Community Care by Families - Essay Example

Community care is really care by families which in turn is really care by women; and it always will be. The modern family faces huge problems which may be divided into institutional, inside and background, directly connected with features of a social and economic situation. All these problems are interconnected with each other and in order to smooth their acuteness it is necessary to provide a priority of family policy of the state, and also the maintenance of equal rights of men and women in all the questions of family's vital activity. (Davis) Rapid technological and economical progress, together with global changes in society produced a range of factors influencing women's position. These factors influence women both positively and negatively. The most significant points that influenced women's positions are as follows: 1. The presence of joint marital estate and of laws that determine its equal division after divorce changed the legal situation in the majority of countries. Now women become more financially secured, as they receive a part of property. 2. An enlargement in career opportunities. Social notion about women's employment changed. Economical situation forced woman to participate in full employment. 3. Equality of the rights and duties of men and women has been secured both legally and morally, but fulfillment of this equality still in the process of evolution. 4. Women have received a growing equality in educational and economical spheres of their lives. 5. Most incomplete families are headed by women, and this kind of family is assigned legally. Unfortunately, the standard of living in such families remains law, as the women often do not obtain enough welfare to provide their families with all necessary things. 6. The duty of educating and bringing children up still lies upon women. About one third of children in most countries of the world lives in single parent family, with no male who could serve as the example and support for the children. 7. The sexual revolution became a benefit for women, because the invention of contraceptives provided women with the rights that previously were inherent to men only. 8. Unfortunately, it also led to the changes in the family values and notion of the sexual life within the family, which also affected woman's social and family position. 9. Increasing mobility, urbanization and the development of the means of transport enlarged the opportunities in communication between men and women. This provided women with the opportunity to judge her partner and part with him, if she finds it necessary. 10. Women now are conscious of their needs, emotions and desires, due to global changes in society. But their social and family duties remain the same, so their behaviour and social patterns are often defined by their duties, rather than their identity. 11. The notion of the roles in the family and family itself, are changing rapidly, and this is the woman who is regarded as the protector if the historical and traditional significance of the family as the cell of society organism. (Erickson, 2005) For achievement of full equality between men and women it is necessary to change a traditional role, both men's, and women's in the family and the society. However, at all times and at all peoples education of children was the basic female care and the role of the man in this business consisted only in intimidation. For woman it is necessary to survive and save the family in the created situation. Today to such main women's cares as continuation of a human race" and the care of children is added such family care as participation in replenishment of the family budget and participation in distribution of family incomes. In order to cope with the care assigned to them by a usual economic and political situation without damage to health, an effort should be made not only by women but by all the society, and basically by the state. The widespread views of patriarchy on the woman's position create additional difficulties. Attitudes between spouses, parents and children are very complicated.(Kass) The society does not promote breeding of the respectful attitude to mother, professional work of parents, necessity to solve household problems with joint efforts. Modern family faces a problem of moral education which is also woman's duty. For preservation of the family and prestige of a woman in it is necessary to create a new model of family relations the major principle of which is the creation of equal starting opportunities for all members of the family and, first of all for women. It is necessary to change social and cultural model of men and women's, eradicate prejudices and abolition of customs and all other practice which are based on idea of inferiority or the superiority of one sex over another and stereotype of a role of men and women.( Prouty, 2001) This model presupposes common participation in formation of a child's personality, responsibility for children upbringing, equal rights and duties for both parents, prevalence of the kids' interests in the family, change of existing traditions as regards to women. The place and role that are assigned to women in the family, woman's functions in the family, defined by the nature and society, arrange a circle of family cares, which are the subject for the investigation. ( Prouty, 2001) To clear up the biological, social and legal nature of woman's cares, it is necessary to examine multifunctional role of a woman in modern family. Interpersonal attitudes are accomplished in the family, and the family has its functions and rules. The majority of family functions are carried out by the women. The main woman's function in the family is her reproductive function, which is designed for her by the nature. This very function defines the whole complex of her family cares, defines her role and place in the society. Biological reproduction depends mainly upon the woman, but the growth of the population depends upon various factors: financial, moral, cultural, upon relations within the family. Woman's reproductive function is a natural biological process of life continuation, in which both a man and a woman take part. The process of child-bearing is made conditional, as it is connected to the family, as well as to the society. Recent implementation of this function became complicated. Psychologists, demographers, sociologists mark, that the desire to have a great number of children extremely decreased. The reasons are as follows: decrease in living standards and political instability. Baby bust is defined not by the woman's rejection to have children, but by her reject to have the second or the third child. The execution of the reproductive functions depends upon women's health. A number of diseases, leading to sterility or therapeutic abortion, significantly increased during several last years. The number of complications of pregnancy, labour and puerperal period increased also. This happened due to various reasons, for instance, ecological problems, which grow on a substantial scale. The necessity of having a child is no more regarded as the obligatory