Cultural Influences on Family Functions

1
Cultural Influences on Family Functions
2
Theoretical Grounding

• There is no official theory associated with
  understanding culturebut there is a concept of
  cultural competence that leads practitioners to
  actively consider cultural influences in
  understanding and responding to family
  situations.
• Culture is central to family life nevertheless
  it is often omitted from family
  counseling/therapy/interventions

3
Gathering Cultural Knowledge---A REAL CHALLENGE!!

• First, you must acquire knowledge about a
  culture. But, this gathering of information can
  result in stereotyping because info sources
  provide commonly shared traits
• Second, one must temper the acquired knowledge
  with an appreciation of diversity within the
  cultural group.
• Third, family practitioners must apply their
  cultural knowledge to theoretical frameworks and
  understandings of what is normal.

4
Culture and Parenting

• Parenting functions vary considerably depending
  on cultural influences! Most family
  practitioners observe differences in discipline
  strategies and nurturing across cultural groups.
• When working with family systems, it is important
  to understand the shifting emphasis and
  mechanisms of socialization within various
  cultures.

5
Cultural Influences on Discipline Functions

• Discipline functions are instrumental in helping
  children learn and internalize the rules of
  living. Two cultural dimensions that influence
  the disciplinary functioning of parents
• Abstract mindedness
• Sanctioning systems

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Abstract Mindedness

• Inherent in every culture, there is a continuum
  of concreteness. Some cultures are very concrete
  in how they understand the world. For instance,
  agrarian cultures work closely with the land and
  tend to be very concrete.
• A cultures concreteness may also be indicated by
  how its people understand rules and sanctions.
  Concrete cultures often have a rigid adherence to
  a religious dogma.
• On the other hand, some cultures are very
  abstract and make sense out of events and
  situations by creating mental frameworks and
  stories

7
Abstract Mindedness

• Cultures with high levels of abstraction are
  often permissive, allowing children to experience
  life and learn from their experiences.
• Concrete cultures tend to be more controlling of
  childrens behavior and often insist on
  compliance to rules.

8
Systems of Sanctioning

• Cultures contain permission for different types
  of punishment and disciplinary behaviors.
• Cultural systems of of sanctioning influence the
  disciplinary acts taken by parents.
• Some cultures sanction behavior through resources
  (e.g., dowries, inheritances), through
  relationships (e.g., disowning, ostracizing), and
  some through corporal punishment (e.g., caning,
  killing, excessive spanking).
• Although most discipline occurs in the middle
  range of benign to malevolent, it is important
  that any strategy can range from potentially
  helpful to potentially harmful.

9
Cultural Influences on Guidance Functions

• How does parent interpret and explain cultural
  differences? Parents must explain to their
  children the relationship between the family
  culture and the dominant culture.
• Values and religious influences of the cultural
  group.

10
Experience of Difference

• When a cultural group is visibly, socially, or
  economically different from the dominant culture,
  the difference is obvious. Parents must help
  children interpret and make sense of the
  differences. The message the child receives
  about the meaning of difference shapes the way
  the child approaches the dominant cultural group.
• Differences can lead to stigma, anger among
  members of nondominant cultures, hopelessness and
  powerlessness. It is difficult for many parents
  to find positive frameworks for understanding
  differences of race, poverty and economic
  oppression.

11
Values and Religion

• Parents cultural values and beliefs influence
  their guidance themes and priorities. As such,
  the values-based institutions that most strongly
  influence child socialization will have a
  cultural base.

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Cultural Influences on Nurturing Functions

• Collectivism vs. Individualism
• Roles and expectations

13
Collectivism vs. Individualism

• Some cultures have high levels of obligation to
  the collective group, whereas others tend to be
  very individualistic.
• Collectivism higher value on the social group
  collaboration and harmony are more highly valued.
  Individual success is often not present, because
  success is measured by the conditions of the
  group.
• Collectivist families acquiesce to the larger
  group when making decisions. Self-concepts are
  heavily influenced by the obligations and
  attitudes of others within the family. Parents
  will help children respond to the needs and
  obligations of the larger group. Expressed needs
  of children may be unheeded or even responded to
  with discipline to shape the expression of needs.

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Individualistic

• People highly value individual achievement.
• Parents frequently cater to the expressed needs
  of children by providing stimulation, toys, and
  nurturing upon demand.
• Parents identify their childs unique qualities
  and abilities and hone them so the child can
  excel in future endeavors.
• Getting children into the best schools and the
  best teams is frequently a concern as parents
  nurture each childs exceptional talents.
• Parents tend not to focus on the greater needs of
  the social group and how the child should adapt
  to those collective needs.

15
Roles and Expectations

• Culture heavily influences social, family, and
  gender roles through culturally determined
  expectations of how such roles should be
  performed. Every culture has a model of the
  ideal family!!!
• Culturally bound role expectations of family
  members influence nurturing functions in the
  family. In some cultures, males do very little
  nurturing but they may remain the ultimate
  authority when discipline is applied. In other
  cultures, tasks within the home are more evenly
  distributed.

16
Cultural Influences on Accessibility

• Systems of Support. Cultures provide varied
  systems of support. Some cultures promote
  kinship as the first level of support (and other
  informal supports). Others, use more formal
  supports (e.g., agencies, schools).
• In cultures where formal supports are the norm,
  there is much less informal support and children
  may have fewer accessible adults.
• Cultures that rely solely on informal supports
  may rely on inadequate supports rather than face
  the stigma of using societal support systems.

17
Social and Economic Resources

• Every family has minimum resource requirements
  for meeting personal and family goals. Culture
  affects these minimum requirements in two ways
• 1. Some cultures encourage families to exceed the
  minimum requirements by placing high value on
  accumulated wealth
• 2. Differential access to resources. Members of
  a family may have to work extra hours just to
  achieve the minimum resource level.

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Social and Economic Resources

• If a family has sufficient resources, access
  functions are enhanced extra time and resources
  are available to the family.
• Families with compromised access to resources
  often have multiple family members working
  outside the home, access is oftentimes
  diminished. The level of energy used to meet the
  familys basic needs limits the family options.

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Work With Invisible Cultures

• Two invisible cultures in the U.S. are gay and
  lesbian families and families identified from
  fundamental or conservative religions.
• These two groups differ from the mainstream
  groups and have histories of being misunderstood.
  Both cultural groups raise children and live in
  family units.