Defining family is difficult because many different people have many different ideas on what a family is, and what a family is not. There is no right or wrong answer and no set definition. It is all about others perspectives. Family is defined by Kaakinen and colleagues as "two or more individuals who depend on one another for emotional, physical, and economic support" (Kaakinen et al., 2015, p. 5). As required, I have attached three photos found in the appendices of this paper which show my perspective on family. The first photo, found in appendix A, is myself, my fiancé, and our two children. The second photo, found in appendix B, is myself and a few of my closest friends. The third photo, found in appendix C, is various words that represent the people I consider family. Each of these photos represent my definition of family because these are all the people who love me, support me, and I know I can always count on. When I think of the word family, I think of my parents, my spouse, my children, my siblings, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my nieces and nephews, and even my closest friends. All of these people represent the definition of family given by Kaakinen and colleagues because we rely on each other for emotional and physical support and my fiancé and I rely on each other for economic support. In this paper I will discuss my personal definition of family in comparison to statistical representations of family forms in Canada and the sociocultural changes that contribute to the changing demographics of Canadian families.
Definition of Family .
My personal perspective of family is closely related to the definition provided above by Kaakinen and colleagues. To me, family means the people who are there for you, who love you and support you, emotionally and physically, no matter what and are involved in all aspects of your life. Family does not mean you have to be related by means of marriage, blood, or adoption.