Family Associations in Lebanon

Abstract

The structural and organizational features of all 477 registered family associations in Lebanon, their underlying functions, pattern and trend are surveyed in an effort to examine how a kinship culture reacts to the disruptive forces associated with the decline in kinship. The central argument of the paper supplements the hypothesis that extended family relations need not be inconsistent with urban and industrial societies. It is suggested that efforts to coalesce the family by creating formal kinship associations should not be dismissed as an irrational or nostalgic gesture. Rather, they are a response to some unmet needs, and they continue to serve some vital and unique functions in Lebanon. Apart from the conventional welfare and benevolent functions, they assist individuals in the quest for opportunity and employment and serve as a vehicle for family solidarity and the advancement of the social, economic and political interests of the family as a social group. They also provide a measure of primary group reinforcements and mediation services -both of which are vital for coping with some of the private troubles and social tensions of a society in transition. Finally, it is suggested that family associations have survived as viable agencies of social organization and social control because they combine some of the rational features of formal organizations with the needs for intimacy and identity inherent in primary relations.