Relationships

• Responsibility


  • Something people expect you to do, e.g. in your job or school work
  • A duty or obligation you have towards someone or thing
• Commitment


  • Dedication towards something or someone
  • Devotion towards something or someone
  • Keeping an obligation or sticking to a promise or really trying your best at something
• Types of love


  • Affection for things and animals or sentimental love (storge)
  • Love for friends and family (philia)
  • Sexual love (eros)
  • Agape love - love or care and concern given freely/unconditionally to everyone (sometimes called Christian love)
• Modern definition of 'family'

  A group of people who may or may not be related but life together caring for each other's physical and emotional needs
• Traditional definition of 'family' in GB

  The 'nuclear family' - a married man and his wife and their children
• Types of families

  • Single-parent family
  • Childless family (a man and woman who may be married or cohabiting but do not have children)
  • Reconstituted family (step-parents and step-children)
  • Extended family (a number of adults and children who are all related living in the same house)
• Patriarchal


  Father controlled/led
• Matriarchal

  Controlled/led by the mother
• In most modern societies, the Patriarchal style of family has changed and both the father and mother are now responsible and in control of the family
• The change from male dominated families is due to many women being well educated and having jobs and careers
• In modern societies like GB, many fathers stay at home to manage the household and look after small children
• In 2015 the law in GB changed to allow for both the father and the mother to have parental leave
• The very definition of the word 'family' has changed because society and how people behave and live has changed
• The traditional roles of men being the 'bread winner' and the woman being the 'home maker' have changed
• There is a sense of 'shared responsibility for all aspects of family life, not just relating to the chores within the household itself but the responsibilities of funding the family
• Modern societies have moved away from a 'patriarchal view of the family' owing to the fact that modern societies are no longer regarded as being male dominated and women have equal status
• The family is the first school


  It is within the family unit that children are taught basic skills such as speech but also the more advanced skills they will need to enable them to interact with society
• Within the family


  Skills such as empathy, sympathy, altruism, etc. are taught
• Family life is crucial for the passing on of religious beliefs
• Through and within family life religious beliefs are 'taught and caught'
• The idea of 'taught and caught' isn't restricted to religious beliefs
• In Christianity it is said that the family is the first church
• In all faiths the family is the place where children learn prayers and about the different festivals and celebrations
• Parents want the best for their children, and for them the 'best' means giving their children beliefs that they believe are true and will guarantee their happiness
• Humanists believe that all people should be able to make a free choice about what they believe
• Humanists believe that it is down to the individual to be an atheist or a believer
• Family


  A group of people living together in a close unit caring for each other's physical and mental/spiritual wellbeing
• Traditionally a family only consisted of a mother and father and children
• The modern idea of family now usually means several people who are living together and are related to each other in some way
• A good family life is vital for everyone because without a good supportive and stable family life people can find life a struggle
• Children need a supportive family life to do well
• The elderly need good families they can rely on to give them support when they can no longer do things for themselves
• The family is the building blocks of society, and without good families the whole structure of society begins to crumble
• People learn what is right and wrong mainly from what they are taught within their family
• People also learn their cultural values within their family
• Families need to be solid units where people feel secure
• Some people say that people should get married and not just cohabitate because it provides a more stable family unit
• Other people say that it doesn't matter if people are married or not providing their family is a stable and loving unit
• Marriage


  When 2 people commit themselves to each other by making promises (vows) to live together in partnership as a couple and have these promises witnessed by the community/society either in a registry office or a Church/religious building in a religious ceremony
• The meaning of marriage


  A legally binding contract made between two people and formally witnessed