Abstract
Is there any need for a definition of the family? In the broad sense of the term, a family means a group of individuals, persons, whether or not related by blood ties, living together under the same roof, or sharing the same space, exchanging mutual services, and with powerful underlying emotional bonds. This definition incorporates a large number of variables, and could correspond to the more restricted concept of “household.” Claude Lévi-Strauss, in 1956, defined the French family as “the union, more or less durable, and socially approved, of a man, a woman and their children”. As the basic cell of the human social fabric, the family provides the conditions needed for life and reproduction, and the transfer of knowledge, skills and values. The family is a universal phenomenon, although its forms vary considerably from one society to another. France, as an outward-looking, liberal country, has accepted a broad range of population groups from other cultures, and a wide variety of family models are to be found within its borders. But diversity also comes from changes in attitudes, and the over-riding concern with individual freedom.
