Family Structures. What is a definition of family?

Family Structures
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Institutional Affiliation
Family Structures
Traditional notions of families have greatly evolved in recent years. What used to be a father, mother and children relationship has changed to accommodate polygamy, adoptive children, and extended family members as one (Brown, Manning & Stykes, 2015). Thus, the term family has been redefined to represent a unit of people who share a connection by marriage, birth, and adoption who formally reside at a common place.
In coming up with this definition, it is important to acknowledge non-traditional family structures like those of single parenthood, same-sex relationships, and informal cohabitation. Each of the above-mentioned structures is driven by different dynamics though, at a glance, they may appear widely similar to families (Rootes, Jankowski & Sandage, 2010). A traditional mindset would not be at ease with the non-traditional family structures, hence the need for acknowledgment. This helps society be able to accept and interact with non-traditional families in society
According to Hafner (2014), the family systems theory can be used to better understand the interactions of a mod...