Different Views and Concepts of the Family - Essay Example

Australian Family Values In the current era, various conceptions, views, or beliefs about “family” exist. Most often, family is relatively defined onthe basis of long-held cultural beliefs or contemporary culture. Family values, on the other hand, are primarily dependent on the beliefs that shape and sustain a family. Structural functionalists view that socialisation of children is the key role of a family (Poole, 2005, p. 24). The family is charged with the responsibility of instilling morality into children’s mind and upbraiding unholy behaviours (Buss and Herman, 2003, p. 3). Values held by the family elders are inculcated to the children; youngsters learn to deal with other individuals through family indoctrination. Traditionally, a father is destined as the head and breadwinner of the family while his wife is tasked to do the household chores and look after the needs of their children. The onset of industrialisation has brought changes to the societal structure as a whole, including the family. The emergence of specialised institutions, such as schools, nursing homes, and laundry shops, had taken the traditional functions of the family. This freed women from childrearing and household chores and gave them time and opportunity to find industrial work, to earn a living, and to achieve financial freedom. As time passed by, the influx of liberal ideas has moulded the conception of a “family” into a whole new level. Women can now act as the head of the family due to her occupational role while some jobless husbands take the role of childrearing. In addition, single-parent families became prominent because of the legalisation of dissolution of marriage. The image of the family from a family values perspective is primarily thought of today in terms of its position as a cultural façade that turned a blind eye to discrimination, gender inequality, and social issues that went beyond the processed happiness of a nuclear family unit (Oliver, 1997, p. xii). This was reflected in the American TV series, “Father Knows Best” in 1950s, wherein the paternalistic nature of a family is depicted. Nowadays, women are seen in the light of equality as functional and dynamic people rather than passive pawns of a male-dominated society, as shown in the independence of the females on “Sex and the City.” Presently, people have begun to equate divorce less with shame and scandal, and more with a normal life or legal process. More marriages today are grounded on personal fulfilment than they are upon socioeconomic matchmaking strategies. Successful marriages are built on a foundation of trust and understanding, in which couple communicates with and appreciates each other within a framework of personal or legal commitment. Societal structural changes, instigated by economic progression and technological developments, have influenced family values. In an online poll conducted by the University of Western Sydney, respondents between 15 to 25 ages chose safety, democracy, and mateship as the most significant concerns of Australian populace (Townsville Bulletin, 2008). Similarly, The Bulletin magazine’s survey also revealed mateship as one of the “true Australian values.” Thirty-seven percent of the respondents deemed mateship and loyalty as important values while only 8% favoured family values (Drummond, 2008). This signifies that most Australians perceive that a successful relationship depends largely on loyalty than upon family values. Mettes (1997) argued that, when people chose to leave their fate to the hands of political rulers, family values have been at stake. Government influences people’s decision concerning family matters, making family values as a political matter. Political leaders pretend as parent-of-the-people, but take actions for the sake of the preservation of their political power and control. Behaviours, relations, marriage, and size of the family are now regulated by the government. Since the government grabbed the family’s autonomy and influenced family values, the relevance of the family as a social institution is near to come into extinction (Mettes, 1997). In particular, the technological advancements, under government sponsorship, empower elite individuals to commercially acquire egg and sperm cells that can produce superb offspring through implantation into a surrogate woman. Still, by means of legal abortion, fetus with genetic or chromosomal defects is extirpated prior to delivery. After delivery, an infertile couple can now pay to legally adopt the infant. Biotechnological progress, then, has drastically changed the conception of a family and family values. Amidst the changes brought by the economic progression in family values, the National Social Science Survey (NSSS) facilitated by the Australian National University showed that Australians still give high regards to childrearing and marriage. Only 47% of Australians were not contented in married life as compared to 53% American respondents (VandenHeuvel, 1991). Just over 10% of both Australian and British respondents prioritised freedom over marriage as compared to 16% of American respondents (VandenHeuvel, 1991). Further, 14% of the Australian respondents were less likely to view marriage