Family Values: Category and Structure

Troshkina Irina Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0002-1650-0590 PhD in Philosophy Head of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Khakass Research Institute for Language, Literature, and History 655017, Russian Federation, Republic of Khakassia, Abakan, Shchetinkin str., 23, office 3 i.troschkina2012@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionIt is well known that family values (having many children, motherhood, fatherhood, multigenerational, respect for elders and care for children) are the moral framework of society, and their strengthening is a matter of the present and the future ^{[1, pp. 116-117]}.

According to various studies, today there is a decrease in the importance of basic family values (parenthood, kinship) and an increase in non-family values (sexual partnership, education, professional activity, status characteristics) ^{[2, p. 76; 3, p. 158; 4, p. 273]}. The contradiction between family and non-family value systems (familism and individualism) is becoming more pronounced ^{[5, p. 195]}, characterized by the recognition of the importance for the individual of the family, the collectivist principle and at the same time individual preferences of a person, individualistic foundations.

Among the main factors influencing this situation, the dynamics of the value crisis associated with the imbalance of personal, family, and social value systems is highlighted. The growth of the importance of the former leads to the disintegration of society, the atomization of the family, the development of hedonistic values with the leveling of spiritual values, social alienation; the imbalance of value systems leads to the formation of an existential vacuum, a state of anomie in which there is no firm moral regulation of individual behavior, when old values no longer work, and new ones have not yet been established ^{[6, p. 239]}. This causes a rapid increase in the number of deviants, including those with various forms of addictive (dependent) behavior: chemical (nicotinomania, substance abuse, drug addiction, alcoholism, drug addiction), biochemical (improper nutrition), non-chemical (informational, criminal, sexual, gambling, etc.) ^{[7, pp. 8-71]}, leads to to the problems of the family (disintegration, childlessness and childlessness, celibacy, bicarrierism), in general, negatively affects the state of society.

Due to the fact that the family is the main translator of spiritual and moral guidelines, family values carry a consolidating ethno-cultural principle, the role of the latter in preserving and reproducing the value foundations of society is very significant. In these conditions and in connection with the search for a balance of the value foundations of society, the topic of studying the essence of "family values" is very relevant.

Category "family values"There is no unity among researchers in understanding the category of "family values", which is due to the versatility of the phenomenon, the inclusion in the structure of three value systems: personal, family, social (being in inseparable unity, they balance each other, the distortion of each leads to disharmony within society, family).

The multidimensional nature of the phenomenon has led to the formation of two approaches and three constructs to the study of family values. The difficulty for researchers is the search for criteria for the gradation of components of family values into traditional and innovative, the assessment of positive and negative assessments of the transformation of family values. In general, all this actualizes the problem of choosing effective methods of studying the object.

It is worth noting that today there are two approaches to understanding family values. In the first case, they are considered as positive and negative indicators of the significance of objects related to the community of people based on a single joint activity, connected by the bonds of matrimony-parenthood, kinship, in connection with the involvement of these objects in the sphere of human life, human interests, needs, social relations. In the second one, sociocultural preferences in marital and family spheres are revealed (the sphere of premarital behavior, the choice of a marriage partner, the sphere of parenthood, the sphere of marital and family relations, the sphere of marital and family roles, the sphere of matrimony, the sphere of kinship).

In the context of these approaches, three constructs of family values can be distinguished. A significant part of researchers consider family values within the framework of an intra-family construct, in which the assessment of importance and usefulness are built in relation to the categories of matrimony, parenthood, kinship. The other part focuses on family and extra–family values, highlighting social, including ethno-cultural values, spiritual and moral guidelines ^{[8, p. 28-29; 9, p. 52]}. The third group notes the primacy of personal-family interaction ^[10]. In the first variant, family values are presented as indicators of the importance of objects for family members ^{[11, 12]}; in others, as the importance of objects in relation to the spheres of social and personal existence.

The study of family values takes place within the framework of the concept of socio-cultural dynamics of society, reproduction of traditional family values. Under traditional family values, researchers represent a set of significant semantic categories reflecting ideas about the family way of life, family culture, formed in an earlier historical period. Studying traditional family values, researchers identify three main components: the attitude to marriage and premarital behavior (the importance of marriage registration and the constancy of marital relations, the steady priority of preserving marriage over divorce), the attitude to childbearing and socialization (the birth and upbringing of children), the attitude to the interaction of family members (the distribution of traditional roles among men and women, loyalty, mutual respect of all family members ^{[13, p. 43]}, which echoes the intra-family construct of family values. Under modern family values, as a rule, a set of opposite categories is considered, due to a critical attitude to the traditional family heritage, leading to the devaluation of values and norms of previous generations, which makes it difficult to transfer them to subsequent generations ^{[14, p. 108]}.

In general, under family values, researchers consider a set of traditional ideas about family and marriage that determine the goals and life orientations of an individual family, leading to its consolidation, while under modern family values or extra-family values, they represent a set of meanings about substitute values (sexual partnership, education, professional activity, status characteristics) ^{[2, p. 76; 3, p. 158; 4, p. 273]}, aimed at satisfying the individual interests of family members, leading to the disintegration of society and social institution.

Thus, family values are a set of ideas about family and marriage that determine the goals and life orientations of an individual family. They are formed under the influence of universal values, ethno-cultural attitudes of society, while in each family, depending on the spouses' belonging to a social group, their life experience, individual hierarchies are formed.

