The Family in America, its Definition - Term Paper Example

The Family in America Reaching a true definition of family in America is as complex as the society itself. Many scholars offer varied definition for a family depending on the functions they fulfill in the society. Traditionally, the family is a social unit that consists of a father, mother, and children. However, with the changing generations, the composition, needs, and functions of families have changed over the years resulting in an attempt by scholars to define the modern family. According to David Popenoe, a family is a unit that carries out certain traditional functions, namely, provision and care of members, procreation, companionship, socialization of children, affection, and economic cooperation (Popenoe 2). On the other hand, Stephanie Coontz, believes that the best way to comprehend the concept of an American family is we people do away with the myths and half-truths that tend to diminish confidence in the functions of a family unit. Similarly, Brathwaite et al. views family as a social construction with interconnected relationships (10). Finally, using the Cranes to illustrate the definition of an American family Karen V. Hansen says, “Overall, the Crane network illustrates the centrality of kin as care providers. The Cranes demonstrate that networks centered around the care for children typically involve the exchange of many things besides child care, and involve caring for individuals of different ages, not just children” (14). The above definitions acknowledge the fact that the family in America is rapidly changing in one way or the other leading to a broader definition of the family, which concurs with Hansen’s explanation of a family as a kinship. The modern American family is quite distinct from the traditional family that composed of father, mother, and children making part of a nuclear family. Noting this change, Popenoe explains that the American family is on the decline because of changing values and societal norms. For example, though the survey reveals that marriages are becoming stronger and solid in the American society, at the same time divorce, perpetual singlehood, and childlessness in marriages have become common. Popenoe notes that the family has not only declined as an institution, but it has also declined in the form. According to him, the family has become weak because members of the family are no longer closely bound, and they seldom follow the values and norms of the family; a factor that has made the family weak. The independence of women has also put a strain on the family. Women have joined the labor market allowing them the chance to become financially stable. They no longer have to stay in abusive or bad marriages for economic reasons. Other factors that he attributes to the decline of the family in America are; mass media, divorce, and the lack of economic cooperation in the family. Nevertheless, this changed has served to widen the definition of a typical American family to include extended members. For example, a gay couple can adopt a child and make a family without a blood relation. Additionally, people divorce and remarry thereby extending the chain of people that children in such families relate with, as well as the composition of family members. This is the concept that Hansen writes about using the Cranes, whereby, a family does not have to be related by blood, but constitute of everyone who shares in the relationship and obligations of taking care of one another. Thus, a family has become a domestic group where people live together in a household and function as a cooperative unit while depending on each other. However, Popenoe suggests that the family has become weak as an institutional unit and a social group in the society. He says, “First, individual family members have become more autonomous and less bound by the group; the group as a whole, therefore, has become less cohesive” (3). Moreover, in his evaluation of the family decline in America, Popenoe notes that fewer Americans are willing to invest their time and energy in family life. He however notes that people still want to marry and have children but instead choose to invest in themselves. He calls this generation the “me generation.” This view contradicts the construct of the family as shown by the case of the Cranes in Hansen’s evaluation of a family. In this type of family, all the members that are part of the kinship are dedicated to caring for one another and ensuring that the needs of the family are fulfilled. For the Cranes, family comes first before anything else. The current American family is facing many challenges that have led to the difference in composition of the family from the traditional family. According to Stephanie Coontz, the family has always in a state of crisis and decline because of a number of problems in the society such as poverty, infant mortality, number of homicides in America, gun prevalence and use in America, teen suicide rates, sexual and physical abuse, drugs, teen pregnancy, and school dropout rates (7). She adds that despite these dysfunctions in the society, America is still considered the world’s number one nation. According to Coontz, innovation has also redefined the family with things such as surrogacy and sperm donation, gay and lesbian unions (8). As a result, factors such as teen pregnancies result in a family where the grandparents end up taking care of the children as the mothers continue with education. This also results in a bigger family where the children grow up with uncles and aunties who share in the obligation of taking care of them. Consequently, the family unit has been affected by these issues leading to its expansion to constitute other members apart from children, father, and mother. Hence, the composition of the family according to this analysis resonates with the Hansen’s demonstration of the Cranes family. Similar to Popenoe’s analysis, Coontz also notes that divorce has been a key contributor to the decline of the American family. Divorce has effects on the parties involved