Family Structures and Legacies

Guil-an Ensomo Garingan Paredes Borres

What are family structures?
a group of individuals living under one roof and usually
under one head -Webster Online Dictionary
two or more persons who shares resources, share
responsibility for decisions, share values and goals, and
have a commitment to each other over time - (Gregorio
Alfonsin C. Andoyo, The Filipino Family and Filipino
Values)
Four Essential Types of Family Structures
Nuclear Family

Single Parent Family

Extended Family

Childless Family
Nuclear or Traditional Family
Comprised of a father, a mother, and their offspring/s.
- The father plays the role of the breadwinner
- The mother stays at home to manage the house and
the children
Contemporary lifestyles are changing this tradional set-
up, with the reversal of roles between the mother and
father.
 We now have families where the mother is the
breadwinner, while the father, also called as
househusband, manage the home.
Another variation of the traditional family is where both
husband and wife are working and earning a living for the
family while entrusting their growing child or children to
hired caregivers or relatives.
Adopted children are also considered as part of the
nuclear or traditional family.
Example of Nuclear Family
Single Parent
Rears child or children while earning for the offspring/s
May be supported by relatives or hired caregivers to take
care of the growing children, which is now a common
occurance in many Asian countries such as Singapore
and Hong Kong.
May be assisted financially by the parents or relatives.
 Sometimes, the single parent will decide on cohabiting
with a partner who is not the biological parent of the child.

The cohabiting partner may not necessarily reside with

the single parent and the child.
Example of Singe Parent
Extended Family
Is a very common family arrangement found in many
parts of the world and most particularly in Asia.
The extended family is the nuclear family plus the parents
of either the husband or the wife, or both their parents,
depending on the arrangement they make.
Sometimes, a single brother or sister of the either one of
the couple may be part of the extended family.
 If there is a needfor household help, the first option os to
seek out a poorer relatives from the provinces to serve
the family's needs, there could exist some friction when it
comes to making decisions.
Traditionally, the man of the house is the breadwinner and
often makes most of the decisions related to family affairs.
However, with the presence of the couple's parents, the
decision-maker may vary at times.
Example of Extended Family
Childless Family
Is just couple without any child or children, and who may
be living all by themselves.

They may or may not have household help assisting

around the house.
Example on Childless Family
Influence of Family Structure on the Adolescent

The family is considered the first plac ewhere growing

children learn their basic social skills.

The interaction and quality of relationship between parent

and child are said to determinethe child's future
relationship as he or she matures towards adulthood.
 Family influences may vary based on the family structure
present in the home.
- For the nuclear family, the values, social skills, and
behavior are directly learned from the parents. These
expressed in their unique parenting styles, the nature of
parental authority they practice, and the general
atmosphere at home.
 - For single parent family, the absence of one parent
(either the father or the mother) may create an impact o
nthe growing chiled who would normally look ut to authority
as role models. Often times, single parent seek out a
relative (usually of the opposite sex of the single parent) to
stand in to compensate for the absence of the other parent.
Depending on how the single parent manages the child, he
or she may grow up well-adjusted or problematic.
 - Extended families have both positive and negative
influences on the child. On the one hand, the presence of
different generations within a home provides the child a
sense of stability on relationships as he or she witnesses
firsthand how relationships can work and endure
challenges, and to see a continuum in the family line.
Parental Authority and Parenting Styles
Authoritative parenting is a key factor in the psychosocial
development of an adolescent, and it is believed to foster
a healthy and postive impacton the adolescent's
developement (Papalia and Feldman 2012).
Authoritative parents those who insist on their child
learning important values, norms, and rules, but are also
willing to sit down to listen and negotiate with them should
they resist (Papalia and Feldman 2012).
 Authoritative parenting is about exercising control over a
child's behavior but not the child's emotions, beliefs, and
self-concept.
This pschological control imposed by a parent on a child
through emotional manipulations or the withdrawal of love
and caring can harm the child's psychological
developement and mental health (Papalia and Feldman
2012).
 The manner by which parents (or primary caregivers) rear
a child has a strong influences on the child's
development.
Behavior most particularly, is often learned by a child
through observation. Albert's Bandura's theory of social
learning hinges on three concepts;
learning takes place through observation (or modeling)
mental states are important to learning, which means that a child's
learning can be self-reinforced or rewarded of there is satisfaction or pride
in what was learned
not all learning can lead to changes in behavior
 Parents of adolescents needs to understand the
challenges involved in their developement, such as their
struggle for independence and self-autonomy, the
formation of their identity and roles, and learning the value
of fedility in the process.
Parents can serve as the models their adolescents can
emulate while at the same time supporting their
developement toward young adulthood.
Family Heredity
When you look around the members of your family, you
might have observed certain physical similarities that exist
among yourslef, your sibling, and your parents.

There are some characteristics that are influenced by

heredity, an even by the environment.
 Intelligence is another thing that is passed on due to
heredity, but also due to other factors like brain size, and
structure, and the compilation of many genes resulting to
intelligence.
There is a 40% to 50% chance of personality traits being
passed on through heredity (Papalia and Feldman 2012)
such as temperament, which is the characteristic manner
by which an individual looks at situations and how they
react to them.
Example of Family Heredity
Genogram
Is a graphical map of a family's history that tracesand
illustrates patterns in its structure and characteristics
using symbols to describe relationships, major events,
diseases, traditions, social and personal beliefs and
rituals, cultural heritage, religious belief, value system,
philosophies about life, and the dynamics of a family over
several generations.
 There are possible traits you may want to trace in your
family. Here are some suggestions.
- Physical characteristics such as skin tone, shapes of
eyes, nose and ears, hair type, baldness, disease
tendencies, etc.
- Genetic or external factors such as artistics, musical,
or literary abilities, sports abilities, and personal traits like
being reserved and introverted, being friendly, being
spendthrift, etc.
 - Social and economic backgrounds such as occupation or
careers, educational elvel, club memberships, school affiliations,
potitical affiliations, and others.
- Religious values including religious affiliations, religious
practices, and religious beliefs.
- Family values like family cohesions, exclusively, educational
attainment, respect for elders, etc.
- Cultural backgrounds such as provincial origins, languages
or dialects spoken, social skills like table manners, family traditions,
how family members got their names, favored cuisines and special
food served, world views such as practice of feng shui, karma,
superstitions, etc.
Example of Genogram
The End