CHFD215 American Military Week 8 Family and Child Development Paper When we take good look at the families around us today it’s clear they are diverse. There’s an increase in single-parent, gay and lesbian, grandparent, blended family, and nontraditional households. It’s clear that the family plays a huge role in a child’s development. That being said, think about your childhood and your family. Who and what were you surrounded by, impacted by?Now that you’ve got a better understanding of child development, please read [Developmental Assets] . Count the number of “Assets” you experienced as a child (note that some assets are related to the child’s internal attitudes and behaviors and others assets are related to external elements of the child’s world). After you count your experienced assets, post your number of assets and your reaction to your selected assets. Based on what you’ve learned, do you think the number of assets someone has affects their overall development? Why or why not?Do you think understanding child development can make someone a more effect parent, caregiver, and/or professional working with children? Please explain your answer.Minimum 300 words. C H F D 2 1 5
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8
Family Dynamics
This final week, we will consider the role and functions of the family in child development.
Topics to be covered include:
• Functions of the Family in Child Development
Family and Child Development
The family is the child’s first and longest lasting context for development. Families are
pervasive in human societies, going back to our hunting-and-gathering ancestors when
families worked together for basic survival. The family unit historically performed a
number of vital functions for society: reproduction, providing economic services,
maintaining social order, socializing the young, and providing emotional support. Over
time, as civilization increased in complexity, other institutions were established to support
families in these roles; however, reproduction, socialization, and emotional care have
remained largely the family’s responsibilities.
FAMILY AS A SOCIAL SYSTEM
As researchers strived to explain the multifaceted interaction among family
members, they developed the social systems perspective, which views the family
as a complex set of interacting relationships influenced by the larger social
context. Family members mutually influence one another, both directly and
indirectly. Direct influences occur when parents and children interact with each
other, while indirect influences happen when other family members interact and
affect the child in question. This can include interactions such as a parent with
another sibling or the father with the mother. Parental conflict can have an
enormous effect on a child’s emotional development. When the two parents have
a caring, supportive relationship, they are more likely to engage in effective coparenting. In addition, connections to the community, through both formal
organizations and informal social networks, provide social support that
promotes successful family interaction. This may remind you of
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which suggests that a variety of
outside systems indirectly influence the microsystem, or the people in the child’s
immediate environment.
Child-Rearing Styles
How do parents promote socialization of their young child? When does this process
typically begin?
Parents begin to focus on socialization around the age of two, when children are more able
to follow directions. This focus increases as children get older. One major component of
effective socialization is a parent’s child-rearing style, as this can affect mature behavior
and mastery of new skills. Child-rearing styles are combinations of parenting behaviors
occurring over a wide range of situations, creating an enduring child-rearing climate. Diana
Baumrind observed multiple families in order to identify effective features of child-rearing.
She found that the most effectual styles included acceptance of the child and involvement in
the child’s life; behavioral control of the child through expectations, rules, and supervision;
and autonomy granting. As we examine the different styles (authoritative, authoritarian,
permissive, and uninvolved), we will consider how these features are incorporated.
If a parent has utilized an effective style, once a child reaches middle childhood, childrearing typically becomes easier, as effective reasoning and logical thinking has been
fostered, as well as the precedent for open communication. Parents begin to employ coregulation, or exercising general oversight while giving children increasing responsibility
for moment-by-moment decision making. Communication remains key, and problems are
discussed as they arise. This type of strategy helps prepare children for making future
decisions.
In adolescence, we know that young people begin to experience puberty, which leads to
their bodies becoming and looking more mature. As parents observe this change, it often
prompts them to provide more autonomy for their son or daughter. Adolescents also begin
the prominent task of striving for autonomy, a process facilitated by warm, supportive
parent–adolescent ties. Autonomy requires that adolescents begin to rely more on
themselves than their parents while carefully considering the consequences of their own
decisions. This aids in the process of identity development.
