CHAPTER 2
Andia Christopher & Abbey Edmonston
The Role of Culture in Parent-Child
Relations
• Culture
- a virtual shorthand between
persons sharing the same cultural
context
• Socialization
- the way that parents
and other societal entities teach culture to
children
Culture
• shapes the rules or social norms that outline appropriate behavior in a
variety of contexts, such as the roles
• children learn the values, attitude, and beliefs by parental example
• Description:
compares its effects to a global positioning device, which directs, and
gently redirects the user back to its presents destination
Two cultural conceptions of value
systems:
• Individualism
– values the person and what can be
accomplished on its own
• collectivism
– a cultural trait emphasizes the
independence of the individual with the
larger community
Socialization
• The socialization of children to prepare
them for their participation in society
• Process of socialization is bidirectional
because children play a role in the
process
– Bidirectional – functioning in two
directions
• Alters over time when society changes
• Socialization of children to prepare
them for their participation in society
• Mental and personal abilities will
change the lessons a parent chooses to
teach the child socialization this is
developmental parenting.
Socialization
• Socialization of children to prepare
them for their participation in society
• Mental and personal abilities will
change the lessons a parent chooses to
teach the child socialization this is
developmental parenting.
•
•
Characteristics
–
Marriage
–
Births
–
Divorce
–
Remarriage
–
Family and Working Mothers
–
Poverty and Homelessness
The Feature of
Contemporary
Families
Marriage
–
–
20th century median of marriage:
•
25.9 years for men
•
21.9 years for women
Marriage is happening less due to
•
education
•
cohabitation
–
Two people who are not married live together in a romantic relationship and have
sexual intercourse.
Delays of
Marriage
• Adult roles dealing with:
– Complex educational and career
demands
– Obstacles in establishing an
occupational path
– Greater gender equality
– Greater economic hardship
• Problems with later marriage
– Delayed childbearing
– Smaller families
– Greater marital stability
Births
• Number of children in the United States
has been relatively stable since 1975
• Asian and Hispanic women ted to have
higher fertility rates than women in
other ethnic groups
• Only 10 percent of all American families
had four children or more in 2002
Divorce
• Fragile families at higher risk
• Divorce has lost its social stigma
• Couples with multiple stressors may be at higher risk for divorce
Remarriage
 Median interval between divorce and remarriage is about 3 years
 54% of divorced women tend remarry within 5 years
 Remarriage includes:
 Blended families
 Increasing the likelihood of co-parenting and step-parenting
•
Family Income and Working
Mothers
Both parents working results in child care
• Concerns when both parents are working
– House care
– Child care and child rearing
– Extracurricular activities
– Leisure time
Poverty and Homelessness
 Increase the number of working poor
 Varies due relative to family structure, racial group, and
ethnicity
 Two trends among those affected by poverty:
 The feminization of poverty, as noted by the increasing number
of women and children who are poor
 Increase in the number of working poor, or those who may work
one or more jobs earning low wages with few or no benefits
Diversity in
contemporary
family forms
and structures
•
Two – Parent Families
–
Gender equality
•
–
Dual Parenting
•
•
the state in which access to rights or opportunities is
unaffected by gender.
Both parents will contribute whatever the parenting
situation demands
–
Ideal all tasks are shared
–
Most children in the U.S experience growing up with
both parents
Single – Parent and Binuclear Families
–
One of the most common
–
Binuclear – children having availability to both
families
–
Older children are less likely to live with both
parents
–
Created through
•
Divorce/ separation
•
Death of one adult
•
Having a child while being unmarried
Diversity in
Contemporary
Family Forms
and
Structures
Military Families
•
–
Co-parenting at a distance
–
More than 4 in 10 military families report having
children under 5 years old
–
Positive outcomes are strength and stability in a
relationship and household.
Blended Families
–
Formed through remarrying
–
Have a higher risk of divorce than first marriages
–
Involve children from both families
–
Most remarried children have at least one
–
This family may be no better or worse than other
families
–
Challenges
•
Complicated networking
•
Difficulty in establishing step-parenting
roles
•
The unique developmental tasks associated
with forming a new and cohesive family
identity