中西方家庭观念差异的比较 英文文献资料

A Thorough Comparison of the Differences in the Family

Values Between Chinese and Western Countries

I. The Definition and Function of Family Values

II. A Comparison of Family Values

2. 1 A Comparison of Marriage

2. 1. 1 A Comparison of Marital Values between China and Western Countries

2. 1. 2 The Contradiction in Marriage and Family Stability

2. 2. The Comparison of Providing for the Old Folks

2. 2. 1 A Comparison of Attitudes and Methods of Providing for the Old Folks

2.2.2 The Function of Old People in Family and Society

2. 3 The Comparison of Children’s Education

2.3.1 .The Comparison of Methods of Children Education

2.3.2 The Function of Young People in the Family and Society

III. The Comparison of Family Values in Different Social Classes

3.1 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Bottom Class

3.2 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Middle Class

3.3 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Upper Class

IV. The Influence of Family Values in the Society

A Thorough Comparison of the Differences in the Family Values Between Chinese and Western Countries

The role of family is really important in the society; therefore, different conceptions of family would cause different social phenomena, which will have an impact on social stability and the national economy. The traditional concept is challenged by modernization. Through comparing the difference between the two, it depicts the perspectives of different people on family, helps see clearly the impact on the society stability and the national economic development and thus, to understand well the relationship between the person, the family and the nation, the individual, the collective body and the society.

I. The Definition and Function of Family Values

Family is where one has the first experience of love, and of hate, of giving, and of denying, and of deep sadness... Here the first hopes are raised and met—or disappointed. Here is where one learns whom to trust and whom to fear. Above all, family is where people get their start in life. Therefore we focus our attention on family to illustrate cultural implications, more specifically on the importance, functions and types of families.

As you see, families are important for a number of reasons. First, the family is charged with transforming a biological organism into a human being who must spend the rest of his or her life around other human beings. The family, say Nye and Berardo, "is the primary of basic institution of any society… The family is everywhere, it is universal". Second, although a culture's core values and world view derive primarily from its predominant religious views and cultural history, the family is the primary caretaker of these views and values and transmits them to new members of the culture. Finally, families are important because they supply all of us with part of our identity.

The family gives children knowledge about their historical background, information regarding the permanent nature of their culture, and specific behaviors, customs traditions, and language associated with their ethnic or cultural group. In short, the family tells us, and others, who we are and what groups we are part of.

II. A Comparison of Family Values

2. 1 A Comparison of Marriage

2. 1. 1 A Comparison of Marital Values Between China and Western Countries

In China, when western sociologists speak of the family, they usually refer to the basic form of the family organization- the nuclear family of a husband, a wife, and their children. But in China the concept of a family is broader; it may refer to a nuclear family, or to an expanded grouping based on the nuclear family. Chinese families can generally be divided into four types:

a. Incomplete families: In an incomplete family, one of the spouses has died or is otherwise absent, or orphaned children live together.

b. Nuclear families: A nuclear family is made up of husband, wife, and unmarried children.

c. Joint families: A joint family consists of two or more nuclear families. It is often a double-generation family, and can include the nuclear families of brothers or sisters who maintain a joint househol

d.

d. Enlarged families: An enlarged family is composed of a nuclear family plus satellites, usually widowed parents but sometimes more distant relatives or even unrelated persons.

There is a wide-spread belief that the joint family was dominant in China. But according to investigations, that was not the case. The joint family was only limited to the well-off city-dwellers and rural landlords because in feudal society financial power was in the hands of the head of the family. Among urban workers and rural farmers, the proportion of nuclear families was higher. In fact, the enlarged family was also popular because family bonds, which form part of traditional Chinese culture,