Argentina

The wide variety of existing definitions of family is the product of the different disciplinary perspectives and of the various theoretical conceptions. However, it is also a reflection of the difficulty that arises in explaining the diversity of family structures and dynamics. Each of them emphasizes one or many aspects or dimensions it deems central to the family concept. These dimensions are: kinship and marriage or common-law marriage; sexuality and reproduction; social acceptance and marriage or common-law marriage stability; household or domestic unit; common residence or cohabitation; social group and interactions within it; family group relations with society and the state, and history, origin, and evolution of family structures.

At present, defining and understanding the family necessarily presupposes an approach from different disciplines and theoretical stances. The definition of the family concept confronts one with a sociopolitical debate that transcends the limits of the private world to constitute a unit that continuously interacts with the sociopolitical sphere (Colombo, Palermo, and Schmukler 1994).

Social links between the sexes and among generations, and production and reproduction relations can be observed within the family. In it, there are common interests and affection, but there are also individual interests and conflict elements. The family represents an authority and power system. In this regard, the family constructs ideology because it does not only receive ideological influences from the outside world, but it also reconstructs those messages and values and answers from its own specific perspective.

This way of conceiving families allows an explanation of not only its various structures but also its dynamics.