@misc{Herudzińska_Małgorzata_H._The_2012, author={Herudzińska, Małgorzata H.}, copyright={Copyright by Małgorzata Helena Herudzińska}, address={Jelenia Góra}, howpublished={online}, year={2012}, publisher={Karkonoska Państwowa Szkoła Wyższa}, language={pol}, abstract={The author begins with reviewing the definitions of the family existing in the Polish legislation, in the literature on the subject as well as the definition of marriage in the Canon Law. It is followed by the reflection on the definition of the nuclear family, which has been deeply rooted in the literature on the subject since the 1960s (the concept is considered to have been developed by the American anthropologist George Peter Murdock) and the definition of the family proposed by T. Szlendak, which will make it possible to consider the diverse forms of human relationships existing nowadays and, at the same time, to overcome the limitations of Murdock’s definition. The paper confronts the above definitions with the models and patterns of the family life present in the social consciousness, referring both to the naturally occurring data and empirical material based on the author’s research}, title={The family in the social consciousness. What (Who) actually forms the family? The social (re)construction of the definition of the family}, keywords={individualism, family, nuclear family, definition of the family}, }