Before going over this module, the learner must answer the PRE-TEST in order for the teacher

to assess
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and pinpoint specific topics that need emphasis during the discussion.

PRE-TEST

Essential Questions for Consideration

 What is a family? What are the different types of families?

 What is marriage? What are the different types of marriages?
 What are the challenges to the family that are brought about by globalization?
 How does the family cope with the dynamic changes in the world today?

Building Vocabularies People to Remember

Annulment Zygmunt Bauman
Divorce Friedrich Engels
Family Anthony Giddens
Household
Kibbutz
Legal Separation
Marriage
Matriarchy
Matrilineal
Matrilocal
Monogamy
Patriarchy
Patrilineal
Polyandry
Polygamy
Polygyny
Post-Modernism
Same-Sex Marriage
Transnational Families
MODULE 4:
The Family Today: Declining or Changing?
Learning Outcome(s):

At the end of the lesson, the learner is able to:

 explain the functions of the family;

 discuss and appraise why the definition of the family is crucial to society:
 explore and explain the different types of families:
 summarize recent changes in the family as an institution; and
 describe the various alternative family arrangements in contemporary societies.

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Subject Title Teacher
The Problem of Defining the Family

Traditional Definitions

Filipinos are family-oriented. The anak-magulang complex and the kamag-anak relationship are very
important to Filipinos. Ama (father), ina (mother), and anak (children) are culturally and emotionally significant to
us who treasure filial attachment not only to our immediate family but also to our extended family (tiya and
tiyuhin, inaanak, lolo, and lola). This family centeredness supplies a basic sense of belonging, stability, and
security. It is from our families that we Filipinos naturally draw our sense of self-identity.

This traditional view of the family leads many people to think that the family is an indispensable unit or
institution of society. Today, however, many experts who study the family raise doubts about its future. Consider
the following statistics:

 Declining marriage rate and increasing rate of cohabitation

There were 476,408 marriages registered in 2011, down by 1.3 percent from 482,480 recorded in
2010, the NSO said in a report posted on its website, adding that the number of registered marriages has
been declining since 2009 (http://www. Philstar.com/headlines/2013/03/28/924859/fewer-pinoys-getting-
married, retrieved August 19, 2014).

 Increasing annulment rate

The number of marriage annulment cases in the Philippines has risen by 40 percent in the last
decade with at least 22 cases filed every day, according to a report by the Catholic bishops’ news agency.
Citing data from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), CBCP News said the number of annulment cases
had risen from 4,520 in 2001 to 8,282 in 2010
(http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/philippines/2011/03/28/296330/ Filipino-marriage.htm, retrieved
August 12, 2015).

 Increasing number of cases of domestic violence

The 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) conducted by the National
Statistics Office (NSO) revealed that one in five women aged 15-49 has experienced physical violence since
age 15; 14.4 percent of married women have experienced physical abuse from their husbands; and more
than one-third (37%) of separated or widowed women have experienced physical violence, implying that
domestic violence could be the reason for separation or annulment
(http://www.pcw.gov.ph/statistics/201405/statistics-violence-against-filipino women, retrieved August 19,
2014).

 Increasing number of women entering the labor force

The number of employed and unemployed Filipinos in October 2008 was estimated at 34.5 million
and 2.5 million respectively. Female employment was estimated at 13.3 million compared to 21.3 million
males. Female unemployment rate for the same year was relatively lower at 6.5% which is equivalent to
929 thousand compared to male at 7.0% which is estimated at 1.6 million. Of the 2 million OFWs in 2008,
female OFWs were estimated at 968 thousand (48.4%) or an increase of 13 percent from the 857
thousand estimated female OFWs in 2007. Male OFWs accounted for 51.6 percent or roughly 1 million of
the total OFWs in 2008 (http://www.usep.edu.ph/GAD/
images/sitedocuments/Monographs/Random/13.pdf, retrieved August 19, 2014).

What do all these statistics and trend indicate? Does the rising rate of cohabitation and declining rate in
marriage redefine the family? If many women are entering the labor force and migrating to work, do these indicate
the decline of the traditional family? Will the family survive the future if domestic violence is on the rise? Before we
can answer these interesting questions, we have to define what a family is and explore its structure.

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Subject Title Teacher
 The difficulty of defining what a family is hinges on the diversity of families that exist today around the
world in various cultures as well as on the diversity of family arrangements that had existed in history. Experts on
the family, therefore, agree that “there is no single correct definition of what a family is” (Fine 1993, p. 235). The
definition of family will vary according to one’s personal experience, cultural background, sexual orientation, and
moral outlook. The shortest, but probably the most controversial, definition of the family can be found in Mike
Morris’ Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology (2012): “A group of people who have a common
residence and/or relationship, and who share economic and reproductive ties” (p. 92). This definition is often found
in government census’ definition of the family.

