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Changes in family structures in society
Changing family structure in a modernizing society
Changes in family structures in society
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Introduction Families today are noticeably different than what they were 20+ years ago. The tradition of mothers staying home and raising the children while fathers’ financially supporting the family is not only something of the past, but could almost be seen as abnormal in today’s world. The family unit has become something that one cannot easily fit into a certain category due to the ever changing faces of it and the constantly changing social norms. Adults are becoming parents later in life, working mothers, stay at home fathers, same- sex couples, elderly family members living with family members and older children staying at home longer are a few examples of how todays families differ from the “traditional family.” Congress in (Coady & Congress (2008) refers to the idea that families also go through certain developmental stages in their life span similar to the individual development theory. In this theory there are 6 stages that range from the unattached young adult, the adolescent or young adult when they are first leaving the family home to the family in later life when the parents are entering retirement age. Understanding the different stages a family moves through at different times in its life will ensure the social worker is able to provide the most appropriate support for the family at that time. The support delivered to a family with young children would be quite different to the support given to a family with adolescents. Although the family as a unit travels through the stages together as a unit, it is important for a social worker to remember while planning support that even though the family may be at a specific stage, each family member may be at quite different individual stages. (Congress in (Coady & Lehmann, 2008) For example two parents of the same age may be at two different stages individually and therefore their needs may be quite different, even though they are at a certain developmental stage together as a family. It is important to consider where the family sits in the developmental stages when developing a care plan for the family, so that the social worker has an understanding of what is happening within the family at that time and their needs can be appropriately
There appears to be widespread agreement that family and home life have been changing dramatically over the last 40 years or so. According to Talcott Parsons, the change in family structure is due to industrialization. The concept that had emerged is a new version of the domestic ideal that encapsulates changed expectations of family relations and housing conditions. The family life in the postwar period was highly affected. The concept of companionate marriage emerged in the post war era just to build a better life and build a future in which marriage would be the foundation of better life. Equality of sexes came into being after...
The organization’s culture places an emphasis on a family centered framework that believes in eight principles. The first principle is that all children should be able to grow up in a safe and stable home. Secondly, it is implied most parents want to keep their children safe but some parents need to build on their family strengths. Thirdly, all families are different in culture, race and values. Fourth and fifth, when families are involved in CPS, CPS is responsible for finding permanency for the children and family engagement is more likely to occur if the family is involved in the process. Sixth, if parents are not able to protect their children from harm, CPS has the obligation to intervene for the child’s well-being. Next, if children have to be removed from their home, CPS should create and work on a permanency plan. Lastly, the permanency plan should be achieved as soon as possible (US Dept of Health and Human Services, 2013).
Traditionally the most dominant family form in the United States has been the married couple family. The image of two parents with children living under one roof is the norm for a married couple family. In a married couple family one or both parents work and income levels are gener...
The Calgary Family Assessment Model (CFAM) is a well-known comprehensive and multidimensional template used by nurses to assess families. CFAM begins by having the nurse visit with the family and gain insight on the family’s functioning at a particular point in time. Interviewing the family allows the nurse to assess and identify potential issues. Furthermore, the CFAM consists of three main assessment categories, known as structural, developmental, and functional. Each of these categories contains several subcategories that allow the nurse to examine all aspects of a family’s functioning. The goal of the CFAM is for the nurse to openly discuss family issues, provide insight to families from an outside perspective and guide them towards their own problem solving tactics. CFAM allows families and nurse to develop a plan of care that is mutually agreed upon. The following paper illustrates a family assessment completed using the CFAM and applies nursing diagnoses and interventions relevant to the family’s current issues (Wright & Leahey, 2013).
...d by their parent's divorce but also have negative side effects later on in adulthood (issue 8 pg 146). Developmental psychologist Hetherington agrees that divorce can be harmful to a child's development but that they ultimately overcome it. Eventually they will overcome it, but this is most likely to happen past stage 6, in middle adult hood after one has decided whether or not they want to spend their life with someone. Erickson's theory of personality development can help one realize the stages which are mostly affected by a parent's divorce. The stages affected are stages 3, initiative versus guilt, stage 4 industry versus inferiority, stage 5, identity versus confusion, and finally intimacy versus isolation. The symptoms of having a broken home might not always be very noticeable until a person is peeled little by little and ready to fix their heavy past.
Also, the whole family needs to come to term with the health condition, make change in priorities and schedule, and keep the family. For example, it can be much more stressful for a young or a newly married couple because they may have more experience to overcome life's difficulties. As a result, as with individual maturation, family development can be delayed or even revert to a previous level of functioning (Hockenberry, p 762.) Therefore, health care providers need to apply family development theory while planning care for a child and family with chronic health condition. Indeed, family centered care should be a part of that intervention. Parents and family members have huge and comprehensive caregiving responsibilities for their chronically ill child at home or at hospital. Moreover, the main goal taking care of chronic ill child is to “minimize the progression of the disease and maximize the child’s physical, cognitive, psychological potential” (Hockenberry, p 763). Therefore, it is essential to family being part of the child care to give highest quality of care. On the other hand, we are as a part of the health care provider need to give attention to all
As a societal unit, the family institution has become more individualized and is negatively impacting societies future. From the 1930’s to now the family has disintegrated into more and more of a single person unit. A family in the 1930’s was envisioned to be a male-breadwinning father, a doting-homemaker wife, and several children. Yet understand while the Great Depression was rolling the family structure did not change. The husband went out and looked for work, while the wife stayed home and kept the children out of trouble.
