Marriage and family are the basic institution of human society. These institutions have been conceive since human being started living in a cave, from the fear of natural calamities. The correlation between marriage and family are the topic of interest for sociologists. The question to ponder here is that what is marriage? Many sociologists have defined marriage in different way though they have not agreed on the single definition of marriage. For the purpose of understanding we will define marriage as the legal contract between two or more than people to have physical or sexual relationship and live together.
What is family? Family is the product of marriage after marriage couple procreate and with the procreation the institution of marriage convert into the family. Traditionally family comprises of husband wife and children who live under the same roof.
In above paragraph we have define the traditional structure of marriage and family. In 21st century the structure of marriage and family have been changed. Now gay marriage are legal in most of the countries, and they can adopt baby as well so the question arises here can we call them family. Most fundamentalist and conservative states will not consider it family however, in some countries gay couple and adopted children are considered as recognized social group. So the definition of family is completely dependent upon the social norms of societies, which differ from society to society.
