MARRIAGE AND

FAMILY
 MARRIAGE
NATURE AND DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE
 Humankind’s most basic and oldest social unit is
the family. It is a social institution primarily
established by society to ensure its continuity and
to regulate the sexual behavior of its members.
 The family is the primary group where the child
is initially socialized and initiated in the ways of
life of his group. The family provides the child’s
social, psychological, and emotional needs –
warmth, intimacy, affection, love, nurturance,
care and security.
 Marriage is another human construction to
insure the continuity of the family and the
eventual perpetuation of the human specie.
 The New Family Code of the Philippines, which
became effective on August 3,1998, defines
Marriage as a special contract of permanent
union between a man and a woman entered into
in accordance with law for the establishment of
conjugal and the family life.
 Light and Keller (1985)
 defines marriage as a socially recognized
union between two or more individuals that
typically involves sexual and economic rights
and duties.

They further elucidated their view of marriage.

“Marriage is a business partnership as much as a

romantic fairytale; it involves compromises,
division of labor, specialization, financial
arrangement, and communication systems.”
Aspects of Marriage:

First, the legal point of view

 posits that marriage is a contract.

Second, religious point of view

 posits that marriages a sacrament.

“What God has put together let no man put

asunder.”
The meaning of Marriage and the Family Issue

a. The most traditional social norm

 views marriage as a sacred phenomenon;

that is, the family and the marriage are

divine and holly institutions created and
maintained by God or some supreme
being greater than human beings.
Traditional Family Norms
1. Legally married
2. Married once
3. Heterosexual marriage
4. Endogamous marriage
5. Two-adult households
6. Children
7. Two parents living together
Nontraditional Alternatives
Single-hood never married
Non marital cohabitation
Remarriage
Multiple marriages
Same-sex marriage
Interfaith marriage
Interracial marriage
Interclass marriage
Multi-adult house holds
Communal living
Affiliated families
Voluntary childless
Single parents
Joint custody
Step families (3+ parents)
8. Parent as key source of: School
Education Churches
Religion Government-police
Protection Clubs, professional sport
Recreation
9. Until death Until divorce or separation

10. Male as provider Female as provider

Dual careers
Commuter marriages
11. Male as “head” or authority Female as “head”
Androgynous relationships
12. Self supporting, independent Welfare
Social security
13. Premarital chastity Pre-or non marital inter course

14. Marital exclusivity Extra marital relationships

Sexually open marriages
Intimate friendships
b. A second traditional norm
 views the meaning of marriage and family as
centering primarily on social obligations.

c. A third
 meaning of marriage suggest that families and
the marital relationship exist for the
individual.
IMPORTANT LEGAL MATTERS ON
MARRIAGE
A. ESSENTIAL REQUISITES FOR
MARRIAGE
 
Family Code of the Philippines provides:
Art. 2: No marriage shall be valid,
unless these essential requisites are present:
1. Legal capacity of the contracting parties
(18 yrs. or upwards), who must be a male
and female; and
2. Consent freely given in the presence of the
solemnizing officer.
B. FORMAL REQUISITES OF MARRIAGE
Art.3. the formal requisites of marriage are:
1. Authority of solemnizing officer;
2. A valid marriage license except in cases provided in chapter
2 of this title; and
3. A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance
of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and
their personal declaration that they take each other as
husband and wife in the presence of not less than two
witnesses of legal age:
Art.4.The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites
shall render the marriage “void ab initio” (void from the
beginning) except as stated in Article 35(a).
C. ANNULMENT OF A MARRIAGE

ANNULMENT
 refers to hr legal process of filing a petition in the
appropriate court seeking a judicial declaration
of making a marriage null and void ab initio or
from the beginning as if no marriage took place.
Art.45.Enumerates the grounds for
annulment of marriage, as follows:
1. One of the contracting parties is 18 yrs. of
age or over but bellow 21 and without
parental consent;
2. Either party was of unsound mind;

3. Consent of either party was obtained by

fraud, force and intimidation;
4. Either party was physically incapable of
consummating the marriage with the
other; and
5. Either party was afflicted with a sexually
transmissible disease found to be serious
and incurable.
D. LEGAL SEPARATION
Legal Separation- refers to the legal process of
filling a petition in the appropriate court seeking a
judicial declaration of legal separation for married
couples.
Art.55. A petition for legal separation may be filed
on any of the following grounds:
1. Repeated physically violence or grossly abusive
conduct directed against the petitioner;
2. Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the
petitioner, apolitical affiliation;
3. Attempt of respondent to corrupt r induce the
petitioner, a common child, or a child of the
petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance
in such corruption or inducement;
4. Final judgment sentencing the respondent to
imprisonment of more than six yrs; even if pardoned;
5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the
respondent;
6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;

7. Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent

bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or
abroad;
8. Sexual infidelity or perversion;

9. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the

petitioner; or
10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without
justifiable cause for more that one year.
NORMS OF MARRIAGE ON THE SELECTION OF
POTENTIAL MARRIAGE PARTNERS
1. Endogamy-is a rule that requires a person to
marry someone from within his or her own
group—tribe, nationality, religion, race
community, or any other social grouping.
2. Exogamy-is a rule that requires a person to
marry someone from outside his her own group.
3. Sororate-prescribes that a widower marry the
sister or nearest kin of the decease wife.
4. Levirate-prescribes that widows marry the
brother nearest kin of the deceased husband.
FORMS OF MARRIAGE
1. Monogamy
 marriage between one man and one woman.

2. Polygamy or plural marriage

 has three forms:

a) Polygyny- one husband and two or more

wives
b) Polyandry- one wife and two or more
husbands
c) Group marriage- two or more husbands and
two or more wives.
BASIS ON CHOOSING A MARRIAGE
PARTNER 
1. Parental Selection or Arranged Marriages
 Families that have important stake in the type of
spouse their son or daughter will take usually practice.
2. Romantic Love
 Romantic love has become an important basis for
marriage in our society. It is the theme of most of our
popular songs, the subject of many of our movies and
television shows, and made active in scores of popular
books and magazine articles.
WHY PEOPLE MARRY
 
1. Love 11. Unhappy home situation
2. Economic security 12. Money
3. Emotional security 13. Companionship
4. Parent’s wishes 14. Protection
5. Escape from loneliness 15. Adventure
6. Common interest 16. Sex and sexual attraction
7. Parenthood 17. Begetting and rearing of 8.
Physical attraction children
9. Compatibility 18. Acceptance responsibility
10. Martial bliss and 19. Death of a former spouse
happiness 20.Care and nurturance
happiness
DEFINITION AND NATURE OF FAMILY
The family is the basis social institution and the
primary group in society.
 
 Burgess and Locke (1963)

 define the family as a group of persons united

by ties of marriage, blood or adoption,
constituting a single household, interacting and
communicating with each other in their
respective social roles of husband and wife,
mother and father, son daughter, brother and
sister, creating and a common culture.
 Light (1985) - defines the family as a group of
people who are united by ties of marriage,
ancestry, or adoption and who are recognized by
the community as constituting a single household
and as having the responsibility for rearing
children.
 Murdock (1949) –defines the family as a
social group characterized by common residence,
economic cooperation and reproduction.
 
THEORIES OR PERSPECTIVE ON
THE FAMILY
Three Theories:
1. The functionalist Perspective
Functionalist says that if a society is to survive and maintain
itself across time, certain essential functions must be
performed.
Functions:
a) Regulation and sexual behavior;
b) Reproduction;

c) Biological maintenance;
d) Socialization;

e) Care and protection function;