The best way to look for the definition of "family" Is to look at the government census definition. For example, the
Census Bureau of Canada defines the family:

Census family refers to a married couple and the children, if any, of either or both spouses; a
couple living common law and the children, if any, of either or both partners; or, a lone parent of any marital
status with at least one child living in the same dwelling and that child or those children. All members of a
particular census family live in the same dwelling. A couple may be of opposite or same sex. Children may be
children by birth, marriage or adoption regardless of their age or marital status as long as they live in the dwelling
and do not have their own spouse or child living in the dwelling, Grandchildren living with their grandparent(s) but
with no parents present also constitute a census family.
(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/concepts/definitions/c-r-fam-eng.htm, retrieved August 11, 2014)

The United Nations (UN) uses the term nucleus family:

A family nucleus is of one of the following types (each of which must consist of persons living in the same
household):
a. A married couple without children,
b. A married couple with one or more unmarried children,
c. A father with one or more unmarried children or
d. A mother with one or more unmarried children.

Couples living in consensual unions should be regarded as married couples.

(http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/fam/lammethods.htm#A3, retrieved June 4, 2014)

Common in these definitions are the following elements: the biological component (with a child, married),
the functional component (takes care of the children and provides economic support), and the residential
component (living under one household or common residencel.

Whether the family is universal, whether it has existed from the beginning in all forms of societies, will
depend on the definition of the family. But Friedrich Engels, who wrote The Origin of the Family, Private Property
and the State (1884), is right to argue that families do evolve in relation to the material and economic conditions of
societies. Families have never been static all throughout human evolution.

All definitions of the family will have to address three components: residential, biological, and functional
roles. If one defines the family simply as the nuclear family, meaning two adult couples with children, then this can
be challenged immediately by the case of kibbutz in Israel and the Nayar in India. If one defines the family as
taking care of the children, then it can be shown that in many societies, socialization is carried by kinship groups
and not the nuclear family. Another challenge to the nuclear definition of the family is the emerging single-parent
households, gay couples living together, and overseas families whose members do not live regularly with the
family. These examples may not contradict and discredit the definition of the family, but they challenge the nature
and functions of the family.

The family as a basic unit of society performs several important functions or roles for society: (1) for
biological reproduction; (2) as the primary agent of socialization of children; (3) as the institution for economic
cooperation through division of labor; and (4) to care for and nurture children to become responsible adults.

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Subject Title Teacher
Why the Definition of Family Matters

In social science discourse, the concept of the family is politically and ideologically "loaded, or imbued with
sets of politically and culturally contested ideas about the correct or moral ways in which people should conduct
their lives, and the people with whom they should conduct them. Article I of the Philippine Family Code fixes the
definition of marriage and the resulting family based on the union:

Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in
accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and
an inviolable social institution.

The Philippine Family Code therefore excludes same-sex marriage and polygamous unions. Whether
one provides a normal definition of the family or normative model, one must accept the fact that families do
change. One must acknowledge that there are other cultures that define the family in a very different way, but the
controversy regarding the definition of the family is not just about the family as such. The definition of the family
has important consequences for family policy and its goals. It also defines who the members are. By identifying
the members, one also provides a legal definition that determines what benefits the family members may get. For
example, children classified as "illegitimates" are defined as children born out of wedlock.

When the Philippine Family Code was enacted in 1989, it declared that "illegitimate" children must use the
surname of the mother. They were not allowed to use the surname of their biological father so it created a class of
children that have no middle names or having the surname also as their middle name. Article 176 was largely
ignored by fathers who recognized their child and allowed their surname to be used even if there was no benefit of
marriage. Congress saw it fit to amend Article 176 by enacting Republic Act 9255 in 2004. Now illegitimate children
can use the surname of their biological father as long as the latter formally recognizes the child.

Another case is the support for an illegitimate child. An illegitimate child is entitled to receive support
from his/her biological father provided that the latter recognized the child as his own. If the biological father did
not recognize the child as his own, then support cannot be demanded unless a court order is obtained for that
matter.

These cases are very common. The benefits that a family member gets, whether illegitimate or not,
whether recognized or not, will depend on the definition of the family. For some reason, legally adopted children
are better situated when it comes to inheritance as they are treated the same with legitimate children.

