The study of the family is significant because of its unique and important characteristics. The family is universal. Its influence on personality and character is pervasive because it is a very close and intimate group, and because the individual’s earliest and longest experiences in living take place in the family setting. The family serves as the link between the individual and society, providing continuity to social life and acting as a major agent in the transmission of culture.
This book is designed to be a comprehensive text on the sociology of the family as applied to the Philippine setting. It attempts to cover all aspects of the family: its structure, functions, and changes. It describes the patterns of social interaction among family members, as well as the relationship of the family with other social groupings and with society as a whole. Both traditional and changing patterns drawn from a more general review of universal family structures and relationships as well as data particular to the Filipino family are presented in terms of basic sociological concepts and principles.