Personal Narrative: My View Of Families In Canada

Families play a large role in the lives of every person to ever live. If one is born without a family, their lives will be much different than one who is born with a family, whether that family has a positive influence on said person or not. Every member of a family shapes a person’s identity, especially when they are growing up. If a child grows up with irresponsible parents that do not care for their child or adhere to their needs, the child will most likely grow up to become a person of a similar fashion with similar characteristics as their parents because that is all they have experienced and that is the only way that they

For my sociological portrait I have decided to discuss the institution of family and the way it has affected my identity. Family is an important part of how our adult identities are shaped. If we are lucky to have them in our lives, we learn so much from our parents when we are young, and as much as some of don’t want to admit it, they are a very large part of influencing who we will be in our adult lives. The concept of family as a driving force and social institution is interesting because it has the ability to effect of positively or negatively for the rest of our lives and it has the power to shape all of our future relationships and actions.

I remember my first day in Canada like it was yesterday. The day I thought my dad had been hit by a car and my mom almost having a heart attack. It all started when we first got to the hotel, in Ontario, Mississauga. My father thought it would be a great idea to explore the area and buy some groceries. My mom, two brothers and I were exhausted due to a fourteen-hour flight from Dubai to Toronto so we decided to stay and take a nap. I woke up at 7 pm to silence. I thought my dad had come back and took a nap, but when I went to wake up parents, it was only my mother. At that point, I started freaking out, it’s been 4 hours since my father left. I woke up my mother and told her my dad hadn’t come back yet. My mother tried to call my father, but his phone was off. She then went to the security of the building and talked to him. The security guard asked my mother

Enrolling in a class formulated around families and their dynamics within Canadian society, initially seemed as though it would be quite monotone. The prior knowledge I held, led myself to believe there was not much more one could learn about such an area; families are diverse and all strive off of one another to survive in their home and surrounding environments. Throughout this short term my thoughts have altered in understanding the complexity and diversity within families. Every individual is part of a family yet, whom one considers “family” can arise from many areas: full sibling, step sibling, adopted, close friend, foster child amongst other areas which many will speak to under their own terms. Every family has faced challenges

No matter what background you come from or how you were raised, family is extremely important. According to Malinowski, “Family is a necessary institution for fulfilling the task of child rearing in society”(Conley, 2013). Society has come a long way when it comes to family and it is much different than it was in the 1950’s. Not all families are nuclear families. A nuclear family is having a mother, father, and children that are all biological (Conley, 2013). This kind of family is what some would call more “traditional.” Today in the twenty first century it is getting harder and harder to find families that have actually stayed together. There are so many different kinds of families in today’s society, and more and more families are becoming blended families. A blended family is when two families come together (Conley, 2013). Many families today have single mons, single, dads, and even same sex parents. Family is not always the people that live in the same house as you, family also consists of extended family. An extended family is a network that goes beyond the main “nuclear” family (Conley,

After obtaining my recent degree in Anthropology from the University of Georgia and securing a job as a campaign assistant for a candidate running for U.S. senate, I have been assigned the task to help my candidate write the best family values policy platform he can. To accomplish this goal, I have interviewed one participant, nineteen-year-old Brandon, about his kinship system. This will help me gather information on the social issues of a family and family values. To give you a quick introduction, Brandon is my boyfriend and someone who I have known for almost a year. I am quite familiar with his family. Brandon grew up in a single-parent home after his parents divorced when he was six. They are not alone here; in 2012, there were 11.2 million single-parent households documented (BOOK pg 366). In this home, he was raised primarily by his mother, and lived there along with his older sister Chrissy Dale. Brandon has a bilateral descent group, meaning the relationships in his family are recognized through both his mother and fathers’ sides of the family (LECTURE). His kinship system is also homogamic, meaning all of the couples in his family married from inside their social group. (LECTURE). Brandon is not my participant’s real name, but will be used for the sake of this project for ethical reasons. In this report, I plan to make known step by step Brandon’s family and who inhabits it, what occupational patterns they have, what residence patterns they follow, and how

