Time as an integrating factor in a family in foreign researches

The article provides an overview of foreign researches examining family relationships as presented in the family members’ memory. The researches regard the family as a social group represented by the nuclear family’s interpersonal relationships, as well as inter-generational relationships, which determines the mechanism and the establishment of its identity. The family is considered a complex unity of "systems in time". The article describes foreign experience of studying the concepts of family time by analyzing family narratives and autobiographical material. The methods professionals use to study the family time and the involvement of everyone in active construction of family history texts, family practices and rituals of socio-psychological value, are explained in the article. The methodologies of the following questionnaires were analyzed: “The family routines inventory” by E.W. Jensen, S.A. James, W.T. Boyce and S.A. Hartnett; “The family ritual questionnaire” by B.H. Fiesea and C.A. Kline; “Family time questionnaire” by A.S. Ellington.