An individual, or a group or community, considered as a discrete constituent of a society or larger group.
‘Particularly in the countryside, the extended family is the primary social unit, as kin groups live together in relative isolation from other groups.’
‘The nuclear family is the basic social unit of Egyptian society.’
‘In traditional society, family stability is considered key for maintaining the stability of society as a whole, since the family is the smallest social unit of the society.’
‘Instead, the basic social unit was the extended family, consisting of a man and wife and their unmarried children, along with their married sons and their families.’
‘Historically, the family has been the basic social unit of the community.’
‘Territorial encounters can also serve to integrate individuals within their own social unit.’
‘The family remains the basic social unit, more important than the individual, despite the accelerated evolution of Andorran society.’
‘Specifically, arranged marriages take place in societies where the extended family is both the basic social unit, and the basic economic unit, (and often the basic political unit) of the culture.’
‘Whether the family lives in an urban or rural setting, the extended family is the basic social unit.’
‘In the authors' view, the family is the major social unit for emotional development in adolescents.’
‘For many non-Western cultures, the family not the individual is regarded as the basic social unit.’
‘In countries without a welfare system or social security system, the family bonds together not only as a social unit, but as an economic one as well.’
‘In most areas of Nepal, the basic social unit in a village is the family, or paribar.’
‘With the need to support larger, more stable social units came the intensification of the production of the most stable and storable resource available-maize.’
‘Confucianism emphasizes the need to find one's place within the greater social order, and to be a responsible member of the social units to which one belongs.’
‘In the army, the behavior of servicemen is more tightly regulated compared with other social units and institutions.’
‘Without some form of recognized leadership and authority, social units are incapable of concerted action.’
‘Clan and lineage systems are patrilineal and form the basis of Kanak social units for private land ownership.’
‘The smallest social unit, or ‘love’ unit, is two people.’
‘The difficulties created by a team approach and by other elements of the project were surmounted by the support, comfort, and connection of our social unit.’
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