Family Life Education

Chapter10

FamilyLifeEducation

10.1ConceptsofFamilyLifeEducation

10.1.1FamilyandHousehold

Thefamilymaybebroadlyde?nedasaunitoftwoormorepersonsunitedbytiesofmarriage,blood,adoptionorconsensualunions,generallyconstitutingasinglehousehold,andinteractingandcommunicatingwitheachother(Desai1994).Everyindividualhasafamilyoforientationorfamilyoforiginasitisthefamilyhe/sheisborninto.Mostindividualsalsoformafamilyofprocreation,mostlybymarriageandchildbearingbutmaybealsobyconsensualrelationships,reproductivetech-nologiesoradoption(Collinsetal.2007).Familyandhouseholdare,often,usedsynonymously.However,ahouseholdmeansaresidentialunit,composedofoneormorepersonslivingunderthesameroofandeatingfoodcookedinasinglekitchen(Shah1973)andmayormaynotcompriseafamily.

10.1.2FamilyintheEcologicalPerspective

Theecologicalperspectiveviewsanindividualinthecontextofhis/herfamilyandthefamilyinthecontextofitsenvironmentastheseconstantlyinteractwithand,therefore,in?uenceoneanother.Thefamily’simmediateenvironmentiscom-prisedoftheethnic/kinshipcommunity,neighbourhood,naturalenvironment,workplace,school/college,friends,mediaandsoon.Thestate,corporatesectorandthemarketin?uencethefamilyindirectly.Themacro-systemisthelargerinter-nationaleco-politicalcontextsinwhichthesesystemsareembedded.Diversityintheenvironmentbringsvariationsinfamilylife,which,inturn,explainsdiffer-encesinindividualmembers’well-beingtoalargeextent.Similarly,changesintheenvironmentin?uencethefamilylife,whichaffectsitsindividualmembers(Desai1994).

M.Desai,ARights-BasedPreventativeApproachforPsychosocialWell-BeinginChildhood,Children’sWell-Being:IndicatorsandResearch3,

CSpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2010DOI10.1007/978-90-481-9066-9_10,??189

19010FamilyLifeEducation10.1.3TypesofFamilies

Familiesareclassi?edasfollowsbasedontheclassi?cationofgroupsbyperfor-mancegivenbyJohnsonandJohnson(2009):

1.Pseudo-families:Pseudo-familiesarefamilieswhosemembershavenointerest

inoneanother.Althoughtheytalktooneanother,theyseeoneanotherasrivalswhomustbedefeated.Asaresult,thesumofthewholeislessthanthesumofthepotentialoftheindividualmembers.Thememberswouldbehappierstayingalone.

2.Traditionalfamilies:Traditionalfamiliesarestructuredinsuchawaythatvery

littlejointworkisrequired.Somemembersseekafreerideontheeffortsofthemoreconscientiousmembers.Thelattermayfeelexploitedanddolessorwouldbehappierifstayingalone.

3.Effectivefamilies:Aneffectivefamilyismorethanthesumofitspartsas

thememberscommitthemselvestomaximisingtheirownandothers’poten-tials.Thecharacteristicsofeffectivefamiliesarepositiveinterdependence,two-waycommunication,distributedleadership,powerbasedonexpertiseandconstructiveresolutionofcon?icts.

10.1.4FamilyLifeEducation

Familylifeeducation(FLE)programmesaimattheachievementofthecharac-teristicsofeffectivefamiliesorfamilywell-being.FollowingaretheprinciplesofFLE:

rrr

rFLEisrelevanttoindividuals,couples,andfamiliesacrossthelifespan.FLEdrawsonmultidisciplinaryknowledge.FLEisofferedinmanyvenues,includingcommunityworkshops,videoandprintmedia,publications,theInternetandsoon.

FLEiseducationalratherthantherapeutic(adaptedfromArcusetal.1993,citedbyDuncanandGoddard2005).

10.2EnrichmentofFamilyDynamics

Familydynamicsiscomprisedoffamilyidentityandesteem,composition,familydevelopmentandfamilyrelationships.

10.2.1FamilyIdentity

10.2.1.1Group-LevelFamilyIdentity

Everyfamilyisconnectedtoitsimmediateenvironmentthatiscomprisedoftheethnic/kinshipcommunity,neighbourhood,naturalenvironment,workplace,

10.2EnrichmentofFamilyDynamics191school/college,friends,publicservices,mediaandsoon(Desai1994).Familyidentityistheboundarythatseparatesitfromothersystemsintheenviron-ment.Itisformedbyitscomposition,ethnicbackgroundand?nancialstatus.Ethnicbackgroundincludesrace,religion,regionalbackgroundandmothertongue.Familynameisoftenanindicatorofthegroup-levelfamilyidentitythatprovidesconnectednesstothefamily.

10.2.1.2Unique-LevelFamilyIdentity

Everyfamilyhasitsownuniquecharacterdependingonitshistory.

10.2.2FamilyComposition

Asasocialsystem,afamilyiscomprisedofsub-systems.Eachmembercanbeconsideredasub-systemanditsdyadalsocanbeconsideredasub-system.Thedyadicsub-systemsare

rrrrrrConjugalsub-systemsFilialsub-systemsFraternalsub-systemsGrandparent–grandchildsub-systems

In-lawsub-systems

Consensualsub-systems

Thefamilycompositioniscomprisedofitssize,ageandsexofitsmembersandrelationshipamongthem.Familieshavepluralityofcompositionthatvarieswithclass,ethnicity,geographicallocationandindividualchoice.Thenormativeortra-ditionalfamilycompositionscompriseofjointandnuclearfamilies.Thejointfamilycomprisestwoormorecouplesandtheirchildren,boundtogetherbycommonmov-ableorimmovableproperty,andmayormaynotbestayingtogether.Variationsinajointfamilyarelinealjointfamilies,collateraljointfamiliesandlineal-cum-collateraljointfamilies.Thenuclearfamilycomprisescouplesandtheirunmarriedchildren,andisgenerally?nanciallyindependentofotherfamilies.Avariationofanelementary/nuclearfamilyisthesupplementednuclearfamily,whichcomprisesanuclearfamilywithsinglerelatives(Kolenda1987).LeslieandKorman(1984)termedextendedfamiliesasconsanguineousfamiliesastheyfocusonbloodrela-tions.Theytermednuclearfamiliesasconjugalfamiliesasconjugalrelationisthecoreofthesefamilies.