This paper will inform the parents, educators, and American society of the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding for people who have cognitive challenges or loss of limbs and other functions. Therapy can happen on the horse as well as off, depending on the condition of the rider. Not all therapy has to be done on a horse. It can be done on the ground as well, by padding the horse, brushing the horse, leading the horse. Knowing you can conquer being around and taking care of a big horse gives those with challenges a sense of satisfaction and self confidence. Therapeutic horseback riding is wonderful for young people as well as older people with disabilities. Even if they cannot sit up straight, therapy can make it so that any individual can

My ancestors first came to Canada around 1845-1852. The names of the first people in my family to come to canada was Robert Young and Anna Young. They came to Canada from Ireland.

Just like many immigrant families, my family had to encounter many adversities in the United States. My mother had to live the harsh experience of walking long hours and starve as she battled to cross the border of Mexico and the United States. Nothing, not even the fact that she was 5 months pregnant was going to stop her because her dream of giving me a better life was stronger than any hardship. My father was a legal resident of the United States but during this period of time it was very hard for an immigrant person to aspire for a good job. He was destined to work in the fields for many years. I grew up and went to elementary school and since my father was working out in the fields I was signed up to the Migrant Program. As a small elementary

Society functions in a manner accepting of the differences within people; and the innumerable qualities all individuals put forward. It is the differences within individuals that make for betterment of society; and allow the Canadian nation to be open and accepting of diversity. This notion of diversity is not only one which can be directed towards the large spectrum of society yet, to the family structures which impact it wholesomely, while too, holding effect upon their personal life and relationships. “The word “family” is used in various ways in popular usage, referring in different contexts to our parents, siblings, spouse and children, as well as referring to all the relatives sharing a household and the larger group of relatives with whom we may or may not maintain some contact”, (Baker, Page 3, 2014). Speaking to the level of family structures and whom one considers “family”; it is an area which each individuals should be allowed to dictate in their own manner and hold sole control over. As a nation and/or state focus should be directed at improving the quality of life and equality amongst all sectors of families; in addition to promoting diversity; rather than focusing on the small social and financial issues that Social Service Programs are in place to provide assistance for.

In line with the above, and in recognition of the diversity of contemporary society, we should emphasize that "respect for diversity requires that family be defined openly and broadly so as to include whomever the family itself- with its unique culture, circumstances, and history-designates" (Allen and Petr 1998:8).

A family is something that comforts and includes others. It is an environment where people can feel like they belong. Although in societies eyes the family is much more. We depict who is fit enough to support a family and question if the family is functioning properly. In both articles, Homeplace: A site of Resistance by Bell Hooks and “Family” as a Site of Contestation: Queering the Normal or Normalizing the Queer? By Michelle K. Owen, both authors have distinct understandings of the concept of family and question the societal norm of how a family should behave. Family is a site of belonging and contestation. Both authors describe that there are many forms of family that contrast the typical nuclear model family. Also it is demonstrated that families supply a place of belonging and nourishment. Although society has placed values on families, distinguishing what families are most fit and functioning. Using an intersectional lens it is demonstrated in these two articles that many families reject the nuclear family model, and families are given a value and are placed within a social hierarchy.

I come from an immigrant family and I have had the privilege to be exposed to different social, cultural and economic realities all my life as I constantly navigated across cultures. Aside from family origin in Ecuador, I was born in Virginia and lived in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico) for six years. The biggest influences on the way I see life comes from my immigrant parents. I have learned to perceive their differences and appreciate their interactions with me.

Some main points Baker was trying to make are that most of us have been raised within a family, which tends to make us think that we are knowledgeable about the sociology of the family, and that if we generalize from our friends and family we would have a poor basis of research and theory. Not all people behave the same way and share the same values and lifestyles as others. She also talked about how personality and aptitudes can be affected not by only physiology and genetic inheritance; they are also influenced by gendered and cultural practices within families, as well as socio-economic constraints.

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.