{"DOI":"10.1515/zfsoz-1974-0401","abstract":"AbstractThe widely accepted hypothesis of the universality of the nuclear family in human cultures owes its popularity above all to the work of G.P. MURDOCK. Subjected to the test of a crosscultural, structural analysis of a selected number of societies the thesis is proved untenable.The nuclear family turns out to be neither a universal nor a prerequisite. This constellation is but one of a number of possible combinations of elementary dyadic relationship clustered around the fundamental mother-child unit.The pattern in which this latter relationship is compounded with the dyads spouse-spouse, father-child and sibling-sibling into more complex structures varies from society to society and is subject to specific economic and historical developments. A formalized definition of the family as \"the group consisting of a man and his wife together with their unmarried, dependent children\" contributes neither to an explanation of the concrete sociocultural context in which such a structure exists nor of the nature of the relationships, which such a structure imposes on the persons involved.","author":[{"family":"Eickelpasch"}],"id":"unknown","issued":{"date-parts":[[1974,1,1]]},"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","title":"Ist die Kernfamilie universal? / The nuclear family. Is it universal?","type":"article-journal"}