Ecology of the Family

STRUCTURES OF THE FAMILY

FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY

FAMILY TRANSITIONS: STRUCTURAL/FUNCTIONAL CHANGES

FAMILIES OF DIVERSE PARENTS

MACRO SYSTEM: SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

MACROSYSTEM: ETHNIC ORIENTATION

MACROSYSTEM: RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION

CHRONOSYSTEM: POITICAL

CHRONOSYSTEM: ECONOMICS

CHRONOSYSTEM: TECHNOLOGY

FAMILY EMPOWERMENT

Family systems theory; looks within the family, used by therapists to understand different ways families carry out basic functions

Primary agent of socialization

George Murdock "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 of the sexually cohabiting adults"

Census defines a family: any two or more related people living in one household

Nuclear family: a family consisting of a husband and wife and their children

Family orientation: the family into which one is born

Family of procreation: the family that develops when one marries and has children

Extended family: relatives of the nuclear family who are economically and emotionally dependent on each other

Matriarchal family: family in which the mother has formal authority and dominance

Patriarchal family: family in which the father has formal authority and dominance, more common

Egalitarian Family: family in which both sides of the extended family are regarded as equal

Personal and formal network of support

Basic functions of a family: Reproduction, Socialization/education, assignment of social roles, Economic support, Nurturance/Emotional support

Family Functional Changes

  1. Reproduction: technological changes and reproductive assistance, economics
  1. Socialization/Education: Industrial Revolution kick started education outside the home, public school emerge in the middle of the 19th century
  1. Assignment of Social Rules: who performs what job, distribution of authority
  1. Authority Patterns: 20th century and the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  1. Economic Support
  1. Nurturance/Emotional Support
  1. Divorce: not a single event, rather a series of stressful experiences for the entire family; divorce and marriage rate has risen
  1. Child Custody Arrangements
  1. Step-families; transitions, instant love, jealousy, high rate of anger and so on
  1. Families of adopted children

"no fault" assigning blame is no longer necessary, "irreconcilable differences" or "marital breakdown"

custodial parent is responsible for double

Divorce and the law, the family, family dynamics, socioeconomics, authority distribution, domestic responsibility, emotional support, effects of divorce on children, child's age and divorce effects, child's gender and divorce effects, emotional support, marriage role models

Single Parent Custody, Uniform Parentage Act of 2002, mother vs. father single parent funtions

Joint Custody: legal and/or physical custody arrangements

Binuclear family: family pattern in which children are part of two homes and two family groups

Kin Custody: blood relatives or those related by marriage or adoption

  1. Dual-Earner families; maternal employment

Families of unmarried parents

Marriage: a legal contract with certain rights and obligations; society's institution for founding and maintaining a family

Interethnic (Racial) and Interfaith (Religious) families

Families of Same-Sex parents

Socioeconomic status: rank or position within a society, based on social and economic factors

Ascribed status: social class, rank, or position determined by family lineage, gender, birth order, or skin color

Achieved status: social class, rank, or position determined by education, occupation, income, and/or place of residence

Traditional societies: a society that relies on customs handed down from past generations as ways to behave; ascribed status; achieved status

Modern society: a society that looks to the present for ways to behave and is thus responsive to change

Social Classes: upper class; middle class, lower class, underclass, chart on 108

Operational definition: contains terms that are identifiable and can be researched

Social selection perspective, social causation perspective (Family Stress Model and Extended Investment Model)

Ethnic heritage is ascribed, or inherited, attribute that includes race, religion, nationality, and culture

Gemeinschaft: communal, cooperative, close, intimate, and informal interpersonal relationships

Gesellschaft: associative, practical, objective, and formal interpersonal relationships

Collectivism: emphasis on interdependent relations, social responsibilities, and the well-being of the group

Individualism: emphasis on individual fulfillment and choice

Norms: rules, patterns, or standards that express cultural values and reflect how individuals are supposed to behave

Religion: a unified system of beliefs and practices relatice to sacred things

Influences family and community

Protestant ethic: belief in individualism, thrift, self-sacrifice, efficiency, personal responsibility, and productivity

through belief and practice: a divine ideology, coping mechanisms, concept of death, establishment of identity

Immigration policies, foreign policies, domestic policies

The Welfare Reform Act 1996, abolished the Aid to families of dependent children program

job uncertainty, the cost of living, erosion of employee benefits, increase parental stress

improvements in standard of living, increased busyness, new styles of communication and interaction

the way the family system operates and adapts to change affects the relationships within it

stress: any demand that exceeds a person's ability to cope