Family functions
Family is defined as a socially acceptable group of individuals utilizing marriage, legal procedures, or birth and who share from a standard pot economically as well as support each other emotionally. Family can be categorized into two; Family of procreation and family of orientation. There are several types of families including, nuclear family, extended family, single-parent family, and child-headed family, among others. Whichever the nature of a family, it possesses significant roles that it ought to perform failure to which adverse effects may occur to the society in large.
Family functions refer to the specific roles that a family should perform to promote the wellbeing of the family as well as that of the whole society. On the contrary, family dysfunction is the involuntary failure for a family to perform its specific roles hence leading to an inability to goal accomplishment. Among the primary social functions of the family is economic satisfaction, which refers to a situation where all financial needs of a family member are catered for, and all capable members of a family contribute to the economy pool. The family also fulfills social and emotional needs to the family members such as love and comfort in the time of loss. Socialization of children also takes place in a family, thus ensuring children are well natured and equipped with the necessary life skills. Also, it is in the family where parents teach their children sexual orientation, thus controlling their sexuality. Also, one’s identity is modeled through interactions with family members. A family is termed dysfunctional when it fails to meet the needs of the family members. This may be due to several reasons which include; lack of enough resources that make the family not to meet its economic needs. Other causes include the history of violence and various forms of abuse in the family, intimate partner violence, and negative changes that may occur throughout the family cycle.
In conclusion, a family that is a primary segment of a society plays a more significant role in modeling its members towards becoming prominent and acceptable members of the community. It does this through its essential social functions that ought to be performed for the family not to be termed dysfunctional hence not having any impact on its members.