Dr.

Yasmin Yaccob
Senior Lecturer
Department of Social Science and Management
Faculty of Humanities, Management and Science, UPMKB
Tel :086-855327 / 012-5478467
Email: [email protected]
 SEMESTER 1 /2021-2022
FEM2101
FAMILY & PARENTING
(KELUARGA & KEIBUBAPAAN)
3 (3+0)

• Timetable
• WEDNESDAY : 2.00 – 5.00 PM
• ONLINE
Students will be able to:
Course Objectives
• To study the form, role, and function of the family as an
institution (C4)

• To explain the process of family formation, family dynamics,

and parent-child relationships according to developmental
stages (A3, LL)

• To analyze various parenting approaches and strategies as

well as influencing factors of family institutions and parenting
processes (CTPS)
 Course Evaluation
(i)Overall Assessment : 60 %
(i) Mid-term Examination 15.00 %
(ii) Course assignments 45.00 %
➢Assignment 1 30.00 %
➢SCL 10.00 %
➢Quiz 5.00 %
(ii) Final Examination 40.00%
Overall 100.00%
Course Synopsis
▪ This course emphasizes the family as an institution, family
formation and the dynamic interactions within and outside the
family system. Parenting processes, approaches and strategies
according to developmental stages are discussed
1.Benokraitis, N. V. (2019). Marriages and families Changes,
Choices and constraints. (9th Edition). Pearson Education, Inc.
2. Bigner, J. J. & Gerhardt, C. (2018). Parent-Child relations: An
introduction to parenting. (10th Edition). Pearson Education Inc.
3. Marotz, L. R. & Kupzyk, S. (2017). Parenting today's children: A
developmental perspective. cengage learning.
4. Pahrol, M. J. & Rasidah, M. (2014). Didiklah dari hati. Telaga
Biru.
5. Strong, B. & Cohen, T. F. (2017). The marriage and family
experience: Intimate relationship in changing society. (13th
Edition). Cengage Learning.
− 1. Definition Marriage and family
− 2. Trends of demography
− 3. Family as a system
− 4. Family formation
− 5. Function of family
− 6. Theory and Research in Family
 DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE
Kamus Dewan Nikah (perkahwinan) adalah ikatan yang sah antara
4th Edition lelaki dan perempuan menjadi suami isteri.
(Marriage is the legal bonding between man and woman
as husband and wife)

Merriam The state of being united to a person of the opposite sex

Webster as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual
Dictionary relationship recognized by law.

Experts in Shehan and Kammeyer (1997) defined marriage as the

Family Studies personal commitment and law between two individuals,
while,
DeVault, Sayat and Cohen (2001) defined marriage as
the legal unification of man and woman, of which they
are united sexually, cooperate economically, give birth
or adopt children.
 Legal Definition of Marriage – English Law
• The classic legal definition of marriage can be found in Hyde v
Hyde and Woodmansee, where Lord Penzance defined marriage
as the ‘voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the
exclusion of all others’.
• This has been enshrined in the Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA)
1973 s.11(c), where a marriage is void when the parties are not
respectively male and female.
• This has also been re-affirmed by the House of Lords (HL) in
Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza, where Lord Millet stated that in a
marriage, ‘a man’s spouse must be a woman; a woman’s spouse
must be a man’.
• However, in Goodwin v United Kingdom (UK), the European Court
on Human Rights held that a transsexual, which was prevented from
marrying a person of her choice because her legal gender fixed at
birth which was no longer reflected her identity, was violating
Articles 8 and 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR), namely right to respect for private and family life, and right
to marry respectively.
• Subsequently, the HL in Bellinger v Bellinger, declared that s.11(c)
of the MCA 1973 which prohibits a transsexual person marrying in
her declared sex was incompatible with Articles 8 and 12 of the
ECHR.
• This has led the government enacting the Gender Recognition Act
2004, and marriage is no longer restricted to those who were born
respectively male and female.
 Question?

• Do we recognize same sex marriage?

