ABSTRACT

This chapter presents an image of the variety of family norms from an international comparative survey. The concepts of "families as educators" and "global citizenship" raise certain questions about the very structure of families. People's conceptions of family vary from time to time, and from society to society. The conception of family brings a certain order to families in a given society. From the viewpoint of international comparison, the family pattern of any one society can be seen as only one example of the diverse family patterns that are possible. Some specific trends in family norms have been noted in particular countries and regions of the world. In our changing world, not only the remarried family, but all families are in the condition of being an incomplete institution. The structure of the family institution is similar, but the intensity of the institutional expectations is lower in Japan.