Familism and Social Structure: The Case of the Kibbutz

Abstract

One of the most controversial problems caused by the familistic trends in the kibbutz is the aspiration to change the generally accepted collective housing system of the children. The largest kibbutz federation decided on a research project in order to investigate the extent of the association between the change of the housing system of the children and some attitudes generally considered as negative from the point of view of kibbutz values. A comparative research in two groups of kibbutzim of different housing systems revealed a positive association between the familistic system and (a) polarized division of labor between the sexes in housework and public activity, (b) less social activity-formal and informal-and (c) anticollectivistic trends in consumption patterns.