The authoritative child-rearing style involves high acceptance and
involvement, adaptive control techniques, and appropriate autonomy
granting, creating a positive emotional context for parental influence.
Parents are attentive to the needs of the child and attempt to establish
close connections while exerting reasonable control. Clear expectations
are partnered with explanations of appropriate behavior, which we have
learned supports self-regulation. Communication is key, and the child’s
perspective is genuinely considered in discussion and decisions. These
types of parents frequently adjust their strategies to match their children’s
growing capabilities.
• In contrast, the authoritarian child-rearing style is low in acceptance and
involvement, high in coercive behavioral control, and low in autonomy
granting. Parents often voice commands to exert control and do not
attempt to explain the reasoning behind the directives. Decisions are made
solely by the parent with expectations that they will be followed without
dispute. Disobedience is met with punishment, and the children follow in
the footsteps of their parents in reacting to situations with aggression.
•
Although the children often achieve well in school, due to excessively high
parental expectations, they are often anxious, discontented, and overly
reliant on others.
• Parents with a permissive style are warm and accepting but do not provide
appropriate control due to inattentiveness or overindulgence of the child’s
behavior. The child is given freedom to make too many decisions at too
young an age, which can lead to impulsive behavior on the part of the child.
These children can also be disobedient and rebellious, as they are not
taught to adhere to behavioral guidelines. They often lack persistence and
are overly demanding. This can lead to poor academic performance and
social skills.
• Finally, the uninvolved child-rearing style includes low acceptance,
involvement, and control. These parents experience emotional detachment
due to excessive stress, which leads to indifference about the child’s needs.
This type of parent may provide immediate, trivial support, but does not
typically maintain lasting rules regarding conduct, model social skills,
discuss suitable choices, or monitor the child’s activities. This approach
can often lead to neglect, which presents a variety of challenges for the
child, including academic, social, and emotional issues.
•
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHILD REARING
•
It may not surprise you to learn that there are socioeconomic and ethnic variations
in child rearing.
Parents from higher-SES homes spend more time stimulating their children through
discussion, reading, and other activities, while providing explanations for
expectations, helping their children set high goals, and allowing their children to
make more decisions. In contrast, lower-SES homes often bring a reduction in
stimulating interaction, as well as increased criticism and decreased support for
appropriate autonomy.
•
The impact of poverty to the family system is significant. Daily pressures associated
with poverty weaken the family system, which affects the child’s development. In
response to these crises, parents often become preoccupied or short-tempered,
which leads to negative interactions with children. We have learned that reduced
parental involvement can affect a child’s cognitive and emotional growth. These
effects are often exacerbated in situations of extreme poverty, such as families who
live in neighborhoods with poor housing or who are homeless.
•
You may think that affluence would have a positive effect on a child’s home
environment. However, affluent parents may also fail to engage in family interaction
and parenting strategies that promote healthy development, due to the strain of
professional and financial burdens and expectations. Children from these homes
often engage in risky behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use, because they lack
emotional intimacy and direct supervision from their parents. Affluent parents,
however, often stress the need for high academic achievement, which leads to an
unbalanced emphasis on achievement over happiness.
•
Ethnic minority parents often have distinct child-rearing beliefs and practices
reflecting cultural values and family context. We observe this use of high
involvement and control in Chinese families to promote discipline, respect for
elders, and socially desirable behavior. Or in the use of more controlling strategies
by some low-SES African American families to foster self-confidence, self-regulation,
and a vigilant attitude in precarious surroundings. Another example is the insistence
on respect for parental authority in Hispanic, Asian Pacific Island, and Caribbean
families.
•
In many minority groups, extended-family households (those in which one or more
adult relatives live with the parent and child) are an important feature of family life,
as more support is available for successful child-rearing to occur.
