The Family

Becoming a Family

• Marriage--Who Benefits Most in

Traditional Marriages?
Marriage, cont.

• Traditional marriage--women are more at

risk if divorce occurs
– Emotionally
– Financially
Changing Families
• Extended, nuclear families
• Alternative lifestyles
– Single-parent families
– Reconstituted families
– Same-sex parents
• Other changes
– Delayed marriage
– Fewer children
– Beanpole families
Demographic Changes
 Critical Thinking Issue:

How important is it that children grow up in a

two-parent family?
Systems Theory

• Ecological approach
– Bronfenbrenner
– Change/stability
– Homeostasis
– Bi-directional interactions
in subsystems
The Systems Model of the Family
Bronfenbrenner Movie

QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Parents
• Parenting styles--Baumrind
– Authoritarian
– Permissive
– Authoritative
– Neglectful, uninvolved (added)
• Cultural differences
Patterns of Parenting
Cognitive influences on
Parenting

• Attributions
• Own efficacy
The Attribution Model of Socialization
Children’s Influences on
Parenting

• Temperament Styles
• Siblings
– Only/first-born children
– Sibling rivalry
• Negative reinforcement trap
– Coercive cycles
 The Coercive Cycle

INEPT
DISCIPLINE CHILD
COERCION

ANTISOCIAL
BEHAVIOR

Source: Adapted from Patterson, 1986

Other Influences
• Grandparents
– Styles
• Remote
• Companionate
• Involved
– Middle Generation Squeeze
• Employment
– Spillover effects
Family Problems

• Child Abuse
• Divorce
Types of Child Abuse

• Physical
• Sexual
• Emotional/psychological
• Neglect
Child Abuse--Contributing
Factors

• Parents abused
• Unrealistic expectations
• Ineffective parenting techniques
• “Difficult” children
• Social isolation
• Violent society
 Divorce Rate, 1900-1993
Divorce Rate, 1900-1993
60

50
Per 1000 of population

40

30

20

10

0
1920
1900

1910

1950

1960

1970
1930

1940

1980

1990
1993
From Seifert/Hoffnung, Child and Adolescent Development, 5/e, Figure 13.2, p. 404. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.
Murphy Brown divorce movie

QuickTime™ and a
MPEG-4 Video decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 Critical Thinking Application:

• Should parents stay married for the sake of

the children?
Why or why not?
Effects of Divorce

• Not just one event

– Remarriage, blended families
• Changes in Parenting
• Passage of time
Effects of Divorce, cont.

• Gender differences
• Age differences
• Parents’ own adjustment
– Discipline styles
– Time, energy
• Bottom line?
Family Type and Percentage of Children
Experiencing Problems in School
Who should have custody?

• Financial considerations?
• Relation with other parent?
• Joint custody?
Minimizing the Effects of Divorce

• Telling the child

• Relating to each other
• Minimizing change in neighborhood, school
• Warm, supportive interactions