FAMILY STRUCTURE

CHAPTER 3
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ESSB4263 FAMILY COUNSELLING

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOME

To identify the traditional family
structure
To identify the types of family structure

To identify the roles and relationship of

family
To identify the family functioning

What is Family Structure?

Family structure is the invisible set of
functional demands that organizes the ways in
which family members interact. A family is a
system that operates through transactional
patterns. Repeated transactions establish
patterns of how, when, and with whom to
relate, and these patterns underpin the
system. Minuchin (1974)

What is Traditional Family

Structure?

Traditional family structure is considered a family

support system involving two married individuals
providing care and stability for their biological
offspring.
The family is created at birth and establishes ties
across generations. Those generations, the
extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents,
and cousins, can hold significant emotional and
economic roles for the nuclear family.

Families

Families - organizationally complex emotional systems.

comprise at least three four generations. A family attempts to
arrange itself into functional or enabling group so that it can meet its
needs and goals without preventing members from meeting their
individual needs and goals (Kantor & Lehr 1975).
A family develops rules that outline and allocate the roles and
functions of its members. Those who live together develop patterns for
negotiating and arranging their life's to maximize harmony and
predictability.
Affection, loyalty, and a continuity or durability of membership
characterize all families. When these qualities are challenged, in crisis
situation or severe conflict , families are typically resistant to change,
likely to engage in corrective maneuvers to reestablish familiar
interactive patterns.
All families promote positive relationships among members, attend to
personal needs of their constituents, prepare to cope with
developmental or maturational changes ( children leaving home) as
well as unplanned or unexpected crises (divorce, death, a sudden
acute illness).

Family Types
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1. Nuclear family

The nuclear family has been considered the "traditional" family since
the communist scare in the cold war of the 1950s.

The nuclear family consists of a mother, father, and the children.

The two-parent nuclear family has become less prevalent, and preAmerican and European family forms have become more common.
These include homosexual relationships, single-parent households,
adopting individuals, and extended family systems living together.

The nuclear family is also choosing to have fewer children than in the
past.
The percentage of married-couple households with children under 18
has declined to 23.5% of all households in 2000 from 25.6% in 1990, and
from 45% in 1960.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_structure_in_the_United_States

Family Types-cont.
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2. Single parent
A single parent (also termed lone parent or sole parent) is a parent who cares
for one or more children without the assistance of the other biological parent.
Single-parent families often resulted from death of a spouse, for instance in
childbirth.
Single-parent homes are increasing as married couples divorce, or as
unmarried couples have children.
The percentage of single-parent households has doubled in the last three
decades, but that percentage tripled between 1900 and 1950.
The sense of marriage as a "permanent" institution has been weakened,
allowing individuals to consider leaving marriages more readily then they may
have in the past.[6] Increasingly single parent families are due to out of
wedlock births, especially those due to unintended pregnancy.

Family Types-cont.
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3. Step Families
Stepfamilies are becoming more familiar
nowadays especially in America.
Divorce rates are rising and the remarriage
rate is rising as well, therefore, bringing two
families together making step families.
Statistics show that there are 1,300 new
stepfamilies forming every day. Over half of
American families are remarried, that is 75%
of marriages ending in divorce, remarry.

Family Types-cont.
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4. Extended family
The extended family consists of grandparents, aunts,
uncles, and cousins.
The extended family comes to live either with or in place
of a member of the nuclear family (ex: elderly parents
who move in with their children due to old age).
Among certain Asian and Native American cultures the
family structure consisted of a grandmother and her
children, especially daughters, who raised their own
children together and shared child care responsibilities.
Romantic relationships between men and women were
formed and dissolved with little impact on the children
who remained in the mother's extended family.

Roles and Relationship

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1. Married partners: A married couple is defined as a "husband and
wife enumerated as members of the same household" (U.S.
Census Bureau).

2. Parents: Parents can be either the biological mother or biological

father, or the legal guardian for adopted children. Traditionally,
mothers were responsible for raising the kids while the father was
out providing financially for the family.
3. Housewives: A housewife is a married woman with who does not
work outside of the home for income but stays and takes care of
the home and children. This includes doing the cooking, washing,
cleaning, etc.
4. "Breadwinners: A breadwinner is the main financial provider in
the family. Historically the husband has been the breadwinner;
that trend is changing as wives start to take advantage of the
women's movement to gain financial independence for
themselves.
5. Stay-at-home dads: Stay-at-home dads are fathers that do not
participate in the labor market and raise their childrenthe male
equivalent to housewives.

Family Functioning
Boyer and Jeffrey describe six elements on which families are
assessed to be either functional or dysfunctional.

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Family Functioning (cont.)

1. Communication

Family members are encouraged to express

honest feelings and opinions, and all members
participate in decisions that affect the family
system.
Behaviors that interfere with functional
communication include

Making assumptions

Belittling feelings

Failing to listen

Communicating indirectly

Presenting doublebind messages

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Family Functioning (cont.)

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2. Self-concept Reinforcement

Functional families strive to reinforce and

strengthen each members self-concept, with the
positive result being that family members feel loved
and valued.
Behaviors that interfere with self-concept
reinforcement include
Expressing denigrating
remarks
Withholding supportive

messages
Taking over

Family Functioning (cont.)

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3. Family Members Expectations

In functional families, expectations are realistic,

flexible, and individualized.
Behaviors that interfere with adaptive functioning in
terms of member expectations include
Ignoring individuality
Demanding proof of love

Family Functioning (cont.)

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4. Handling Differences

Functional families understand that it is acceptable

to disagree and deal with differences in an open,
non-attacking manner.
Behaviors that interfere with successful family
negotiations include

Attacking

Avoiding
Surrendering

Family Functioning (cont.)

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5. Family Interactional Patterns

Family interactional patterns are functional when

they are workable and constructive and promote
the needs of all family members.
They are dysfunctional when they become
contradictory, self-defeating, and destructive.
Examples are patterns that
Cause emotional discomfort
Perpetuate or intensify
problems rather than
solve them
Are in conflict with each
other

Family Functioning (cont.)

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6. Family Climate

A positive family climate is

founded on trust and is reflected
in openness, appropriate humor and laughter,
expressions of caring, mutual respect, a valuing of
the quality of each individual, and a general feeling
of well-being.
A dysfunctional family climate is
evidenced by tension, pain, physical
disabilities, frustration, guilt, persistent
anger, and feelings of hopelessness.

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End of Chapter 3

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Identify FIVE (5) types of family roles and
their relationship.
Define traditional family structure?
Discuss FOUR (4) family types.
Explain SIX (6) elements of family
functioning.

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CLASS ACTIVITY
Discuss in a group the concepts of family
and family functioning for different
ethnic groups:
1. China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan
2. Indonesia and Philippines
3. Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam
4. Africa
5. Europe