Family socilogy (The influence of the family structure) - Essay Example

? Family has always played a vital role in ordering society and in determining life chances of various individuals. The word family holds different meaning for different people and used to symbolize many different views. Giddens (1997) defines the family as a “group of persons directly linked by kin connections, the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children”. By children he meant who are dependent on their parents for their livelihood; are aged under 16 or 17 and are in full time education. Till today families are responsible for the upbringing and nurture of children. They are the ones who provide not only love and care but also financial support to children. The main functions performed by the family is to teach a child discipline, judge between what is right and wrong and an acceptable behavior pattern (cited in Squire, 2003:59). In this essay, we shall discuss to what extent is family central to the lives of children in Britain. Introduction Gordon Brown (1998) had expressed that family is the foundation on which our communities, our society and our country are built. However, it has been found in recent years that the traditional beliefs and values of families have undergone lots of social and economic changes. Earlier the foundation stone of families used to be love and care but today it has been replaced by looser and material needs of money and selfishness. These factors have led to the emergence of new types of families like lone parent families, step families, symmetrical families and cohabit families (cited in Duncan & Phillips, 2008:1). The demographic transition in Europe started from the 1950’s and is still continuing today. Ansley Coale’s has described demographic transition “as a change from the traditional society in which high mortality and natality rates existed to an industrialized society in which natality and mobility are stabilized at low levels.” This transition has been the result of various social and economic changes such as urbanization, education levels, productive structure and secularization etc. The changes in the trends of life of people have brought about a major change in the way children perceive family in Britain (Pairo, 1997). According to Squire, a family structure changes with experience and life events as a child grows from childhood to adulthood. Every family functions in a unique way due to variations in household types, family structures and the division of domestic labor. Also the composition of the family is influenced by the social, cultural and economic characteristics of different ethnic groups. These factors affect the extent to which a family may or may not be central to the lives of children. Although all family structures are unique but they have one thing in common – they all provide emotional and mutual structural support to all children. A family helps to locate a child socially and thus act as one of the key socializing agents (Squire, 2003:60). A child’s happiness and healthy development depends on a large scale on the kind of relationship that exists between parents, grandparents and other caring adults in the family and most crucially among children and adults. According to research in 2008, 64 % of children live in married families with couples, 23% of children live in lone parent family and 13% live with cohabiting couples (Mapalthorpe et al., 2008:4).The research also reveals that marriage is not necessary for the successful running of the family but good relations matter. Also, 78% of individuals have agreed that it is not divorce that harms children but parental conflicts. According to the individualistic theory, families should become more liberal, with children having a say in important family decisions. Also, biological parents should provide parenting to their children lifelong which will help in their growth towards adulthood. However, research says otherwise –step fathers can equally take care and bestow love on them as compared to biological fathers. Traditionally family had been seen as central for the wellbeing of children and society as a whole but due to the demographic changes in the family’s structure, the perception has changed (Duncan & Phillips, 2008:12-13). Let us first examine how each family structure affects children’s lives. Extended family An extended family is a family structure where three generations or more live in the same household or in close proximity or are in close contact with each other. This family has grandparents, parents, brother and sister, uncle and aunt, nieces and nephews and is generally headed by a male member. In this family structure, children learn values not only from parents but also from other relatives. They learn adjusting in different circumstances and respect for old age people. Love and care is bestowed on them from all the family members. Generally all the financial and emotional needs of the children are fulfilled by the family. Therefore family matters a lot to the child and plays a central role in his life (Squire, 2003:63). Nuclear Family A nuclear family has been described as a family with both set of parents and one or more dependent children. The family fulfils all the needs of the child from his upbringing, his education to healthcare and consumption. According to research, a nuclear family has been described as an ideal family structure where a child can learn rules and discipline from his parents, experience the love and care that exists between both parents and more importantly between him and his parents. This plays a big role in his graduation from childhood to adulthood and the values he has earned this way, goes a long way in the building up of the society (Squire, 2003:62). As anthropologist George P. Murdock (1949) had explained that “the concept of a nuclear family is both universal and a necessity whether as the sole prevailing form of the family or as the basic unit from which more complex families form, (the nuclear family) exists as a distinct and strongly functional group in every known society” . Definitely, the functionalist theory helps to understand the roles and responsibilities individuals should be performing for the society but it has its limitations. This theory does not consider alternatives to the nuclear family and thereby overlooks the diversity in which people are living today in the modern world. (cited in Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). Lone parent family In the year 2008, a research by Family And Children Study (FACS) had found that there were 1.9 million single parents living with 3 million children. There has been tremendous increase in lone parent families, a family structure which is headed by either the male or the female parent with one or more dependent children. Research by FACS said that 47% of lone parents come under the lowest income quintile, that is, below the poverty line, according to Britain’s definition of poverty. According to a statistical measure, based on the wellbeing of the child as the main