Another typical case is that of cohabitants. Cohabitants are couples who share a common residence with
a child, just like a nuclear family, but without the benefit of marriage. In some countries, cohabitants are not
recognized as "official" families. Therefore, they are not accorded health, social security, and retirement benefits of
the partner. In some cases, in some countries, cohabiting homosexual couples are not given hospital visitation
rights for the sick partner.
Family and Household

The UN differentiates household from a family:

From the definitions of "household" and "family", it is clear that household and family are different
concepts that cannot be used interchangeably in the same census. The difference between the household
and the family is

a. that a household may consist of only one person but a family must contain at least two members and

b. that the members of a multi-person household need not be related to each other, while the members of
a family must be related.

(http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/fam/fammethods.htm#A3, retrieved June 4, 2014)

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Subject Title Teacher
One of the problems in defining a family is equating the family with household. Hence family members who are
separated by distances, especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), strictly speaking, cannot be considered as a
family. If a child has divorced or legally separated parents, the child may have two families but the child may not
belong permanently to either one, mother or father.

In the case of a family whose members are separated by distance, the family roles and functions may still
apply due to the current developments in modes of communications such as Skype and Google Hangout. Hence, a
broader definition of the family must take into account these new developments. Moreover, studies would show
that contact among family members who do not belong to the same household is high. It is also incorrect to say
that parents are always the ones who take care of the siblings. The basic family is not always the fundamental unit
of economic cooperation. Among artisans in pre-industrial Europe, the essential economic unit was not the family
but rather the household, typically consisting of the artisan's family plus assorted apprentices and even servants
(Laslett 1965). Hence, family and household are not the same thing. While they often overlap, it is also frequently
the case that households consist of members who are not family, such as servants or lodgers, while family
membership, in terms of shared consumption, production and ties of intimacy, often extends over several
households.

Types of Families

Nuclear and Extended Families

The basic distinction in classifying families is to consider the membership. The nuclear family is the most
basic family form and is made up of a married couple and their biological or adopted children. The nuclear family is
found in all societies, and it is from this form that all other types of family forms are derived. Most nuclear families
are found in urban areas such as Metro Manila.
Extended families are families that include the other members of the kinship group such as your uncles,
grandparents, and cousins. The diagram above shows how nuclear families, when they combine or live together,
become extended families. Around the world, especially in more developed societies, there is the process called
nuclearization of the families (Kumar 2011). This process refers to the growing predominance of nuclear
families over extended families in both rural and urban areas, which is brought about by urbanization and
economic development. As more and more Western values, such as individualism and the value of individual
choice, spread among non-Western families, couples will tend to establish new household independent of the
traditional kinship structure.

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Subject Title Teacher
 Nuclear and extended families can be classified either as family of orientation or family of procreation.
The family to which one belongs is the family of orientation. When one establishes a new family through marriage
it is called the family of procreation.

Families and the Rule of Descent

Families can be classified according to their basic rules of descent. As a social organization, the family is a
descent group. The rules of descent are very important for maintaining the social cohesion and solidarity among
families, clans, and relatives. One is born into a descent group. Descent-group members believe they share and
descend from common ancestors. The group endures even though its membership changes, as members are bom
and die, move in and move out.

Descent groups can be of two types: unilineal and ambilineal. Some societies trace their descent through
the unilineal descent either through the father or the mother. With a rule of matrilineal descent, people join the
mother’s group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life. With patrilineal descent people
automatically have lifetime membership in the father’s group (Kottak 2011, p. 454). In ambilineal descent rules,
the children can opt to claim lineage on either their father or their mother’s family group.

Descent groups are important to maintain the continuity and survival of a group. It is not only the descent
of the member that is crucial, but also the residence rule for married couples after marriage. In modern Western
societies, and those influenced by the Western way of life, couples often practice neolocal residence. The
couples have the freedom and option to live separately and independent of their respective families. Much more
common in non-Western societies is patrilocality: A married couple moves to the husband’s father’s community,
so that the children will grow up in their father’s village (Kottak 2011, p. 455), The rules of post-marital residence
usually go hand and hand with the rules of descent. A patrilineal kinship group therefore is often found with a
patrilocal residence rule.

Marriage and the Family

Defining Marriage

Human marriage is a socio-sexual institution, a part of the wider institutional complex of the
family/Marriage is also an arrangement of procreation, a way of caring for the offspring of sexuality, defining their
legitimate descent, and the main or ultimate responsibility for their upbringing. From a societal level of analysis,
the institution of marriage represents all the behaviors, norms, roles, expectations, and values that are associated
with the legal union of a man and a woman. Edward Westermark(1891) in his famous book History of Human
Marriage defined marriage as "a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is recognized by

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Subject Title Teacher
customs or law and involves certain rights and duties both in case of parties entering into the union and in the
case of children born of it."

