Emerging forms of Family in Iran and its Challenges

Family is assumed to be a primary institution in human society. Structure and functions of this social unit have been evolving. However, social scientists believe the changes it has been facing during the recent years are different, because they go beyond structure and now the meaning of family is somehow changing.Many policymakers and scholars are seriously concerned about the way people see and preserve traditional views to this sacred institution. Others see this as a natural trend and believe that the world has been completely revolutionized and mankind is trying to build a new form of family, appropriate to the modern time in the new millennium. In this article we tried to articulate six important challenges of the unit of family. Then, we addressed responses of Iran’s society to them. To do that, we reviewed related documents and statistics as well as official definitions of the family in different countries. Iran has a relatively traditional, religious society and thus resistant to big changes in this area. But many questions have risen particularly for young people and proper responses must be provided. So, we need to negotiate via intergenerational dialogue. It appears that we are not well-prepared for these challenges.