Cross-cultural perspectives on family change

Abstract

This chapter presents a cross-cultural perspective on the family within a social psychological framework and with a comparative theoretical orientation: it examines how ongoing family changes and social transformations influence each other. It also examines the corresponding patterns of change in the self and in human relations. The theoretical perspective refers to a model of family change that I have developed over the last decade. The model is based on my own research and other research evidence from diverse societies. The social transformation of concern here is basically urbanization, which entails significant lifestyle changes. Thus, the focus of attention is the so-called “majority world,” i.e., the developing countries with strong family and kinship networks, Turkish society being an example of such a family collectivistic culture. However, as the model is also comparative it involves family patterns from Western industrial societies, not least from the Swedish family. The implications of the model for Turkish and Swedish societies will be considered.