Chapter 3

Family Characteristics

LEQ 1: Family Structures

1. Single people2. Couples3. Nuclear families4. Single parent families5. Blended families6. Extended families7. Adoptive families8. Legal guardians9. Foster families

LEQ 2: Family Personality

• Many factors come together to make a family’s personality.

• Just as you have a personality, family’s do too.• One of the ways family personality is shown is

through the environment or atmosphere of the home. Another is how the family makes decisions.

• What the family values are and what they work for is important. Some families choose to spend their

Family Legacies, Traditions, and Rituals

• These help center the ties among families.• Family legacies are something that has been

handed down from previous family members.• How does personality affect family values?– The personality of the family affects how the

family fulfills its functions and needs. It has an impact on what family members learn and the values they hold.

Family Atmosphere

• The pace may be loud and fast laid back and friendly or formal and distant.

Family Boundaries

• Strong or weak?• Strong-outsiders are not important in family life.

These families don’t have guests very often. The line between the family and others is strong.

• Weak/loose-this family accepts others into their home and lives easily. Relationships with non-family members are part of family bring friends home without asking permission. Friends and neighbors visit often and are always welcome.

Family Decision Making

• A family’s personality is linked to how it makes choices.

• Autocratic• Democratic

Interdependence

• All families want to become close. Interdependence is a feeling that family members can rely on each other. Knowing that you can rely on your family helps you feel good about your family.

• Find a balance. Dependent people rely too much on others. Children of dependent families do not learn to be independent and take care of themselves.

Families and the Media

• Many people’s images of what a family should be like come from the media.

• The family structure and personality in these shows and movies may seem perfect. They may solve problems in minutes. The problems are easy to solve.

• Media influences you more than you realize. You may feel like your family doesn’t measure up. Real families are different from media images. When you understand this, reality is easier to accept. Real life families have strengths and weaknesses

3.2 Family Development

Stages of Family Development

• Development is the process of growth and change over the course of life. Social scientists have described a basic pattern of growth and change in families. They call it the family life cycle.

• The family Life Cycle is t a stable pattern that supports families. As families move through the stages, they are concerned about their needs and wants. In every stage a family makes choices that affect members and their growth and development. People must be committed to each other and to the family itself.

Family Life Cycle

Couple

• Make decisions together about housing, furnishings, money, education & careers, children

The Parenting Stage

• The stage when people are taking care of children

• The expanding family-new members are added to the family at this stage. Parents may feel tied down and may be harder for couples to find the alone time they shared before having children.

The Developing Family Stage

• As children grow older, the family moves in to the developmental years where children enter school. There are activities outside of the home.

• Families with school age children• Families with teenagers-teens are getting

ready to leave the family. They’re learning skills they need to be independent. How much independence is debatable.

The Launching Stage

• Children are sent out on their own, physically and financially. The latest trend of launching states that it lasts longer than usual. Children tend to be dependent on parents longer than they used to be.

• The Parental stage is longer when children move back home, usually for financial reasons.

The Middle Years

• When children have grown up and left home, the family becomes a couple again. When a couples children move out of the family home, the situation is called an empty nest. Having an empty nest leaves some parents feeling lost and without purpose. Other people love their newfound freedom after years of caring for their children.

• This is a time for reflection on career choices.• Income pressures often decrease during this stage.• The middle years find people caring for aging parents.

The Retirement Years

• Some people look forward to retirement, while others fear it. Some look forward to traveling hobbies or relaxation. Others wonder what they will do with themselves. Lack of money is a major concern.

LEQ 5: Other Patterns of Family Development

• Not every family fits neatly into the stages of family development. There are many reasons: some may not ever marry

• Some marriages end in divorce and single parenthood.

• Some choose not to have children• A family might have only 1 child and have a

very short parent stage.

Length of time in each stage varies

• The stages of development may be different lengths for each family.

• The stages may overlap in certain ways.