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SOWK2012 Unit 1 18052016 pr
Abnormal Psychology (PSYC 2002)
The University of the West Indies Mona
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© 2016 University of the West Indies Open Campus 1
U U N IT
1
Nntroduction to the family:
IThe family as a social entity
Unit Overview
The purpose of this unit is to furnish you with a basic understanding of the family, its evolution, structure, and functions within the society. It is also intended that you will develop preliminary skills that will allow you to grasp more complex concepts as you complete activities and do research.
It is also intended that as social work practitioners, you will become familiar with the types of families within Caribbean context. You will also come to recognize the keen interconnectedness among family members that perpetuates the success of individual members within the society. In addition, you should understand different perspectives relating to family involvement and their usefulness in the society.
The unit also allows you to develop an awareness of how external factors have changed family dynamics and its existence. Class and social well-being, and their relationships to the family, are expressed in the unit. It is crucial for you to be cognizant of these actualities as you develop your own hypothesis and draw your own conclusions through interaction with the materials and the overall learning environment. The unit also provides a screening of the marriage process, an awareness of different types of marriages, and its influence on family efficiency.
Finally, you are also afforded opportunities to familiarize yourselves with each other, discover the learning space, and develop an understanding of requirements for the course. The unit makes preparation for student exploration of the learning space by including unique preliminary activities that allow for such exploration, interaction, and familiarization.
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Unit Objectives
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
Analyze the evolution of and theories about the family.
Review hypotheses and theories to explain family functions.
Demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of the evolution of the family in the Caribbean through research and group discussion.
Research the varied definitions of family and family types and the criteria for defining families.
Investigate and outline reasons why the traditional family has changed.
Explain how social standing affects the wellbeing of the family as a unit.
Predict possible future trends and systems based on current practices.
This unit is divided into three (3) sessions as follows:
Session 1: Defining the Family as an Entity
Session 1: Basic Considerations
Session 1: Transitions (How the Family Unit is Changing)
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This session explores the family as a unit, its structure, and development. It delves into the basic functions of the family and theories that support its function. Importantly, specific theories will be examined as you deliberate among yourselves.
Definition
Defining family is no small task because we all have different perspectives on what constitutes a family. You might think of your mother, father and siblings as family. Someone else might think of grand parents and siblings. In other cultures, a man might consider his ten wives, children, and grandchildren to be family. When defining family, there are four basic concepts that must be taken into consideration. According to Macionis (2010) these are:
i. Family can be seen as a social institution that unites people in the society into supportive groups within households for child bearing and child nurturing purposes.
ii. Families are formed through biological and social bonds like kinship and blood relations, marriage, and or adoption.
iii. Families are formed in most societies through some type of marriage, which is a lasting process where two people are legally united for economic, sexual, and child bearing purposes.
iv. Today the concept of family has evolved beyond blood and marriage relations to include people who have a close social connection and who feel they belong together. These people define themselves as family.
New Definitions of the Family
Traditional definitions of family have changed and continue to change. Today, the concept of family is one that is so important and complex, that a single definition might not cover its purpose. For example, a family may be defined based on benefits by employers as unmarried spouses and step children may be able to receive benefits based on an employer’s perspective of the family. Consequently, defining the family is always a challenge as definitions may change from group to group and from institution to institution.
Structure
Global Variations
There are many variations of family that should be considered. As times change, so too does the structure of the family unit.
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A. Types of families:
The nuclear family has the most basic structure and includes one or both parents and their children.
The extended family is a family unit that includes more than parents and children, but also other kin like grandparents, uncles, nephews, etc. This type of family is also referred to as consanguine.
The blended family is a family unit that unites spouses and their children. Most of these spouses had children before they met each other and so the unit is comprised of step brothers and sisters.
FsgurS 1: The Nuclear Family by Imperfect chaos / CC BY-SA 3.
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B. Marriage Patterns
Endogamy: This is marriage between people of the same social category. For example, a woman of Indian descent who is from a middle class household may choose to marry a man of Indian descent who is also from a middle class household.
Exogamy:This is the marriage between people of different social categories. Someone from a lower class in society for example, may try to achieve upward social mobility by finding a marriage partner from a higher social class.
Monogamy: This can be viewed as marriage between only two partners. This type of marriage is preferred in industrial societies.
