Family

Family as a Social Institution

      What is a social institution anyway? Defined by the Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research a social institution is a system of behavioral and relationship patterns that are densely interwoven and enduring, and function across an entire society. They order and structure the behavior of individuals by means of their normative character (Verwiebe). Social institutions are the standard or usual way a society meets its basic needs. They shape people's behavior and values. The book Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach says by weaving the fabric of society, social institutions set the context for your behavior and orientations to life. If your social institutions were different, your orientations to life would be different (Henslin 100). Every society has social institutions because they are a vital part of society.
     There are many different types of social institutions. Religion, education, and politics are just a few. However, family is a social institution that every person in society is a part of, whether that be in a sport, church, friends, work, or within their own family. Family like any other social institution has five main functional requisites.
      First, any group or social institution needs members. These members need to be replaced in order for a social institution to continue its existence. With reproduction fundamental to a society's existence, and the need to protect infants and children universal, all groups have developed some version of family. The family gives the newcomer to society a sense of belonging by providing a lineage. A lineage is an account of how he or she is related to others. The basic needs of regulated reproduction, and socialize and protect children are met (Henslin 101).
      Second, the members within the group or institution need socialization. With family the newcomer, the baby or infant, has to be taught what it means to be a member in that specific group. Each group has expectations that need to be met by the new members. The family is essential to this process. If certain needs or expectations are not met each group/family has consequences that are given. These expectations are not only necessary in the home but also out in society. It gives the member a certain confidence when accepted by other groups when their expectations Aline (Henslin 101).
      Third, a group needs to produce and distribute goods and services. This could be food, clothing, shelter, or education. This make a the group vital to society in an economic way.  Economics deals with supply and demand. The demands of a social group should equal with the supply of the social group. This helps regulate the economy so one social group is not taking more than they deserve. The family provides food, clothing, and shelter to its members. Adults work and provide these necessary items to their children. Parents also provide education to their children through words and actions (Henslin 102).
       Fourth, a social group needs to preserve order. Social groups face two threats of disorder. One is internal, the potential of chaos within the group. The second, is external, the possibility of attack. To protect themselves from an internal threat they develop ways of control. There is an order and classification to the group. To defend themselves against external conquest, they develop a defense system. A family has internal order kept by the head of the house, then the spouse, oldest child to youngest child. Each person has worked and continues to work for their place of order. The defense system for the family is the defense team (police force) within the family's community (Henslin 102).
       Fifth, every social institution has to provide a sense of purpose. They need to get people to yield self-interest in favor of the needs of the group. To convince people to sacrifice personal gains, societies install a sense of purpose. The sense of purpose helps create the feeling of belonging to its members (Henslin 102). Within a family there are many things that contribute to this sense of purpose. Different members of the group help provide this purpose by showing affection, care, and companionship. Family members provide each other with love and intimate relationships that also help them feel protected, secure, and satisfied (Verwiebe).
       Family as a social institution meets all of these requisites. Family structures are where children grow up and receive their primary socialization. My social habits were first implemented by the members of my family. Every human being has been shaped into the person they are today because of the way they were raised, what they were taught was acceptable, and what was not. Depending on what family you were brought into determines your values, beliefs, and morals because the basic essentials of life were first taught to you by your family. Once those ideas are placed into a person's life they become the typical or normal way of going about and doing life.

Works Cited

Henslin, James M. "Chapter 4: Social Structure and Social Interactions."Sociology:A Down-to-Earth              Approach: Pearson New International Edition Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2014. 93-123.             Print
"Social Institutions." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Dr. Roland Verwiebe. Web.