Johnson-Watson 1
Christine Johnson- Watson
Prof. Dobry
Freshman Comp. TThurs 8:40 AM
Due: February 27th, 2018
Family
What is a family? Does a family have to be a mother, father, and child? Can a childless
couple be a family? Can two ladies or two gentlemen with an adopted child from a complete
different race be a family? In some cases, non-relatives, such as friends, step-parents, and
mentors are considered family. If a blood line is not necessarily the only criteria for being family,
what characteristics or actions define a person as family?
When most people think of the word family mother, father, children, and relatives at once
come to mind. When viewing the word family on the Merriam-Webster dictionary it reads:
“fam·i·ly (făm’ə–lē, făm’lē) n. – a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under
one head” (“Family”). While all this can be true of a family, it is not the only way or the correct
way that family can be defined. It is more accurately described as a group of people who might
not be related by blood or marriage but who sincerely care and love each other. Family is there
every step of the way and gives support that could never come from anywhere else. They are the
building blocks of any society and have been this way since the beginning. Almost every aspect
of our lives involves the term family. In our religion we are part of a family of believers. At
Eastern Oklahoma State College, we are part of one big family of students and faculties. Our
country looks up to one person, President Trump and is united under this him as a family. While
Johnson-Watson 2
these examples might be accepted by society today, it only describes family in broad terms.
Family is much deeper than all of that. It is the love shared with friends and relatives.
In the context of human society, a family is a group of people affiliated either by
recognized birth, by marriage or other relationship, or co-residence. Members of the immediate
family include spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. The extended family may
include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, and siblings-in-law. In most
societies, the family is the principal institution for the socialization of children. As the basic unit
for raising children, most family organizations are classified as matrifocal that is a mother and
her children; conjugal, a wife, her husband, and children, which is also called the nuclear family;
avuncular for example, a grandparent, a brother, his sister, and her children; or extended which
are parents and children co-reside with other members of one parent’s family.