criteria, it was found that children of lone parent families are dropping out of school earlier and thereby landing into low paid jobs (Mapalthorpe et al., 2008:4). The children are deprived of the love and care of the other parent and long to meet them. This kind of attitude instills a sense of hatred in the children for their parents and generally leads them to perform unscrupulous activities. The perception of a family changes for them with other relatives like grandparents or friends becoming more important to them. They look for outside sources of emotional support and their life is no more centered on the family (Single Parent, n.d). Step families This is one another type of family structure which is proving detrimental for the children and the society as a whole. One can say this is a ‘family of choice’ with parents living according to their own interest without consideration for the child. According to Hantrais and Letablier (1996), “a family composed of one biological parent and a step parent living with dependent children from more than one marriage or a non-marital relationship is considered as a step family, reconstituted multiparental or reordered family.” Step families is a very complex family structure where each family member especially children have to make large adjustments to make relations work. The stepchildren have to divide their time between two families and are guided by four parents. Due to different thinking pattern of all the four parents the child is left confused and has to face a lot of conflicts especially regarding behavior and discipline. This has a direct effect on the psychology of the child and leads him into a wrong direction (cited in Squire, 2003:65). The reports revealed by Dunn J. and Deater-Deckard (2001) say that the breakdown in the family or reconstitution leads to decrease in the communication of the child with his parents. Grandparents and friends become the best companions of the child with whom he starts sharing his innermost feelings. The reports also revealed that the children’s emotional closeness to step parents was less common than the birth parents. Thus we can see that as the roles of parents are changing the role of the family is also becoming decentralized. Effects of maltreatment by parents on children Children have to face maltreatment instead of love and affection in the modern families which might be in the form of assault, whether physical, sexual or psychological or harm done by actions or consequences of people in the family and school. According to a survey, 77% of children were happy with their family but the rest 33% had to face the trauma and stress of the separation of their parents. Children are also facing the stress created because of financial pressure and worries (Cawson et al., 2000:11-15). A research by FACS of the income of all types of families in Britain revealed that only 4% were couple families with both parents working for 16 hours or more and therefore, were able to afford all the needs of the child and mostly the lone parent family faced financial problems (Mapalthorpe et al., 2008:4).Thus children in lone parent families are not provided with all the needs and facilities. Also some have to drop out of school and shoulder adult responsibility at an early age due to parent’s illness or disability or to provide emotional support because of separation. Due to stressful life, children have to face absence of care like they often have to go hungry, frequently have to go to school in untidy uniforms, deprived of proper medication, are left to take self care due to long absenteeism of parent or parents from home or parents with problems of drugs and alcohol, being deserted, or residing in a home with dangerous physical conditions (Cawson et al., 2000: 11). There are other forms of maltreatment which has a direct effect on a child’s psychology like attempts to control the child’s thinking by not letting him do what he wants to, domestic humiliation of his self esteem, discrimination of child on the basis of gender, scaring the child through threats of harming him or something which he adores, or with fear figures or threats to have him sent away. A few cases of sexual abuse by elders’ especially male members have come to light through the survey done in Britain. Thus we see that every child today in the modern world is facing some problem or the other with his family and the reasons vary from money to maltreatment. However we should note that maltreatment mainly exist in families with financial pressure especially when the whole burden is on a single parent (Cawson et al., 2000:18). Further, low income also has a huge impact on the relation between family and children. According to FACS, 47% of lone parents come under the lowest quintile of income or below poverty line and only 2% of couple families come under this category. If we scrutinize the above figure we shall come to two conclusions – one, that couple families or the traditional form of family structure are much better today than the single parent families and almost half the lone parent families live below the poverty line. Poverty has huge negative impacts on the life of a child and drifts him away from the family. Lack of money affects all the aspects of a child’s life like parent-child relationship, education, his health, behavioral pattern and relation with friends (Mapalthorpe et al., 2008).There has been a change in the perception of children as to what constitutes a family. In the past, a family included both set of parents, who would provide love and care, educational facility, health security and intimate relationships. But today’s children’s image of a family does not reflects the traditional nuclear family norm and refer to family as anyone they consider to be family or as immediate family or relatives (Squire, 2003:75). Till now we have discussed the effect of demographic changes on the relation between family and children. However, there is another aspect, the effect of commercialization on today’s generation that has affected family life. The change in the manner of consumption, the increasing importance of consumer culture, uses of digital media and new technology are having a major impact on family life in contemporary Britain. The above changes have hugely effected the time which parents and children give to each other or spend apart as well as the social space they are habituated to (Social Issues Research Centre [SIRC], 2008). The commercial world is having a negative impact on children who are becoming victims to the rise in consumer capitalism and the increased importance of new digital technologies. They are spending more time in front of television screens and computers developing ‘virtual social relationships instead of engaging themselves in physical activity and face to face communication. They are busier making friends on social networking sites like Yahoo, Google and you tube than making good relations with family. Further, the entertainment industry which was earlier targeted at children and young people has now become accessible to