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The nuclear family or elementary family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a pair of adults and their children. This is in contrast to a polygamous family, single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always;^[1] the nuclear family may have any number of children. There are differences in definition among observers; some definitions allow only biological children that are full-blood siblings,^[2] while others allow for a stepparent and any mix of dependent children including stepchildren and adopted children.^[3][4]

Families structures of a single married couple and their children were present in Western Europe and New England in the 17th century, influenced by church and theocratic governments.^[5] With the emergence of proto-industrialization and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a financially viable social unit.^[6] The term nuclear family appeared in the early twentieth century, with the term nuclear itself appearing in the 1840s.^{[citation needed]} Alternative definitions have evolved to include family units headed by same-sex parents,^[1] and perhaps additional adult relatives who take on a cohabiting parental role;^[7] in this later case it also receives the name of conjugal family.^[1]

The concept that a narrowly defined nuclear family is central to stability in modern society has been promoted by modern social conservatives in the United States, and has been challenged as historically and sociologically inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations.^[8]

Usage of the term[link]

An American nuclear family composed of the mother, father, and children circa 1955

Merriam-Webster dates the term back to 1947,^[9] whilst the Oxford English Dictionary has a reference to the term from 1924; thus it is relatively new, although nuclear family structures themselves date back thousands of years.^[10][11] The term nuclear is used in its general meaning referring to a central entity or "nucleus" around which others collect.

In its most common usage, the term nuclear family refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children^[12] all in one household dwelling.^[9] George Murdock, an early and influential observer of families, describes the term in this way:

The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.^[13]

Many individuals are part of two nuclear families in their lives: the family of origin in which they are offspring, and the family of procreation in which they are a parent.^[14]

Compared to extended family[link]

An extended family group consists of non-nuclear (or "non-immediate") family members considered together with nuclear (or "immediate") family members.

Changes to family formation[link]

The popularity of the concept of the nuclear family in the West, as opposed to the traditional extended family living together, came about in the early 20th century, prompted in part by increased wages earned by the working class. This enabled more and more families to be economically independent, and thus to own their own home.^{[citation needed]}

Family arrangements in the US have become more diverse with no particular households arrangement being prevalent enough to be identified as the average; however, 70% of children in the US live in traditional two-parent families.^[15]

Current information from United States Census Bureau shows that 70% of children in the US live in traditional two-parent families, with 66% of those living with parents who are married, and 60% living with their biological parents, and that "the figures suggest that the tumultuous shifts in family structure since the late 1960s have leveled off since 1990."^[16]

If considered separate from couples without children, single-parent families, or unmarried couples with children, in the United States traditional nuclear families appear to constitute a minority of households with rising prevalence of other family arrangements. As of 2000, nuclear families with the original biological parents constituted roughly 24.1% of American households, compared to 40.3% in 1970.^[15] Roughly two-thirds of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.^[17]

In the UK, the number of nuclear families fell from 39% of all households in 1968 to 28% in 1992. The decrease accompanied an equal increase in the number of single-parent households and the number of adults living alone.^[18]

According to some sociologists, "[The nuclear family] no longer seems adequate to cover the wide diversity of household arrangements we see today." (Edwards 1991; Stacey 1996). A new term has been introduced, postmodern family, which is meant to describe the great variability in family forms, including single-parent families and child-free couples."^[15]

According to Professor Wolfgang Haak of Adelaide University, the nuclear family is natural to Homo sapiens. A 2005 archeological dig in Elau, Germany, analyzed by Haak, revealed genetic evidence suggesting that the 13 individuals found in a grave were closely related. Haak said, "By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in Central Europe."^[19] However, even here the evidence suggests that the nuclear family was embedded with an extended family. The remains of three children (probably siblings based on DNA evidence) were found buried with a woman who was not their mother but may have been an "aunt or a step-mother."^[20]

American conservatism[link]

In the United States, the idea that the nuclear family is traditional is an important aspect of conservatism.^[21]

See also[link]

• Astronaut family
• Complex family
• Hajnal line
• Human bonding
• Intentional community
• Hindu joint family
• Kibbutzim and families
• Sociology of the family
• Structural functionalism
• Family relationships

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Nuclear Family from Buzzle.com

Ray Wise
Ray Wise on "Reaper"
Born	(1947-08-20) August 20, 1947 (age 64) Akron, Ohio, USA
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Kass McClaskey
Awards	B-Movie Award for Best Actor 2006 Cyxork 7

Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise (born August 20, 1947), an American actor.^[1] Some of his best-known roles include Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, henchman Leon C. Nash in RoboCop, and the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.

