The 12 types of Families (and their characteristics)

The family is, in most cases, one of the great pillars of our lives.. And it is that unless chance has made you live in a family where you have not received the support you needed and deserved, this is always our safe "place". Family is always there (or should be), through thick and thin.

And it is that despite the fact that the definition, which tells us that it is a group of related people with a blood or legal relationship who live together and have a life project in common, is somewhat cold, we all know perfectly well the emotional importance what's wrong with it. It is a concept difficult to express in words.

Even so, all the psychology behind the term "family" has been the subject of study by many professionals, indicating the enormous importance that this has in the development of our personality, in the generation of intense affective ties, in how we relate to the world and, ultimately, how we are. During childhood, the family gives us the tools to grow as people.

Now, are all families the same? No. Far from it. and although each family in the world is totally unique, a classification of them has been developed depending on how they are structured. And this is precisely what we are going to analyze in today's article and, as always, from the hand of the most prestigious specialized publications. Let us begin.

What exactly is a family?

At the "technical" level, A family is a group of people related by legal or blood relationship who live together and who have a common life plan. Thus, to form a family, both ties of filiation, that is, children, and alliances, such as marriage, are needed. All this constitutes a social nucleus with the respective kinship relationships that make up what we know as a family.

We can also understand the family as the set of ascendants, descendants, collaterals and related to a lineage, thus giving rise to a more or less reduced social group where everyone is related to each other by blood, affinity, legality, adoption or other reasons. they have become related.

From Latin famulus, which curiously was a concept that in Ancient Rome designated servants and even slaves, the family has been important throughout history. And it is that in absolutely all civilizations we can find some kind of family organizationthus being a natural and universal grouping.

And it is that considered as the basis of society, our own human nature leads us to group ourselves in these groups in search of both emotional attachment and protection and security, as well as support that allows us to develop as people and learn things from the world. that surrounds us

Because the ties of affinity and consanguinity go far beyond any objective and cold definition. The affective ties are so strong that, even without living under the same roof and even separating paths since life projects change over time, they remain forever. The family offers us, if we have been lucky, coexistence, support, affection, security and protection.

How are families classified?

As we have said, each family is a world. And although it is impossible to capture in a few lines all the diversity of families that exist, they have been classified depending on their structure and the type of ties that unite their members. Thus, the following main classes of families have been described. Let's see them.

1. Healthy families

By a healthy family we understand one in which the members with whom we are related contribute to our emotional well-being. The family, then, is a nucleus of security for us and our relatives provide us with all the support we need to grow as people in a healthy way. Obviously, there may be potholes, problems or arguments, but overall, our family provides us with an environment where we can develop in a healthy way.

2. Toxic families

In contrast, by toxic family we understand one in which the members with whom we are related do not contribute to our emotional well-being. We do not see the family as a nucleus of security, but as the origin of many of our problems. We do not establish healthy affective ties and relationships become pathological, preventing us from growing as people. The family, rather than protect us, destroys us. And unfortunately there are many people who live in families like this.

3. Two-parent family

A biparental family, also known as a nuclear family, is one in which the nucleus consists of two parents and one or more children. Thus, we are facing the most “typical” type of family, one that is made up of a father and a mother and their children. It is the most traditional form and the one that comes to mind when we think of a family.

4. Single parent family

A single-parent family is one in which only one parent is responsible for raising the children. Therefore, the family nucleus is composed only of the mother or father and the children. The trigger for this situation can be a divorce, widowhood, the decision to be a single mother or father, being a premature mother, etc. Even so, having only one parent in charge of supporting the family is a very big burden, both financially and emotionally.

5. Extended family

An extended family is one in which the nuclear family is not only made up of parents and children, but also of grandparents, uncles, cousins ​​and/or other related or blood relatives. So that, other family members live with us, giving rise to a greater nucleus of coexistence. Therefore, the ties are usually closer and the upbringing of the children is carried out not only by their parents, but also by other relatives with whom they live.

6. Same-sex family

A homoparental family is one in which a homosexual couple constitutes a family through adoption. Thus, the child or children have two fathers or two mothers who, although they are not their biological parents, do give them all the affection they need to grow and develop as in any other more “prototypical” family. And thanks to the fact that it is increasingly accepted on a social level, homosexual couples can fulfill their dream of being fathers or mothers.

7. Family of separated parents

A family of separated parents is one in which, due to a break in the relationship between parents or due to a divorce, the family nucleus is broken. The child or children live alone with the father or mother (we would be in the case of a single-parent family) or alternate living with both, which is usually the most common. As they do not live together and when the couple breaks up, the custody of the children must be processed.

8. Family without children

A family without children is one in which a couple decides not to have children. Therefore, the family nucleus is made up of only two people who do not have children by choice or because it is impossible. That is to say, it is a family in which, because it has not been wanted or because it has not been possible, there have been no children. Therefore, the bond of filiation does not exist, but it continues to be a family understood as a social nucleus based on kinship, which in this case is reduced to marriage or simply life as a couple.

9. Adoptive family

An adoptive family is one in which a couple adopts a child. For whatever reason, they don't have biological children, but they do adopt so that child has a family, so that child becomes their child in every emotional sense of the word. The relationship with it is permanent, developing the role as parents in all aspects.

10. Composite family

A compound family is one in which the children live in two family nuclei simultaneously. Obviously, this happens when, following the separation of their parents, they find a new partner and each of them forms a new family. Thus, the child or children alternate life in both nuclei, having a stepfather (or stepmother) and, sometimes, stepbrothers.

11. Host family

A foster family is that type of link in which a couple fosters a child temporarily, becoming their legal guardians generally until they reach the age of majority, the adoption process is formalized by another family or they can return to their biological family. It is a form of foster care to protect children until they can find a permanent family nucleus or can fend for themselves.

12. Blended Family

An assembled family, also known as mixed or reconstituted, is one in which one or more members of a couple that make up a new family nucleus have one or more children from a previous relationship. That is, when we form a family and our current partner already had children, they are added to the family nucleus, and may or may not have more children later. Hence we speak of "assembled".