parents and other adults in the family. As a result, if children are busy chatting online, parents can engage themselves by watching ‘The Simpsons’. The various economic changes are widening the gap of communication and interaction between parents and children, thereby having a negative impact on the relations of family and children (SIRC, 2008). Traditionally parents were more authoritative and strict with children and even the children used to obey his parents. But with change in time and the advancement of technology, the traditional way of behavior is no more acceptable to children. Parents are expected to be more democratic and lenient in their thoughts and children feel it’s their right to negotiate with them on every issue. For the young people, reciprocity and mutual respect are the key factors parents must possess so as to maintain a good relation with their kids. There has been a huge shift in the balance of power between parents and children in the modern world due to the exposure of children to new computerized technologies. It has changed the meaning of family for the children in the contemporary world (SIRC, 2008). Conclusion We have seen that the changes in the family structure, the socio economic changes, and the advancement of technology has brought about a drastic change in the relationship of family and children. The various researches done by different sociologists definitely reveal that in Britain children are still dependent on their parents for their livelihood but emotionally they have drifted apart from them. The work of the family has been merely sidelined to fulfill their basic needs of food and clothing and satisfying their never ending materialistic needs. The concept of nuclear family is declining steadily and giving place to ‘family of choice’. Step families, gay families and cohabit families are a common sight nowadays. Some children are living with their birth mother and a step father or vice versa, some are living with a single parent, most probably a mother, some with adopted parents (gay families) or parents who are not married. In such a mixed culture how can we expect a child to understand the meaning of a true relationship? It is a fact that children become the way parents mould them. If a child sees only breaking relationships from childhood to adulthood, we cannot expect them to become responsible and good citizens. The change in the social structure has forced mothers to earn and handle family and work together. Today fathers alone cannot carry the financial burden of the family alone. This has lead to less interaction and communication between parents and child. The identity and thoughts are also being molded by the new technologies instead of the family playing a role in it. Children believe in what the Google and Yahoo is teaching them today not what parents teach them. The judgment of a good parent or a bad parent is done on the basis of the amount of material satisfaction that parents are able to provide to their children and not on the basis of how much love and care they shower on their kids (SIRC, 2008). To overcome the above problem Finch has realized the concept of ‘displaying and ‘doing’ concept in his theory of socialization of contemporary family life. By ‘displaying’ Finch (2007) means “the process through which individuals or group of individuals convey to each other and to the relevant audience that certain of their actions constitutes doing family things and thereby confirming that those relationships are family relationships”(pp. 67). For example calling up a loved one like sister or brother regularly and buying a present of the same value for a step child as compared to your own child are examples of displaying activities. This is a way of ensuring that the person is concerned and is taken care of equally. This is especially necessary in nonconventional families where every individual is facing a new relationship, like a step child or a step father. Finch has further noted that displaying and doing activities are important for parents so as enable them to prove that they are good parents. Displaying might be in the form of increased communication and interaction or buying gifts which expresses the meaning of the individual’s relationships and which will definitely help in making families work. Most importantly it will help the children in remaining close with both their birth parents and step parents as the case may be, and family will remain central to their lives (Finch, 2007:73). Through this essay we have discussed the various family structures, the demographic changes, globalization and their effect on the relations between family children. Definitely it cannot be denied that the traditional form of family was the most ideal and formed the centre of children’s lives. However, children are financially dependent on families for their upbringing even today. It is true that the time spent with family earlier is now spent with electronic gadgets and friends, but family plays a major role in the lives of children. Therefore we can conclude that there is as much centralization as decentralization of a family in the life of a child in Britain. References Cawson, P., Wattam, C., Brooker, S. & Kelly, G. 2000. Child Maltreatment in the United Kingdom: A Study of the Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect. London: NSPCC: p. 11-18 Duncan, S. & Phillips, M. 2008. New families? Tradition and change in modern relationships (In Park, A., Curtice,J., Thomson,K., Phillips, M., Johnson M.,& Clery K. (eds.), British Social Attitudes: the 24th Report, London: Sage: p. 1-13.) Dunn J. & Deater-Deckard K. 2001. Toseph Rowntree Foundation: Children’s views of their changing families. [Online]. Available: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/childrens-views-their-changing-families#header. [16 July 2011] Finch, J. 2007. Displaying Families. Sociology, 41(1): 66-75, November 10. Haralambos, M. & Holborn, M. 2008. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, 7th ed. London: Collins Education. Maplethorpe N., Chanfreau J., Philo D. & Clare T. 2010. Families with children in Britain: Findings from the 2008 Families And Children Studies (FACS). [Online]. Norwich: Crown: p. 2-4. Available: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2009-2010/rrep656.pdf [16 July 2011] Pairo S. 1998. The Second Demographic Transition from a Gender Perspective: The Case of Catalonia (In MariaEugenia Cosio-Zavala (eds.), Women and Families: Evolution of the Status of Women as Factor and Consequence of Changes in Family Dynamics, Paris: CICRED: p.171-190). Single Parent. N.d. Wikipedia. [Online]. Available :http://en.wikipepedia.org/wiki/Single Parent. [15 July 2011] Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC). 2008. SIRC: The Ecology of Family Life. [Online]. UK: Oxford. Available: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Appendix-I_Ecology-of-Family-Life.pdf [13 July 2011]. Squire, C. 2003. The Family (In Val Dunn &Toorosian (eds.), The Social Context of Birth, UK: Radcliffe publishing: p.59-76). Read More