In this vein, marriage may be seen as a natural order, characteristic of most birds and some mammals,
including most, but not all, humans. The first great sociological historian of marriage, Edward Westermarck (1891,
19-20), held that "marriage is nothing else than a more or less durable connection between male and female,
lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring" (Therborn 2004, p. 134).

Marriage is at the center of the kinship system. Marriage creates alliances and "fictive kinship among members of
clans and tribes. Kinship consists of three aspects: (1) it comprises forms of nomenclature and classification; (2)
rules which affect people's kinship behavior, covering everything from criminal laws to ideas about good manners;
and (3) what people actually do (Kottack 2008). Each society in the world has a set of words used to refer to
relatives called kinship terminology.

New spouses are tied inextricably to members of the kin network. The nature of theseties or obligations
varies in different cultures. In most cases, marriage serves as a ritual that creates alliance among kin groups.
Thus, whether one marries within one's own group or outside is important in kinship structure. It is important in
cementing kin structure. Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social
group, rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal relationships.
Religious groups such as the Amish, Mormons, Catholics, and Jews have rules of endogamy, though these are
often violated when marriage takes place outside the group. Castes in India and Nepal are also endogamous.
Exogamous is the practice of marrying outside one's group, which is common in modern societies. Rules of
exogamy create links between groups, while rules of endogamy preserve separateness and exclusivity, and are a
means of maintaining boundaries between one group and other groups (Rosman, Rubel, and Weisgrau 2009, p.
102).

Marriage as a union of individuals also establishes consanguineal ("blood relation," from the Latin
consanguinitas) relations and relations of affinity. Two people are related to each other by consanguinity if they
have a common ancestor or one is a descendant of the other. Two people are related by affinity if they are
married, or if one person is related by blood to the other person's spouse. These links between kin groups
established by marriage are called affinal links. People also rely on social relationships made by means of ritual
observances, which are known as godparenthood or compadrazgo. For example, godparenthood creates a set of
relationships that, though nonkin in their derivation, utilize a set of terms based on kinship.

In many societies, marriages between first cousins or between uncle and niece are practiced. Such
practices are often explained by the property and inheritance rules of that society. In some cases, these marriages
are pursued for reproductive reasons.

Like the definition of the family, the definition of marriage as an institution varies across cultures and
people around the world. Today, many scholars believe that defining marriage simply as a union between a male
and a female adult is inadequate. Many societies already recognize same-sex marriage (also known as gay
marriage). It is marriage between two people of the same biological sex and/or gender identity. Legal recognition
of same-sex marriage or the possibility to perform a same-sex marriage is sometimes referred to as marriage
equality or equal marriage, particularly by supporters.

The first laws enabling same-sex marriage in modern times were enacted during the first decade of the
21st century. In 1971, in Baker v. Nelson, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a claim to marriage rights by a
same-sex couple, the first such reported case inthe United States (Hull 2006, p. xiii). As of June 28, 2014, 16
countries have allowed same sex marriages. On October 1989, Denmark became the first country in the world to
legally recognize same-sex unions, after passing a bill legalizing "registered partnerships" in a 71- 47 vote. In 2003,
Belgium became the second country to grant legal recognition to same- sex marriages.

One recent study of same-sex marriages argues that same-sex marriage follows the conventional
symbolism and meanings attached to traditional heterosexual marriage. According to Kathleen Hull (2006),
"marriage serves as a cultural resource for many committed same-sex couples. Couples draw upon language and
rituals associated with marriage to express-to each other, to friends and family, and to the broader society-the

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nature of their relationship. The cultural trappings of marriage-terminology, rituals and symbols-stand as ready-
made cultural tools for couples to express their love and their commitment to a lifetime of mutual support. The
power of marriage as a cultural resource lies in the fact that its dominant meanings are so widely shared in
contemporary Western culture" (p. 197).

Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages

Polygamy is a marriage that includes more than two partners. When a man is married to more than one
wife at a time, the relationship is called polygyny, and when a woman is married to more than one husband at a
time, it is called polyandry. If a marriage includes multiple husbands and wives, it can be called group or
conjoint marriage. In the case of Jacob in the Old Testament, a man marries several sisters. This practice is
known as sororal polygyny. In anthropology, the terms monogamous and polygamous families are applied
regardless whether the state recognizes the union or not.