constituent of complete family. A number of illegitimate children increased, but a number of civil marriages and divorces decreased. All these factors complicate the execution of reproductive function. The other important woman's family care and function is upbringing of the children. No matter what new patterns of family relations appear, this function still belongs to woman. However much it is spoken about cares that should be divided between both parents, or equal rights of the parents in brining the children up, this care is considered to be feminine, and in the majority of cases this is the mother who is blamed for the lacks in kids' education. Today the problem of upbringing changed its nature. Practically, upbringing in the early childhood doesn't exceed the bounds of family or street. Pronounced social effect on the children disappeared. Educational function must be implemented in deliberate approach to the possibility of effective social impact upon the children, especially in early childhood. The presence of the intellect, emotions, tastes, opinions, habits and traditions of the parents defines successful upbringing, together with parental love, positive samples of behaviour, and skilful verbal influence that is carried out through direct communication, education based on work, personal example of the relatives, encouragement, punishment, and the estimation of the behaviour. (Gilligan, 1982) Taking into consideration the role of woman in the process described above, the conclusion is that it is necessary to free her from the cares that she was given due to economical and social conditions of modern society. It is not a secret that the woman's care of supplementing the family budget has grown. This is the major factor that defines her family role. Economical function is carried out by both parents in complete family, or by the woman only in incomplete family. This function is based upon endowment of the family, economical support of the minors and invalids. Reproduction doesn't mean only execution of reproductive functions in its social meaning. The reproduction of material benefits, satisfying the needs in nutrition and clothes are also necessary. This function is perpetual, as it has both a natural and a social basis. The person that divides the family income is influencing the division of economical functions within the family. Although this is an additional care for woman, the role of woman is more significant in the families in which the income is divided by the woman. In those families the social position of the family, the woman's authority are also better. Satisfying the needs in nutrition, clothes, dwelling, the recovery of health, supporting physical condition, nursing the children, and the common activity in reproduction of the subjects and services, or receiving these subjects or services make the basis of household and domestic functions. (Prouty, 2001) The other factor defining these functions is the woman's household cares. Despite the fact, that people mainly grow and live within the system of housekeeping, it is hard to give a notion of this system. Housekeeping in its basic form is focused on the birth of issues, of bringing them up, earning the living and creating the possibilities of effective functioning for future generations. No matter what place it occupies or how it is organized, the housekeeping usually provide next generations with gender roles. Housekeeping is a primary base of sexual education, passing the knowledge and skills and carrying out the social demands. The children are provided with the notion of gender identification, which further shapes their patterns of socially acceptable actions and relations. The children become accustomed to these patterns with the help of direct instructions, penalties for misbehaviour, or observation and imitation of parents' behaviour, and behavioural models of other relatives, that demonstrate the samples of interrelations within the system of housekeeping. The weight of carrying out this care, influencing her family status, which is based upon her dependence, despite of her professional skills and her work pressure, lies upon woman. Even if a woman is fully employed, she goes on to carry out the greatest part of household duties, which are not paid for. The women in the majority of the countries in the world are more occupied at home, that at work. Multifunctional role of a woman in the family, a versatility of her family duties cannot be justified both theoretically and practically. It is necessary to work out a specific mechanism of managing the social processes, which define woman's position in family. Under these conditions of variety of family cares, a problem of their legal regulation is relevant now. A new model of family relations presupposes providing conditions for woman's socio-productive activity and brining men back into the family. The legal regulations of the society should be changed, the possibilities of self-expression within the profession with the salary that might provide living wage should be provided. This will lead to the elimination of poverty feminization. (Davis) It is necessary to pass the law about the use of female labour under educational and qualification level. There are definite changes in the issues that concern gender equality in the sphere of family law. Development of the family law includes abolishing of gender asymmetry, which should bring the men back to their families and involve them into family matters. Developing the program of training for social workers would provide the enlargement and improvement of the services that are designed as to support aged people as well as children and fully employed women. A state family policy presupposes fulfillment of international documents, devoted to woman. The necessary perspectives of family consolidation and development should be forged. Works Cited 1. Davis B. What Is the Family Structure or Function. Sunday School. Available from http://sundayschool.ag.org/03Pastors/p_tai_0401_Family.cfm 2. Erickson. R. (October, 2005) Family Functions. An Anthropological View of the Family Structure 3. Family, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family 4. Gilligan, Carol. (1982) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 5. Kass L. Unlinked to the Future. The End of Courtship: Part 2 of 3. A Woman's Function Is Laborious. Available from : http://www.thepublicinterest.com/notable/article7.html 6. Lott J. , Kenny L. How Dramatically Did Women's Suffrage Change the Size and Scope of Government The price of women's liberation. Feminism and Related Issues. Available from: http://www.fathersforlife.org/feminism/toc.htm 7. Prouty A. (2001) Experiencing Feminist Family Therapy Supervision. JOURNAL OF FEMINIST FAMILY THERAPY 8. Ryan J. Family. Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent 9. Sarchus A. (2004) False God. Democratic Underground 10. Satz, Debra. 1992. "Markets in Women's Reproductive Labor", Philosophy and Public Affairs 11. Schneider W. Feminist family politics and their roots in communist ideology 12. Vaknin S. The Good Enough Family. The Family Cycle Read More