• Same-sex marriage (also known as gay marriage) is
the marriage of a same-sex couple, entered into in a civil or
religious ceremony.
• The term marriage equality refers to a political status in which
the marriages of same-sex couples and the marriages of
opposite-sex couples are recognized as equal by the law.
 Facts…..
• As of 2018, same-sex marriage is performed and recognized by law
(nationwide or in some parts) in the following
countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denma
rk, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico
, the Netherlands, New Zealand,Norway, Portugal, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United
States, and Uruguay.
• Additionally, Armenia, Estonia and Israel recognize the marriages of same-
sex couples validly entered into in other countries.
• Same-sex marriage is also due to soon become performed and recognized
by law in Austria, Costa Rica, and Taiwan.
• Furthermore, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued a ruling
which is expected to facilitate recognition in several countries in
the Americas.
 Facts…..

Source : LPPKN
 Marriage in Islamic Law
• In Islam, marriage is a legal contract between a man and a
woman.
• Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of
their own free wills.
• A formal, binding contract is considered integral to a religiously
valid Islamic marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities
of the groom and bride.
• There must be two Muslim witnesses of the marriage contract.
 According to the Islamic law, marriage is an agreement that
legalises the association between a man and a woman that are
unrelated and creates the rights and responsibilities between both
of them (Mat Saad, 2002).
Islamic
Agreement to unite man and woman for the purpose of legalizing
Law
sexual intercourse, with the aim of achieving long-lasting
happiness in accordance with the guidelines as set by the Islamic
law (syara’).

Islam also emphasizes the factor of continuation of offspring

among the main objectives of marriage (Hammudah, 1977)
 Requirement of Valid Marriage
An Islamic marriage (nikah) can be performed under the following conditions:
1- Both sides must be free of obstacles to marry and have legal capacity.
2- Both sides or their guardians or representators must be present at the same time
during the proposal and acceptance.
3- The prohibitions of marriage in verses An-Nisa 23,24 and An-Noor 3, which include
the prohibitions about blood and milk kinship must be observed.
4- There must be no other conditions demanded by any of the sides which may prevent
the nikah .
5- The bride and the groom must have reached the age of maturity (this may come true at
the same age or after the puberty.

*In compliance with the verses An-Noor 24:3,5 ; Al-Maidah 5:5 and An-Nisa 4:24 both the
bride and the groom must be chaste.
 Types of Marriage in Malaysia
The two types of legally recognised marriages in Malaysia
are:
(a) Civil marriage; and
(b) Islamic marriage;
The civil or monogamous opposite sex marriage is being
practiced by non-Muslims and non-natives in Malaysia under the
Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 [Act 164].
Non-Muslims continue to insist on strictly monogamy marital
relationships as an essential of marriage.
 Monogamy vs Bigamy
• Monogamy simply means marriage with one spouse at a time.
• Bigamy is a crime in Malaysia.
• If you are lawfully married under any law, religion or custom to one
or more spouses, you are not allowed to contract a valid marriage
with another person, whether your marriage is contracted within
Malaysia or outside Malaysia.
• If you have contravened the above provision, you are deemed to
have committed the offence of marrying again during the life-time of
husband or wife, as the case may be, within the meaning of Section
494 of the Penal Code.
 Polygamy
• Whereas in Islamic marriage, polygamy is permitted with certain restrictions.
Men can only marry up to four (4) wives at any one time; however, most men
have only one.
• Muslim women are not allowed to practise polyandry in which one woman has
more than one husband at the same time.

• Under Section 23 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984, a
husband desiring polygamy must obtain the consent and views of the existing
wife or wives and the permission from the Syariah Court to enter into a
polygamous marriage, failing which he is deemed to have committed an
offence under Section 123 of the Act.
What is FAMILY?
o Kamus Dewan : Family are “those who have a relationship with
each other by descent and all those who are related from marriage”.

o National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN)

adopted the definition of family as a group of individuals who are
related through blood ties or by marriage or legitimate adoption.
Family is formed through marriage or registration between man and
woman, and comprises children and extended family members.

o In Islam, family is a special structure in which members have blood

ties or marital relationship, of which includes elements of mutual
relations as outlined in religion, law and upheld by each member
(Hammudah, 1977).
• The researchers of the West also proposed the meaning of family in
various aspects:
➢ Burgess and Locke (1953) considered family as a group of
people who have blood relations, or adopted, live as a
household, interact and communicate with each other through
their respective roles as husbands and wives, mothers and
fathers, sons and daughters, siblings, where they create and
maintain a common culture.

