Changes in Maltese family life

Abstract

The family is fundamental in human life. It has been described as "the toughest institution we have" and this is true indeed since the family is the very cradle of human nature. As the most intricate and the most important of human groups, the family can be said to be universal; existing in all known human societies. Biologists and psychologists have shown that the family exists among other animal species, among which mating, procreation, and the care of offspring are manifested. 'the human family is centred round these same biological propensities and needs: mating, the begetting and rearing of children, and the necessity of providing for the manifold needs of all its members. The form of the family in human societies is not determined only by biological features. All societies have certain basic institutions government, an economic system, an educational system, religious institutions affecting directly o~ indirectly the family which is the cell of these institutions. These various institutions are interrelated and each of then can never be completely isolated from the others. The family is also dependent upon the very possible geographical, social, cultural, and historical circumstances with which particular communities are faced. Therefore apart from offering protection and affection, the function of the human family is also economic, status giving, educational, religious: and recreational. In this essay we shall see how the Maltese family impinges upon the chief existing institutions and how the basic relationships with them have changed in the past few years.