While many people think that monogamy is natural, it is also true that many societies, such as the
Mormons and the Muslims, practice polygamy. The Trobriand Islanders and the Kanuri of Nigeria, explicitly forbid
sororal polygyny or a husband marrying several sisters. The Kanuri explanation for this prohibition is that the good
relationship between two sisters should not be undermined by the unavoidable friction that arises between two co-
wives (Rosman, Rubel, and Weisgrau 2009, p. 104).

Polyandry is less rare. Most people who practice it are found among the Himalayans. Societies that engage
frequently in wars and therefore have less male population tend to practice polyandry. In the case of societies
where women are treated less equal than men, polygyny is common.

Romantic Love, Mate Selection, and the Family

In modern societies, monogamy is often associated with romantic love, where one marries out of love.
Many young people today believe that people should marry out of free will and not based on forced choices or
simply due to traditional requirements. Such a strong belief is often coupled with the assertion that one has to
assert one's choice even if it could cost huge sacrifices. Romantic love that is glamorized in television, movies, soap
operas, and novels is a modern phenomenon. Despite the subjective sensation of lovers that their love is timeless
and boundless, it is nonetheless true that romantic love has a past and exists within a particular cultural context.
Romantic love originated with chivalry during the medieval period. Romantic love triumphs in the modern period
because industrial capitalism promoted individualism,free choice, and equality. Anthony Giddens (1992) credits
romantic love with serving a purpose during the beginnings of capitalism. It gave isolated people in an urbanized
environment some kind of meaning to their lives, and it also provided a legitimate means for society to reproduce
itself. Unlike in traditional societies where people marry for family status, kinship alliance, and economic reasons,
romantic love requires each partner to consent willingly to the relationship out of strong feeling of attraction and
sexual desire. Hence, modern individuals frown upon marriages that are made out of money or any other
exchange. As Gideon Sjorberg (1960) writes, "the romantic love ideology may be seen as appropriate, even
necessary, in a society. where the external pressures on permanent unions through kinship are largely absent."

One of the main tenets of romantic love is that "all is fair in love." Romantic love is supposed to transcend
economic inequalities and physical appearances. Yet mate selection, courtship, and even marriage are not a
market of pure and perfect competition, and individuals with the advantage of a status derived from belonging to
their family of origin (where they have been brought up) and a procreation family (where they will bring up their
children) will endeavor to preserve or improve this advantage by marrying "well" or giving "good" spouses to their
own children-if they can (Boudon and Borricaud 1986, 2nd ed. p. 173). Some sociologists, for instance, argue that
economic benefits and social exchange operate in mate selection. People tend to select partners that can offer
them equal assets or even surpass their own resources. In this theory, a partner who contributes more to
economic subsistence of the relationship tends to have more power in the relationship.

Among many factors, social class affects one's comfort in interacting with others-we tend to feel more
comfortable with others from our same social class. This reflects homogamy as a rule in marriage and mate
selection. That is, people tend to marry people who share the same characteristics they have-personality, class,
lifestyle, family background, etc. (Knox and Schacht 2010, p. 182).

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 Emerging Issues on Families

Families and Domestic Violence

Many people have very romanticized and idealized pictures and images of what a family is. Such idealized
images often overshadow the "dark" side of family life. One of these dark truths about the family is the increasing
case of domestic violence. A book that covers the global experience of domestic violence offers a comprehensive
definition:

Family violence encompasses not only violence between female and male partners or same sex
partners but also child abuse and elder abuse. Domestic violence, more specifically, refers to the abuse by
one person of another in an intimate relationship. These relationships can involve marriage partners,
partners living together, dating relationships (Berry, 1998), and even former spouses, former partners, and
former boyfriends/girlfriends (Chalk & King, 1998). The abuse may take the form of physical violence,
emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and even stalking (Summers and Hoffman 2002, p. xii).

In the Philippines, Republic Act No. 9262 or An Act Defining Violence Against Women and Their Children,
Providing for Protective Measures for Victims, Prescribing Penalties Therefore, and for Other Purposes, offers a
more comprehensive definition:

Violence against women and their children "refers to any act or a series of acts committed by any
person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or
had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether
legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical,
sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault,
coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), recent global prevalence figures indicate that 35% of
women, or more than one in three women, worldwide have experienced either intimate partner violence or non-
partner sexual violence in their lifetime. On average, 30% of women who have been in a relationship report that
they have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence by their partner. Globally, as many as 38% of
murders of women are committed by an intimate partner (http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/
publications/violence/9789241564625/en/retrieved November 25, 2015).

