Sociology Essay Example: The Social Institution of Family

The family is a fundamental social institution. As children grow up, they think of how they can grow their families and keep them together. As a consequence, it becomes a norm for people to think about their future. The social institution of family has three critical functions (White, & Klein, 2014). These functions are raring of children, transmitting the culture between generations and also to create a sense of belonging and identity among the members. The study looks at the social institution of marriage as an aspect important of the society.

In a family, there are very important aspects that need to be looked at that affects child growth. In most cases, people tend to look at a family concerning mother, child, and a father. However, there are the extended families who are composed of many other relatives. All these relatives contribute to the success of the family and also the failure. Other families are composed of a single-parent household, unmarried couples, single parents and gay couples. A person's family is their blood, regardless of the family type. It is crucial for them to accept who they are and support each other regardless of the situations that exist. An individual who has formed a family can consider like beginning that stage. Family is important to every person's life due to the following reasons;

First, a family contributes to child rearing and making their future. In a family, it is easier to make or break a child's future. Some families are high income while other are low income. Regardless of their social status, every family member contributes to the positive growth of their children in different ways (Kendall, 2009). A child who grows in a morally upright family is likely to be a morally upright individual. The child would be able to understand what is right and what is wrong.

Children go to schools to learn. However, every parent must ensure that the children can understand everything they are taught in schools and also use the same knowledge for their future success. If a child is not supported properly with their family while studying, it becomes difficult for them to succeed. For instance, children are playful. They need adult supervision to create seriousness in their studies and also focus on increasing their knowledge. Additionally, parents are likely to determine the type of habit children will pick up and stay with it for longer.

Secondly, a family is an important institution since it helps build trust and support to every member in tough situations. Family member sticks with each other in any situation. It is considered one of the greatest advantages that every person has from having a family. In life, people encounter situations where they face challenges. Such challenges can be solved with friends, and other can be handled at a personal level. However, some situations require family support to handle them. When an individual is in such a situation, they will understand the importance of family. People try to help each other in situations where they face issues. Family sticks together regardless of circumstances. In every family, this factor is considered as the uniting factor and thus used as the verifying factor of love.

The family also helps make the society a better place. In any perfect family, every individual has to work hard to build and make their lives better. In case of any failure from a family member, the entire family is likely to collapse. The family thus contributes towards positive societal growth due to the orientation that every member puts on the society. For example, a father and mother have put education into their children to work hard and achieve their dreams. As a consequence, the children realize they have to make their family proud. They thus work extra hard to achieve their dreams, perhaps, set up businesses or companies or get employed.

All the effort that every child puts to their success when they become adults contributes to a better society. Their efforts are seen through businesses, corporate social responsibility among other ways. It is thus essential to understand that a family is a contributor to a perfect society. Without families that are together, if there would be perfect families, the society would also be perfect. There would be no criminal cases but only hard-working individuals.

Lastly, families help celebrate the happiness of one another. In every family, the success of one person is celebrated as the success of the entire family. Families thus work on ensuring that they succeed in their endeavors so that they can observe together and create a good environment for motivation and future success. Having a family will mean that one can work and show their effort to the family in the long run which will be appreciated.

In summary, being in the social institution of family is very important since it helps build an individual and propel towards a successful life (De Rose, Racioppi, & Zanatta, 2008). Families contribute to positivity and successful growth in the long run. A family does not have to be composed of mother, father, children and the extended family. It can also be part of a workforce or friends. When people stay together for long or work together for long, they tend to support each other. However, such cannot be considered as similar to blood unions among family members.

A family does not need to have children. It can be composed of two people who have decided to live together and support each other. However, some childless families choose to adopt children since children are considered as a source of joy and strength among families. As a child grows, their success in every step is considered important to every member of the family. It is the sole reason why every father and mother pride in having successful children. Successful children also lead a successful life and promote the success of their family members in the future (Andersen & Taylor, 2008). The success of a child is thus passed from generation to generation.

In conclusion, the study shows the different forms of families. Each form of the family contributes to the success of an individual in their future life. Every individual belongs to at least one form of the family identified. However, the characters of the families and the ability to stick together determine the success of the family members. The study thus identifies successful families like the ones where people stay together. The study has also identified the positive outcomes of the family. It is thus important to stay together with family members to promote positive growth.

References

Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2008). Sociology: Understanding a diverse society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

De Rose, A., Racioppi, F., & Zanatta, A. L. (2008). Italy: the Delayed adaptation of social institutions to changes in family behavior. Demographic Research, 19(19), 665-704.

Kendall, D. E. (2009). Sociology in our times. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

White, J. M., & Klein, D. M. (2014). Family theories: An introduction. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.