1. The Ecosystem Information gathered by Lucy Campanis
Revised by Mikki Meadows
EIU School of Family & Consumer Sciences

2. Components of the Family Ecosystem p. 8
“How families interact with one another is shaped not only be the personalities that comprise the family unit but also by the complex set of environments that surround or sustain them.” p. 18

3. Fundamentals of the Family Ecosystem
Family members
Environments as perceived by them
Human transactions carried out through the family organization
“The ecological system framework highlights the interdependence of organisms and environments.”

4. Elements of the Family Ecosystem
Organisms
Family members
Mutually interdependent
Symbiotic relationship
Environments
Anything external to the family
Biophysical
Psychosocial
technological

5. Family organization
Processes information from its environment for achieving family goals
Mediates relationships between the family and its environment
Decision-making function

6. Family Boundaries and Interfaces
flexible
Influenced by the information coming into the family from the environment(s)
Interface
Point at which family and environment meet

7. Open & Closed Families The family is a semi-open system
Refers to interchanges with the environment
Differ in degrees of openness
Families need to maintain both openness and closedness
Must be flexible yet stable

8. Family Decision Makers
Monitor information flow and interaction between family and environment
Must be able to……
detect the state of the environment,
select one response over another, and
carry out selected response.

9. Feedback is the interchange between family organisms and the environment
Stabilizes and changes the family ecosystem, keeping it in equilibrium
Families perceive and respond to their environments differently under different conditions and at different times

10. The Family and Its Environment p. 30
Discussion/Reflection Questions:
Identify the main point(s) of the reading.
What are some of the ways families today are harming the environment for the sake of improving quality of life?
Based on the reading, what are some of the ways that technology has helped the family?
The reading discusses four types of community decision-making structures. Which Which of these four do you think would be most effective? Why?

11. External Environments
Input from the environments help shape family decisions
Family decisions help shape the environments
Three environmental systems help shape family choices
Natural
Technological
Agricultural-Industrial
Social-Regulatory

12. The family is linked to external environments through material and energy flows
The family is related to social groups through shared access to energy sources and participation in information flows