Chapter 15
15
THE FAMILY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading and studying the material in this chapter, the student should be able to understand
the following ideas/concepts:
15.1 UNDERSTANDING THE FAMILY
• Discuss the concept of the family as a changing system within a changing world, using
15.2 THE INFANT
• Compare and contrast the traditional roles of mothers and fathers in childrearing and
15.2 THE CHILD
• Compare and contrast the authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful
parenting styles in terms of where they fall on the acceptance-responsiveness and
15.3 THE ADOLESCENT
• Describe how the parent-child relationship both changes and remains the same in early
15.4 THE ADULT
• Characterize the major effects on couples of the first year of marriage, new parenthood,
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15.5 DIVERSE FAMILY EXPERIENCES
• Describe the “typical” implications of never marrying, cohabiting with a partner,
15.6 THE PROBLEM OF FAMILY VIOLENCE
• Describe the various forms that family violence can take.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I Understanding the Family
A. The Family as a System within Systems
1. Family systems theory – family as “whole” made up of interconnected parts, each
affecting the other
2. Nuclear family – two-generation system (i.e., father/mother/at least one child)
a. Reciprocal influence – each member influences all others (e.g., baby smiles,
mom smiles in response, baby grins in response to mom)
3. Extended family household – nuclear family system plus other kin (e.g.,
grandparents, aunts/uncles)
4. The family as a system within other systems
a. Bioecological approach (Bronfenbrenner) – must take into account many
levels of the environment (e.g., family is embedded into other systems like the
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B. The Family as a Changing System
1. Family best defined as dynamic, developing system (i.e., things, including family
members, change)
a. Early family developmental theories featured notion of family life cycle—
sequence of changes in composition, roles, and relationships within family
over time
b. Duvall’s eight stages of family life cycle
i. Married without children
c. Increasing numbers of people do not experience the “traditional” life cycle
i. Some remain single or childless while others marry multiple times
ii. Many now find fault with models that view a family life cycle in which a
C. A Changing System in a Changing World
1. Families are embedded in a changing world
a. Several dramatic social changes have altered makeup of typical family and the
quality of family experience
i. Now more single adults (but 90% of adults will marry)
ii. More people are postponing marriage (2009 average age of marriage was
26 for women and 28 for men)
iii. More unmarried parents (41% of births to single women)
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2. Some see change as “decline of the family” (i.e., negative effects of divorce,
single-parent families, poverty)
a. Some see instability of family (e.g., parents going from married to single to
remarried) as “dizzying” for children
3. Some see change as good news
a. Postponing marriage greater chance of success
Checking Mastery
1. What does Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory add to our understanding of
the family?
➢ Answer: Bronfenbrenner helps us see the family as a system (microsystem) as
2. What are four subsystems in a family with a mother, father, and three children?
➢ Answer: Four subsystems of a nuclear family are the couple system, the parent-
3. What are three changes over the 20th century that have resulted in fewer children
living their childhoods in a stereotypical nuclear family with a married breadwinner
father and homemaker mother?
➢ Answer: Changes away from the stereotypical breadwinner father/ homemaker
II The Infant
A. Mothers and Fathers
1. Despite gender stereotypes, fathers are as capable of caring for infants as mothers
2. Mothers and fathers do differ in both quantity and quality of interactions with
infants
a. Mothers tend to spend more quantity of time with children (but fathers are
more involved with children than they were in the past, with some even
sharing equal responsibility for childcare)
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c. Forty percent of babies now born to unmarried mothers, also creating a large
group of unmarried fathers
i. Unmarried fathers tend to not live with the child’s mother and not be very
involved parents
B. Mothers, Fathers, and Infants: The System at Work
1. Parents also have “indirect effect”—in which effect on child involves parent
influence on third party, who in turn influences child
a. Mothers with supportive relationships with husbands more patient with
children
b. Fathers who have just argued with wives tend to be less supportive with their
children
c. When parents compete rather than cooperate, infants may show signs of
insecure attachments
Checking Mastery
1. In terms of their parenting roles, what is one way in which fathers are similar to
mothers and one way in which they are different?
2. Give an example of a negative indirect effect of a father on the mother-infant
relationship.
