Family Life: The Importance of Parental Relationships

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Family Life Family life has changed greatly since the 1950’s. In those years, every aspect of a family was based upon certain roles performed by the spouses. Today, wives no longer solely cook for the family or take care of the children and husbands are no longer the singular providers for the family. The change in roles creates more confusion, which then increases the levels of necessary involvement and attempts for successful family functioning. Family provides people with important relationships in their life. These relationships assist family members in learning how to relate to others and grow through the ability to communicate. Family relationships are not easy to uphold, therefore family members need to put effort into their relationships in order to advance family functionality. Group work, similar to a family, is a difficult collaboration that requires equal and valuable contribution from every member. The relations between family members determine the family’s overall success. Throughout the different types of family relationships, including marital, parent-child, and sibling, the parents prove to be an essential aide in the development of the relationships. Each type of relationship helps to better other relationships throughout the family. Learning to create and sustain one type of relationship helps to create and sustain other types of familial relationships. Family relationships require the parents to enhance the amount of cohesion, flexibility, and communication across each relationship to ensure family functionality. Marital stability is necessary to the beginning stage of overall family success. Within a family, the parents’ relationship controls the environment for the rest of the members’ ability to at... ... middle of paper ... .... Bradbury. “Trajectories of Change During the Early Years of Marriage.” CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN FAMILY RELATIONS: Theory, Methods, and Empirical Findings. Ed. Rand D. Conger, Frederick O. Lorenz, and K.A.S. Wickrama. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbraum Associates, 2004. Kluwer, Ester S. “Marital Quality.” Families as Relationships. Ed. Steve Duck andRobert M. Milardo. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2000. 19-38. Noller, Patricia. “Sibling Relationships in Adolescence: Learning and GrowingTogether.” Personal Relationships. 12.1 (2005): 1-22. Academic Search Premier. 2 March 2005.http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=15840288 Walker, Alexis. “A Symposium on Marriage and Its Future.” Journal of Marriage andFamily. 66.4 (2004): 843-847. Academic Search Premier. 23 February 2005.http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=14078978

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