Domestic violence is not a new phenomenon. It has been a common occurrence throughout recorded
history. But due to women's movements and recognition of human rights, many women today are reporting about
their abuses. The WHO (2013) points out that "there is growing recognition that violence against women has a
large public health impact, in addition to being a gross violation of women's human rights" (p. 4). But the
prevalence of domestic violence is heavily dependent on culture and religious tradition of each society. Many
religions and states viewed domestic violence as a personal and private matter. Battered women would be
encouraged to return home to their abusing partners. In their zeal to preserve the family, domestic violence was
overlooked and even considered "normal"

Today, however, the UN WHO recognizes the negative impact of domestic violence against women.
According to the study of the WHO, women who have experienced partner violence have increased risk of health
problems and risk behaviors; compared to women who have not experienced partner violence, they have 16%
greater odds of having a low- birth weight baby, are more than twice as likely to have an induced abortion, and
are more than twice as likely to experience depression (WHO 2013, p. 31). Domestic violence against women and
children is pervasive globally and it is a major contributing factor to women's and children's ill health.

Divorce and Remarriage

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Subject Title Teacher
 Divorce is a court order saying that a man and woman are NO LONGER a husband anda wife.
Annulment is a judicial statement that THERE NEVER WAS A MARRIAGE betweenthe man and the woman. It is
the cancellation of marriage as if it never happened. Thiscancellation is done by the court invalidating the marriage
from the date of its formation (retroactive application). Grounds for annulment may include the following: absence
ofparental consent

during the marriage, mental illness, fraud, lack of consent, and certaindiseases. According to the classical
Hanafi School of Islamic Jurisprudence, the husband'simpotence is a wife's only possible reason for getting a
divorce.
Legal Separation, on the other hand, is a decree that gives the husband and wifethe right to live
separately from each other, although they are not allowed by the law toremarry.

Areview of the determinants of divorce lists the following problems as major factors that lead to the
dissolution of marriage: “alcoholism and drug abuse, infidelity, incompatibility, physical and emotional abuse,
disagreements about gender roles, sexual incompatibility, and financial problems” (White 1990, p. 908). Underlying
these behaviors appears to be the general problem of communication. In their study of divorce, Gay Kitson and
Morgan (1990) report lack of communication or understanding to be the most common reason given by both
husbands and wives concerning why their marriage did not work out.

Many people think that unhappy marriages end in divorce, but this is not always the case. Many factors
bar couples from dissolving their marriages, even under conditions of extreme dissatisfaction. Some factors that
act as barriers to marital dissolution are strong religious beliefs, pressure from family or friends to remain together,
irretrievable investments, and the lack of perceived attractive alternatives to the marriage (Johnson et al. 1999).

New Intimacies: Families in the Age of Post-Modernity

According to Giddens (1992), in the self-reflexive and self-actualizing world of today, which he calls
“reflexive modernity”-a social condition when people are aware and knowledgeable about the risks they face-
people no longer require the “forever” clause in romantic love relationship. Romance has lost its purpose and is
bound to die out. It will be replaced, he argues, by a new, pragmatic, non-transcendental form of relationship that
looks very much like the frank erotic desire so carefully controlled by traditional societies, but without the intensity
or danger. In other words, romantic love today has been transformed into fleeting relationships that avoid the risks
of long-term commitment.

Love in the post-modern world also produces post-modern families and similar relationships. Post-modern
families are families that are very different from traditional and modern families and marriages, Post-modern
families include same-sex marriages, single- mothers, a lone individual with adopted child, various forms of
polygamous relationships, and open marriages.

They reflect the wider changes in contemporary societies especially in the West. Post- modernism is often
defined as a social condition that accompanies globalization. It is made possible by the acceleration in the modes
of communication and the rapid movement of people, money, and capital across national borders. Post-modern
families reflect the disorientation in intimate relationships in the globalized world. As more and more people are
exposed to various forms of cultures and lifestyles through mass media, they tend to try out new forms of
relationships. The rapid advancement of information and communication technologies (ICT), which is both
reflective and constitutive of the transformative effects of the mobile era, also gives rise to new, or reconfigured,
forms of interpersonal interactions including finding intimate partners. Zygmunt Bauman (2003), a contemporary
Polish sociologist, prefers the term "liquid love" to characterize this condition. "Liquid love" corresponds to "liquid
modern" conditions in which everything becomes fleeting, transient, and disposable. ad Verokeroroon

A perfect example of "liquid love" is the intimate relationships generated throughonline dating sites. Online
dating sites usually provide users with opportunities to present personalized profiles of themselves, review the
profiles of others, send expressions of interest to other users, and facilitate synchronous (for example, instant
messaging) andasynchronous (for example, email) communication between users. Like online dating, "speed
dating" is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system that encourages people to meet a large number of

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new people. Bauman argues that online dating perfectly fulfils the rational choice conditions of the era of liquid
love as it avoids the awkward negotiation of mutual commitments, allowing for risk avoidance, and instantaneous
termination of contact, without emotional loss or regret (Bauman 2003, p. 65).