➢ Olson and De Frain (2000) defined family as two or more

members who are committed to each other, share intimacy,
resource , responsibilities in decision-making and values.
United States Census Bureau (2015) stated that family is a unit
consisting of two or more members who blood relations,
marriage, or adoption or cohabiting.
 Q: RIGHT OR WRONG??
• Family is the basic unit of society.
• To live with a ‘family’, human-beings need to marry.
• The functions of family are the same for all the
families in the world.
• 50% of the marriages in Malaysia end in divorce.
• Single families are the most common family
structure in Malaysia.
 FACTS
• Decreasing total fertility rate (TFR)
• Decreasing death rate
• Life expectancy of men and women are rising → more
senior citizens
• Smaller family size
• Increasing number of divorces
• Divorce in early marriages are on the rise
• DOSM_BPPD_3-2020_Siri_61.pdf
WHY?
 TRENDS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE

1. Postponement of the age of first marriage

2. Age difference between the couple getting smaller
3. TFR decline, shrinking family size
4. Divorce cases increased
5. Number of single parent households increased
6. Various family structures rising
7. Number of single persons increased
8. Number of senior citizens increased, life expectancy
increased
9. The existence of the sandwich generation,
boomerang, or the empty nest that does not exist
Source : LPPKN
Ecology is a word Family ecological Ecological perspective
derived from the perspective (aka examines individuals
Greek word ‘oikos' family ecosystem) is (and families) in the
or house based on the theory context of person-in-
of human ecology. environment.

Interaction and transaction occurs between the individual family

members and the family itself with the environment
HUMAN BIOECOLOGICAL SYSTEM

CHRONOSYSTEM

MACROSYSTEM

EXOSYSTEM

MESOSYSTEM

MICROSYSTEM

INDIVIDUAL
 32

Source: Internet 32
 Family as an Ecosystem …
• As an ecosystem, each component of the family plays an
important role in ensuring the goals of the family are
achieved, which is to lead a quality life in a quality
environment .
• Interconnection and interaction among family members
with the external system is to ensure that the family can
function properly and its members can live in peace.
• The processes and dynamics that occurs within the family
is very important.
• Fahey, Keilthy and Polek (2012) classified the types of
family by focusing on whom the child lives with.

• Married parents (biological) • Single mother / father

• Cohabiting parents (biological) (divorced / separated)
• Married parents (stepparents) • Mother / father without
• Cohabiting parents (stepparents) marriage
• Mother / father widow /
widower
Types & Form Of Family
• The types or forms of
the family can be
categorized according
to the structures and
relationship between
the members.
TYPES OR FORMS OF FAMILIES

The types or forms of the family can be categorized according to the

structures and relationship between the members.
1.Family-of-origin or family of orientation is a family in which a person was
born and raised .
2.Families without children refer to married couples who do not have biological
children and did not adopt children to raise. Regard themselves as ‘child-free’.
3.Nuclear families or basic families consist of a mother, a father and their
children.
4.Family of procreation is built by a family through marriage.
5. Single parent families consist of a mother or father with a child or more
children. Single parent families are formed due to divorce, separation or death
of a mother or father .
✓ Extended family includes nuclear family and members
of extended family, such as parents and relatives.
✓ Blended family refers to individuals who remarry a
different partner, and one or both of them have children
from previous marriages and also their current
marriage.
✓ Stepfamily refers to families consisting of a parent who
has children from the previous marriage .
✓ Binuclear family is formed when families split due to
divorce. It produces two nuclear families, which is
maternal nuclear family that is headed by mothers and
paternal nuclear family headed by fathers .
• Polygamous family = a family unit with a spouse who has more than one
married partner at a time.
- Men who have more than one wife = polygyny family (Africa / Asia / Islam)
- Women who have more than one husband = polyandry family (due to land
/ property / sex ratio) .
• Patriarchal family is a family in which father acts as the head of the family
who has absolute power over other members of the family.
• Matriarchal family is a family in which mother acts as the head of the family
who has absolute power over other members of the family.
 Types / Other Forms?

