W3A3 The Project - Essay Example

The family is the most important primary agent of socialization. The family is the first unit of contact in the society and it nurtures an individual to be who they are in the society. It plays a very significant role in the socialization process. The family, is the initial place where language, norms and values of culture. The family is the most social institution that shapes the personality of an individual. The most important roles of the family is to provide individuals with financial and emotional support, satisfy individuals basic needs, that is, food, shelter and clothing.

Additionally, the family introduces emotional feelings to an individual. However, the socialization process at the family level especially if the parents and guardians model the children in unexpected manner. Individuals also inherit some property from their family members. Indeed, the family has greatest impact on the individual’s life. Several changes have been experienced within and among families in the U.S. however, the current family structure reflects what was perceived as the normal family structure, the father, mother and the biological child (Wiseman, 2008).

Basically, the normal American family consist of a breadwinning father, a housewife or a caretaking mother, and a child or children. However, this has changed since then and the current face of most American families reflects otherwise. According to Beam, “American households were made up of a married man and woman and one or more of their children -- a drop from 45 percent in 1960. This number is expected to fall to 20 percent by 2010” (Beam, 2013). This implies that there are many single people who are not ready to settle down, marry and form a nuclear family.

Initially there was no birth control pills to interfere with child bearing process but today, the availability of safe and effective birth control techniques has really changed the situation as child bearing is nowadays an individual’s choice. Secondly, there is increased number of women participating in the paid labour force causing stiff completion in job opportunities of women in the paid labour force as opposed to back then when women were not employed as work was only regarded as men thing.

Furthermore, the issue of divorce was less, in fact, very rare but today, this has completely changed, there are increased divorces cases as some even marry in contracts. Beam states that the rise of divorce cases are as a result of increased termination of nearly half of marriages (Beam, 2013). This has completely reshaped the family nature in our nation. Additionally, single-parenthood is common with most women as the head of the family. This was not the case in traditional America. These dramatic changes have been subjected to several forces.

Economic forces are the major cause of changes in the American families. Today women do not want to be dependent of their husbands or boyfriends and as such, they as well play a very important role in financing their families. Therefore, we can conclude that financial gain and the well being of the family is the leading cause of the changes that most American families face currently. Another cause is the feeling of being alone without any