Polygamy: This is marriage that involves three or more partners. It is normally seen in preindustrial societies. There are two main ways that polygamy can take place. These are as follows:
o Polygyny-This involves the uniting of one male with two or more females
o Polyandry-This involves the uniting of one female with two or more males
C. Residential Patterns
Sometimes society influences the type of residential patterns that you might see among families. Residential patterns might change over time as norms, values, industry and even living conditions change. The following are types of residential patterns that you might see in a society:
Neolocality is a residential pattern that is very common in industrial societies where a married couple lives far away from both sets of their parents.
Patrilocality is a residential pattern where a married couple lives with or close to the husband’s family.
Matrilocality is a residential pattern where the couple lives with or close to the wife’s family.
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D. Descent (Descent is used by family members to trace kinship
through generations).
Bilateral descent is normally seen in industrial societies where kinship is traced through both males and females. Gender equality is normally favored among these nations.
Patrilineal descent is a practice of tracking kinship through males
Matrilineal descent is the practice of tracking kinship through females
Additional Reading
For further information on Global Variations, please see the document referenced below:
Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2011). Family relationships from adolescence to early adulthood: changes in the family system following firstborns’ leaving home. Journal of Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 21(2), 461-474. doi:10.1111/j- 7795.2010.00683
BLOG
Create your own blog in the learning exchange and complete the following:
Identify one type of family within your society
Mention ways that the family helps the society to function
Speak of the ways the family prepares the young for social roles.
Respond to a blog from one of your peers whose initial post is about another family type and compare your contributions with that of your peer.
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members. Most family members, and grandparents especially, contribute to the child rearing process.
Theories
There are a few theories that seek to explain human social behavior and why changes take place within the family. These theories are quite useful in the study of marriage and the family.
- Social Exchange Theory
The Social exchange theory asserts that social interactions within the family are an exchange process. This exchange process describes why social changes take place and affirms that relationships are produced by an analysis of the positive (rewards) and the negative (costs) by individuals before they perform an action. Humans are rational beings and so they will evaluate the benefits and costs of their actions prior to acting. The costs include those negative elements that individuals will have to face like time and effort. Benefits on the other hand, include rewards that they might get from forming or breaking relationships. A spouse who is considering divorce for example, will consider the costs of staying in the marriage to the benefits of divorce before making a decision. It is argued that human beings have a variety of resources that they exchange in the social marketplace for profit. This profit is not for economic gains but include more interactive elements like social approval and the mate selection process. The resources that individuals bring to a relationship or family affect formation, continuation, nature of a relationship, and power dynamics of a relationship. Throughout this course you will see the use of these interactions and come to recognize them for yourselves.
FsgurS 1: Social Exchange Theory in Families Image courtesy of thetutorking/2012/12/revision-tips-for-aqa-a2-unit-3-chapter.html
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Exchange theorists might speculate about the woman’s power and resources relative to others in her family.
- The Developmental Perspective
This perspective looks at the family in the same way psychologists deem the mortal nature of the individual as vulnerable with a normal life span. While individuals go through stages like birth, childhood, and old age, the family’s stages would include marriage, birth of children and retirement. Within each stage, family members face unique challenges that must be dealt with for the successful functioning of the unit.
- The Family Systems Theory
Worthy of note is the family systems theory where the family as a unit is compared to some system. As such, the system has a set of working parts which come together to achieve some larger goal. A home theater system for example, has a screen, speakers, a cable or receiver box, and a set of wires to complete the process. All these parts come together to provide a clean entertaining experience. (Review ECFS 2008 where the systems theory is fully explored). Family members interact in similar ways and are dependent on each other to complete the process. The family systems theory also outlines boundaries where only certain people can be a part of the system. A dishwasher would not be accepted within the home theater system and so the family system has similar rules. Also, the family system is dependent on the society and resources from outside the unit the same way the home theater system needs power and television programming from outside. A family system will need to connect with outside religious, health and educational systems for example.
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Useful Links
The social exchange theory www3.uakron/witt/fc/fcnote5b.htm
IThe developmental perspective parenteducation.unt/online-learning/family-development-theory
family.jrank/pages/519/Family-Development-Theory.html
IThe family systems theory web.pdx/~cbcm/CFS410U/FamilySystemsTheory (page 1-2)
ACTIVITY 1.
