WHAT IS A FAMILY?
According to the dictionary, a family is…
“1: a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head: HOUSEHOLD.
2: a.) a group of persons of common ancestry: CLAN; b.) a people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from a
common stock: RACE
3: a.) a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation: FELLOWSHIP; b.) the staff of a high
official (as the President)
4: a group of things related by common characteristics: as a.) a closely related series of elements or chemical
compounds; b.) a group of soils that have similar profiles and include one or more series; c.) a group of related
languages descended from a single ancestral language
5 a.) the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children; also: any
of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family b.) spouse and children ”
Answer each question on your own first. Then discuss your answers with the people at your table. Choose the
best answer to share with the class (you may combine answers if you want).
1.
What are some challenges to maintaining a family unit?
2.
How does the family unit change over the course of a person’s lifetime?
3.
How do differences in age and generation sometimes present challenges in family decision-making?
4.
Is it possible to belong to more than one family? If so, explain the family units to which you belong.
After reading the article, we will answer these questions…
a. Who is Terri Schiavo?
b. On what issue do Ms. Schiavo’s husband and her parents disagree?
c. According to the article, what are the three fundamental emotional concerns of this case?
d. According to state laws and courts, who has the first right to make life-or-death decisions for people like Ms.
Schiavo?
e. According to Janna Malamud Smith, what is the major difference between how children feel about their parents
and how parents feel about their children?
f. According to Dr. Daniel Sulmasy and his ‘The Newlywed Game’ study, what percentage of spouses disagreed
when it came to bioethical decisions?
g. According to Mr. Schiavo, what were Ms. Schiavo’s beliefs about life support?
h. Who has decided that Mr. Schiavo cannot make decisions for his wife? i. What is Mr. Schiavo’s current living
situation?
j. Of what do the Schindlers accuse Mr. Schiavo?
k. According to the Schindlers, what did Ms. Schiavo want to do with her marriage to her husband?
l. According to Cathleen Schine, what could have prevented this entire scenario?