Family
Definition
 Family is defined as any combination of two or more persons
who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent,
birth and/or adoption/placement and who, together, assume
responsibilities for variant combinations of some of:
 physical maintenance and care of group members
 addition of new members through procreation or adoption
 socialization of children
 social control of children
 production, consumption and distribution of goods and services
 affective nurturance (love)
Reminder (DO NOT COPY)
 Six Basic Functions of Families
 Physical maintenance and care of family members. Within healthy families, children,
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adults and seniors all receive the care and support they need: food, shelter, clothing,
protection and so on. Where families are not available or are unable to provide these
services, family members suffer and substitutes, usually inadequate ones, must be found.
Addition of new members through procreation or adoption and their relinquishment
when mature. Society renews itself through families. For this function, there is, literally,
no substitute.
Socialization of children for adult roles. Families prepare their children for
life. Most do a fairly good job of it, teaching skills, values and attitudes that equip them to
learn, work, form friendships and contribute to society.
Social control of members…the maintenance of order within the family and groups
external to it. Within families, individuals learn positive values and behaviour and receive
criticism for negative ones.
Maintenance of family morale and motivation to ensure task performance both
within family and in other groups. In this regard, families provide the glue that holds
society together and keeps it functioning. Beyond providing mere social control, families,
through love and spiritual leadership, inspire their members and others to keep trying.
Production and consumption of goods and services. Families provide for their
own by producing goods and services like food, home maintenance and health care. As they
strive to fulfil the needs of their members, they play a vital role in the national economy.
Strong Families
 work for the well-being or defend the unity and continuity of their
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families
support each other in their families
respect each family member for his/her uniqueness and difference
spend time together to build family cohesion
delegate responsibility
allow children to make mistakes and face the consequences
the family contributes to the well-being of their neighbourhood,
city, country or world
have a spiritual orientation or a spiritual dimension (which may
not be the same as religiosity)
Parenting Styles
 Authoritarian
 restrictive, punitive
 insist the child to follow their directions and to respect work
and effort
 firm limits and controls on the child
 little verbal exchange
 associated with children's social incompetence.
 Authoritative
 encourages children to be independent
 still places limits and controls on their actions
 Extensive verbal give-and-take
 parents are warm and nurturing toward the child
 associated with children's social competence.
Parenting Styles - Continued
 Neglectful
 parent is uninvolved in the child's life
 associated with children's social incompetence,
especially a lack of self-control.
 Indulgent
 highly involved with their children
 place few demands or controls on them
 associated with children's social incompetence,
especially a lack of self-control
Family Stats
 Summarize reading “What is the national census data
on Canadian families and children's living
arrangements?”
Families
 Many families are vulnerable to crisis and mistreatment of
children.
Vulnerable-to-Crisis Families
 Vulnerable-to-crisis families are generally adequate-
caregiving families that are pushed over the edge by
immediate stressful problems.
 Ex. The loss of a job
 Ex. The birth of a handicapped infant
 Stress can severely strain most parents' ability to cope with
the normal demands and frustrations of child rearing.
 About 1/4 families are vulnerable-to-crisis.
 Once the parents learn to cope with their specific problem
more effectively they are again able to provide adequate child
rearing.
Restorable Families
 Restorable families make up about half of all families.
 The caregivers have the potential to provide adequate care,
but a number situations impair their parenting abilities.
 Treatment for restorable families requires a caseworker who
has the time and commitment to become a family advocate,
mediating and coordinating various services.
 The goal is not just child protection but family support,
emotional as well as material.
 With such intense help, restorable families eventually
become successful ones.
Supportable Families
 Supportable families make up about one-fifth of all
maltreating families.
 They probably will never function adequately and
independently, but with continual support they might meet
their children's basic needs for physical, educational and
emotional care.
 The support might be as simple as daily home visits by a
nurse or housekeeper or as involved as moving the entire
family to a special residence that provides on-going medical
attention, day care, recreation, social work and group
therapy.
Inadequate Families
 Inadequate families constitute nearly 10 percent of
maltreating families.
 They are so impaired by deep emotional problems or serious
cognitive deficiencies that the parents or other caregivers will
never be able to meet the needs of their children. For
children born into these families, long-term adoption,
beginning with foster care in infancy, is the best solution
Cultural Influence
 Douglas Abbott and William Meredith compared Caucasian,
African American, Mexican American, Hmong, and Native
American families.
 Families were to rank various family traits that were derived
from earlier studies of successful families
 Most agreement across ethnic groups was among the Caucasian,
African American, and Mexican American families
 Hmong differed the most from all the other families
 Researchers were surprised to find generally more agreement
than disagreement across the various ethnic groups, although
they also identified some important differences