Three Perspectives of the Changing Nature of The Family - Coursework Example

Introduction Throughout time, the concept of family and family life has been riddled with change and development. Since it is the core of the society, the family moves, reacts and develops according to the social and historical changes within periods of time. This paper will present three different perspectives of the changing nature of the family: a historical perspective, an economic perspective and a sociological perspective. Though the three perspectives may overlap, especially when focusing on the changes in the nature of the family from the Industrial Age to Modern Age, this paper will present the family one perspective at a time. To give a general background of the time frame this paper will look at, there will be a presentation from the Modern Period to the Post-Modern Age. The Early Modern Period lasted from around 1500s to 1800s. Main events during this period are the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter Reformation and the rise of capitalism. The Late Modern Period boasted of the development in thinking and reasoning, The Historical Perspective The nuclear family, consisted of the parents and the children, remained unchanged throughout the years. The movement of the society from the Modern Age to the Post-Modern Age was not able to destroy this concept. It remained as one stable concept within several ages. The Post-Modern Age revealed, though, a change in the nuclear family, in terms of the size and nature. Trends show a later marriage age, first births and lone parenthood and repartnering (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). With this, the concept of the nuclear family changed from a father and mother as the parents to single parenting. Nuclear family remained the same in its essence of having a parent and a child, but the numbers decreased, whether it is the number of parents in the family or the number of children in the family. This trend is regarded to the changing values and beliefs about religion, individualism and responsibilities of the parents within the family (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). The development of the family organization moved from nuclear to extended back to nuclear as the social and economic changes affected the movement of the parents, the children and the family as a whole. The principles of bargaining and reciprocity applied to the family much as it applied to social world (Gillies, 2003). Goode’s argument presented the industrial society family as benefiting more from maintaining a nuclear unit (Gillies, 2003). This limits and concentrates their commitments within the family. This also allows the family to sustain their existence and to provide for every family member. An extended family organization is beneficial, according to Goode, for upper class families as it is able to control, to influence and to overpower many other families. The effects of the changes in the society show a change in the concept of the family. With the historical changes in the society, there are also historical changes within the family. Family demography has been the most prevalent theme in the study about the changing nature of the family. The concept of childhood and marriage has drastically changed through time. At the onset of the Modern Age, research saw that the understanding of marriage has been altered and affected the organization of the family (Graham, 1999; Berger, 2002). From a more religious and institutionalized standpoint, the family became a relationship, which is a result of the altered dimensions of marriage. Trend shows an increase in cohabitation and partnership, a more intimate personal relationship, rather than a development of a social group, which was the core concept of the family in the Modern Age. The Economic Perspective The onset of the industrialization showed enormous change in the ways how people worked and lived but this did not affect the most distinctive features of the conventional family. The economic and cultural forces of consumerism, labor market and the concept of individualism and equity affected the nature of the family (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). From the Modern Age to the Post-Modern Age, the struggle of women for equity in citizenship, whether political, economical or social, prompted the women to break free form dependency and opt to show their own economic stability. With this change, the politics of the family changed. This showed that mothers, not only the fathers, can also be providers. When before that the fathers have the sole responsibility and obligation to put food on the table, the economic changes in the society also changed the working pattern and habits within the family. The women started working, in different sectors of the working world. They learned to adjust with the economic changes by adopting the concept of providing for the family (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). Their roles became more and more a partner in developing a stable economic foothold within the family. Whereas before that the women and mothers are just known as caretakers of the children, developing their mental and emotional health, the family began working as a unit to provide for everyone within the family. This change impacted children the most, wherein, they have fewer children or exposure to parental discipline and care. The expansion of female employment and an increased segregation of male and female employment created higher employment rates for women than before (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). Because of this, working mothers increased in numbers. As a result, the numbers of a more complicated family, with regards to parent and children size, and the increase in household helps and kinship help, grew. Because of the growing economy and the increasing poverty level, both parents opt to enter the working world, fulltime, to maintain and to improve family living standards and lifting the family above poverty line (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). The traditional male breadwinner family model decreased while other models developed, like the dual earner, the one-and-a-half earner model, the one-earner one-parent model, the adult worker model and the no earner model. The increase in women’s employment rates also resulted to a decrease in fertility rate, and driving a smaller family size, with only one or two children within the family. The increased employment also placed pressure with the parents as there is a need for work sharing (Bradshaw & Hatland, 2009). The mothers are traditionally the caregivers of the family. They are the ones responsible for childcare and development