ion of marriage. It was felt that the strength and power of the marriage union would offer a threat to the Plantation System. Concubinage was encouraged as it was believed that this frail type of union would keep the negroes humble and complacent. Despite the rapid social changes taking place, common-law marriages and concubinage are still present in Caribbean and will perhaps be for a long time. During the latter part of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century (1890-1910) there was a large movement of people from Jamaica to Cuba, Panama, Costa Rica and the United States of America in search of jobs. Fathers travelled away from their families leaving mothers to be solely responsible for the upbringing of their children. During the 1950s there was an exodus of Jamaicans to England. These included both fathers and mothers, and so, many children were left to be cared for by their grandmothers and other relatives.Although families differ in form according to the society, they nevertheless are responsible for carrying out certain functions. The chief of these are: 1. Procreation or reproduction - for continuation of the species. 2. Socialisation which includes -education, religion, preparation for a career, learning social relationships, management of leisure and being a responsible citizen.3. Providing the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, health care and love. 4. Transmitting the culture: that is, passing on the language, ideas, beliefs and attitudes, goals and values. 5. Preventing incest, by regulating kinship relationships 6. Conferring Status: Status may be of 2 kinds, namely: (a) derived: that is, inherited like familyname, language and speech, schooling, relationships and privileges. (b) acquired: that is earned by the individual from the society based on the individual's own performance.Family functions are more or less universal, in that families through-out the world are expected to perform these functions ...
