What is family?

Question

What is a family? Simple question, right?

From biological point of view, I would say male, female and their offsprings. (can be applied also on animals), this is the smallest unit. But are children important in this definition?

From sociological point of view, it's much more complex. We must extend biological definition with foster parents (one or both), in case the kid doesn't have parents and behave very badly, it can have more pairs of foster parents, but this I would classify as more families. Now one parent dies - this is also assumed a family. When both parent die and only children are left, this is also assumed family.

Now from genealogical point of view - can we all of previously mentioned (and other variations) classify as family? Or are genealogists interested only in biological bonds / relations?

Answer 1

Wikitree has made the decision to be primarily a genetic tree, but there are ways to enter adoptive relationships.

I ascribe to the position that we all really have three different Genealogies that make sense to track: (a la Tamura Jones)

1. Genetic genealogy (DNA inheritance)

2. Legal genealogy (the recorded documents in birth/marriage/death/probate/etc. filed with government or legal entities) - these can be incorrect due to bad recording practices, fraud, lost records, etc.

3. "Official" genealogy (recognized as accurate by the families included, even if not matching the two above, including adoption, etc.)

That doesn't mean they can be separate here, just an acknowledgment of the realities of life.

Answer 2

Hi Michal, 

Great Question!

Strickly speaking, Genealogy is the pursuit of one's pedigree.  From that standpoint, only biological connections are of importance as they prove the pedigee.

In the pedigree persuit, non-biological connections are important if they help one discover the biological connection being sought.

Today, Genealogy to both the hobbiest and the professional has grown into a broader category that could be called Family History. 

From this perspective.  All connections that define the life of a person are important.   While WikiTree's base structure is built upon the necessary biological connections, it offers many tools to develop a persons life history.   There are many examples.

These are just a few. Profile of the Week

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Profile_of_the_Week_Winners

Comments

Having pursued Sociology at one point in life, I would say Family is dependent up on the context one is describing.  Thus the connotations that are evoked are dependent on the context.  Family falls with the Zeitgeist.