8.6 Conclusion

The institutions of the family and marriage are found in all societies and are part of cultural under- standings of the way the world should work. In all cultures, there are variations that are acceptable as well as situations in which people cannot quite meet the ideal. How people construct families varies greatly from one society to another, but there are patterns across cultures that are linked to economics, religion, and other cultural and environmental factors. The study of families and marriage is an important part of anthropology because family and household groups play a central role in defining relationships between people and making society function. While there is nothing in biology that dictates that a family group be organized in a particular way, our cultural expectations lead to ideas about families that seem “natural” to us. As cultures change over time, ideas about family also adapt to new circumstances.