f) Social placement or group status;
g) Social control.
2. The Conflict Perspective
Jetse Sprey (1979), agree with the functionalists’
position that the family institution and other
groups in society are organized systems of
species survival.
3. The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
The symbolic interationist direct considerable
attention to the symbolic environment in which
people carry out their daily activities.
PATTERNS OF FAMILY ORGAIZATION
A. BASED ON INTERNAL ORGANIZATION OR
MEMBERSHIP
1. Nuclear Family
 is composed of a husband and his wife and
their children in a union recognized by the
other members of the society.
a) The family of the orientation – is the
family into which a person is born and where he
is reared or socialized.
b) The family of procreation – is the family
that such person established through marriage
and consists of a husband, a wife, a sons and
daughter.
2. Extended Family – is composed of two or more nuclear
families, economically and socially related to each other.
Linton (Murdock 1949)
Two types of family:
Conjugal family
 corresponds to the nuclear family where priority is given to
marital ties.
Consanguineal family
 corresponds to the extended family where priority is given to
blood ties.
B. BASED ON DESCENT
Descent
 implies family genealogical ties of a person with
a particular group of kinsfolk.
1. Bilateral descent- involves the reckoning of
descent through both the father’s and mother’s
families
2. Patrilineal descent- involves the reckoning
of descent through the father’s family only.
3. Matrilineal descent- involves the reckoning
of descent through the mother’s family only.
C. BASE ON RESIDENCE
1. Patrilocal -the married couple live with or near the
husband’s family.
2. Matrilocal –the husband leaves his family and sets
up housekeeping with or near his wife’s family.
3. Neolocal-the married couple establish a new home;
they reside independently of the parents of either
groom or bride.
4. Bilocal- it gives the couple a choice of staying with
either the groom’s parents or the bride’s parents.
FAMILY PLANNING
Concepts to Master:
1. Family Planning
2. Responsible Parenthood
3. Population Education
4. Sex Education
5. Contraception
6. Contraceptive devices
FAMILY PLANNING
 Family planning experts define family
planning as the process by which
responsible and mature couples, if they
wish, determine by themselves the timing,
proper spacing and number of the children
born to them. Family planning involves
three main aspects:
1. Responsible parenthood
2. Proper spacing of children
3. Birth control
 Family planning involves the rational
utilization of effective contraceptive
methods by married couples so they space
and limit their children to a desirable size
in order for them to attain quality life.
Contraceptive means prevention of
unwanted pregnancy, while responsible
parenthood means responsible pro-
creation and socialization of children. As
responsible parents, married couples are
prepared for the responsibility of rearing a
child who can be properly fed, clothed and
educated.
NORMS ON FAMILY PLANNING
1. Sociological Norms
Family planning is the process whereby, through
interaction, married couples arrive at an intelligent
decision in the number of children they could provide
with quality life.
2. Medical Norms
Family planning through the use of contraceptives
provides protection against unwanted pregnancies.
Contraceptives work to prevent the meeting of the egg
sperm. Family planning is concerned with the
regulation of human reproductive capacity. It involves
the prevention of unwanted births by contraceptive
techniques, or by reducing the length of exposure to
pregnancy in order to protect the well-being of the
mother, of the family, or of the larger population.
3. Legal-Juridical Norms
Government support of family planning is reflected
in Article XV,
Sec. 10 of the Philippines Constitution to achieve and
maintain population levels most conducive to the
national welfare. Measures to assure its
implementation have been made in law and
practice. The Labor Code of the Philippines requires
the employer of more than 200 workers to provide
for family planning services to their employees and
their spouses ( Sec. 11, Rule VII, Book III of the
Implementing Rules ).
4. Ecclesiastical Norms
All the major religions of the world believe in the guiding
principle that a couple has a right to limit family size.
The Roman Catholic Church is not against family planning but
categorically condemns the use of artificial methods as they
are against the natural laws. The Catholic Church only accepts
the withdrawal, abstinence, and rhythm or calendar method.
5. Psychological Norms
Family planning has psychological bearing on problems
which confront the young today brought about by their
development stage and the sexual revolution in the present
times. Marlyn Benoit, Executive Director of the Devereux
Children’s Center in Washington, D.C. agrees that changes in
society and family structure have led to more sexual activity
among teenagers.
POPULATION POLICY AND PORGRAMS
Congress, through R.A. 6365, created, the
Population Commission (POPCOM) in 1971.
Main Goal: To enhance national development
by meeting the social challenge of a high rate of
population growth.
The Department Of Education and the United
Nations Fund for Population Activities create programs
for population education.
Population education is the process of
developing awareness and understanding of
population situations as well as rational attitude and
behavior toward those situations for the attainment
of high quality of life for the individual, the family,
the community, the nation, and the world.
CONTRACEPTION (BIRTH CONTROL METHODS
AND TECHNIQUES)
 Reproduction is the basic biological reason for sexual
intercourse. However, most people enjoy sex and do
not want to conceive every time they have sex. There
are many reasons. they may wish to concentrate on a