Impact of Family Lifestyles and Transitions
Family dynamics have changed over time. There are fewer births per family and
more adoptions, lesbian and gay parents, and unmarried or never-married
parents. This is in addition to higher divorce and remarriage rates and increased
maternal employment. You may be wondering how these changes affect child
development.
SMALLER FAMILIES
As we move from larger to smaller families, people may speculate that there is an
added benefit, as there is more time for parent-child interaction and more
resources per child. However, research has shown that larger family size does
not reduce life chances or intelligence. But, even with reduced family size, the
majority of children grow up with at least one sibling.
SIBLINGS
Siblings can impact early language development, personality, self- and social
understanding, and gender typing. Also, when there is a strong sibling
relationship, the older sibling can positively influence the younger sibling’s
academic and social competencies. Although sibling relationships bring many
benefits, only children should not be considered at risk for being spoiled. They
may, in some respects, be advantaged, as they tend to have higher self-esteem
and academic achievement. This may be due, in part, to their close relationship
with parents, who are highly attentive to their accomplishments.
ADOPTION
Adopted children, particularly those adopted past infancy, have more learning
and emotional difficulties than other children. This may be due to instability of
the birth mother, lack of ideal prenatal care during pregnancy, or history of
family conflict. However, most make good progress as they develop feelings of
trust and affection for their adoptive parents.
GAY AND LESBIAN FAMILIES
Research on gay and lesbian families indicates that their children do not differ
from children of heterosexuals in adjustment or gender-role preferences. Parents
are committed to successful child-rearing, sometimes even more so that
heterosexual parents. While there is concern that the children may fall prey to
teasing or bullies, it is found that this does not happen as frequently as expected,
as many families are careful to share their personal information.
SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES
It has been noted that, over time, there has been a rise in the number of nevermarried and divorced parents. A significant number of children live for at least
some period of time in single parent households. How well children fare depends
on the custodial parent’s psychological health, the child’s characteristics, and
social supports from the family and community. Effects on children vary
according to the child’s age and sex, but the overriding factor in positive
adjustment following divorce is effective parenting. Many divorced parents
remarry, and their children then experience life in a blended family. For some
children, this family growth has a positive effect, but many experience
adjustment issues as they acclimate to new rules, expectations, and sibling
dynamics.
WORKING PARENTS
More than three-fourths of North American mothers of school-age children are
employed, including about 70 percent of mothers of preschoolers. Children
whose mothers enjoy their work and remain committed to parenting show
positive adjustment. Part-time employment, flexible work schedules, and job
sharing are also advantageous; however, children whose parents work long
hours for low pay may experience negative consequences. High-quality child care
is vital for working parents, and early intervention can boost development in
economically disadvantaged children. Because the United States and Canada do
not have national child-care policies, they trail behind other industrialized
nations in the supply, affordability, and quality of child care. Self-care children
who habitually care for themselves after school do well if they have a history of
authoritative child rearing, supervision from a distance, and consistent afterschool chores. But “after-care” enrichment activities have great value for low-SES
children compared with long hours of self-care.
Child Maltreatment
Child maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse,
has always existed but is especially widespread in large, industrialized nations. Although
child abuse is more frequent among troubled parents, there is no distinct “abusive
personality type.” Children who are taxing to raise are more likely to be abused, and once
abuse is initiated, it can become part of a self-sustaining cycle. Most abusive and neglectful
parents are socially isolated, and some are influenced by societal customs that tolerate the
use of violence to solve problems. Maltreated children suffer a variety of negative
developmental effects. Efforts to prevent child maltreatment must be directed at the family,
community, and societal levels. Although more cases reach the courts than in the past, child
maltreatment remains a crime that is hard to prove.
Case Study
Analyzing case studies on the impact of family life on child development can further our
understanding of child development. The purpose of the first case study is to extend
existing research on marital satisfaction and father involvement during the transition to
parenthood. The second case study is meant to extend existing research on the long-term
consequences of parental divorce.
