What Is the Most Common Type of Family in the World?

Theophanes is a New-England-based blogger, traveler, author, photographer, sculptor, and lover of cats.

Fleetwood-Walker Painting "The Family" 1932

Introduction

Western Society seems to accept this idea that in that location is but one type of family, that of the Nuclear form, which consists of a mother, a father, and children. This belief is an incredibly misinformed one as across the world at any point in our social history there have been all sorts of views on what families are and how they should be composed. In this commodity I hope to go over as many types of family as I tin can and provide a brief summary of each, illuminating the subject without casting a judging heart.

Communal

Communal Families are most frequently establish in primitive tribes in areas where Western Culture hasn't still extinguished a more than aboriginal form of life, such every bit the depths of the Amazon or a variety of rural islands. These families are usually extended families living in ane housing construction with mother, father, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and elders all taking upward residence. Sometimes these societies are matriarchal, with everyone living under roof being related through a grandmother, mother, or aunt, or patriarchal with everyone being related through a grandad, male parent, or uncle. Rarely cases are found that are neither. These bands or tribes are oftentimes formed by convenience rather then relation. There are several benefits to having a family unit formed in this way, the obvious 1 being that all the children have more then simply their parents' optics watching them and raising them. Everyone within this community will accept their ain share of responsibilities and often every home within the tribe volition also help intendance for the children from other families if they end up somewhere else afterward dark. This undoubtedly will enhance the chances of raising children to adulthood in areas where wild beasts and accidents could hands crusade a high bloodshed charge per unit. Sometimes these tribes don't even have spousal relationship ceremonies. It doesn't seem unusual for matriarchal and patriarchal societies to segregate individuals by the household they're born into. In other words if a woman becomes pregnant it's not up to her and the father to have care of the child, it'due south up to her household. The father in render will accept to take care of the children inside his ain household who are unremarkably siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Queen Victoria and Her Family by Franz Xaver Winterhaler 1846

Nuclear Family

Nuclear Families are the ones most Westerns experience are the 'right' kind of family. They are formed by ii married parents and their offspring. This form of family was probably conceived to protect the women who lived by it. In this tradition fathers are held responsible for any offspring they create and are forbidden to have more with whatsoever other women. Marriage came onto the scene probably to make heritages and lineages more clear. Bastard children have traditionally not been field of study to inheritances, equal treatment, or the benefits of a two parent abode. This class of family is currently the most pop globally speaking but this may merely be due to the influences of Christianity. Religion and tradition often take roles to play in the formation of any family.

Polyamory Symbol - A blue [loyalty & honesty] infinity symbol superimposed over a crimson heart on a black [solidarity] background

Polyamorous Family

Polyamory translates quite literally every bit "multiple loves." It is the do that consenting adults determine to create marriage-like bonds with more then ane individual at a time. It is distinct from polygamy and polyandry in the fact information technology'due south usually equanimous of multiple people of either sex and if it ends up in a harem-type system this is more often than not coincidental, not intentional. Everyone within the grouping doesn't necessarily have to share sexual bonds but emotional bonds are always key. Sometimes married couples enter these arrangements as well. As far every bit family is concerned this is an unusually vague subject. I was unable to detect whatsoever reliable sources on historical polyamory in an accepted cultural sense (though I don't dubiety it must have existed somewhere at some point) and in it's modern sense polyamory is hard to pin down. Most polyamorous groupings aren't open about their pick because of the stiff prejudice the civilization has regarding it. This makes documentation exceedingly difficult. However, ane can speculate this might be beneficial to raising children in the aforementioned way communal families are, with more then merely the parents watching and raising the children. Nonetheless, the larger the group the higher the risk of corruption becomes and it hasn't been documented if there are any ill mental effects that may have higher influence in children growing upwards in this setting merely as of yet. Perchance this is due to a possible instability of these groupings or perhaps this is due to the fact many of these groupings live separately and don't involve the children in any caste (going so far equally to hide it.) People who do this grade of family unit frequently sight that monogamy is not plenty for the man race, that emotional bonds are meant to exist shared with many, stating that this is the reason most people are serial monogamists, billowy from ane relationship to another. It'southward an interesting point and it remains to exist seen if this form of family is any healthier then whatsoever other. I apologize I was unable to find a brusque video on the subject that showed information technology in an unbiased lite but if the subject interests you I take linked to a documentary that seems to show both the negatives too as the positive. the rest of the videos linked in the article will be short clips.

