A Study Of Contemporary American Family Relationships

As the most basic unit of social organization, family has long been a topic which attracts muchattention from scholars, observers and the common people from all walks of life. In addition tothe traditional researches on family, such as its definition, evolutionary history and socialfunctions, the researchers also spend tremendous time in inspecting the changes and followingchallenges the contemporary American families have experienced and are going to encounter,particularly against the unique background of complex social, economic, political and culturalconditions in the United States after the1960s.Since the1960s, families in the United States have experienced various dramatic changes, suchas the increasingly diversified family structures, simpler family functions, smaller family sizeand more complex family values, first two of which are especially noticeable and deserveresearch. So the first chapter talks about first two of them: more diversified family structuresand simpler family functions. Along with the changes, the contemporary American familiesinevitably encounter various challenges, such as the soaring amount of various nontraditionalfamily unions, including same-sex unions, heterosexual cohabitation, single parents families, re-organized families with stepparents or adopted children and so on.All the above mentioned changes and challenges have brought about heated discussions aboutthe developing trend of the contemporary American families. The pessimistic school holds theview that the contemporary American families will finally collapse and disappear as the mostbasic social unit. Neither will family continue to take its traditional meanings and functions.However, the optimistic school believes that those changes and challenges are not so destructiveas to threaten the future existence of families in the United States. Instead, the contemporaryAmerican families are able to be adjusted to the changing social, economic, political and culturalconditions. Also various evidence and reasons are found out to support this point. So it isconcluded that the contemporary American families will continue to exist and prosper in thefuture.