Thsonk Pasr SharS
Based on your reading thus far, answer the following questions:
What was your definition of family?
How is that definition now different that you have completed this unit?
In groups of two, discuss your views on families and how they have changed.
Post your points to the discussion area for this week and respond to at least two posts from your peers before going through the rest of the unit.
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Session 1 Summary
In this Session you were introduced to the family, its structure and evolution. You saw that there are many different views on what constitutes a family. The family is viewed as a social institution with some primary function in society. The nuclear, the extended, and the blended family are the main types of family that you normally see within the society. You also saw that there are basic symbols that can be used to represent members of the family and basic family relationships. Marriage patterns, residential patterns and descent also dictate how families might be structured and spread throughout the society.
The evolution of the family is one that has persisted for a long time. In the Caribbean specifically, there were particular conditions that threatened and redefined the family. Today, the different family types are evident even though they have changed over the years. The social exchange theory endeavors to provide a rationale through the assertion that individuals within the society form or break relationships to receive rewards or avoid unhappiness, frustration and discontent. The developmental perspective views the family as an entity that goes through specific stages that require changes throughout its life span. The family systems theory on the other hand views the family as a whole unit with different working parts.
Now that you have an understanding of the family and its structure, for the next session we will take an in-depth look at marriage, authority, and gender roles. You will examine the criteria for judgment and what is needed to define families and why there are so many definitions of family.
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if anyone could “claim” to be family and have the rights to inheritance, visitation, family health plans etc. This is why the purpose for defining the family becomes so important. For these purposes, there needs to be a non-changing legal standpoint by which persons are adjudged to be members of a family. Other jurisdictions outside of the legal realm might decide upon other definitions based on their specific purposes.
Importantly, there are two unique elements that influence the definition of family. These elements might affect even the purpose or need to define family in the same place. These are values and norms.
Values
Values can be described as that which is precious or deserve to be well-preserved and or upheld. One person might find achievement and success to be more appropriate values to hold, while someone else might consider empathy and compassion in higher esteem. The values that a person holds will most likely affect the definition of family for that individual. Normally, society members share values, but as societies become more segregated and or diverse, disputes surrounding society values may surface. For example, as societies become more open, some people find issues in the declaration of traditional family values as they outline ideas that are not necessarily supported by younger generations. Religion for example, has played a major role in traditional perspectives of family values. Christian religion held high values for the nuclear type family that sees the father as the bread winner and authority figure while the mother as the nurturer, bearer of children and works at home. These values continue to change as non-traditional advocates hold fairness and equality in the home and the work place in higher esteem. The idea that men should work while the woman’s place is in the home is being rejected. More men and women are sharing spaces traditionally held by a particular gender.
Norms
Values are broad principles that inform the bearer of what is decent, just, and good within the society. Norms on the other hand, are more specific elements that influence the definition of the family. Norms inform the user about how they should behave. There are several TV shows across the US and the Caribbean that highlight the lives of celebrities and what should be deemed popular (Macionis, 2010). This is the norm and so too is the behavior to watch these programs and gossip with friends about what you watched. However in some societies, the norm is to consider such behavior rude and even offensive. For example, an American Indian would be appalled by such behavior.
Sociologists have noted that some norms are more important in societies than others (Macionis, 2010). Some norms carry legal implications if they are not followed, for example, while others carry rewards if followed. As such, there are two main distinctions worth making note of. These are Mores and Folkways.
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- Mores
Mores (pronounced as MORE-AYS) are also called formal norms and are more widely observed and have greater moral and legal implications if not followed. In the Caribbean, these norms are written as laws and they are made obligatory by law enforcement agencies and judicial systems. In some societies, men can marry girls at 12 years old. Such is the norm in these societies. In 1997, two Iraqi brothers were arrested in the United States for having sex with their wives who were 13 and 14 years of age (Macionis, 2010). The brothers were 28 and 34 years old. It is clear that the norm in their local southern Iraq society was very different from that in America. In the Caribbean there is generally an age of consent and adults are not permitted to have sex with minors under that age. These and other mores guide the behavior of the individual and the ways in which family is perceived. In addition, norms within the family control aggressive and harmful behaviors among members and ensure that children are cared for.
