A Comparative Study of Family Values Between China and America

With the world being populated by so many people and families, there are several types of people with diverse ethnic backgrounds, culture, and manner of living that are the causes of distinct values within a family. Families that are rich and poor have virtuous family values, however what one may consider as a mediocre family value may seem poor to someone else and vice versa. The purpose of this essay is to address the societal issues amongst our family values and the working class.

The concept of family has changed in many perspectives throughout the years. Nuclear families started back in the 1950s also known as ‘ideal families’. Today family comes in many varieties whether it 's nuclear, accordion, or extended families and even same sex marriage. One thing that is undoubtedly true is that family will always be the one that you have an unbreakable bond with. American families have evolved in many ways leading us away from what was known as nuclear families.

    Several changes have occurred since the 1920s in traditional family values and the family life. Research revealed several different findings among family values, the way things were done and are now done, and the different kinds of old and new world struggles.

This essay, The Myth of the Model American Family, is a discussion of the concept of an ideal family in the different perspective specifically social, cultural and economic. This is also an attempt to identify the structural changes in relation to the global development and the international economic crisis that immensely created impact on their lives. However, the discussion will limit itself on the different identifiable and observable transformations as manifested in the lifestyles, interrelationships and views of family members and will not seek to provide an assessment of their psycho-social and individual perceptions.

The emphasis on individualism has provoked a deeper inspection of one’s personal values and beliefs while feminism has opened the door for a new type of traditional family to emerge with new dynamics between parents, children and their roles within the home. These new dynamics merge right along with cultural values as the two merge. In America, life is varied from home to home with different culturally-influenced family values. While throughout other parts of the world, different countries have maintained a balance within a core value system that affects all families alike through religion and a national way of life. There is no doubt that the many varied factors of modern society, ethnic background and religion all play significant roles in forming family values that shape the life of an

Family is important in every culture, it shapes people and makes them who they are.

To begin, the family unit played a huge role in the formation of the American identity. After all, “We the People” are what made up and are ever shaping the American identity. One of the simplest ways this happens is through a family. A family is a cornerstone on which everyone builds their identity. Culture is passed down through parents as they teach their children the trade of their family. Trade in its simplest form refers to a job, while on a more dynamic level it is morals. Carrying on a family trade job displays a strong tie to family identity. While morals play a bigger role in what seems to be the background. Morals passed down from parents to children create a common foundation on which they will build their family. This in its self was a major catalyst in the formation of the American identity.

The families in America are steadily changing. While they remain our most valued and consistent source of strength and comfort, some families are becoming increasingly unstructured. In the past, the typical family consists of a working father, a stay at home mother and, of course, well-rounded children. Today, less than 20 percent of American families fit nicely into this cookie cutter image. American households have never been more diverse. Natalie Angier takes stock of the changing definition of family in an article for the New York Times.

Depending on their cultural background, many families will often have different understandings or ideas of what a family is and how it should be structured.

Although each culture views families and how they treat each other differently than other cultures, but when it comes to the traditional two-parent, nuclear family type, the relationship ties can be strained. Since the father would typically be out for the day working and the mother at home with the children, the mother spends the most time with the kids forming a stronger bond than the father might. Leading into the next function, economic cooperation, in which the work done at home is often not paid for resulting in the mother losing say or power over what occurs within their family. In addition, it compiles more tension and stress onto women due to 1950’s TV shows of how a family should be. In the article, “In Search Of A Golden Age,” Stephanie

Determining family structure and dynamics as well as defining the family is a complex process. Personally, I come from a very traditional family. Much like the assumptions made by the students in the article Defining Family: Young Adults’ Perceptions of the Parent-Child Bond by Mellisa Holtzman (2008). This is what comes to mind when most people define family; a nuclear family, with married parents, and biological children. However, a family is a complex system and can take on many different forms.

The role of grandparents in a child's life in China tends to be greater than in a typical household in the West. It's quite common for multiple generations to live in one home. In some rural areas, parents travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to work in cities. The children are usually left behind to be cared for by their grandparents.

Most people do not think their family has a culture. They associate culture with countries and ethnic groups. But the family for most people is just a group of family people who do what they always do. Directly and subtly, children are shaped by the family culture in which they are born. At the stage of growth, their assumptions about what is right or wrong, good and bad, reflect the beliefs, values, and traditions of the family culture. Most take their family manners for granted and bring into adulthood numerous attitudes and behaviors acquired in childhood. Even those who later reject all or part of the family culture often find that they are not totally free of their early influences. 1

The people in China are rich in culture just like other Asian countries. Therefore, to be involve with Chinese people in China for business, undertsanding their values and culture are very important. The first important thing to understand about Chinese is their devotion to collectivism. Chinese is trained from very early to consider himself as a dependent segment of a group, which is also called totalitarianism. It is helpful to think of the notion of family in China as a template applied to many networks of relationships that hold the society together. In the Chinese business context, the notion of family is about more than the emotional support and ties of a nuclear family. Family members, for

Society is composed of many elements based on values, traditions, cultures, government’s policies etc.; and family is one of the main basic ingredients, forming the society. Therefore, as the society changes its element, family is also forced to change the flow of life. Yet, during the past 50 years, our society has undergone big social transformations which are seen as “dramatic and unparallel changes” or a “veritable revolution”. Thus, the two basic forms of family, the extended family and the