career, they may already have too many children in
the family, or suffer from certain health problems, or
dislike babies, or fell too young or old, and so on.
 Contraception is not a new idea. Over thousands of
years all kinds of devices have been tried to prevent
pregnancy. Almost 4,000 years ago some Egyptian
women put a contraceptive paste into their vaginas,
made form honey, sodium carbonate and crocodile
dung!
LITERATURE ON CONTRACEPTION AND
BIRTH CONTROL GIVES THE FOLLOWING
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES:
A. Chemical Methods
1. Pill or Oral Contraceptive
 The pill is a tablet made of man-made hormones
(estrogen and progesterone) mimicking the ones your
body produces monthly on its own. It’s is of two kinds:
COCs or combined oral contraceptives and POPs or
progesterone only pills (mini pills). These are available
in over-the counter or prescription forms.
 Estrogen prevents the egg from maturing and being
released from the ovary. Progesterone changes the lining
of the uterus and the consistency of cervical mucus,
making them inhospitable to sperm and the
implantation of fertilized egg.
 The pill has to be taken for a certain number of days in
the menstrual cycle, usually 21. Its effectiveness is 96%
to 99%, if used properly.
 2. “Morning-After Pill”
 The so-called “morning-after pill” is a form of
emergency birth control. Emergency contraception can
prevent a woman from getting pregnant even after
unprotected sex. This method is especially helpful for
those who have been raped or whose main birth control
methods have failed. Prescribed by a health care
professional, these pills are similar to birth control pills
but contain a higher dose of hormones. The pills will
either inhibit or delay ovulation, or they may alter the
uterine lining, preventing the implantation of a fertilized
egg. After sexual assault or consensual sex, two of these
pills are taken within 72 hours, and then two more are
taken 12 hours later.
 In the Philippines, anti-abortion and pro-life
groups insist that the pill previously marketed here
under the brand Postinor- is an abortifacient
because, as many of them believe, a fertilized egg is
already considered a life form. Thus, preventing it
from being implanted into the uterus is tantamount
to aborting, or killing it.
 After much pressure from these groups, the
government relented and pulled Postinor out of the
local market. The Bureau of Food and drug (BFAD)
likewise delisted the product from its registry of
drugs.
 It is injected by a health care professional every
three months. its effectiveness is 99% of preventing
pregnancy.
3. Implants
 Implants are six matchstick-size rubber silicone
rods, tubes or capsules containing progestin or
progesterone. A physician surgically implants them
under the skin, usually on the upper arm . The rods
released low doses of hormones to suppress
ovulation and cause a thickening of the cervical
mucus so that sperm cannot penetrate. They are
locally available as Norplant and close to 100%
effectiveness for up to five years, and they can be
removed by a doctor at any time.
B. Sterilization or Surgical Method
In sterilization, the eggs or sperm are prevented
from going anywhere by cutting, knotting or
blocking the tubes along which they normally
travel. This is done by a small surgical operation in
the hospital or clinic. Its effectiveness is 99% to
100%.
1. Tubal Ligation
 Female sterilization involves tying, cutting or
searing the two fallopian tubes or oviducts via
survey so that the passageway to the uterus is
blocked. It is a more or less permanent surgical
method for women. The operation is minor, leaving
a small scar on the lower abdomen. Most women
can leave the hospital on the same day, or a day or
two later.
2. Vasectomy
 Male sterilization involves tying, cutting
or searing the two vasdeferens, the tubes
which carry sperm from the testes to the
penis, to prevent the sperm from mixing
with the seminal fluid. It is a more or less
permanent or irreversible surgical method
for men.
3. Mechanical or Barrier Methods
 The barrier methods of contraception put
a physical barrier between sperm and egg, so
that two cannot meet.
a. Male condom or prophylactic latex
 The condom is a synthetic latex sheath worn over the penis
during copulation to prevent the sperm from entering the
woman’s womb. It has a sealed end the caches the
sperm0containing fluid at ejaculation (enlarge and rigid)
penis before intercourse and unrolled and disposed of
afterwards. It is advised to withdraw the penis immediately
after intercourse, and while still erect. Delaying may cause
sperm to spill out into the cervix.
b. Female Condom
 Female condom is elongated as polyurethane sheath about
6.5 inches long, with a flexible ring at each end. It is used to
line the inside of the vagina covers the cervix. It prevents the
sperm from reaching the cervix. It is inserted into the vagina
before intercourse. Its effectiveness is more or less 75% to
80% in preventing pregnancy.
c. Diaphragm/Cervical Cap
 This device is a thin rubber cap or bowl-shaped rubber disk
with flexible rim that fits into the top of the vagina and
covers the cervix, the neck or entrance to womb. It prevents
the sperm in the vagina from entering the uterus and
reaching the egg beyond. It is usually fitted 2 or 3 hours
before intercourse and removed several hours afterwards.
d. Sponge
 The sponge is a soft, donut-shaped devise, which is made
of spongy materials that contains spermicidal. It must be
moistened and inserted before intercourse, and left in place
from up to six hours afterward (although it can be worn up
to 24 hours with repeated intercourse). It works like the
diaphragm and the cervical cap. Its function is to block the
entry of the sperm into the womb. The sponge is available
without a prescription and is about 85% effectiveness on
preventing pregnancy.
4. Natural Family Planning Methods
o Natural Family Planning, also called fertility