➢ Answer: A father could negatively affect a mother’s parenting and relationship
III The Child
A. Parenting Styles
1. Two dimensions of childrearing include acceptance-responsiveness and
demandingness-control
a. Acceptance-responsiveness – extent to which parents support, show
sensitivity to needs, and praise or encourage children
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iii. Permissive parenting – high in acceptance-responsiveness, these parents
make few demands, encourage children to express their feelings, and exert
little control over children
iv. Neglectful parenting – low demanding-control and low acceptance-
responsiveness, these parents are uninvolved in the upbringing of their
children
d. Baumrind research on child outcomes associated with parenting patterns
i. Best outcomes from warmth combined with authoritative style (e.g.,
e. “Love and limits” best combination for parents
i. Overall link between authoritarian parenting and positive developmental
outcomes evident in most ethnic groups
ii. Some cultural and subcultural differences in effectiveness of parenting
styles exist (Exploration box on parenting in cultural and subcultural
context)
B. Social Class, Economic Hardship, and Parenting
1. Class differences (lower and working-class versus middle and upper-class)
associated with different socialization goals, values, and parenting styles
2. Socioeconomic differences in parenting styles and child outcomes
a. Parents experiencing financial problems tend to become more depressed and
engage in more conflict; marital conflict disrupts each partner’s ability to be
supportive and effective parents (example of indirect family effect)
i. Negative impacts on children include low self-esteem, poor school
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and neglectful (sometimes to the point of abuse)
iv. In high-crime poverty areas, parents may engage in more authoritarian and
controlling behavior to protect their children from danger
C. Models of Influence in the Family
1. Parent effects model
2. Child effects model
a. Assumes that child’s action influences parenting style
i. Infant requires more care than older child
3. Transactional model – hypothesis that parents and children influence each other
reciprocally (e.g., child genetically predisposed to aggression elicits negative and
coercive parenting, which results in more aggressive acts by the child)
a. Includes potential impact of genes on behavior of both parents and children
D. Sibling Relationships
1. A new baby arrives
a. Mothers pay less attention to other children
i. “Dethroning” of firstborn can be stressful on the child
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2. Ambivalence in sibling relationships
a. Sibling rivalry – competition, jealousy, and resentment between siblings
common and normal reaction
i. May be rooted in evolution, with siblings competing with one another for
3. Sibling influences on development
a. Siblings can provide emotional support (e.g., siblings often confide in each
other)
i. Even preschoolers jump in to comfort infant siblings
b. Siblings often provide caretaking (babysitting) services of siblings
Checking Mastery
1. Referring to the dimensions of acceptance-responsiveness and demandingness-
control, how would you characterize an authoritative parenting style?
➢ Answer: Authoritative parenting is high on both the parental acceptance-
2. What are two reasons that low-SES parents might use a more authoritarian and less
warm and nurturing parenting style than high-SES parents do?
➢ Answer: Low-SES parents who are under economic stress could, according to the
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3. How would you distinguish between the interactional model and the transactional
model of family influence?
➢ Answer: The interaction effects model highlights how the combination of parent
relationship unfolds over time.
4. How would you characterize the most common response of a firstborn to a new
sibling?
➢ Answer: Most firstborns are stressed by, but adapt quite well to, a baby brother or
IV The Adolescent
A. Ripples in the Parent-Child Relationship
1. Most parent-adolescent relationships are close and retain the quality they had
2. Decrease in time together can make adolescents feel less emotionally close to
parents
a. Modest increase in parent-child conflict common around onset of puberty
b. Some bickering but tends to be over minor matters (e.g., homework,
household chores)
B. Achieving Autonomy
1. Task of achieving autonomy – capacity to make independent decisions and
manage own life
4. Amount of autonomy granted by parents varies by culture
a. Filipino- and Mexican-American adolescents more likely to believe that they
should not disagree with their parents than non-Hispanic white American
adolescents
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Checking Mastery
1. What do the parent-adolescent conflicts of early adolescence generally concern?
as disobedience, homework, household chores, and access to privileges.
2. What parenting style is most likely to foster autonomy, and why?
➢ Answer: Autonomy is fostered best by the authoritative parenting style because it
V The Adult
A. Establishing a Marriage
1. Most adults in the United States marry (over 90%)
2. Is a significant life transition with new roles
a. Celebration at weddings; is a time when couple feels on top of the world
3. Quality of couple’s early relationship predicts later relationships
a. Couples unhappy after 13 years of marriage tend to have relatively poor
relationships for remainder of marriage
path to divorce
B. New Parenthood
1. Additional children create added stress on the family involving positive and
negative changes
a. Positive side is that parents claim that having a child brings them joy,
fulfillment, and contributes to their individual growth
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2. Some adjust to new parenthood as “bowl of cherries,” other as “the pits”
3. Coping to addition of child related to several factors
4. Parents’ characteristics matter
a. Parents with better problem-solving skills better equipped to handle stress
i. More realistic expectations, less stress
ii. Mentally healthy parents (e.g., those not depressed) fare better
b. Attachment style is important
ii. Social support from friends and relatives helps new parents cope
C. The Child-Rearing Family
1. Additional children increase workload and stress
a. Stress of caring for toddler more than for an infant
2. Additional challenges when kids become adolescents
a. Conflict over how to raise their adolescent can lead to conflict between
parents
b. Living with an adolescent who is becoming physically and sexually mature
may cause parent to engage in midlife questioning
D. The Empty Nest
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1. Empty nest – departure of last child from family (phase of life that first became
common in the twentieth century)
2. Results in changing role and lifestyle of parent
3. Overall, parents generally respond positively to children leaving home
a. Often an increase in marital satisfaction
4. Refilling or “boomerang effect” – launched child returns to family (often as
young adult) can be stressful for parents
E. Grandparenthood
1. Styles of grandparenting (Cherlin and Furstenberg)
a. Remote – only occasionally seen, emotionally and geographically distant
2. Most grandparents see grandchildren often and gain pleasure from these
experiences; more frequent visits associated with more positive view
3. “Family National Guard” – grandparents often needed in times of crisis (e.g.,
pregnancy of unmarried granddaughter)
4. “Called to duty” grandparents can make real contribution to development of
F. Changing Family Relationships
1. Marital relationships
a. Dips and recoveries in marital satisfaction, more so for women
i. Dips after honeymoon period, drops as children added, recovers with
empty nest