... extended family relationships are also often found' (Giddens, 1997, p582). Given that we have all had some first-hand experience of living within a family, some social scientists do not always agree on a definition of the word 'family'. For example according to George Murdock, a functionalist theorist, 'the family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults' (Haralambos, 1985, p325). This statement is suggesting that a homosexual couple who had adopted a child would not constitute a family, nor would a lone parent and child. To take this into account and other objections to Murdock's definition, some propose a simpler definition. A family is 'a social group consisting of at least one adult and child, usually cohabiting, ...

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