THE FAMILY

AND FAMILY HEALTH

 CONCEPTS / DEFINITIONS OF
FAMILY
• FAMILY – it is the basic social institution and
the primary group in society.

• According to Murdok, FAMILY is a social group

characterized by common residence, economic
cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of
both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a
socially approved sexual relationship and one or
more children, own or adopted of the sexually co-
habiting adults.
 FAMILY
• According to Burges and Locke
FAMILY – is a group of persons united by ties of
marriage, blood or adoption, constituting a single
household, interacting and communicating with
each other in their respective social roles of
husband, wife, mother and father, son and
daughter, brother and sister, and creating and
maintaining a common culture.
 CONCEPTS / DEFINITIONS OF
FAMILY
• According to Murray and Zentner
FAMILY – is a social system and primary
reference group made up of two are more
persons living together who are related by
blood, marriage or adoption or who are living
together by arrangement over a period of time.
 CONCEPTS / DEFINITIONS OF
FAMILY

There are various types of family that exist in

today’s society, some of the more common
structure include:
The Nuclear Family

- This usually consists of

two generations of family,
parents and their own or
adopted children residing
in the same household.
The EXTENDED FAMILY
- This is also known as the Three Generation
Family. Consisting of grandparents, their
children and their grand children.
• SINGLE PARENT FAMILY
- This type of family is also known as the Lone
Parent Family. It consist of one parent and a
child or children residing in one household.
• RECONSTITUTED FAMILY
- This is a family where one or more parents
have been married previously and they bring
with them children from their previous
marriage (s). This introduces various
combinations of step-father, step-mother etc.
• SYMMETRICAL FAMILY
- This family is one in which the roles of the
husband and wife or of co-habiting partners
have become more alike or equal.
• EMPTY NEST FAMILY
- In this family, the children have moved out of
the home and the parents reside together.
• CEREAL PACKET FAMILY
- This type of family is usually flouted as the ideal
family type and as such is usually displayed on
cereal packets.

- It is a certain type of nuclear – this refers to the

image most people hold of the family. It is also
the picture of the family that the media tends to
present, especially in advertisement.

- The women is a housewife and full time mother

and the man is the ‘breadwinner’. i.e. He is the
one who has to go to work to earn money.
FAMILY CLASSIFICATION

Families can be classified according to the

various categories:

a. On the basis of Lineage

b. On the basis of Headship
c. On the pattern of residence
d. On the amount of mates
 On the Basis of Lineage
• Patrilineal Family
- This type of family occurs when property and
title inheritance passes down through the
father’s side.

• Matrilineal Family
- This is where the property and title inheritance
passes through the mother’s side.
On the Basis of Headship