The Changing Dynamics of Family Structures and Functions

1. Chapter 3 Ecology of the Family Which side of the Brain are you using the most? (S.G. p. 104)

2. Chapter Objectives • 1. The major ways in which family can be defined, including by both structure and function.2. The impact of divorce on families.3. Families in differing structural family types.4. The ways in which families are affected by societal change and give examples.5. Families across a diverse set of socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic orientations.

3. Family Systems Explanation • Family Systems • Basic Family Structures • Basic Family Functions • Family Transitions • Think-Pair-Share: On paper write • Legal Definition • Sociological Definition • US Bureau of Census

4. Family Systems • How many people do you know who fit into the classic definition of a family? • Today there are more relationships that do not conform to the classic definition than do.

5. Family Systems • Legal Definition: relationship determined by blood or contract Family System Theory • Sociological Definition: • What families do as opposed to how they are composed. • Protect • Prepare

6. Family System Theory • Classic definition— • “a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. • It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and • one or more children, owned or adopted. ”

7. The U.S. Bureau of the Census defines a family as “two or more persons related by • birth, • marriage, or • adoption, who reside together.” • Thus, a family can be two or more adult siblings living together, • a parent and child or children, or • two adults who are related by marriage, but have no children.

8. Family Dynamics Structure, functions, roles, and authority patterns.

9. The family is a dynamic social system that is • ..........always in a process of transition (marriage, childbirth, death). • Modern Family Activity; come back to this slide.

10. Basic Family Structures • Nuclear—consists of a husband, a wife, and their children. • Family oforientation: the family into which one is born. • Family ofprocreation: the family which develops when one marries and has children.

11. The Nuclear Family In the nuclear family, the wife and husband depend on each other for companionship, and the children depend on their parents for affection and socialization.

12. Extended Family The extended familyincludes relatives of the nuclear family who are economically and emotionally dependent upon each other.

13. Family Structure • Matriarchal • Mother’s side emphasized • Patriarchal • Father’s side emphasized • Egalitarian • In the United States, both sides of the extended family are generally regarded as equal

14. Basic Family Functions • The family performs certain functions that enable society to survive generation after generation. • These functions may vary widely. “Unhealthy” Dysfunctional “Healthy” Functional

15. Functional Families • Studies have shown that functional families who are resilient to stress display: • Love and acceptance • Communicativeness • Cohesiveness • Communication of values and standards • Ability to cope effectively with problems

16. Economic Function • Until the eighteenth century, most American families owned and occupied farms and plantations that were self-sufficient in that they produced most of what the families needed.

17. Family Transitions • Throughout history, family structure has altered to accommodate: • economic influences • social influences • political influences • technological influences (chronosystem)

18. Socialization/Education • By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women and children were also seeking employment outside the home, and • the family could no longer be totally responsible for their children’s education. • Gradually, the public, or “common school” took over this function.

19. Economic Support • Dual-Earner Families • Two thirds of mothers with children younger than 6 work outside the home. • Mothers’ employment almost always improves the economic well-being of families. • Liabilities include reduced quality of care for children, “role overload”, and the sacrifice of social relationships.

20. Family Transitions Who suffers from Divorce? Dual-Earner Families Effects Socioeconomic Status Religion a Macro-system

21. Divorce and the Family • Divorce is blamed for: • the fragmentation of the family • diminished family functions • unrealistic expectations • role changes • the economic state of society • stress • changes in the law

22. Family Empowerment • Change can produce stress. • Families need to become empowered or enabled to have control over resources affecting them. • Access to knowledge or enhance personal life • Able to analyze its strength and resources • Skillful in functioning in the community

23. Family life has become less stable and less predictable because of stress. • 1) The danger of fragmented family life can be compounded when both parents are employed. • 2) Families diminished functions/ Economics

24. Nurturance/Support Function • The family’s role in providing care for the sick has diminished. • Families also rely on community services to provide daycare and transportation for the elderly.

25. 3) Children in single-parent families or in families where both parents work may have to adapt to the stress of • separation earlier and for longer periods of time than do children in families where one parent is home. • 4) Finally, for many children and families, unrealistic expectations of family life are the stressors.

26. Divorce Who suffers?

27. Who suffers from Divorce? • Children with increased responsibility, • less time available to spend with the parent to receive love and security, and • The lack of two role models of different genders. • Families dealing with transitions, reestablish their role obligations.

28. Women, regardless of marital status, do not earn income on the same scale as men. • The effects of the change in the economic status of the family resulting from divorce • Divorce affects the distribution of authority within the family.