including children and grandparents. She adds that divorce and family dissolution impoverishes women and children and puts some youth at risk; twenty percent of American children live in poverty today. She also states that in America divorce is considered a ‘growth experience’. The home where people should find peace and refuge is the most dangerous place for women in America. She says, “Violence is reaching new highs in America, but before the Civil War, New York City was already considered the most dangerous place to live in the world; the United States has had the highest homicide rates in the industrial world for almost 150 years” (9). As a result, these occurrences have ignited change in gender roles enhanced by feminism activities and human rights advocacies. Notably, these instances have created a situation where women can stay alone with the children and elderly members of the family, and take care of them well with the help of other family members, as well as the community such as neighbors. At the end of the day, the family becomes a unit of kinship not by blood, but by the ability to be there for one another in times of need. A family in America is the most important social institution in the society. It consists of the construction of individuals who are bound by relationship in terms of obligations and responsibilities to each other, as well as the society. Though the media portrays the family as made of people related by blood or legality, the truth is that the composition of the current family is broader that this suggestion. For instance, Braithwaite et al on composition of the American family state, “...many outside of the bonds of heterosexual first marriage; for example, single parent families, step families, adoptive families, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered (GLBT) families, grandparents raising grandchildren, and families that are child-free by choice” (9). The argument drawn here is that there are families made up of the voluntary kin; people who have chosen to function as a family with people who are not their blood relative or legal kin. Braithwaite et al. add that these families are created via discourse. The deficits in blood and legal family have led to the rise of voluntary kin relationships. Voluntary kin fulfill family functions like sibling, parent, emotional fulfillment, acceptance, and a sense of identity. Voluntary kin came up as a result of a decline of the family and to fill in the gaps left by family decline. Like the Cranes’ network, this kind of family is made by people who acknowledge the importance of the relationship and helping one another regardless of blood origin. Hansen has presented the family in a totally different way. Though this network has come up because of family decline, it has worked well to serve its members who now consider themselves as family. Despite all the odds and challenges that the network faces, they work it out to make sure they cushion themselves. It is evident that it is women and children who bear the brunt of family decline in America (Hansen 13). In the case of the Cranes’ network, they form a network of interdependent relationships that mostly comprise of women and children who assist each other in taking care of their children and elderly mothers. These women according to Hansen “have inherited a legacy of family resourcefulness and resiliency, which has stood them well in their resolute capacity to survive personal tragedy and economic downturns” (15). Though they are not financially stable, they have wealth in the form of people that they support and support them. Additionally, they have a commitment to their families stating that family first and they let their employers know their situation and that at times, they will receive a phone call that a family member needs help and they will have to attend to them. They have a helping ethics knowing that they might be in the same situation someday. They are also not tied to their jobs; when a job does not allow then to attend to the needs of their families then they leave that job knowing that they will find another. Even if they do not find another job, they have a support system to rely on. Evidently, the American family is in the verge of decline ignited by a number of factors and challenges such as divorce, poverty, modernism, feminism, and increased violence, economic and social issues among others. However, this decline has worked positively to change the family structure and composition. All the authors discussed above acknowledge that the family unit has broaden to include a setting made up of members not necessarily related by blood. Thus, the social construction of a family has expanded to include even neighbors as shown in the case of the Cranes. Furthermore, what matters in forming a family unit is the ability for the members to be there for one another and fulfill family needs such as taking care of the children and elderly. One element that stands out is the high rates of divorce that leave women to stay alone with the children while men stay apart or form part of other families. This has affected many families leading to change in roles, and thus, difference in the family structure from the traditional family setting. Hence, a family in America consists of members who share a relationship that is driven by needs, responsibilities, and care for one another rather than related by blood. Works Cited Popenoe, David. American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal. Journal of Marriage and Family, pp. 527-542. Print. Coontz, Stephanie. Introduction. The way we never were: American families and the Nostalgia trap. New York, NY: BasicBooks. 1992. Print. Braithwaite, D. O., Bach, B. W., Baxter, L. A., Di Verniero, R., Hammonds, J.R., Hosek, A. M., Willer, E. K., & Wolf, B. M. (2010). Constructing family: A typology of Voluntary kin. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 388-407. Print. Hansen, Karen V. Not-so-nuclear families class, gender, and networks of care. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 2005. Print. Read More