Theoretical Approaches towards Studying the Transformation of the Family Institution

Abstract

The transformation of the institutions of marriage, family and parenthood in recent decades in the context of rapid social, economic, cultural and technological innovations worldwide encourages theorists to look for explanations of the nature and direction of the processes that are taking place. American sociologists of the family Stan Knapp and Greg Wurm present a rather promising systematization of the theoretical approaches to changes in the institution of the family. The criteria of approaches according to the authors’ typology: relationality – vertical / horizontal, and dimensionality – single / multidimensional. This article’s purpose is to reflect on this typology so that Russian researchers go beyond theorizing in the framework of “opposing paradigms of crisis – modernization of the institution of family” disputes, which are more ideological than scientific. The institutional approach is widely represented in the works of classics of foreign and Russian sociology of the family. The classic institutional approach is expanded upon by the works of representatives of the new institutional approach. In the approach of deinstitutionalization, the main emphasis is placed on increasing individual needs, with “family” being a “pure relationship”. The diversification approach, which was mentioned among others by the author of this very article in the mid-1990’s, seems to be the most constructive from an empirical point of view. The article shows the diversification of the family institution, the spread of new family structures in many countries with references to empirical studies and statistical sources. Knapp and Wurm, the authors of the presented typology, consider the approach of institutional logic in relation to the family to be promising. The main problems of its application are discussed in article. The application of the classical theory of family development, as it was formulated in the 20th century when normative family paths were dominant, is also problematized, together with the lack of Russian longitudinal studies and works that describe modern family life paths. What western sociologists agree on, and what the analysis of Russian studies confirms, are the differences in the models of organizing private life in different social groups, at least among educated and uneducated citizens. Analysis of trends in the prevalence of alternative forms of family life in different social groups allows us to assess the nature of changes in the institutions of marriage and family, either as evolutionary or transformational.