My Grandmother, Elaine, was born December 23, 1931 in a small rural farmhouse in eastern Virginia. She had a hard upbringing of her parents living in poor health. Her mother died when she was three years old and after her father remarried he died when she was in her adolescence. She was left to be raised by her stepmother and being the oldest of the stepmother’s children took on a mothering role. These experiences growing up enabled my grandmother to decide that she wanted to be a nurse and to strive to have a family of her own. The two major life transitions that took place with my grandmother were marrying my grandfather and having children. As people mature, they move through different social roles that change their identities. For my grandmother, she transitioned from student to a wife to a mother. My grandmother’s first life transition was marrying my grandfather in June of 1954 when she was 23 years …show more content…
According to the United States Census of Historical Marriage Trends from 1890-2010, the youngest marrying women at 20-21 years old set the lowest marrying age for the decade of 1950. My best educated guess on why that is so would be the time period was after WWII which was not a good time to get married due to the mass casualties of men. This reasoning would be known as a period effect which is the impact of life transitions due to historical event on the entire society. During the 1950s there was also a social demands for women to get married and settle down. After the Second World War, marriage was the main goal for girls; family life was their major aspiration, and the manifestation of a “perfect” existence. Marriage is a major life goal because it changes the persons emotional, financial, spiritual and religious status. The social status of marriage is highly respected and that is why this transition is an important
Whitted, Qiana J. "Using my grandmother's life as a model." Gale Literature Resources Center. Gale, 2004. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.
The therapist would work to sense the triangles that are currently formed between family members. Also find understanding of the family by use of role reversals along with challenging the family with putting universal principles at odds with the family’s beliefs. By creating unbalance with warmth and support, the therapist looks to increase family cohesion and harmony. The therapist will also investigate the family dynamic by allowing them to express and name the symbolic interactions that are shared so that can be uncovered and understood. Once the family’s symbolic and real curative factors are addressed, the therapist can push for growth and maturity in the family. Because the family is seen as individuals in a family unit for example established
In attempting to understand the blended family system, one would be remised if we did not first look at, and understand primarily what a family system dynamic is. Unfortunately, this is a theory that once had very clear cut lines; today those lines are a little burred and more subjective than ever before. Given that the family is an ever changing system with fluid boarders, this author will illustrate some finite distinctions that may separate the typical family system from a blended family system.
Across family life-cycle literature, the arrival of a first child into the marital structure is considered to be one of the most common and key stages a family will experience during its development. Further, it also possesses the potential to be one of the most stressful examples of change within the marital relationship with the experience of having a baby being ranked at 6th out of 102 stressful life events1.
People with depression often experience interpersonal problems. Family therapy for depression is a widely used intervention, but it is unclear whether this is an effective therapy for the treatment of depression.
I interviewed Lynda, a 56 year old-widow, she is a nurse in an emergency department, and is a native of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. “I was born into a loving family. My mother and father were in their early twenties when I was born. My parents, they weren’t wealthy but they gave
The older adult interviewed for the purpose of this assignment was Alice Margaret Cox, the interviewers grandmother. Alice was born on February 17th, 1932 in Brown County, Minnesota. Alice was the daughter of Rose Veldman and had three brothers and three sisters. In 1942, Hikel Veldman, after marrying Rose, legally adopted Alice and her six siblings. He brought four children of his own, making a family of 13. After the family was adopted, the majority of their childhood to early adult life was spent living in Hollandale, Minnesota. Alice spent the majority of her life farming and now helps out part time at a family owned thrift store. Alice currently resides in Lake City Minnesota, in her home of twenty plus years. Only four of the eleven
This research paper will explore primarily the impact of African American single-parent households on the children that live in these environments. This is a very important issue and more awareness is needed. Research has provided evidence that single-parent households are one of many risk factors that can negatively affect a child’s educational outcome, emotional health and social behavior. Although not all single-parent family households have disadvantages, the focus of his study is to shed more light on the issues and offer solutions. For example, more policies are needed to reinforce fathers to pay child support. This alone will provide mothers with more money to help them better raise their children.
I slowly opened the front door -- the same old creak echoed its way throughout the old house, announcing my arrival just seconds before I called out, "Grandma!" She appeared around the corner with the normal spring in her steps. Her small but round 5'1" frame scurried up to greet me with a big hug and an exclamation of, "Oh, how good to see you." It was her eighty-fifth birthday today, an amazing feat to me, just part of everyday life to her. The familiar mix of Estee Lauder and old lotion wafted in my direction as she pulled away to "admire how much I've grown." I stopped growing eight years ago, but really, it wasn't worth pointing this fact out. The house, too, smelled the same as it's ever smelled, I imagine, even when my father and his brothers grew up here more than forty years ago -- musty smoke and apple pie blended with the aroma of chocolate chip cookies. The former was my grandfather's contribution, whose habit took him away from us nearly five years ago; the latter, of course, comes from the delectable delights from my grandmother's kitchen. Everything was just as it should be.
After reading about the family transition and change, it hit me that these families that are going through a divorce need to put their children first, and what it is going to be like when they have to adjust to a new lifestyle where their parents are not together anymore. “The central assumption is that divorce is a crisis of family transition which causes structural changes in family systems” (Ahrons, pg. 533). Transitioning is going to be a hard time for these children because their whole life is changing, and it puts a strain on the family because of all the stress. It is so sad that “Our culture presently provides largely negative role models for the divorcing family” (pg. 534). However, the most important thing to do is to keep a positive
The unit of a family is the most prominent essential for all of us. As social human beings, we seek social support in order to thrive, and that is where family comes into play. A family is where you receive love, support, encouragement, and many other social benefits. The total number of households in the United States increased from 63 million in 1970 to 113 million in 2008 (Weeks, 2012). The family has influenced multitudes of people in many ways. The traditional family in the United States consists two-married individuals providing care and stability for their biological offspring also know as the nuclear family. However, the term of a true family has ultimately changed over the last 50 years especially for African Americans.
As we know, the family life cycle refers to different stages of person’s life from childhood to retirement. In each stage, people face challenges in the family life that allow them to build or gain new skills. No one can pass through those stages smoothly and without concerns with financially problems, disease and issues from family members. Rather, the lifespan cycle means people development process from prenatal to late adulthood. The similarities are both of them had physical and mental development, also meet the different challenges in the different stages. What is more, I believe that family members are indispensable element could affect people life, whatever in the family life cycle or the lifespan cycle.
For my research topic I chose to write on the effects of expectation. The expectations of one’s family and one’s self can have a major influence on his/ her life. When some tries to live up to a high expectation it can cause the individual a great deal of stress. Therefore, the question the question I am researching is “Should family members- parents, grandparent, aunts or uncles- set high educational, relational, and moral expectations for their children?” In order to find information on this topic I acquired two articles from the University of South Carolina Library website. The first article is titled “High expectations for higher education perceptions of college and experiences of stress prior to and through college career.” This article
Everyone seems to define family differently, however, the significance of family is the same. For you, family means everything. You can always count on your parents and siblings for help and love. Family is very valuable and important to you and should never be taken for granted. No one can deny that family is the foundation of our generation. A family is where we all start our life journey and helps us grow to be successful throughout our lives.
There are so many different types of family relationships. Whatever form a family takes; it is an important part of everyone’s life. My family has played an important role in my life. Good family relationships serve as a foundation to interactions with others. Supportive families will help children to thrive. The quality of the family relationship is more important than the size of the family. Making the relationships priority, communication, and providing support for one another is key to developing relationships. Family relationships are what make up our world today; they shape the ways that we see things and the ways that we do things.