Beyond demography: History, ritual and families in the twenty-first century

This Families Commission report examines family life in the twenty-first century, often characterised by anxiety and uncertainty about what it means to ‘be family’, and what the functions of families are. The stability provided by external sources such as church, state and community is being steadily eroded as families become increasingly secular and diverse.

It is argued that family rituals provide a strong potential and actual source of strength, meaning and stability for families. A short history of families and family change is offered, with the caveat that there is not one, nor a linear, history of families in Western society.

The report described the current status of many families as sites of intense demands for emotional fulfilment, along with the elevation of children’s powers, the intensity of the parent-child relationship, and the tensions between individual and collective.

The potential for family rituals to be powerful mechanisms for meeting the needs of families in the twenty-first century is discussed first by a consideration of the history and social evolution of rituals from public ceremonies to private and sometimes implicit patterns of behaviour. Their functions in developing, sustaining and modifying family meaning and identity are described and linked with the small body of existing research that examines their roles as sources of family resilience.

This report was prepared for the Families Commission Blue Skies Fund by Jan Pryor, from the Roy McKenzie Centre for the Study of Families, Victoria University.