29. Parenting practices, tended to deteriorate in the first two years following the divorce. • less consistency, control, and affection. • Divorce affects the distribution of the domestic functions of the family. • less likely to eat dinner together or play together than intact families. • Relatives cannot be called upon for help with child care, household duties, or emotional support.

30. Effects of Divorce on Children • Depend on age and gender, how much family disharmony existed prior to the divorce, and how available other people are for emotional support. • Divorce affects the self-concept of the preschool child. • more dependent, • aggressive, • whiny, • demanding, • unaffectionate, and • disobedient in behavior than children from intact families.

31. Many young children blame themselves • Adolescents feel little sense of blame for the separation of their parents, but they feel resentment. • Preadolescent boys show more intense and enduring problems in response to their parents’ divorce than do girls. • All preadolescent and early adolescent children from about age 9 to 15 do the poorest.

32. Single-Parent Mothers • Preadolescent girls seem to adjust to the divorce within two or three years. • Problems…. in heterosexual relationships, precocious sexual activity, and confrontational exchanges with the mother are examples. • …….passiveness, withdrawal, and shyness with males.

33. Single-Parent Fathers • Boys who live with their fathers are less demanding, more mature, independent, sociable, and have higher self-esteem than girls in father-custody situations. • A common problem among fathers is that they receive little preparation for home-making and parenting.

34. Joint Custody • A modern-day solution to the quandary facing many judges: • Which adult claimant should be given custody of the children? • Some nuclear families split by divorce are evolving into a new form, called the binuclear family, in which the children are part of two homes and two family groups.

35. Stepparents • is also called the “blended family.” • Unrealistic expectation of instant love • complications in roles • increased risk of divorce among remarriages, especially those with children from a previous marriage.

36. Families of Unmarried Parents • Marriage is a legal contract with certain rights and obligations. • It is society’s institution for founding and maintaining families. • Unconventional families: • heterosexual adults who choose to live together without legal sanction • homosexual adults who cannot legally be married

37. Dual-Earner Families Social Economic Status

38. Dual-Earner Families Effects • Preschool boys have been found to be more sensitive to the type of care they receive. • exhibiting more negative behavior such as • crying, • noncompliance, and • aggressiveness when their mothers are employed, especially full-time.

39. Employed Mothers • Adolescent children have been found to be better adjusted socially, • get along better with their families and friends, and • feel better about themselves than do middle-years’ children of mothers who stay at home. • Adolescent daughters of working women have been found to be • more outgoing, • independent, and • motivated.

40. Ethnicity Social Economic Status

41. Socioeconomic Status • Achieved Status • education • occupation • income • place of residence • Ascribed Status • Family lineage • Gender • Birth order Stratification of members determines an individual’s class.

42. Societies Traditional • customs handed down from past generations to guide behavior • ascribed status for stratification Modern • looks to the present to guide behavior • responsive to change • achievement status

43. Class Descriptions • SES classes can be described in terms of averages • Income • occupation • housing • education • social interactions • values These defining criteria influence socialization.

44. Upper class • inherited wealth • family tradition of social prominence • emphasis on the extended family • patriarchal/matriarchal • Middle class • earn status by achievement (education or hard work) • emphasis on the nuclear family • egalitarian

45. Lower class • semiskilled and unskilled workers • Emphasize respect for elders • Patriarchal • Most affected by economics • Under class • degree of hopelessness • stuck at the bottom • perceive themselves as having little chance • female-headed families, homeless, alcoholics, drug users, mentally ill, destitute elderly, illegal aliens, rural families etc.

46. Ethnic Orientation • Ethnicity is an attribute of membership in a group in which members continue to identify themselves by: • national origin • race • religion • physical attributes • cultural attributes Ethnic orientation constitutes a macrosystem.

47. Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Socialization • Relying on relatives, lower-class families tend to adapt to their lifestyle by relying on fate and luck. • They have inadequate resources, such as • income, • education, and • good jobs, to meet their needs in life.

48. They are plagued with • sickness, • injuries, • an entanglements with the law and • lack the money, • knowledge, and • access to support services to cope with these problems. • The pessimistic view that “things will turn out as badly as they generally have in the past” pervades their lives.

49. Religion a Macrosystem

50. Religion a Macrosystem • It influences: • gender roles • sexual behavior • patterns of marriage and divorce • birthrates • morals • attitudes • child-rearing It also may affect people’s dress, dietary habits including alcohol consumption, health care, and social interactions including ethics.