Family

Family is a basic social group. It is a primary unit of the society, which every man meets at first. Family is a group of people who are related by blood or by marriage. Family serves for four functions: biological, economic, social and emotional.

The history of family One hundred years ago family didn’t look like today’s family. For example the position of women in family in fact in society was completely different. Young women were taught to cook, sew, keep house and perhaps to sing or play a musical instrument. There were some jobs, which women could do like teaching or looking after other people’s children. Becoming an actress or singer was immoral. Woman also had to attract a man who asked woman’s father for permission to marry her.

In the middle of 19th century the suffragette movement started. These were women who wanted the right to vote and also better education for girls. At the beginning they were peaceful; they only wrote letters to parliament and organize petitions. But nothing happened until one woman called Emmeline Parkhurst encouraged women to break the law. The new-style suffragettes marched through the streets and wrote inscriptions on the walls. Many of them went to prison where they refused to eat. Gradually, members of parliament wanted right to vote for women. But still nothing happened. The First World War was a big change in women’s lives. They filled places of men at war. They worked in offices and also in factories where they did hard manual labour. They proved that they were just as good as men. But when the war was over everything was the same and women returned to housekeeping. This also happened during the Second World War. In 1918, the British Parliament passed a law which gave women of thirty in Britain the right to vote. (In 1928, 21 years old women could vote.) In 1960s another movement called Women’s Liberation grew. They struggled for equality with men.

Today women are theoretically liberated, they can vote or find work, but I must say, they still have less social, political or economic power. In some jobs women receive less money than men for the same work. However, women and men are becoming more and more equal. But there are still duties and jobs like upbringing the children which are mother’s rather than father’s respon­sibility.

Problems in families

I have said that the family serves for four functions, but if the family fails one of these (especially the social or emotional), it may cause harming of the children’s de­velopment and also may lead to conflicts in their following life.

Misunderstanding, put-downs, insults, escaping the curfews, psychical or physical abuse, parent’s sepa­ration, stepparent, alcohol, drugs or the lack of room, food and money – these all are problems which occur in many families. This is why up to millions of children run away from home every year. These runaways usually don’t travel far from their homes and the majority returns after a few weeks. The greatest number has a little idea where they are headed or how to survive when they get there. Certainly, there are some people to help runaways – on phone lines and in numerous shelters. The operators on the free lines accept children’s messages for parents or they give them information about nearby shelters. Most youth centers offer a clean bed, food, temporary housing and drug-free environment. Here can youngsters decide what to do next. In most cases the counselors try to reunite parents with their children. But when the situation at home is not unbearable, agency personnel may encourage parents to find another placement for their children. If there is no welcome placement, the counselors direct runaways to opportunities for jobs and permanent housing. In most cases parents and children prefer to settle matters peacefully by talking out their problems but they often don’t know how.

We know that fleeing from a problem doesn’t change or solve it. However, great number of people turns their backs on unpleasant situations.