Family,basic social group united through bonds of kinship or marriage,present in all societies.Ideally,the family provides its members with protection,companionship,security,and socialization.The structure of the family,and the needs that the family fulfills vary from society to society.The nuclear family—two adults and their children—is the main unit in some societies.In others,it is a subordinate part of an extended family,which also consists of grandparents and other relatives.A third family unit is the single-parent family,in which children live with an unmarried,divorced,or widowed mother or father.