Cohabitation?
• Cohabitation is an arrangement where two people who are not married live together. They
often involve a romantic and/or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent
basis.
• Such arrangements have become increasingly common in Western countries
during the past few decades, being led by changing social views, especially
regarding marriage, gender roles and religion.
• More broadly, the term cohabitation can mean any number of people living
together.
• To "cohabit", in a broad sense, means to "coexist".
• The origin of the term comes from the mid 16th century, from the Latin cohabitare,
from co- 'together' + habitare 'dwell’.
•The family functions as an
interactive unit.

•This unit provides for the

physical, mental, emotional,
social and spiritual well-
being of its members.
Functions of Family
Intimacy of
relationship/
Sexual Need

Economic Reproduction
Provisions and Procreation

Protection and
Socializing
Care of
Functions
Children
 Intimacy
Stable Satisfaction and Sexual Need

• This is the primary and essential function of family.

• Sex instinct is the natural urge of human being.
• The satisfaction of this need requires that both male and female should live
together as life partners.
• It is the family where the husband and wife can satisfy their sex instincts
easily and comfortably.
• Without family the satisfaction of sex need is almost socially quite impossible.
• A family not only satisfies but also provides the appropriate mechanism
through marriage to regulate sexual behavior of husband and wife.
 Reproduction and procreation
• Reproduction or procreation is another essential function of
family.
• The family along with regulating the sexual behavior in relation to
the satisfaction of sexual needs secures a legitimate basis for
procreation.
• Since the inception of family, it has been performing this
fundamental function.
• This function of family contributes to the continuity of family and
ultimately perpetuates the human race as a whole.
 Procreation

• Procreation - the bearing of children

• Parents have kids as an expression of their love for each
other
• They want to have someone carry on their heritage and
traditions
• The birth of children assure the continuation of society
 Protection & Care of Children
• Protection and care of the children is another essential function of
family.
• It is regarded as an institution par excellence for the production
and rearing of children. It is true that no other institution can take
required care of the child like family.
• The child at birth is complete helpless and cannot survive at all
without the help of the family.
• It is the family which provides care, protection, security (Physical,
mental) and fulfills all other needs to make him fit in the society.
 Socializing Functions
• Family is one of the primary agents of socialization.
• Family members teach the child the norms, value morals,
beliefs and ideals of society. In the family the children first
learn what is good and bad, what is right and wrong.
• They develop specific habits, traits of character, attitudes and
values. The senior members of the family pass the family
culture to the new generation thought socialization process.
• Thus, family acts an instrument of culture transmission.
 Socialization
• The family teaches its children to conform to social
standards. As parents socialize their children, they act
as authority figures in the home teaching limits and
appropriate behavior.
• Education is also a part of socialization.
• Both moral and intellectual education are important for
children.
 Economic Provisions
• Providing resources, such as money, food, clothing, and shelter, for
all family members is one of the most basic, yet important, roles
within a family.
• This is primarily an instrumental role
• Family makes a provision of a home or a common habitation for its
members. Here both husband and if live together for procreation,
protection and care of the children. It is a place of multifarious
activities
• All the members of the family depend on home for
comfort, protection and peace. It is that institution
which provides the mental or the emotional
satisfaction. Members of the family exchange their
love, sympathy and affection among themselves
Divorce cases during Pandemic??
Time to Ponder…..
 Do you know?

• NINJA Family? “No Income No Job”

• DINK Family? DINK" is an acronym that
stands for "dual income, no kids". It
describes a childless or childfree couple
where both partners receive an income.
The term was coined in the 1980s at the
height of yuppie culture.
• Commuter Family?
 Commuter Family
• Commuter family has been categorized as one of the family structures in
Malaysia due to its increasing number of youth couples being involved in
such lifestyle (KPWKM, 2010).
• Approximate 25% of the population in Klang Valley are defined as commuter
by means separates from their nuclear families due the career purpose.
• Commuter family” introduced by Gerstel & Gross since year 1982.
• The term “commuter marriage” or commonly known as commuter families
describes the phenomenon of married couples who agree to have their own
careers and maintain two residence in different geographical locations and
separated from each other for at least three days per week Grestel and
Gross (1982).
 Malaysia….
• In Malaysia, commuter families are defined as weekend
families by means of one of the married couple stay far
away from the nuclear family and the only meet once a
week, twice a month, once a month etc (KPWKM, 2010).