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Families

There are four dominant ways that individuals in same-sex partner households come to parent children:
through a prior relationship with a different-sex partner that resulted in the birth of a child/children, through
adoption, through the use of assisted reproductive technologies, or by becoming a partner to someone who has
done one or more of these things.

The outcomes for children raised by same-sex parents versus those of children raised by different-sex
parents have garnered significant political and media attention. Just like defining the family, studying the impact of
same-sex parenting on children is also controversial and morally loaded, Scholarship on the outcomes for children
raised in same- sex parent households primarily considers lesbian-headed families. Most analyses show that years
spent being raised by same-sex couple parents create no significant disadvantage for children (Mallon 2012;
Pertman and Howard 2012). Numerous authors have highlighted the similarities between children of lesbian
parents and children who grew up with heterosexual parents (Ryan-Flood 2009, p. 5). One review of literature on
lesbian parents says that the research on adolescent and young adult offspring of lesbian mothers suggests that
they are developing in positive ways. It concludes, "Whether they lived with same-sex or opposite-sex couples,
adolescents whose parents reported having close relationships with them were likely to report higher self-esteem,
fewer depressive symptoms, less use of alcohol and tobacco, and less delinquent behavior." In short, sex of
parents does not matter a lot as the effects of the care that parents provide (Hull 2006, p. 108).

Transnational Families: Virtual Connections

In the Philippines, fathers traditionally pursue their careers and act as the breadwinners of the family.
Fathers are called haligi ng tahanan. Haligi or pillar refers to the foundations of the house. The father is seen as
the pillar and foundation of the family. Fathers as breadwinners only applied to a period of society when women
were offered less opportunities to work outside the family. Today, however, many women are already working
outside the family.

With the advent of Western intrusion into our cultural life, poverty, and the rising opportunities to be
educated, more and more women and mothers are now entering the labor force. As more women are now
educated, more women also enter the labor force. As a result, many mothers are now working fulltime. Filipino
women are not only working in domestic enterprises but they are also migrating to work as OFWs. According to
Migration and Filipino Children Left Behind: A Literature Review, a working paper sponsored by the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Philippines is the major supplier of labor migrants in Asia to over 100 countries.
Overseas Filipino workers around the world sent $26.92 billion (P1.20 trillion) back to the Philippines in 2014, up to
6.2 percent from $25.35 billion (P1.13 trillion) in 2013, according to the BangkoSentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration noted 1.6 million Filipinos were deployed abroad in 2014
(http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/500918/money/infographic- where-26-92b-of-ofw-remittances-come-
from#sthash.tDmCxrfE.dpuf, retrieved August 24, 2014). While the economic benefits of overseas migration is
beneficial to the families and country, nevertheless, it also entails a lot of sacrifices.

A study by Battistela and Conaco (1998) on the effects of labor migration on selected elementary school
children revealed that children experienced loneliness and sadness when separated from their parents, although
they also understood the reasons for the migration. The school performance of children also suffered as a result.
The study found out that "[m]other-absent children tend to be angrier, more confused, more apathetic, more
afraid, and to feel more different from other children. On the other hand, children with both parents away report
greater sadness" (p. 235). With regard to the parent who is absent, the study showed "that when the mother is at
home there is emphasis on religious duties and praying regularly; when the father is at home the stress is on being
friendly and helping around the house; and when both parents are away the emphasis is on studying diligently."

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One of the most significant findings of the study is that the absence of the mother has the most disruptive effects
on children. However, the presence of relatives can mitigate these negative effects.

The remittances of migrant parents and family members are often used for education and purchase of
agricultural lands and real estate. A review of literature concludes that "[r] emittances do help improve the quality
of life of the migrants and their families. A huge percentage of the remittances go to tuition fees of children, thus,
children of migrants have better educational opportunities where they can enrol in private schools offering good
quality education." However, these remittances do not necessarily take the families out of poverty. They only
mitigate

the economic problems of the families left behind (Reyes 2008). In African context, the primary problem is
how to keep the marriage and family intact (Melde 2012). The migrant family members are also confronted with
dealing with racial discrimination and cultural adaptation.

