Besides supplying the child’s basic physical needs, the family is the first“carrier”of
the essential information that the child needs to know as a member of the culture.
This means that the family must teach the historical background of the family and
the culture, manners and correct behavior, cultural and individual identity, traditions,
and language. In short, the family is asked to transform a biological organism into a
human being who must spend the rest of his or her life around other human beings. It
is the family that greets you once you leave the comfort of the womb. In this sense,
the family is the first and chief socializing agent. DeGenova and Rice summarize its
importance when they write,“The family is the principal transmitter of knowledge,
values, attitudes, roles, and habits from one generation to the next. Through word
and example, the family shapes a child’s personality and instills modes of thought
and ways of acting that become habitual.”^10
As the earliest community to which a person is attached and the first authority
under which a person learns to live, the family has a series of responsibilities
that directly relate to perception and communication. First, while a culture’s
core values and worldview derive from its predominant religious and cultural
history, the family is the first and primary caretaker of these views and values.
As such, the family teaches“communal or collective values; that is, they empha-
size the needs, goals, and identity of the group.”^11 Second, families are important
because they supply all of us with a sense of our identity. Long before we become
a separate entity, we are acknowledged and recognized by a family name. The
family gives children information about their background, information about
their culture, and specific behaviors, mores, traditions, values, and language
patterns associated with their cul-
ture. Third, families are important
from a communication perspective,
as they“provide a setting for the
development of an individual’s self-
concept—basic feelings people have
about themselves, their abilities,
characteristics, and worth.”^12
Swerdlow, Bridenthal, Kelly, and Vine eloquently summarize the importance of
family to the child:
Here is where one has the first experience of love,and of hate, of giving, and of denying; and of
deep sadness.... Here the first hopes are raised and met—or disappointed. Here is where one
learns whom to trust and whom to fear. Above all, family is where people get their start in life.^13Definition of Family
As important as family is to the individual and to the culture, a single definition is
difficult to pin down. This difficulty, especially in the United States, has become
more challenging during recent decades. It is now nearly impossible to phrase a single
definition that would fit all cultures and societies. As Strong and Cohen note,“As
contemporary Americans, we live in a society composed of many kinds of families—
married couples, stepfamilies, single-parent families, multigenerational families, coha-
biting adults, child-free families, families headed by gay men or by lesbians, and so
on.”^14 Some of the transformations in the United States involve race and ethnicity.CONSIDER THIS
Why is it difficult to develop a single definition of the word
“family”?74 CHAPTER 3•The Deep Structure of Culture: Lessons from the Family
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