Since the 20th century, researchers have sought out solutions to help assist families and the individual components that make up family systems overcome the challenges and schisms that can inhibit individuation and stability. Two theoretical perspectives, the family-systems theory and the family-development theory, were conceived to gain as Balswick & Balswick (2014) noted, gain “a wide-angle view of family life” (p. 22). Though these two theories have merit, one I found to be more advantageous in gaining a better understanding of the family as an actively metastasizing organism, which needs to be approached more adaptively.
Comparing its structure and function as it was in 1960 with what it had become in 1990 can highlight the dramatic changes in the American family. Until 1960 most Americans shared a common set of beliefs about family life; family should consist of a husband and wife living together with their children. The father should be the head of the family, earn the family's income, and give his name to his wife and children. The mother's main tasks were to support and enable her husband's goals, guide her children's development, look after the home, and set a moral tone for the family. Marriage was an enduring obligation for better or worse and this was due much to a conscious effort to maintain strong ties with children. The husband and wife jointly coped with stresses. As parents, they had an overriding responsibility for the well being of their children during the early years-until their children entered school, they were almost solely responsible. Even later, it was the parents who had the primary duty of guiding their children's education and discipline. Of course, even in 1960, families recognized the difficulty of converting these ideals into reality. Still, they devoted immense effort to approximating them in practice. As it turned out, the mother, who worked only minimally--was the parent most frequently successful in spending the most time with her children. Consequently, youngsters were almost always around a parental figure -- they were well-disciplined and often very close with the maternal parent who cooked for them, played with them, and saw them off to and home from school each day.
Society seems to have many different opinions when it comes to relationships and families and what is ideal. The ideal family may not exist anymore. We now have in our society families that are complete that do not necessarily contain the traditional material. The traditional family, as society would see it; usually consist of a married, mother and father and usually children. Moms are supposed to stay at home while dads work the forty-hour a week job. However, in our 2003 world, families exist in a lot of non-traditional ways. A lot of families now consist of single parent families, or same sex parents and their children, or even couples that are unmarried but live together. And even now, if a family contains what society sees as traditional as far as having a mom, dad, and kids, other aspects are not traditional anymore. Women now have more opportunity in the workplace than they have ever had, therefore, many moms are career moms and dads are sometimes staying at home. Years ago, these types of families were given labels for being dysfunctional or abnormal, however, this label is not holding up as well as it did years ago. There are many non-traditional families that are raising children in a loving, nurturing home with a substantial amount of quality love. Quality is the key in any relationship between anyone. Society is finding out that it is not the traditional image that makes a loving family, but the quality of a relationship that people give to each other is what really makes a family. In the essay "The Myth of the "Normal" Family", written by Lousie B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, they make references to the cultural idea of what a "normal" family should be and what i...
A significant facet of an early childhood professional is the ability to work with families. This however can be an area in which many professionals entering into the field can feel inadequate. In order to fully support all areas of a child’s performance as a professional it is critical to work with their families. In order to effectively work with families, you must be able to understand the diversity and complexity of families.
...ze protective factors while minimizing risks. Transitions that occur during this developmental stage can affect the life trajectory in significant ways. Social work practitioners using the Life Course Perspective can examine those transitions and provide environments through which nurturing of the child and enhancement of the protective factors to minimize risk factors as the child continues on the journey of their life. Using social work skills such as grant writing and advocating for the creation of an art and drama after school program could positively impact the child’s journey through life’s journey.
From a life cycle frame, the parents are at the stage when they are launching adult children. Their first child is about to leave the home, and the second and third children are following the first. This stage can be complicated because the family structure is being disrupted. The children are handing disruptions in the family system, and the family will need to learn how to handle these disruptions. The parents are going to need to count on each other to get through this stage. If the parents have not gone through the
Each person’s life consists of normal stages of development; this is known as life span development. This development starts at infancy and continues through death. In each stage of development, each person experiences four types of development; physical, cognitive, social, and personality.
As I plan to eventually work with young mothers who have children who are in the foster care system or who are fighting to get their children back, I want to have a clear understand of what it will take to establish a healthy pregnancy. It will be important to implement the prenatal development to these future mothers. Making sure that these mothers have an understanding of what is important in the first stages of prenatal care of their children. For example, going to Doctor’s appointments, taking vitamins, eating healthy, and staying active. This will help provide a safe and healthy pregnancy for any children they may have. I also believe that gaining knowledge over the stages of development will be beneficial to know for the mothers who are fighting to have their children back. Some of these mothers I could be working with might not know what to expect of their one-year-old child. For example, how their brain is developing, what they should be doing cognitively or socially. As a future family life educator, it will be important that I have a clear understanding of these concerns of the child and the development process for the mothers who have the urge to get care of their children