Child, Family, School, and Community Socialization and Support 6th ed.

1
Child, Family, School, and CommunitySocializati
on and Support 6th ed.
Chapter ThreeEcology of the Family
2
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.

3
The Primary Agent of Socialization

• Family systems theory views the family as a
  whole.
• Classic definitiona 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, of the sexually cohabitating
  adults.

4
An Ecological Model of Human Development

• The family is a primary influence on childrens
  development

5
Family Patterns

• The U.S. Bureau of the Census defines a family as
  two or more persons related by birth, marriage,
  or adoption, who reside together.
• The changes in the family structure affect the
  functions/roles played by the family and its
  members thereby affecting the socialization of
  children.

6
Basic Structures

• Nuclearconsists of a husband, a wife, and their
  children.
• Family of orientation the family into which one
  is born.
• Family of procreation the family which develops
  when one marries and has children.

7
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.

8
Extended Family

• The extended family includes relatives of the
  nuclear family who are economically and
  emotionally dependent upon each other.

9
Family Structure

• Patriarchal
• Fathers side emphasized

• Matriarchal
• Mothers side emphasized

• Egalitarian
• In the United States, both sides of the extended
  family are generally regarded as equal

10
Basic Functions

• The family performs certain functions that enable
  society to survive generation after generation.
• These functions may vary widely.

Healthy Functional
Unhealthy Dysfunctional
11
Family Transitions

• Throughout history, family structure has altered
  to accommodate
• economic influences
• social influences
• political influences
• technological influences (chronosystem)

12
Structural Changes

• Structural family changes can include
• the addition of family members due to
• birth
• adoption
• remarriage
• relatives moving in
• the removal of family members due to
• death
• divorce
• children becoming adults and moving out

13
Family Ties

• Events that affect the socialization of children
  include
• divorce
• single parenting
• step parenting
• Changes in family ties are reflected in
• the increase in divorce
• the proportion of children living with only one
  parent

14
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

15
Divorce and Children

• Childrens reactions depend on
• the personalities involved
• their own coping skills
• their relations with their parents
• the childs age and gender
• the level of disharmony prior to divorce
• the availability of other people for emotional
  support

16
Single Parent Custody

• Single parenthood can occur through
• death
• divorce
• desertion
• births outside marriage
• adoption without marriage
• artificial insemination

17
Fathers Absence

• The affect on boys and girls depends on
• the age of the child at the time of separation
  from the father
• the length of the fathers absence
• the quality of the mother/father relationship
  prior to the separation
• the availability of appropriate substitute male
  models
• the emotional state of the mother during and
  after the separation

18
Recommendations for Community Support of Single
Parents

1. Extend availability of daycare facilities.
2. Form babysitting cooperatives.
3. Make transportation available.
4. Provide classes on single parenthood.
5. Provide Big Sister / Big Brother programs.

19
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.

20
Kin Custody

• An increasing number of children are being
  raised by relatives (kin) other than parents, the
  most common being grandparents raising
  grandchildren.

21
Stepfamilies

• One out of three Americans is now a
• stepparent
• stepchild
• stepsibling
• cohabitating member of a stepfamily
• Because of the increase in the number of
  stepfamilies, the concept of family needs
  reexamining.

22
Families of Unmarried Parents

• Marriage is a legal contract with certain rights
  and obligations.
• It is societys 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

23
Families of Adopted Children

• There are many reasons families adopt children,
  such as
• the inability to conceive
• the desire to care for a child without the
  sanction of marriage
• the desire to care for a child with special needs
• the wish to make a foster care arrangement
  permanent

24
Functional Changes

• Throughout history, families have changed the
  ways they execute their various functions
• Reproduction
• Socialization/ Education
• Assignment of Social Roles
• Economic Support
• Nurturance/ Emotional Support

• Such changes in family function are adaptations
  to microsystem influences such as economics,
  political ideology, and technology.

25
Reproduction

• Technological changes have impacted family size.
• Family size has decreased over the past century.

Socialization/Education

• The socialization/education domain of the family
  has decreased over the past century.
• Children were educated at home until public
  schools emerged in the middle of the 19th century.

