Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

Professor Juan Hong
October 4, 2013
004064287

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

The impact on family structure on childrens lives is greatly influenced by the

emotional stability by the parents or parent. A parents values, morals, education and
concepts greatly determine the outcome of raising a child. If a mother does not have the
ability to maintain her own existence she cannot fully provide for a child, without ample
resources and guidance. I use myself as a parallel to different examples of how my life
could have been affected, due to the fact I was born to a single parent, with no father in
my life. Although, I felt like I was very fortunate, statistically my chances of succeeding
were probably not that strong. My case was fortunate, but in most cases the outcomes are
less successful.
My mother had me at age eighteen years old. My father and her dated for two
years prior to me being born, and then after the news of my mother being pregnant he
was no longer interested in participating in raising me. My father left for college and I
never saw him throughout my childhood or young adult life. My father came from a
dysfunctional lifestyle and family. There were five kids and each one had a different
father. My father was a major athlete and his mother put extraordinary pressure on him
to go to college and play football and not take part in being in my life. Her option for my
mother was to get an abortion, without the support of my father and his mother, my
mother and grandmother made the decision to keep me. My grandmother raised my
mother as a single parent and had a difficult time financially, which caused many
challenges as to what she could offer my mother. My mothers father rarely saw her,
which also deprived my mother opportunities growing up. This led my grandmother to

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

work two to three jobs to support the family. My grandmother gave my mother two
options when she found out my mother was pregnant, adoption or raise me. My
grandmother did not believe in abortion at all, so that was not an option. My mother
consulted an adoption agency and spoke to a social worker, my mother made the decision
to opt out of adoption. My grandmother told her, if she kept me she had to continue her
education and attend college. After making the decision to keep me, my mother attended
parenting classes and joined a church group that helped young single mothers find
resources that would help them be successful as a parent. My grandmothers insight,
pertaining to her being a single parent and not having the proper resources or help, played
a role on making sure my mother had those opportunities. My mother and grandmother
knew this would be a huge challenge with many sacrifices.
Research states (Falci, 1997), that children with the highest benefit for the
emotional being would be having both biological parents in a solid family structure. The
most important thing is having the entire family experience positive relationships with
one another. Having a good solid relationship with both mother and father, results in a
higher success rate for the emotional wellbeing in children. The divorce rate has
increased over the years, leaving children in the middle of conflict between parents, being
forced to choose one side or another (Walton &Takeuchi, 2010). Its devastating for
children to experience the hardships that divorce brings upon a family. It can have longterm effects on the well being of children and in many cases irreversible emotional
damage. The single parent has to be intact to raise a child. Many young mothers today
have been raised in dysfunctional families, leaving them financially, educationally and
emotionally unable to provide a solid family structure for a child. The economic aspect

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

plays a tremendous role on what opportunities a child has available, especially when the
mother has to work several hours, which can impact quality time between the mother and
child. Many times the single parent is not seeking resources that are available for them
and child. Often you see, the single parent leaving their child home alone at a young age,
without any parental guidance, which forces the child to fend for themselves. This can
result in children making poor decisions at a young age. Currently today, we have young
mothers with four to five children all having different fathers, which creates multiple
problems in childrens lives. How can we help reform this cycle to create a more
efficient system in our society? If we start educating young women to become confident
and have goals for their future, this could play a role in providing them with a more
productive path for their future.
My grandmother had a major influence on my mother as to helping educate her to
become a strong parent, emotionally, educationally and financially. During my early
childhood they designated a solid plan for my future. Through my early years I was
taken care of by family members while my mother attended college. I was given many
opportunities to flourish as a child. My mother proceeded to pursue an education in
teaching. She graduated from Hope College in 1997, with a degree in Special education.
Even though my mother was attending College and working, I still had a strong
relationship with her. My mother gained her financially and emotional stability and her
teaching position and also continued her education and later obtained a Masters Degree
in Education. During my childhood this gave me the opportunity to pursue multiple
sports and attend private school. Also, my mother developed great friendships, with
many of my friends parents, which gave me the blessing of enjoying many great

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

families. I also, had two uncles that played a strong role in my life. My grandmother
aided in giving me a solid family foundation. Even though my family was not the normal
mother and father setting, I never felt deprived of not having my father in my life. As,
my life was filled with love and joy.
In the world we live in today, times have changed tremendously over the last
forty-years. Lifestyles have changed and mothers are electing to have children as single
parents. The problems that we face today, is the lack of family structure. The difficult
aspect of this is how to reconstruct our society and give the children the opportunities
they deserve. I was fortunate enough to have a mother that put me first and constructed a
great life for me as well as herself. This provided me with many great values and
positive reinforcement. She never missed any event I was involved in throughout my
life. This proves that a single parent can raise a successful emotionally stable child,
providing that the single parent has developed those traits within themselves. A child is a
product of their environment, even if it is not a traditional setting. What we need to learn
from this is that the biological parents or single parents have to be educated in the needs
of a child to flourish in the world.

Ethnographic Study of ones family of origin

References
Falci, Christina D. (1997). The effects of Family structure and Family Process on the
Psychological Well-Being of Children. Retrieved from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-182516659751561/unrestricted/Falci.pdf

Walton, E., & Takeuchi, D. (2010). Family Structure, Family Processes, and Well-Being
Among Asian Americans. Family Issues, 31(3), 305-327
Demo, David H., & Alan C. Acock. (1996). Family structure, family process, and
adolescent Well-Being. Research on Adolescence, (6), 457-488.