A Research On The Family And A Good Support System

The most distinctive trait of American family life, then the trait that differentiates it from family life in other western countries, is sheer movement: frequent transitions, shorter relationships. Americans step on and off the carousel of intimate partnerships (marriages and cohabiting relationships) more often. Whether an American parent is married or cohabiting or raising children without a partner, she or he is more likely to change living arrangements in the near future than are parents in the rest of the western world. It is consequential and we should be concerned about it, both as parents and as a nation, because it may increase children’s behavioral and emotional problems. Simply pu, some children seem to have difficulty adjusting to a series of parents and parents’ partners moving in and out of their home. It is not just parental divorces and breakups that are hard for children. Even transitions that bring a new partner or stepparent into the home can be difficult to cope with. Children whose parents have remarried do not have higher levels of well-being than children in lone-parent (a parent who is neither married nor living with a partner) families, despite the addition of a second parent. One reason is that new

Children and young people may find themselves going through a parental divorce or be part of a single parent family or they may have become part of a step family. They may

To get a full understanding of family theory one must first have the understanding of what is theory. Theory is a systematic collection of concepts and relations. Family however can mean a broad range of things to a person. One person may consider family to be father, mother, sister and brother; however, to someone else family could be just one parent with one child; and to another it could their friends. Family systems theory however defines the family as a system. Family consist of interrelated parts, each impacting the other and adding to each other’s growth (or detriment) of the other. And because family is always changing, growing, self-organizing, and becoming accustomed to each other and the exterior environment (White & Klein, 2008). Now let’s take a look at the

Divorce is common in the United States; remarriage is just as common. As a result many marriages result in a blended family. A family in which both of the parents have children from previous marriages. Often the blended family shares a permanent residence. Clair Cartwright and Kerry Gibson state in their 2013 report, The effects of co-parenting relationships with ex-spouses on couples in step-families, that in the United States in 2008, around 9% of households and around 12% of cohabiting households were blended families ( Teachman & Tedrow, 2008). A blended family is an excellent place to observe symbolic interaction theory.

In today’s world, families are dynamic and interdependent systems. The developmental processes of the children in the family are deeply affected by how the family system operates. However, a family’s structure does not determine whether it is a healthy family system or not. Today, families consist of single parents, stepparents, divorced parents, remarried parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They are all able to contribute to a healthy functioning family system by meeting each family member’s needs and encouraging positive communication (Jamiolkowski, 2008). Unhealthy family systems have negative and possibly

The family dynamics in Max Apple’s “Stepdaughters” and Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets” displays some of the issues that parents, stepparents and teenagers may or may not experience. A mother’s relationship with her children has a very unique connection, especially when it comes our daughters. Being a mother or stepmother is a problematical and rewarding experience: nevertheless, a mother’s love is unconditional. How do you except someone for his or her choices on being different? Is it easier for a step-parent to see things more clearly that the biological parent? Every family has its issues. When it’s a blended family with mothers, fathers, stepchildren and other family member, those issues can become more complex to understand.

Did you know that one third of all children in the United States (US) are expected to live in a stepfamily before they reach the age of 18[helpguide.org 2008]? While some people consider blended families abnormal, they can be just as good as a “regular” family. With blended families becoming more common, there are more studies being done to show both the similarities and differences between “regular” and blended families.

The book Dating and the single Parent by Ron L. Deal is written to help single parents and people who are going to be dating single parents. This is done by asking questions of the reader to find out if they are ready for a blended family and to make sure that the reader understands how to make a blended family work. The author draws his experience on his counseling of single parents and his work in ministry. The book is broken up in three sections, with the first section dealing with the preparation of starting to date. The second selection purpose is best way of finding a partner. The last section deals with the marriage commitment and preparing the stepfamily for marriage.

When I consider family systems, I am reminded of a metaphor I heard while in undergraduate school about a mobile. A mobile is used to soothe an infant, normally placed above a crib or basinet. Each of its parts are in balance, when working correctly, however if one section becomes off balance the objects become out of sync. This is true with families. If each member of the family unit is doing their part, there is complete balance or homeostasis (Henson). This balance is viewed as a healthy family system. However, if one part of the unit becomes off balance, it disrupts the whole unit causing an unhealthy response with possible long term consequences. As families grow, each member plays an equally important role in the family unit. Children learn quickly the importance of relationships and adapt quickly to their environment. No one can deny the family unit is the most complex system in existence.

When you think of a stepparent, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For many, less fortunate than me, visions of hostility and animosity flash in our minds. Some even may remember times of abuse and loathing toward those who represent a family figure. However, that’s not the case for me. I got lucky, by some miraculous, luck of the draw, once in a lifetime occurrence, I got gifted Sarah.

In many ways family systems theory can be seen as a broad field where there many different implications that make up the system, it is a system. A system is a set of objects that are bound together by a relationship, which are based around the attributes of the objects as drawn upon by (Janet.BB, 1982). Family systems theory addresses the many different ideals and values that make up a typical family, these include the roles each member of the family, the power relations either from the male of the family or both parents of the family, the boundaries that are set within the family to ensure that the structure of the family is secure, in both individualistic and collectivist families this can be seen (Fred Rothbaum, 2002).

Specific thesis: The blended families and multicultural families become increasingly familiar. Understanding the basics of these families, is, therefore, critical for the family embraces its strengths in working through their differences. According to the research carried out by Michele Martin on the experience of the remarried couples in the blended families, differing loyalties cause various challenges for both biological and step-parents. Just like blended families, the shadow side of multicultural families can loom heavily in the relationships leading to various challenges. Chang and Chin-Chun (page 24, 2014) agrees that it is caused, primarily, by differences in culture and the differences in the cultures makes the parents face difficulties in raising children.

The first part is trying to define the term Family System itself. It gives a very brief overview on the characeristics of a family system and how such a system relates and co-relates to the enviorment. It also gives a short description of the dynamics and dimensions of family systems - cohesion and hierarchy.

If we talk about Christianity point of view Holy bible lays down “Wives submit yourself into your own husbands as unto the Lord.”

. Family systems theory is one of many theories that can be used to describe and analyze families. The family systems theory thinks of the family as a whole, not just as individuals. Individuals form a family system through their interaction and communication patterns. When something with an individual changes, it impacts the entire family. This theory emphasized interdependence among family members and says that problems should not be blamed on one individual, but should be looked at in terms of the family context. Individual components join together within a family system to form a whole. When a change occurs, the whole family must adapt to the new situation. This theory is a great way to look at families as a whole. There are seven descriptive features that define a family system which are: interdependence, wholeness, patterns/self-regulation, interactive complexity/punctuation, openness, complex relationships, and equifinality. Using these seven pieces, I will relate them to the family from Pieces of April and how that family uses or fails to use the features.