STUDY 1
Marital Satisfaction and Father Involvement During the Transition to
Parenthood
To examine the relationship between marital satisfaction and father involvement during
the transition to parenthood, Lee and Doherty (2007) recruited 141 couples during the
second trimester of pregnancy and followed them through 12 months postpartum.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups—an eight-session educational
intervention focusing on parental attitudes and skills or an assessment-only control group.
The researchers collected the following information:
During the second trimester of pregnancy, at six months postpartum, and at 12 months
postpartum, fathers completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), which assesses couples’
marital satisfaction.
To measure father involvement at six and 12 months postpartum, fathers completed
diaries of
•
•
(a) quantity or time with the child and
(b) quality or skills in interacting with the child. Diary entries were collected over
the course of three days. The diaries were divided into 15-minute blocks of time for
a 24-hour period. Fathers reported on the baby’s activities, their own activities, and
their partner’s activities, which were then categorized according to type of
interaction:
o Engaged interaction time—the amount of time on both the workday and athome day in which the father is actively interacting and/or in direct contact
with the child, including face-to-face interactions. The researchers were
interested in how much time fathers spent interacting with their babies on
workdays as well as at-home days.
o Parallel interaction time—the amount of time in which the father and infant
are involved in activities together, but the father is not giving full attention to
the infant; and amount of time in which the father and infant are engaged in
unrelated activities in close proximity, and interaction can be assumed.
o Accessibility time—the amount of time on both the workday and at-home
day in which the father is physically available but not interacting with the
infant.
To measure quality of father involvement at six and 12 months postpartum, infant–father
interactions were recorded in the home during a five-minute play exercise. Trained
researchers then coded the interactions according to six indicators—warmth and
emotional support, intrusiveness in the child’s activity, engagement with the child, positive
affect, negative affect, and father–child dyadic synchrony.
To assess attitudes toward father involvement, participants completed the Father Attitude
Scale (FAS). Using a five-point Likert scale (1 = disagree a lot; 5 = agree a lot), fathers
responded to statements like: “It is essential for the child’s well-being that fathers spend
time interacting and playing with their children.” “A father should be as heavily involved in
the care of his child as the mother.”
Results
Results indicated that that marital satisfaction before childbirth was strongly related to
father involvement at six and 12 months postpartum. That is, fathers who reported higher
levels of marital satisfaction during the second trimester of pregnancy spent more time
with their babies, particularly in face-to-face (engaged) interaction, than fathers who
reported low levels of marital satisfaction. During playtime, maritally satisfied fathers also
demonstrated more warmth and emotional support, higher levels of father–child dyadic
synchrony, and less intrusiveness with their babies. Fathers who experienced a decline in
marital satisfaction from the second trimester of pregnancy to six and 12 months
postpartum tended to spend less time with their babies over the course of the study.
Finally, positive attitudes toward father involvement predicted both quality and quantity of
time fathers spent with their babies.
More on the Long-Term Consequences of Parental Divorce
To extend existing research on the long-term consequences of parental divorce—
particularly depressive symptoms—Ge, Natsuaki, and Conger (2006) recruited 550 seventh
graders and followed them for 11 years. Because many young people experience bouts of
depression during adolescence, the researchers included participants from both divorced
and nondivorced families. To be eligible to participate in the divorced sample, the
biological parents had to have divorced within the past two years. The divorced and
nondivorced samples were matched on demographic variables like household income,
maternal age, and maternal employment. The researchers collected the following
information:
Each year of the study, participants completed a depressive symptoms checklist, which
focused on both symptoms and severity of depression, such as “feeling blue,” “crying
easily,” and a “sense of hopelessness.” In the eighth and ninth grades, participants
completed the Junior High Life Experiences Survey (JHLES), which focuses on peer
relationships, school experiences, family disruption (for example, a recent move, death of a
family member), and other major life events like a close friend moving away.
Each year of the study, participants reported on stressful life events within the past 12
months. The events were grouped into three major categories:
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