ABSTRACT
FAMILY The family is a social unit with traditions comparable to, but distinct from, other groups. It isusually defined in the present as a group of relatives or historically related to a common progenitor; it can also more specifically refer to a people by blood relation or not in a household, usually parents and their children. “Family” is also commonly used in American culture as a metaphor for close social bonds among people who share common values and interests, such as a “school family” or “crime family.” In colloquial usage, it is at minimum a social unit of two people, such as a married couple, but often implies the existence of older and younger generations in the unit. Culturally, it is a closely tied group defined by traditions of bearinga similar name and sharing in stories and rituals. Indeed, for most people it is their primary social affiliation and by “growing up” in it, the one from which they derived their lore and habits. The stories, sayings, songs, holiday celebrations, religious observances, seasonal customs, ethnic foodways, photographs, keepsakes, heirlooms, and other material objects preserved and shared by familiescarry the struggles and hopes of individuals in intimate and familiar relationships. A family becomes, and remains, a social unit by constructing and carrying on traditions.