awareness, refers to methods for planning

and preventing pregnancies by observation
of the naturally occurring signs and
symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases
of the menstrual cycle. Intercourse is
avoided during the fertile phase if pregnancy
is not desired. The natural methods rely on
timing rather that artificial aids or surgery.
THE EIGHT TECHNIQUES OF NFP ARE:
a. The Rhythm (or Calendar) Method
 The rhythm method is also known as the safe period. It is a
fertility tracking method using a calendar. The woman must
observe and record her reproductive cycle (I.e., ovulation and
menstruation). Ovulation occurs about 12 to 16 days before
menstruation (which is the end of your ovulation period or 14
days before the next period is due.) An egg has a natural life of
two days in the womb waiting to be fertilized. A sperm can last
for four or five days.
b. Cervical Mucus Method
 It is an NFP method relying on a woman’s familiarity with her
body and its processes. The vagina discharge after a woman’s
period is used as indicators of fertility. It is also known as the
Billing’s method, named after an Australian doctor who
discovered it. Observe that the vagina discharge which
appears after menstruation will first be cloudy and sticky.
c. Basal Body Temperature
 The NFP method involves the daily recording of the
temperature changes in the woman’s body with a special
thermometer. She records her temperature at the same
time every day before getting up or doing anything in the
morning. A rise in the BBT of about half a degree Celsius
may mean ovulation, and the couple should abstain from
intercourse if pregnancy is not desired. Effectiveness is
more or less 95% but only for couples with normal fertility
who follow and use the method perfectly.
d. Sympto-thermal Method
 This is a combination of the BBT and the cervical mucus
methods and other physiological indicators of ovulation,
such as tenderness of the breast and mid-cycle pain. This
involves recording. If pregnancy is not desired, couples
should abstain from intercourse until the 3rd day of elevated
temperature or the fourth day after the peak day of mucus,
whichever comes first. Its effectiveness is 98% but only for
couples with normal fertility who follow and use the
method perfectly.
5. Withdrawal or coitus Interruptus
 During sex, the man withdraws his penis from the woman’s
vagina just before the sperm-containing fluid ejaculates.
However, this method is not very reliable. It is difficult to
predict the exact timing of ejaculation and some sperm may be
released before the full ejaculation. Even before the ejaculation.
Even before the ejaculation, the man releases “pre-ejaculation
fluid” which already contains enough sperm to get a woman
pregnant. It may also lead to frustration for one or both
partners. Its effectiveness is more or less 30% to 40%.
6. Prolonged Lactation or Lactation Amenorrhea (LAM)
 This is considered a natural contraceptive and is known to
protect a woman from pregnancy for the first six months after
giving birth, depending on certain factors.
 Breastfeeding is the main factor for delaying menstruation
(lactaional amenorrhea). As the baby sucks, the nipples are
stimulated, causing the woman’s body to produce prolactin,
the hormone that includes milk flow.
 Prolactin is also believed to suppress ovulation on
the nursing mother, in addition to its main function
of increasing the supply of breast milk; thus, the
more frequent and the longer the breast feeding, the
longer the delay of menstrual period.
 Breastfeeding provides 98% protection
against another pregnancy only as long
as:
a .The baby is under six months old
b. The mother is fully breastfeeding, a minimum old
six feedings during the daytime and two at night,
and completes emptying of the breast during every
feeding episode.
c. The mother is amenorrheic or has not experienced
menstrual bleeding 56 days after delivery.
CURRENT RESEARCH ON BIRTH CONTROL
 A new male condom made of polyurethane is one type of
birth control currently under development. Diaphragms
may one day include a one-size-fits-all device and
disposable, spermicide –releasing diaphragms may also
be developed.
 A contraceptive vaccine for men currently in
development contains a hormone that appears to
interfere with the production of both sperm and the male
sex hormone testosterone. Vaginal rings that deliver
female sex hormones are another potential method for
preventing pregnancy. These silicone rubber rings fit in
the vagina and release a steady supply of hormones
progestin-only vaginal rings would be worn continuously
while those containing both estrogen and progestin
would be worn for three weeks and then removed for one
week to allow menstrual bleeding in the same pattern as
combined oral contraceptives.
SUMMARY
 Family planning is the process by which
responsible couples determine by themselves
the timing, proper spacing and number of
children born to them with the aim of giving
them quality life. It involves three aspects:
responsible parenthood, proper spacing of
children, and birth control.
 There are several norms on family planning:
the sociological norms, the medical norms,
legal-juridical norms, the ecclesiastical norms
and the psychological norms. These norms
provide various views and perspectives on
family planning.
 Another aspect of family planning is birth
control. Various methods and techniques of
contraception are available today. These
include: Chemical Method, Sterilization or
Surgical Method, Mechanical or Barrier
Methods, Natural Family Planning Methods,
and the Intra-Uterine Devices.
 Current research on birth control focuses
on contraceptives for men, such as
contraceptive vaccines, hormonal
contraceptive injections, biodegradable
implants, and male polyurethane condom.
Advance in birth control are limited by legal,
religious, and financial concerns.