Families

                Families provided the initial socialization for children – refer also to learning or behavioral theories. There are several different types of families that differ vastly from the traditional nuclear family of two parents married once with one or more children. Families are the primary group of someone – relationships are intimate and they have frequent face-to-face interactions, they have obligations for each other and committed and share responsibility, and they usually have a common residence. These different types include:

·         Single-parent families where the children live with one parent and the other parent does not reside there.  76% of these families are headed by a female

·         Stepfamilies – one or both in currently married couple have been married previously and one or both have one or more children from a previous union. This family may also include children of the currently married couple

·         Blended families – nontraditional arrangement of ppl who live together, are committed to each other, and perform traditional family functions.

Families provide a lot of functions. For instance, they provide the nurturance and socializing for children, they provide material and emotional support, and family members assume general responsibility for the well-being of other members. Positive family function includes positive communication such as a clear expression of personal ideas/feelings (even if they differ from other family members), being sensitive to the needs and feelings of other family members, promotes compromise so that most important needs of all involved are met, boundaries for roles and relationships (kids aren’t involved in parent decisions), negotiation (conflicts are settled through rational discussion and compromise), children are taught appropriateness of transactions.

Family Life Cycle

                Families go through stages just like individuals do and just like individuals, sometimes they don’t progress through them in a neat, organized way. They take their own path. But traditionally, the life cycle of a family was as follows:

1.       A young adult separates from family of origin

2.       Young adult marries and focus is going couple vs. individual

3.       Couple has and raises young children

4.       Children become teenagers striving for independence and as they achieve that independence, the focus shifts back to the couple

5.       Couple reaches middle adulthood (mid-live crisis), send their children into new relationships, and are faced with increase in aging parents’ disabilities

6.       Couple reaches older adulthood and must face the aging process and failing health as well as inevitable death.

Parenting styles – Diana Baumrind

                Baumrind conducted a series of studies to observe parenting styles. She came to 3 different types:

·         Permissive – does not strive to achieve control over child; encourages independence in children. Parents tend to not direct child.

·         Authoritarian – emphases control over child and strict rules along with definitive ideas of how a child should behave and expectations that the child should conform to those ideas

·         Authoritative – combination of the previous two. Provide control with consistent support

While in most Western cultures, the authoritative approach is seen as the best and provides the best guidance/structure for children to be raised, in other cultures, it does not display the cultures values. For instance, a more authoritarian approach is used in Asian cultures where respect of elders is highly valued and expected of younger children even into their young adulthood. Background and culture is important to consider when working with families.

Siblings Relationships

                Siblings within a home have unique relationships. They fight but play with each other, work together, and show affection like hugging. Sibling relationships tend to be more positive in families that have a supportive and warm environment (children mimic parents’ behavior)

Importance of Birth Order – Alfred Adler

                First psychiatrist to propose that birth order had impact on personality. For instance, he theorized that:

-          Only children – mature but aloof

-          Firstborns – dominant, strive to be successful (possibly b/c they were ‘dethroned’ when the younger sibling came along and they are constantly looking for that limelight again), took care of other siblings

-          Second – may also be competitive especially with older sibling

-          Middle – sandwiched between other siblings

-          Youngest – always the baby, more sensitive and craving of nurturing – possibly b/c they got it not only from parents but from older siblings as well

-          Twin – one may be stronger than the other esp if parents see that one as the older one. May lack feeling of identity

-          ‘Ghost child’ – child born after the death of another child – may exploit mother’s overprotectivness

-          Adopted child – parents may spoil and child becomes used to that and starts to demand it

-          Only boy among girls – either try to prove man of the house or be effeminate

-          Only girl among boys – protected by brothers; may either become very feminine or tomboy

-          All boys – if parent wanted a girl, they may dress one in a dress

-          All girls – some may become tomboyish to please father

Adler also proposed other innate outcomes based upon birth order, for instance, he thought the youngest of a sibling group would marry the oldest of another sibling group b/c they already knew how to take care of them. It is also important note that subgroups may exist in the bigger group especially if there is an age gap of 6 or more years. The theory does stated that parents’ behavior may mediate some of the competition and if the first born is mild tempered, it would also alleviate competition within sibling group

I think some of his thoughts and theories are outdated for current society.

Psychologies. (n.d.) The birth order effect. Retrieved from http://www.psychologies.co.uk/family/the-birth-order-effect.html on January 17, 2013.

Stein, H. (n.d.). Adlerian overview of birth order characteristics. Retrieved from http://www.adlerian.us/birthord.htm on January 17, 2013.

Walcutt, D. (2009). Birth order and personality. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/22/birth-order-and-personality/ on January 17, 2013.