26
Assignment of Social Roles

• Social roles within the family are defined by
  which members perform what jobs and how authority
  is distributed.
• Wife/Mother
• Husband/Father
• Children
• Authority Patterns

27
Economic Support

• The scope of responsibility for economic support
  for family members has changed as have their
  contributions to the familys economy.
• 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.

28
Nurturance/Emotional Support

• Support for the young and old has remained fairly
  stable, but the range of caregiving has
  diminished.
• The sick were cared for by their families, as
  were the elderly. Today, however, insurance plans
  cover long term costs of residential care
  facilities for the sick and elderly.

29
Macrosystem Influences on Families,
Socialization, and Children

• Specific effects of macrosystems
• SES (socioeconomic status)
• Ethnic orientation
• Religious orientation

and the ways in which they influence
socialization provide insight into how larger
contexts can impact family systems.
30
Socioeconomic Status

• Ascribed Status
• Family lineage
• Gender
• Birth order

• Achieved Status
• education
• occupation
• income
• place of residence

Stratification of members determines an
individuals class.
31
Societies

• Modern
• looks to the present to guide behavior
• responsive to change
• achievement status

• Traditional
• customs handed down from past generations to
  guide behavior
• ascribed status for stratification

32
Class Descriptions

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

33
Social Class Structures in the US

• Some sociologists believe that, although
  differences in rank exist, true class lines
  cannot be drawn. An open society (US) permits
  upward and downward mobility.

34

• 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

35

• Lower class
• semiskilled and unskilled workers
• emphasis on extended family
• patriarchal
• 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.

36
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.

37
Ethnic Norms/Values

• Ethnic orientation involves norms, the
• rules
• patterns
• standards
• that express cultural values and reflect
  how individuals are supposed to behave.
• There are certain basic questions that all humans
  in all places and circumstances must answer.

38
Religious Orientation

• Religion is a unified system of beliefs and
  practices relative to sacred things, uniting into
  a single moral community all those who adhere to
  those beliefs and practices.

39
Religion is a Macrosystem

• It influences
• gender roles
• sexual behavior
• patterns of marriage and divorce
• birthrates
• morals
• attitudes
• child-rearing

It also may affect peoples dress, dietary habits
including alcohol consumption, health care, and
social interactions including ethics.
40
Functions of Religion

• Religion provides people with a way of facing
  the problems of ultimate and unavoidable
  frustrations of evil and the generalized
  problem of meaning in some nonempirical sense, of
  finding some ultimate why.

?
?
41
Chronosystem Influences on Families,
Socialization and Children

• Families are at risk for becoming unhealthy or
  dysfunctional.
• Chronosystem influences impacting the health of
  families include
• political changes
• economic changes
• technological changes

42
Sociopolitical Changes

• Those influencing family functioning include
• foreign policy regarding immigration and war
• domestic policy regarding security and privacy
  issues
• social services
• All of us are affected in some way by the current
  geopolitical uncertainty.

43
Economic Changes

• The influences on family functioning may involve
• job uncertainty due to corporate maneuvering
• the cost of living increasing
• the erosion of employee benefits
• Reduced levels of economic well-being have been
  found to increase parental stress.

44
Technological Changes

• Those influencing family functioning include
• designed obsolescence
• things that enable multitasking and
  instantaneousness
• overscheduling
• multiple simultaneous activities

45
Meeting the Challenge of Change Family
Empowerment

• Change can produce stress.
• The family is a dynamic system that has
• structure
• functions
• roles
• authority patterns
• The way the system operates and adapts to change
  affects the relationships within it.

46
Family Stress

• Stressors other than death, illness, divorce, and
  relocation include the following
• Economics
• Childrens behavior
• Insufficient couple time
• Lack of shared responsibility
• Communication problems
• Insufficient me time
• Guilt for not accomplishing more
• Spousal relationships
• Insufficient family play time
• Over scheduled family calendars

47
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
• Empowerment involves enabling individuals to gain
  control over resources affecting them.