The "Family" as a Sociological Problem: Conceptualization of the Taken-for-Granted as Prologue to Social Problems Analysis

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Abstract
Definitions of the family are considered as a source of familial social problems, and the conceptual distinction between families and households is examined. Families are ordinarily conceptualized in terms of kinship, and may involve at least three kinds of kin: conventional, discretionary, and Active; households are constituted by residential propinquity and domestic functions, and not necessarily kinsmen. An alternative focus, people living together in domestic and sexually consequential relationships is proposed as more empirically useful. Whether families or households, a central social problem for people living together involves the division of labor, and the commitments and attachments of persons socially differentiated on the axes of age and sex.

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