- Folkways
Folkways are also called informal norms and are less serious than mores, as they simply inform individuals in the society about what is appropriate. There are still repercussions for violating folkways but these consequences are less serious than those associated with the breaking of mores. Consequences might include a dirty look, a disapproving comment or some other casual measure. For example, it is the norm to join lines at the back instead of skipping to the front. Such actions might warrant complaints from other patrons. Note however, that it is not enough for the police to intervene unless the situation escalates which might easily happen in this case. Note also, that folkways can also change depending on the culture. The way you should greet an individual varies across the Caribbean depending on the culture. In Barbados, you greet a stranger with a handshake but in the Dominican Republic, the norm is to hug and kiss on the cheek. In fact, someone might find it offensive if you simply offered them a handshake. Folkways also influence the interaction among family members in different ways. Children in the Caribbean will label their parents as “mommy” and “daddy” and not necessarily by their first names. Sometimes, norms outside of the family interfere with regular family norms or impose on the ways family members interact with each other. For example, a child in the Caribbean might be spanked at home for misbehavior but if the same behavior occurred in public, that child might only receive a stern warning.
Values, norms, and the family
Aside from the above mentioned, there are other ways that values and norms affect the functioning of and the ways in which the family is defined. Young people are expected to court and date each other. This is a folkway that guides courtship among the young. Once a couple gets married, they are expected to have children and might be informally pressured to do so. Questions regarding children might arise from their friends and parents for example. Those couples who follow the norm are not pressured
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Couples in marriage-like relationships only have some privileges that marriage carries. While some non-Western societies still maintain strict laws that attempt to restrict sexual intercourse to marriage, there is now little or no sexual distinction between married and unmarried persons in contemporary western societies. Sex is a privilege afforded to couples both married and unmarried. However, while couples might refrain from sex early in the relationship, there is greater expectation that a couple will have sex after marriage. More obvious privileges of marriage are health coverage under a spouses plan or compassionate leave.
There are many privileges that couples in marriage-like relationships are not afforded. For example, when a legal marriage ends, individuals who were in the marriage have legal rights to inheritance while individuals from marriage-like relationships in some countries do not. A married couple might also have access to each other’s health benefits etc. Still, there are countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, which have laws to protect longer marriage-like relationships.
Ideal Types, Dichotomy, and Continuum
Because so many people can be classified as family, sociologists have designed a hypothetical construct that differentiates between family groups and non-family groups. This construct is known as an ideal type. Based on a set of 10 characteristics, it becomes easy to determine whether or not a group can be classified as “family” or “non- family” (Macionis, 2010). The family is given ten characteristics and the non-family is given a different set of ten. Upon examining households and the characteristics that they have, you can determine if they are family or non-family. When you look at these two groups (family and non-family), they form a dichotomy. A dichotomy can be seen as a division or contrast between two things.
An ideal-typical family has nine characteristics as shown below in table 4. However, some might only have eight or nine. If you wanted to count the number of families in your country, you could use the methods similar to the country’s census. This involves married couples. However, if you wanted to do a survey on violence among couples, you would need to involve couples living together who are not married. In fact, there might be higher incidences of violence among these couples than those who are married. So it is prudent to consider these characteristics when evaluating families.
Life would be perfect if we could simply break groups into two to determine where they belong. It is not that simple however, and some family groups might have characteristics of non-family groups and vice versa. This is why we need some unbroken degree of measurement that we can classify as a continuum. This continuum helps to classify real world cases where groups share characteristics with each other.
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TablS 1 Family Groups (Macionis, 2010)
Ideal Family group Ndeal non-family
Intimate personal relationships Impersonal relationships
All participants have kinship names for each other
Member connection not kin centered
Persons reside in the same household
Participants have separate residencies
Includes more than one generation
Age homogeneity
Includes a conjugal unit Conjugal units discouraged
Sharing basic assets is a norm Individuals have separate basic assets
Members identify common ancestors or descendants
Members identify common work, recreational, political, or religious interests
Members share similar social status
Individuals’ social status varies
Responsibility for socialization of children to societal norms and values
Responsibility to group’s norms and values
SOWK2012 Unit 1 18052016 pr
Course: Abnormal Psychology (PSYC 2002)
University: The University of the West Indies Mona
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