while the fathers are responsible for discipline and economic stability. But because of the changing economics of the society, the responsibility shifted to both parents as the women were opened an opportunity to develop their skills and work like the men. This created pressure and a number of family problems as the economic shift became more prevalent. Even if the mothers are working, they are still expected to do the same traditional responsibilities of a mother as a caregiver for the family. Even there was quite a successful equality in allowing women to be employed, there is an equal distribution of work within the family as the mothers are still expected to take care of their children. The Sociological Perspective The family life cycle and development of several concepts within the family are the results of the changing world. This does not reflect a change in family and household demography but also a change in the nature and expectations of a family life and relationship. Whereas before, people value family in the rigid boundaries of religion and marriage, in the modern and post-modern age, the concept of partnership, cohabitation, and affairs developed and increased in practice. The change in the vocabulary and the known concept revolving around the family shows a very significant impact of the changing community and social world to the family (Graham, 1999). In the post-modern age, the acceptability of these concepts are more prevalent than in the early modern age. Even gay relationships have been established and recognized. The diversity of the family and living arrangements within the family also became more prominent because of migration (Gillies, 2003; Graham, 1999). Family organizations changed and developed according to the movement of the society. The concept of the extended family can still be seen, especially in societies and culture where there is less mobility but as the economic world changed, the concept of going back to the basics were enforced even more. Kinship solidarities are more prominent in the early modern period than the post-modern age. Because of the movement of the families from one place to another, it created gaps within the family, in terms of geographical standpoint. Board and lodging schools were developed to allow the parents more time for their responsibility to provide. This shows a severity in the kinship and closely-knit ties of the family within itself. There is a point, however, indicating how families maintain contact with their extended family though not living with them (Gillies, 2003). This is to ensure sustenance through periods of needs like sickness, death and unemployment. The ideological construction of the family was also affected by the rise of feminism during the Post-Modern Age. Violence, abuse and oppression under the safety of the family bond were revealed (Gillies, 2003). And this resulted to the collapse of the concept of the nuclear family. However, other theorists believed that the industrialization and the rise of feminism is not the cause of the collapse of the nuclear family. Other theorists believed that there is already a shift in the concept of the family in terms of its social nature, from being a social institution, the family has become a more personal and intimate relationship (Gillies, 2003). This must have been because of the increased awareness of the notion of the individual. This developed individualism and the importance of the self. With it, the nature of marriage and eventually, the family changed in accordance to satisfying the need of an individual for an intimate and satisfying relationship (Gillies, 2003; Graham, 1999; Berger, 2002). The importance of the self and the individual is prevalent in the Post-Modern Age, wherein, the movement of the family is towards establishing the individual importance of each member. As such, the members of the family tend to move into a more individualistic sense rather than a social unit, which moves together as one (Berger, 2002). Conclusion The economic, social and historical changes in the society brought about the changes in the nature and concept of the family. From being a social unit, an established institution of the society, the family moved towards individualism, equity and freedom. The organization of the family and its demography changed from being nuclear to extended and back to nuclear, though with established kinship ties. The more the society moves towards modernization and globalization, the more the family is exposed to migration, consumerism and individualism. With this, the core of the family moves along with the movement of the society cutting down the number within the household. Also, with the economic movement, the family moves to adapt to the needs of the core of the family, moving towards lesser number of family members. When before the family has a large number of household members, extending to their kin and their parents, at later periods in time, the family is but the parents and the children, with the number of children decreasing through time, from as many as ten down to one. Also, the nature of the family as a social unit from the early period simmered to personal and intimate relationship, as the concept of individualism is developed and established in the society. The family is not an institution or organization anymore, as defined prior to the later Modern Age, but a personal developing relationship between the members of the family. This increased the personal and intimate level of relationship between the parents and parent-to-children although this severed the relationship of couples to their own parents at the time of marriage. Marriage, parenthood and childhood changed and developed from dependency to individualism, autonomy and independency. References Berger, B. (2002). The Family in the Modern Age, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Bradshaw, J. and Hatland, A. (2009). Social Policy, Employment and Family Change in Comparative Perspective, Cheltenham:Edward Elgar Publishing Gillies, V. (2003). Family and Intimate Relationships: A Review of the Sociological Research, London: South Bank University. Graham, A. (1999). The Sociology of the Family: a Reader, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Hartshill. (date unknown). Marriage and the family – revision, http://www.hartshill.warwickshire.sch.uk/_includes/attachments/P192/MarriageandtheFamily-revisontopic3b.pdf, date accessed 11/12/09. Livesey, C. (date unknown). Childhood. Family Life, http://www.sociology.org.uk/fchild.pdf, date accessed 11/13/09. Yavuz, E. (date unknown). The Shaping of the Modern World: The Ages of Revolution, http://www.yeditepe.edu.tr/7tepe/humanities/HUMANITIES_5.pdf, date accessed 11/12/09. Read More