People migrate because they try to protect themselves and their families against the effects of a weak
economy and volatile market, and from political crises, armed conflicts,and other risks (Koser 2007, p. 30).
Filipinos migrate primary for economic reasons. The increasing number of parents migrating to work abroad is
creating transnational families or diasporic families (diaspora: the dispersion of any people from their original
homeland). The roots of what became an emigration tradition were established shortly after the conclusion of the
Filipino-American War (1899-1902). The economic upheaval from that conflict in conjunction with the increasing
demand for labor on Hawaiian sugar plantations led to the 1906 migration of 15 Filipinos from northwest Luzon's
Ilocos region. This was followed later by hundreds of laborers. Later, the labor shortages in the west and oil-
producing countries in the 1950s called for "guest workers" that attracted a lot of Filipino workers. Then during the
1970s, President Marcos called them "balikbayan." Later, the "balikbayans" became OFWs (Wiley 2012). Further,
former President Ferdinand Marcos institutionalized a policy to encourage emigration to stimulate the economy.
While these policies were aimed to be of temporary nature, labor migration has been steadily increasing since. In
2012, the Commission on Overseas Filipinos estimated that approximately 10.5 million Filipinos worked or resided
abroad. This is about eleven percent of the population figure of 94.01 estimated by the National Statistics Office.
Every year, it is estimated that more than a million Filipinos leave to work abroad, or around 4,500 Filipinos every
day. Results from the 2012 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOF) conducted by the National Statistical Coordination
Board (NSCB) reported that in April to September 2012, there were about 2.2 million OFWs in the country, 95.0
percent of which are overseas contract workers (OCWs) or those with existing contracts abroad. More than half
(51.7 percent) of these OFWs are males and that one in every three OFWs was a laborer or an unskilled worker.
Top destination of OFWs is Asia, 20.6 percent of which were located in Saudi Arabia. In 2012, total OFW
remittances reached about P165.6 billion (http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/332512/
pinoyabroad/news/govt-conducts-survey-on-ofws-results-out-in-june-2014, retrieved May 2014). Consequently,
these OFWs created what scholars on family studies call "transnational families. According to Brycesson and
Vourella (2002),

Transnational families, or what are sometimes referred to as multi-local or multi-sited families, or

families living in spatial separation, are certainly not creations of recent globalizing trends but have played
an integral part in European colonial and settler histories. However, it is only with the creation of the
informational society' and transnational restructurings of capitalist production and international trade that
they are increasingly becoming a pronounced part of everyday European ways of life (p. 7).

This observation of Brycesson and Vourella also applies to Filipino transnational families. They define
transnational families as "families that live some or most of the time separated from each other, yet hold together
and create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely, 'familyhood, even
across national borders."

Reports by nongovernmental organizations and international organizations such as Save the Children and
UNICEF indicate that approximately 25% of children in selected migrant-sending countries have at least one parent
abroad. In the Philippines, according to National Statistics Office, there are 1,154,000 male and 1,141,000 female
OFWs (http://census.gov.ph/content/statistical-tables-overseas-filipino-workers-ofw-2013). These figures represent
a large fraction of the transnational families that exist in Philippine society.

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 While transnational families may bring about negative impact and severe strains on the traditional
structure of families, nevertheless, scholars are also arguing that new communication technologies are mitigating
these problems. Social technologies may be influencing and mainstreaming the transnational experiences while
families are finding resilient ways to confront the difficulties posed by immigration. Computer-mediated
communications among transnational families are a source of compelling opportunities to keep relationships intact
(Bacigalupe and Cámara 2012). The survey, "Families and Technology 2011, conducted via MSN Microsoft in seven
countries across Asia, including the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam with
more than 3,700 respondents showed that a large number of Filipinos overseas has made the Philippines one of
the most tech-savvy countries in Asia, with a significant part of the population using different technology tools to
keep in touch with family members abroad. According to the survey, Filipino families have an average of 10
gadgets, the highest in the region, which they use to communicate with their loved ones in other parts of the
country and the world

(http://technology.inquirer.net/6155/ofws-make-philippines-asia%e2%80%995- most-hi-
tech#ixzz3MQRO1Azc, retrieved September 9, 2014). Of course, the availability of new communication
technologies

POST-TEST

Summative Assessment

After considering the different challenges that confront the traditional family, describe the
"ideal" family that can address and respond appropriately to these challenges. Describe your "ideal" family in terms
of the following:

 Composition (monogamous or not)

 Gender composition (heterosexual or not)

 Marriage (with divorce or not)

 Power (how power should be distributed)

 Residence (common or virtual)

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