Human Development And Family Relations

The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the tasks of family development and the life cycle theories. The task I chose was assuming mutual responsibility for child care and nurturing.

What is psychology? What impact does psychology have on the world? What does it mean to be a psychologist? These are three important questions that will be investigated throughout this paper. Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and behavior. Psychology influences many behaviors in the world without anyone noticing.

Psychology Study Guide Chapter 1: Different types of psychologists (clinical, forensic, social, health, industrial etc) • Clinical: aim to reduce psychological distress. Anxiety, depression, relationship problems, addictions and relationships. • Forensic: applying theory to criminal investigations, understanding psychological problems associated with criminal behavior, and the treatment of criminals. • Social: The study of relations between people and groups. Thoughts, feelings and behaviors altered by others. typically explain human behavior as a result of the interaction of mental states and immediate social situations • Health: relatively new. Principles are used to help changes about people’s attitudes about health and illness.

After a thorough review of the textbook and the course material, the specific family system approach that I choose to explore is the Bowenian Approach for this literature review. This specific family system approach is also known as the Bowen Family System Theory as well (D.V. Papero, 2006). The Bowen Family System Theory was established by Murray Bowen, a theorist and psychiatrist who specialized in treating children who were deranged and had schizophrenia (Rockwell, 2010). In the 1950s, Bowen wanted to explore a new venture so he decided that he wanted all of the family members of each child to be involved in an therapeutic process at the same time (Rockwell, 2010).

Another research that focused on the role of family and attachment in relation to the process of identity development was conducted in 2008 by Dunkel.

How are family structures defined? How many different family structures exist? This essay will take a deeper look into this topic and how varying family structures affect child development, social development, and academic achievement.

The limitations of observing behavior in this manor lay in the fact that different cultures have different norms. Not to mention the fact that in any given culture norms evolve. What may have once been acceptable in the 80’s is not necessarily acceptable today.

Overview The Family Unit In human sociological terms, the family is described as a group of people that have affinity traditionally, organized through husband, wife, and children and/or extended relatives. This unit, called the nuclear family, was a historical organization that served economic and cultural needs, educated children in societal behaviors, and offered stability. In the modern age, however, families of all kinds exist. There may be one-two, three or more parents involved in the child's overall plan; those parents may be traditional, grandparents or care-givers, same sex couples, or multiple divorces, etc. We live in a diverse world, not just in the United States, but globally. Preparing children for a leadership role in this world also requires that we take into account individual micro- and macro-differences, celebrate those differences, and view the family as assisting in any way possible the positive relationship of the community, the schools, and other resources to help those children actualize (Hareven, 1991; Berman, 2010).

After much thought in analyzing her development thus far, it would be normal of her to reflect and to possibly shift back and forth or on a day to day basis with making choices and addressing important issues within her life (Erikson, 1993).

In her book The Unfinished Revolution, Kathleen Gerson argues that today, family pathways are more important than family structure. In this context, family structure refers to the organization of a family, and the way that it has been changing as a result of the gender revolution. For example, some nontraditional family structures that are explored in the book include double parent families with both parents earning, single parent families (mostly single mothers), and families with same-sex parents. Gerson argues that while family structures are not negligible, it is family pathways that are more important for the children of the gender revolution. That is to say, the children value the dynamics of their family more than the structure. They are more concerned about how well their parents are able to provide them with the necessary emotional and financial support than they are about how well their families follow a norm. For them, it is more about feeling like they’re part of a family rather than just physically being in one. Gerson emphasizes this when she explains that the people she interviewed “focused on the long-term consequences of parental choices, not on the specific form or type of home these choices produced at any one moment in time.” One important implication of this argument is the way in which the children of the gender revolution imagine their own romantic relationships unfolding. Even there, they prioritize a feeling rather than a format. For example, one

Sociology and Psychology help people understand the numerous variables that are created by society. Gaining the knowledge necessary to understand these variables can be a very multifaceted and dynamic matter. Experimentation is one technique that psychologists and sociologists use to gain such valuable data on the social interaction of humans. Experiments can be used to develop a hypothesis or to help understand a human behavior. For instance, why certain boys more violent than others are. In this example, the boys and violence are the two principals, making this research so complex. It is for this reason; psychologists and sociologists must have high moral

Family Developmental Theory (FDT) first came about in the last 1940s, as a need to understand how families and the individuals within the family function in order to have their needs met (Smith & Hamon, 2012). According to Smith and Hamon (2012) unlike the psychology-based theories, which concentrate on an individual and sociology-based theories address the social and cultural aspects, FDT places the family at the center of its assessment (p.70). In this theoretical memo basic assumption of FDT will be discussed and related to the Galager family case study. The following are the six basic assumptions of FDT: (a) developmental processes are essential in understanding families that also change over time (b) there are tasks associated with each stage of development, (c) institutional norms regulate family behavior, (d) development is reciprocal, (e) families must be viewed in multiple levels of analysis, and (f) families must be observed over time (p. 72).

3. Become aware of the “alive versus the inanimate” and “familiar versus unfamiliar” and develop rudimentary social interaction.

Family is one of the hardest words to define. There are many definitions and thoughts of what a family consists of. When one accepts the definition of the census family given by Statistics Canada then a family becomes “a married couple and the children, if any… a couple living common law and the children, if any… a lone parent with at least one child living in the same dwelling… grandchild living with grandparents but no parents present… Census families can be opposite or same sex and children may be adopted, by birth, or marriage and all members must be living in the same dwelling” (Baker 2014). With family being such a difficult term to agree on, the creation of a complex study of family life emerges. The factors that influence family life are put into three theory categories; Social Structure, Interpersonal Factors, as well as Ideas, Global Culture, and Public Discourse.

Chronic illness, bicultural background and the separation of a family due to immigration has influenced my family’s lifecycle of development. At 6 years old, my mom, my sister and I immigrated to the United States, residing in California. My dad travelled to California with us briefly, before returning to Taiwan again where he worked. Since then, and up to today, my dad works in Taiwan and comes to California twice a year for a month or two. With our new life in California, we had to adjust to a new culture, a new environment, new language and new customs. For my mom, raising children alone without my dad made her similarly like that of a single mother. As a child, and as an adolescent, my sister (13 years old) and I were quick to become fluent in English; this led to us carrying out adult tasks (such as, translating documents, setting appointments, going to the bank etc.) in helping my mom.