Personal[link]

Wise was born in Akron, Ohio, and attended Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.^[1] He is of Romanian descent on his mother's side.^[2] He grew up in a religious family, during his childhood he went to a Romanian Baptist church in Akron, OH, and later he moved to a Methodist church.^[3]

Wise has two children with wife Kass McClaskey: a son, Gannon (born 1985), and a daughter, Kyna aka DJ Kyna (born 1987). Wise resides in Glendale, California.^[4]

Career[link]

Television[link]

Best known for his role as the murdered Laura Palmer's father Leland in Twin Peaks. In the late sixties and seventies, Wise played attorney Jamie Rollins on the soap opera, Love of Life. He played the character of Dr. Alec Holland in the 1982 film Swamp Thing, directed by Wes Craven and based upon the comic book series of the same name. Dr. Holland is the man who becomes the titular character after his lab is destroyed and he is left for dead. The actual Swamp Thing character was played by Dick Durock. In 1985, Wise played Sol Gann, father to Natty Gann in The Journey of Natty Gann, directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan. In 1987, wise played Tom Gunther, Catherine Chandler's boyfriend, in the pilot episode of "Beauty and the Beast" TV series. In addition to Twin Peaks, Wise has played several roles in science fiction. He played the harried dad in the horror film Dead End. He made an appearance as Liko in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers", and later played Arturis in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Hope and Fear".

He appeared in the Season 7 episode 'The Flame' of Diagnosis: Murder.

He was also featured in three episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as Grill Vogel, the presenter of a fictive instructional video series called "Business Hugs."

In 1995, Wise was reunited with Twin Peaks cast mate Sherilyn Fenn in the NBC telemovie Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story. Wise played 1950s CBS News anchor Don Hollenbeck in the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck. He also starred as the Devil on the TV series Reaper. In recent years, Wise has appeared on a number of political-themed television series and films. He briefly appeared on The West Wing as California governor Gabriel "Gabe" Tillman, and played Vice President Hal Gardner on the Emmy-winning Fox series 24 in 2006. In August 2006, Wise made a guest appearance in the TV series Bones (Fox) as the primary suspect of the first episode of the second season ("The Titan on the Tracks"), and in the pilot episode of Burn Notice. On the February 6 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Wise guest starred as the head of a company testing pesticides on little children. Wise has also guest starred in two episodes of The Closer, as lawyer Tom Blanchard. He starred in Charmed as the upper level demon Ludlow, who runs a school for the Source Of All Evil in the episode "Lost and Bound." He also had a small role in one episode of the sixth season of Dawson's Creek, playing Roger Stepateck. Wise also starred in the SyFy original movie "Infestation" premièred in August 2009. He was also a guest star in Psych and played the lead as Avery in a psychological thriller, Iodine movie in 2009. In 2010, in a special episode of Psych titled "Dual Spires", he joined his fellow Twin Peaks alumni Dana Ashbrook, Robyn Lively, Lenny Von Dohlen, Sheryl Lee, Catherine E. Coulson, and Sherilyn Fenn in a spoof of Twin Peaks.

Wise appeared in Mad Men Episode 50 (Season 4 Episode 11), "Chinese Wall". He plays Cosgrove's future father-in-law Ed Baxter, the CEO of Corning, in the restaurant scene when Cosgrove learns that Sterling Cooper is losing Lucky Strike as a client. Ray Wise made another appearance as Ed Baxter in Mad Men Episode 57 (Season 4, Episode 7,) "At the Codfish Ball."

In 2010, Wise guest-starred on the TV series Dollhouse as Howard, a higher-up in the Dollhouse organization.^[5] He stars in Kyle Rankins post-apocalyptic horror thriller film Nuclear Family.^[6] Wise will star in the lead of the upcoming Mike Mendez thriller film Ov3rk!ll.^[7]

Wise appeared in Season 4 of Chuck, and the hit FX television show "Wilfred" as a popular TV personality. He also was cast in the part of Robin Scherbatsky's father on How I Met Your Mother in December 2010 (after Eric Braeden declined to make a cameo appearance). Ray made a cameo appearance as a modeling agent in episode four of season 2 of Workaholics.

Wise currently appears in the Hulu original series Battleground.

Film[link]

Wise played the role of entrepreneur/millionaire Dalton Voss in the movie The Chase. He played the role of Bart's father Harrison in the movie The Battle of Shaker Heights. He also played the role of Taggart in the horror film Jeepers Creepers 2.

In the year 2011, Wise played the role of United States Secretary of State in X-Men: First Class.^[8]

He appeared in Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie as Dr. Doone Strut, the leader of the Shrim Healing Center.

Voice work[link]

As a voice actor, Wise played Perry White in the movie Superman: Doomsday.

He is also known for portraying Michael Dugan, President of the United States in the computer real-time strategy game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and its expansion Yuri's Revenge.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Voisin, Scott, "Character Kings: Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art & Business of Acting." BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59393-342-5.

External links[link]

• Ray Wise at the Internet Movie Database
• Ray Wise at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Interview with Ray Wise 2011 (video) at 9. Weekend of Horrors
• Ray Wise interview at sci-fi-online.com
• Ray Wise interview at time out Chicago