MPU FAMILY ISSUES CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO FAMILY Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

How Do You Define Family? Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Overview About Definition of Family The definition of family over time has changed especially when you think of the ideal family which is the 1950's model. This is no longer expected and there are many different types of families such as blended family, serial fatherhood families, divorce is common and others. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Definition of family Closely related people blood, marriage, adoption, live together. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Family Members  Members of family have so many roles to play.  In your family there are the roles that given to you by birth such as : Daughter/ son Sister / brother Niece/nephew Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

 as time goes than roles that you choose as a ; Husband / wife Parents Worker Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Family Types Two-parent biological family – Parents and their biological children – Defining factors: blood ties and marriage This “Leave It to Beaver” family is no longer the norm. – Only 12% of families fit this stereotype. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Single-parent family – One parent and one or more children – No involvement of other parent Death, abandonment, single-parent adoption Primary parent family – More than one parent takes responsibility for children, although usually unequal. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Blended family – Stepfamily – Adoptive family Extended family Intentional (or voluntaristic) family Committed partners Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Stages and Developmental in the Family Life Cycle

Stage 1: Beginning family Married couple establish home but no children. Developmental Tasks: Establishing a satisfying home and marriage relationship and preparing for childbirth.

Stage 2: Childbearing Family From birth of 1 st child until that child is 2 ½ years old Developmental Task: Adjusting to increased family size and providing a positive developmental environment

Stage 3: Family with Preschoolers Oldest child is between 2 ½ and 6 Developmental tasks (DT): coping with demands on energy and attention with less privacy at home

Stage 4: Family with School Children When oldest child is between ages of 6 and 13 DT: Promoting educational achievement and fitting in with the community of families with school-age children

Stage 5: Family with Teenagers Oldest child is between ages of 13 and 20 DT: Allowing and helping children to become more independent

Stage 6: Launching Centre When oldest child leaves family until the youngest leaves home DT: Releasing young adults and accepting new ways of relating to them; maintaining a supportive home base

Stage 7: Empty Nest From time children are gone till couple retires DT: Renewing and redefining marriage relationship; preparing for retirement years

Stage 8: Aging Family From retirement till death of the marriage partner DT: Adjusting to retirement; coping with death and living alone.

Benefits living in family  Family provides physical needs such as food, shelter, clothing and health care.  Family can protect you from harmful or dangerous situation.  Family can give you sense of belonging through the life long relationship that you have with your family members.( you always will be a sister, brother, aunty, uncle and others ).You share a lot of common things with them. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

 Family can be source of love and affection.  Family can be source of encouragement and support.  Family can play an important role in socializing you in a manner of educating or teaching you how to behave in a way which is acceptable, provide you with value beliefs and custom of your particular family. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Trends in Families  adoption becoming more common  families are more equal in the sense of who makes  the rules, women more equal to their spouse  blended families  single parents  cohabitation before marriage Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Adoption  over time became more popular  husbands and their wives that couldn't have kids adopted  children left in the dark about being adopted until later on  grey market of adoption Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Adoption stage 2: children know they're adopted/ open adoptions. stage 3: legitimate ways to adopt besides agencies past 20 years growth of international adoption have increased. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Reasons for changes in trends in families  later marriage  13% teen pregnancy  same sex relationships  adoption within those relationships  8% interracial Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

 college: adolescence; returning home,leaving later, male more likely than female (25-29)  Number of kids decreasing 1.9 children (during early 1900s more kids in rural areas to help with the farm and males especially important to take care of parents when they grow old)  fictive kin: not actually blood related but considered family Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

MASLOWS HIERARCHY AND FAMILIES Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

 Abraham Maslow a humanistic psychologist had given us a useful way to look at human needs.  Maslow classified human needs into five levels and he represented that in a form of pyramid.  According to Maslow human must satisfy their lower or basic needs in order to them to go the next level of their needs. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

BUT HOW DOES MASLOW’S THEORY AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIP ARE CONNECTED ….. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

ISSUES IN NOWADAYS FAMILIES Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

BEFORE WE GO FURTHER WHAT DO YOU THINK ONE OF THE COMMON ISSUE IN TODAYS FAMILIES……. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

Changing Demographics People continue to marry. – 52% of households are married couples – Median age: 25 years

Changing Demographics Divorce rate is stabilizing – 43% of first marriages end within15 years. Remarriage rates are dropping – 5 out of 6 men and 3 out of 4 women eventually remarry after a first divorce. – The mean length of time between divorce and remarriage is four years.

Changing Demographics  Stepfamilies continue to increase through remarriage.  One out of every three people is now a step parent, a stepchild, a step sibling, or some other member of a step family.

Changing Demographics The number of single-parent families continues to increase. Families continue to be constructed – through adoption. – scientific technologies

Economic Issues Two income couples are becoming the norm. – Yet 70% of all parents do not feel they spend enough time with their children (Families and Work Institute, 1998). Over 70% of single mothers are working.

Ethnic Issues Ethnic heritage has a long term effect on family functioning

Remember…..  Everyone comes to this course with some understanding (and opinions) of how families function and interact. However, no two people have the same familial experiences.  Each person has something to offer AND something to learn. Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013

THANK YOU Thamil Selvi Dorasingam 2013