Polyandrous Family

Polyandry is probably the rarest form of family ever practiced past humanity at whatsoever bespeak in history. Information technology is speculated that with the combined statistics of modern and aboriginal cultures polyandry just makes up less and then 2% of the world population through the entire duration of human history. It is a exercise in which one wife will marry several husbands which are usually brothers. This is matriarchal society at its extreme. The married woman will bear children and the husbands will share duties within and without the home. This exercise is sometimes used when 1 husband is rarely home (a crewman, merchant, etc) so another may stay to care for the wife. However information technology's most oftentimes used as population control. One woman can only accept then many children in her lifetime but men tin potentially sire dozens, if not more. This practice is nearly common in harsh landscapes where families just take a small plot of land that must be passed down through the generations without beingness divided up among siblings. Generally the eldest sister volition ally a fix of brothers and the residue of the sisters volition remain unwed, ensuring that the farm land stay in one piece. The husbands in these families are expected to help have care of the children, fifty-fifty if they know they are not theirs, just ofttimes that is difficult to even know. This is a do still seen with some regularity among Tibetan people living on the Himalayan Mountains.

Hindu Art - Krishna and the gopis (shepardesses)

Polygynous Families

Polygyny is a harem styled human relationship with one husband and at least ii wives. Unlike polyandry the wives are usually unrelated, although sisters can sometimes be seen in these settings. Historically speaking these relationships were often formed on farming lands with one purpose: the procurement of equally many children as humanly possible. It's all the same practiced in some Middle Eastern regions every bit well as various points in Africa. The nigh known example in the West is of Fundamental Mormon Polygyny which is most mutual in the U.s. (though information technology'southward condemned by law.) This practice was idea by anthropologists to be used at least partially due to genetic theory. An older man who has lived in a disease infested area and lived is more likely to pass on desirable genes to his offspring. The older a man gets to show this theory the more wives he'd typically have. This isn't to say information technology doesn't have its downfalls. In the US Fundamentalist Mormon Polygyny has been under fire for the past decade or so due to an increased incidence of sexual abuse in children equally well every bit concrete abuse and allegations that girls as young as twelve are being given away to wedlock without their or the state'southward consent. Due to the cloistered nature of this community there is besides many documented cases of genetic diseases and deformities such equally social club foot due to rampant inbreeding. There have been successful cases of polygyny where children were raised successfully that go back to the mistresses and concubines of the Old Testament. However, noting recent data and the inexplicable linking with airtight fundamentalist societies, these are probably the exception in today'south earth, not the dominion. One should annotation that the Mormon Church (The Church building of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)has prohibited polygynous marriages since 1904, stating members to be found still practicing it would exist ex-communicated. That is precisely when the Fundamentalist Mormons formed their own church.

WIlliam Robert Kendall'due south "An Interlude" 1907

Single Parent Families

In Western society single parent families are often seen as Nuclear Families that for one reason or another take been divided. This tin be the case only not e'er. It'southward true single parents can result from divorce or widowhood but its also becoming more mutual for individuals to purposely opt to be a single parent. With artificial insemination, a lack of lethal prejudices against single parents, and the choice of adoption these families are growing in number. Unmarried parent homes have been slammed in the printing merely they do have some benefits. A single parent has the sole responsibility and rights to intendance for the child or children, meaning they will not have to fight about footling differences in parenting methods. Depending on the social class and education level of the said parent these tin can likewise be very stable homes and without the influence of perpetual fighting they tin can besides exist beneficial to a kid, in comparison with couples who stay together just for the sake of the children and end up instilling the child/ren with dread stemming from their latent hostility for their mate. Due to the fact these homes only consist of ane adult they can exist more than challenging and difficult but this doesn't mean they're spring to fail.

Read More From Wehavekids

Orangish County gang tattoo - used to place amalgamation.