Asmarriageandchildrenareconsideredessentialelementsofatraditionalfamily,thefollowingcomprisealternatefamilycompositions:

r

rSingle-parentfamilies(duetounwedparenthood,deathofaspouse,desertion,separationordivorceormigrationofaspouse)

Childlessfamilies(duetoinfertilityoroutofchoice)

19210FamilyLifeEducationrrReconstituted/step-family

Consensualunions

10.2.3FamilyDevelopment

Asafamilysystemmovesthroughtime,itgoesthroughchangesinitscomposition,asmembersareadded,matureandlost.

10.2.3.1StagesofFamilyDevelopment

Thedevelopmentstagesinatraditionalnuclearfamilymaymovethroughthefol-lowingstages,withvariationsinthestagesdependingonthevariationsinageandlifetransitionsoffamilymembers:

rrrrYoungpersonsgettingmarriedYoungcouplesbearingandbringingupchildren

Middle-agedcoupleswithchildrenformingtheirownnuclearfamilies

Oldcoupleswithchildrenbearingandbringinguptheirchildren

10.2.3.2FamilyDevelopmentalTasks

Afamily’sdevelopmentaltaskisagrowthresponsibilitythatarisesatacertainstageinthelifeofafamily,determinedbytheageanddevelopmentalneedsofthemembersofthefamily.Successfulachievementofthedevelopmentaltasksleadstosatisfactionandsuccesswithlatertasks,whilefailureleadstounhappinessinthefamily,disapprovalbysocietyanddif?cultywithlaterdevelopmentaltasks(Duvall1977).

10.2.3.3FamilyDevelopmentalTransitions

Familydevelopmentaltransitionsmeanfamiliesmovingfromonedevelopmentalstagetoanother.ExamplesoffamilydevelopmentaltransitionsnecessaryateachstageareadaptedasfollowsfromCarterandMcGoldrick(2005):

r

r

rMovingtothestageofacouplegettingmarried,thefamilyhasto(1)makecommitmenttoanewdyadicsub-system(conjugal),(2)realignwiththeothersub-systemsinthefamily(?lialandfraternal)andwithfriendsand(3)makespaceforthein-lawsub-system.Movingtothestageofacouplerearingchildren,thefamilyhasto(1)makereadjustmentsintheconjugalsub-systemto(2)makespaceforanewparentingsub-systemwiththeirchildrenand(3)makereadjustmentsintheir?lialsystemtomakespacefortheirparents’grandparentalsub-system.

Movingtothestageofacouplewithadolescentchildren,thefamilyhasto

(1)makereadjustmentsintheirparentingsub-systemtoallowtheadolescentchildrenmoreindependence,(2)refocusontheirconjugalsub-systemandcareer

10.2EnrichmentofFamilyDynamics193rand(3)makereadjustmentsintheir?lialsystemaccommodatingforcaregivingofandlosingageingparents.

Movingtothestageofanelderlycouple,thefamilyhasto(1)makereadjustmenttoalifeofadependentand(2)readjustmenttolifewithlosingthespouseandsiblingsandpreparationofdeath.

10.2.3.4FamilyAdaptability

Familydevelopmentaltransitionsrequiretheabilityofafamilysystemtoadapttothenewdemandsthatcreatestresswithreferencetotheresourcesavailable.Covertlyorovertly,thefamilytriestomaintainorrestorethebalancebetweendemandsandresources(TsengandHsu1991).Patterson(1988)haslisteddifferentwaysinwhichthiscanbeaccomplishedbythefamilysystem:rrr

rrDirectactiontoreducethenumberand/orintensityofdemands;Directactiontoacquireadditionalresourcesnotalreadyavailabletothefamily;Maintainingexistingresourcessothattheycanbeallocatedandreallocatedtomeetchangingdemands;

Managingthetensionassociatedwithcontinuingstrainonresources;and

Cognitiveappraisaltochangethemeaningofasituationtomakeitmoremanageable.

TsengandHsu(1991)alsoidenti?edpromotingchangesinfamilystructureandinteractionthatgivethefamilymorestrength;andskillsfordealingwithstrainanddemandseffectively.

Thefourlevelsofadaptabilityrangefromrigid(verylow),tostructured(lowtomoderate),to?exible(moderatetohigh),tochaotic(veryhigh).Itishypothesisedthatthecentrallevelsofadaptability(structuredand?exible)aremoreconducivetomaritalandfamilyfunctioningwiththeextremes(rigidandchaotic)beingthemostproblematic(Olson1988).Structuredand?exibleadaptabilitythereforefacilitatesfamilydevelopmentaltransitions.

10.2.4FamilyRelationships

Thefollowingskillsofinterpersonalrelationshipscanbeappliedtothefamilysub-systemsaswellasfamilyasasystemforenrichmentoffamilyrelationships:

Semi-openboundaryinrelationshipsrr

rrrrCohesionAdaptabilityPositiveperceptionofothersEgalitarianperceptionRecognitionofstrengths

Acceptanceandrespect

Celebrationofdifferences