The structure of family valuesTo date, there is no generally accepted classification of the structure of family values.

In the works of researchers, it is presented with a narrowed and expanded basis. Scientists agree that the system of family values is undergoing changes, becoming more complicated due to new qualities and previously missing components ^{[15, pp. 33, 35]}.

There are various classifications of the structure of family values, a significant proportion of researchers identify components based on the form of family relations, others – the functional basis of the institution of the family, others – synthesize these directions ^[12]. Typologies highlighting basic and specific family values ^{[16, 17]}, leading and secondary ^{[18, 19]} are also presented.

In the first and second cases, family values are represented by a narrowed structure, the internal components differ depending on the objectives of the study. As a rule, the separation occurs according to the elements: kinship (extended / narrowed family), matrimony (registered / unregistered marriage; forms of family life – same–sex marriages, cohabitation of several men and women; motives for marriage - love, sex, money, tradition, children, loneliness, care in old age, inheritance), parenthood (head of the family) ^{[18, pp. 220-230]}. Also, the group with a narrowed structure includes classifications based on the social functions performed by families (parental-educational, kinship-succession, household, emotional-therapeutic, intimate-sexual, material, personal identification, social activity, external attractiveness) ^{[2, p. 99; 19, p. 148]}. The set of components varies depending on the understanding of the basics of the traditional and modern family, the needs in the family sphere. Researchers tend to identify a more expanded or complete list of variables: reproductive, educational, household, economic, primary social control, spiritual communication, social status, leisure, emotional and sexual ^[20].

In the second – expanded, there are classifications based on two bases (elements and functional basis of the family ^[12], as well as three-element (functional, legal, ethical values) ^{[15, p. 35]}, which on the one hand allows scientists to take into account a wider range of family values, on the other hand, complicates the process of study, leads to to the coincidences of some elements of the classification.

The classification on two grounds includes family values depending on the traditional family functions of the social institution performed (reproductive, existential, socialization, economic), as well as family elements (matrimony / parenthood / kinship). Among the values of matrimony are the values of marriage, equality of spouses / dominance of one of them, various sexual roles in the family, interpersonal communication between spouses, mutual support and mutual understanding of spouses; values of parenthood – the value of children, including the value of having many or few children, as well as the value of upbringing and socialization of children in the family; values of kinship – the value of the presence of relatives (for example, brothers and sisters), interaction and mutual assistance between relatives, the value of an extended or nuclear family ^[12].

The three-part classification is represented by a set of ethical family values (unity, security, responsibility), legal (state protection, obligations, rights) and functional (love, happiness and care; children and parenthood; self-realization in the transmission of one's own worldview and life experience; healthy lifestyle; optimal living environment; economic stability, common property family values; moral foundations; intra-family communication, spiritual enrichment; family status (spouse, parent); rest with loved ones; orderly sexual relations) values ^{[15, p. 35]};

Thus, the structure of family values in the research of scientists is considered depending on the classification criterion (one-term, two-term, three-term basis), consists of many components. In the first case, the system is presented depending on the elements and functional basis of the family, in the second, it is based on the synthesis of these two components, it is revealed through the traditional functional platform of the family, in the third case, it is revealed from the standpoint of interaction between the state and the family, components of ethical, legal and functional significance are highlighted, while the structural component of the family disappears. In the latter case, researchers reveal family values in the dynamics from traditional to non-traditional.

The dynamics of the structure of family values is isolated on the basis of the manifestation of non-specific functions of the family (accumulation and transfer of property, status, organization of production and consumption, organization of recreation and leisure, care for the health and well-being of family members, creation of a microclimate conducive to stress relief and self-preservation of the "I") ^{[15, pp. 33, 35]}. Economic stability, common property, heirlooms, family status (spouse, parent), joint recreation, happiness and love, orderly sexual relations, etc. are highlighted. It is caused by the change of value positions relative to multi-level subjects ("society", "family", "individual"), which leads to a reassessment of the importance of family, marriage, the dynamics of the institution of family and society ^{[21, p. 23; 22]}.

Conclusion

In general, the category of "family values" is considered by researchers as a set of ideas about family and marriage that determine the goals and life orientations of an individual family; under non-family values, they represent a set of meanings about substitute values aimed at satisfying the individual interests of family members, leading to the disintegration of society and social institution. Intra-family, family-extra-family, personal-family value constructs are distinguished.

The structure of family values is considered by scientists as the interrelation of various elements of the system (narrowed, expanded component bases), which has a fuzzy hierarchy. The most common structure used is a structure consisting of a single-member classification of the family by family elements (matrimony/ parenthood, kinship). As a rule, researchers tend to the position that the postmodern family model is characterized by the priority of the value of matrimony, the preservation of the value of parenthood and some devaluation of the value of kinship ^{[4, pp. 271-272]}. Where matrimony is understood as the personal interaction of a husband and wife, regulated by moral principles and supported by values immanent to him (individual and parental matrimony); parenthood is biological and social ties between spouses and children, including the birth and upbringing of a child, ensuring his familiarization with the cultural and spiritual and moral values of society (consanguinity and substitute parenthood); under kinship – a relationship between individuals based on descent from a common ancestor, organizing social groups and roles (kinship and proper kinship). At the same time, there are a significant number of other classifications of the family structure with many components, in which multiple variables are considered, sometimes there is no clear hierarchy of structural units.