Everything about Extended Family totally explained
Extended family (or
joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it's used synonymously with
consanguineous family. Second, in societies dominated by the
conjugal family, it's used to refer to
kindred who doesn't belong to the conjugal family. Often there could be many generations living under the same roof, depending on the circumstances.
Roles and Responsibilities
In extended families the network of relatives acts as a close-knit community. Extended families can include, aside from parents and their children:
- spouses of children
- cousins, aunts, uncles
- foster children/adopted children etc.
In the cultures where the extended family is the basic family unit, growing up to adulthood doesn't necessarily mean severing bonds between oneself and one's parents or even grandparents. When the child grows up, he or she moves into the larger and more real world of adulthood, yet he or she doesn't, under normal circumstances, establish an identity separate from that of the community....
Workload is equally shared among the members. The women are often housewives and cook for the entire family. The patriarch of the family (often the oldest male member) lays down the rules, works (if not retired) and arbitrates disputes. Other senior members of the household baby sit infants. They are also responsible in teaching the younger children their mother tongue, manners and etiquette. The members of the household also look after each other in case a member is ill.
Around the world
In many cultures, such as in those of many of the
Africans, Korean, the
Middle Easterners, the
Jewish family of central
Europe, the
Latin Americans, the
Indians, the
East Asians and the
Pacific Islanders,
extended families are the basic family unit. Cultures in which the extended family is common usually happen to be
collectivistic cultures.
Australian Aborigines are another group for whom the concept of family extends well beyond the nuclear model. Aboriginal immediate families include aunts, uncles and a number of other relatives who would be considered "distant relations" in context of the nuclear family. Aboriginal families have strict social rules regarding who they can marry. Their family structure incorporates a shared responsibility for all tasks.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Extended Family'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://extended_family.totallyexplained.com">Extended family Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