as a means of financial security and 23% of them considered that having children is the main reason for marriage (VandenHeuvel, 1991). Most Americans, British, and Australian respondents placed high value on raising children and thought that watching their children to grow brings precious memories in life. Nonetheless, 30% of the Australian respondents believed that adults who never had any children are living an empty life, as compared to 18% and 24%, respectively, of the American and British respondents (VandenHeuvel, 1991). Nevertheless, the fertility rate is now down to two children per Australian woman with a median age of over 29 years. This denotes that most Australian women give more importance to career and continuous education rather than bearing and rearing children. Although life expectancy in Australia is pretty high, 75 and 80 years, respectively for men and women, the number of years spent with their family has proportionally decreased. As mentioned earlier, the relevance of the family as a social institution, along with the constructs of parenthood, family values, and marriage, faces extinction threat. The cases of divorce and single-life mode of living have been increasing. For the past decades, more babies were born outside the bond of marriage and a greater number of sole parents were noted. Almost half of legal marriages ended into break up while more than half the number of couples had pre-marital relations before legally settling down (McAllister and Graetz, 1994, p. 36). Likewise, for the past 30 years, Australian families had become more troubled by the life’s pressure in the fast paced changing world. In fact, in a study conducted from 1996 to 2000 revealed that 90% of the respondents experienced drastic life changes, including poor communication within the family, high extent of commercialism, and breakdown of family values (Pusey, 2003, p. 109). Australian families, though, recognised the role of open communication and spending quality time with the family members, they can hardly comply on it because of work pressures and the demand to earn more to support highly commercialised lifestyle. Families with both parents working pose threat to the transmission of values and cultural and linguistic traits to their offspring. All these scenarios would eventually result to less care and support for elder population, high demands for eldercare giving professionals, and emotional problems due to life’s emptiness. In Australia, as elsewhere, though family structures that may have seemed unfamiliar several decades at all, have taken hold in the mainstream society nowadays. The mainstream society has come to accept alternative lifestyles and family constructs, including kinship networks that are extended to new meanings over time. As well, homosexual relations have emerged in the contemporary concept of a family (Uhlmann, 2006, p. 68). However, in terms of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual relations, the legal system of some countries that had shown a history of discrimination has lately been more and more accepting, and hopefully in the future will advocate a systemic change and progress. Discrimination is all about acting differently towards a group of people, based not on individuals, but on one’s perceptions of the social group as a whole. Thus, cultural biases that have been passed down through generations often lead to a cycle of discrimination. Globally, there have been many progressive strides made in the movement to be aware of and stand up for gay and women’s rights in the past few decades. However, the challenges in the near future rely on the succeeding generations. List of References Buss, D. & Herman, D. (2003) ‘Divinity, Data Destruction: Theological Foundations to Christian Right International Activism.’ In D. Buss and D. Herman Globalizing familyvalues: the Christian right in international politics (pp. 1-18), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press Drummond, A. (24 January 2008) ‘Being safe tops mate.’ The Daily Telegraph Greelong Advertiser, pg. 016 McAllister, I., & Graetz, B. (1994). Dimensions of Australian society. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education. Mettes, B. (1997) ‘Family Values? Let’s stop playing Politics!” Libertarian Nation Foundation [online] available from < http://libertariannation.org/a/f43m1.html> [3 June 2010] Oliver, Kelly. (1997) Family values: subjects between nature and culture. New York: Routledge Poole, M. (2005) ‘Understanding the Family: Ideals and Realities.’ In M. Poole Family: changing families, changing times (pp. 20-42), Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin Pusey, M. (2003) The experience of middle Australia: The dark side of economic reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Townsville Bulletin. (23 January 2008) ‘Survey shows our priorities.’ News Section, pg. 006 Uhlmann, A. J. (2006). Family, gender and kinship in Australia: The social and cultural logic of practice and subjectivity. Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Burlington, Vt: Ashgate. VandenHeuvel, A. (1991) ‘In a Class of Our Own? An International Comparison of Family Values.’ Australian Institute of Family Studies [online] available from [3 June 2010] Read More