Families share these factors across cultures

The argument

The definition offered here is derived empirically rather than stipulated: it comes from comparing family units across societies and identifying what they have in common. By analysing a cross-societal group of family units, Murdock concluded that the shared attributes of all families were a shared residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. The method matters to the argument. Any single culture's idea of a family reflects that culture's particular arrangements, so a definition drawn from one society cannot be expected to travel. What survives comparison across many societies is a candidate for being definitional rather than local. The three attributes are functions rather than forms. A shared residence means the unit occupies a common domestic space; economic cooperation means its members pool resources and labour; reproduction means the unit is where new members of the society are produced and raised. For Murdock these shared functions defined the family unit, which is to say the family is identified by what it does rather than by who belongs to it or how they are related. Defining the family by its functions carries a further implication. If the functions constitute the unit, the unit is only as robust as they are. Any erosion of these attributes would correspond with an erosion of the family ties, as when economic mobility forces members of the family to move out of the shared residence and the common domestic space the other functions depend on is lost. This weakening of the family unit would then have profound negative consequences. Because families share these factors across cultures, proponents conclude, family means a shared residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction.

Context

George Peter Murdock collected data on family units from 85 societies when crafting his sociological theory of the family. He compared this with existing data on a further 165 societies.

Premises

Counter-arguments

This narrow definition of a family cannot adequately account for families with LGBTQ parents for whom reproduction is not a core function of the family group. Murdock’s definition is also antiquated. The modern family may not share a residence, as economic conditions drive one parent to alternate regions for work. In these cases, economic cooperation may still be common, as one parent often sends remittance payments home to their partner and children, but a shared residence is often not possible.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] The definition has become antiquated and no longer applies to the modern family.