Unrelated families are often groups, bands, or tribes of people that accept gathered together for protection or for survival. In the Usa street gangs started when children orphaned by disease had nowhere else to go. When enough children in an area became homeless due to these circumstances they'd find each other and first a sort of family of their own with the older ones raising the younger ones and all of them sticking upwards for each other. This has been the instance in many cultures throughout history. Social orphans and those on the margins of social club don't have any less a desire for kinship and belonging and then anyone else. Today street gangs exist for the same reason, for protection and survival in the midst'due south of poverty, just at present they have turned violent for the starting time time in our angst ridden world. So long as these hardships nevertheless exist so will this form of "family."

This content is authentic and truthful to the best of the author's knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized communication from a qualified professional.

Theophanes Avery (author) from New England on September 12, 2013:

Cheers for commenting only if yous don't mind I would like to choice your brains.

At what bespeak do I country this is an unbiased article? (And is in that location even such a thing? I hateful any author must have an opinion of anything they write about or else they wouldn't be writing nearly it. Mind y'all I am non agreeing with your conclusion of what my opinion is.) And at what point do I say the nuclear family is somehow a wrong choice? I really don't recollect writing that... and glancing over the article I don't meet that I have.

People are people, we all have different needs, different desires, different personalities, and different ways of working things out. If a nuclear family unit is what you want then all the power to you. I simply wrote this article to permit people know at that place are other options if they and so chose to seek them out. Nothing more, nil less.

Beckles on September 12, 2013:

Then in your quest to enlighten anybody nigh dissimilar styles of family effectually the earth, and proclaim that there is no form of "right" family, you are serenity biased against the nuclear family, which feels "correct" to the western world. I concord that there is no right manner of family and each type of family comes with a set up of benefits and challenges. However, for someone who wants to "illuminate the subject without casting a judging middle" you are clearly biased confronting the western notion of a nuclear family. This is non an unbiased article and therefore you should not present it as one.

Theophanes Avery (author) from New England on April 13, 2012:

A family that is composed of a monogamous couple of the same sex is just a variation of the Nuclear family.

Nomvuyo on November 11, 2011:

Thanks a lot for the information that's what i was searching.

Birdybg6 on September 21, 2011:

What about family unit with the same sex relationship?

rachel claudio on September 24, 2010:

its nice toknow all this merely are familys prophylactic these days cause back in my daysthere was not that many bad people there was no rob that was the life but how do we get back that life Help!

rachel on September 24, 2010:

wow but i have a question what kind of jobs do normal familys have

amel on May 24, 2010:

honey it is really a nice subject this moment i under stand the defintion of family..... thanks a lot

albert martinez on January 10, 2010:

iwant to know about the family fued in mindanao

Denny J. on June 23, 2009:

Life is what you larn to live.

beatrice dupree' on June 10, 2009:

Dear Theophanes, the different forms of family you explored was well researched. The visual art helped to bring dazzler to the subject. It has been said, there is no correct or wrong, as long as there is goodness,integrity, joy, dearest, and respect. For those who believe strongly that the Bible approves of ane mate for life only, that is ok too. At one time the Scriptures disclosed for united states of america that concubines were permitted for reasons.

Life's rules are goverened by what country nosotros live, although education can brand married life in some countries constructive and more pleasant.

beatrice dupree'

skywalker_darth philippines on April 23, 2009:

cool!

just exactly what i needed

cheers very much

AndyBaker from UK on April 01, 2009:

Some good definitions hither.

Great profile picture as well!

Zsuzsy Bee from Ontario/Canada on Feb 13, 2008:

Proficient info about the family set-up...Information technology is amazing to come across that the general structures of "families" have not changed much over the ages...great HUB

regards Zsuzsy

Theophanes Avery (author) from New England on Feb 13, 2008:

Glad you enjoyed the article. I oasis't actually read It Takes a Villiage, though I do remember when information technology came out. Most of my 'research' (or at least the bare bones draft part of it) on social topics is done by watching people rather then reading, but reading is important too! Thanks for the comment.

In The Doghouse from California on February thirteen, 2008:

This gave an awesome definition of the "family." Very informative and definitely worth the read. Thanks for all your research and hard work to educate us on these dissimilar definitions of the family. Have you read the book, It Takes a Village? You would probably enjoy it. Thanks.

mayoyoull1972.blogspot.com

Source: https://wehavekids.com/family-relationships/Around-the-World-in-Search-of-Different-Forms-of-Family