, health-improving recreation for children. This system allowed parents to combine family responsibilities with participation in labor market structures, introduced young people to various types of creativity, helped them in choosing a life path.

Due to the increase in parental fees and the decrease in the number of places, fewer children attend pre-school institutions from year to year. For the same reason, the number of children involved in paid sports clubs and art studios is decreasing.

For most families, health care services have become less accessible, including skilled health care, medicines and medical supplies.

A very painful problem for most families is the improvement of housing conditions, especially for young families who do not have their own homes.

The number of families of refugees and internally displaced persons, both within the country and outside it, is growing.

Experts' studies show that the refusal of some families to give birth to children due to unfavorable economic and psychological conditions may, with the continuation of the socio-economic crisis, develop into new reproductive attitudes, expressed, in particular, in a sharp decrease in the values of children for parents, which will lead to a new round of depopulation - for example, to a decrease in the population and labor force, as well as to neglect and neglect of children.

The psychological climate in society is deteriorating, which is directly related to the growth of violence, crime, the spread of alcoholism and drug addiction, prostitution and pornography. The family, being a part of society, ceases to be a psychological refuge from social cataclysms. As a result, the number of disadvantaged families is increasing.

Nevertheless, it is quite possible to mitigate the negative consequences of reforming society. The way out is seen not in the rejection of reforms, but in giving them a social orientation, economic growth, stabilization of the socio-political situation. The state sets the task of considering the interests of the family as the goal of developing the economy and social sphere.

The state should not impose on the family the lifestyle, the number of children, the employment of the parents. The family is autonomous in making all decisions, its right is to choose support measures.

The social market state is called upon to carry out social protection of the family in a differentiated manner, ensuring an acceptable standard of living for disabled family members: children, disabled people, pensioners, as well as large families.

Single-parent families with one breadwinner require special attention: single mothers, divorced men and women with children, widows and widowers with children, as well as foster families.

At the same time, it is necessary to create conditions in society for the self-sufficiency of families with able-bodied members on a labor basis. We need a new income policy. Wages and pensions should, in particular, meet all the needs of the family in terms of paid social services (health care, consumer services, etc.).

It is important to provide conditions for partnership between the state, sharing responsibility for the fate of Russian families with all civil institutions and all citizens on the basis of cooperation.

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