Perspectives Paper on the Health of Institution of the Family - Essay Example

Perspectives Paper on the Health of of the Family Outline Pick a conversation to enter…examples include same sex marriage, social , poverty, marriage and intimacy, divorce, parenting, childhood, etc. 2. Apply a theory or perspective to highlight the aspect of conversation you are focusing on and why your contribution is important. 3. Exit Family as an institution, as suggested by Macionis and Plummer (2008), is structured by the relationship through blood or even adoption, and by tradition, is built around marriage. Nonetheless, the institution of family is not stable (Stevenson and Wolfers, 2007). It is continuously challenged by the observed changes in its structure as the traditional set – up of having nuclear family, which consists of father and mother united by marriage and child or children, is witnessed to be declining. One of the observed transformations of the family is the increase in marriages ending up with divorce while the other is growth of young girls who untimely became pregnant out of wedlock. Raising the kids by yourself alone is one among the scariest thing for the health of the family for the absence of the other indicates the weakening of the said institution. However, the family in the case of United States is threatened by the trends of marital disruption as well as teenage pregnancy. At a personal level, the involved parties whether in divorce or teenage pregnancy are confronting a difficult phase being trapped in the emotional whirlpool of such stressful life events. Apart from that, marital dissolution signifies that the basic institution of society is not long – standing and could be deteriorated which could then impact much more the institutions like church, education, government and others. In the case of divorce, more often than not, the impacts of its destructive nature are overlooked especially on the children. Witnessing the sufferings of my friend in the instance when the place she once called home had suddenly fallen apart, her parents did not even care about how she feels on the situation for they were so busy nagging at each other all the time because of her father’s infidelity issues. Until one day, her father moved out of their house and left her and her mother alone. This negative transformation in the family set – up had required her to adjust and cope up with the new situation. Nonetheless, how she interacts and behaves had been affected. She no longer wanted to stay at their house. She felt bad seeing intact and happy families as she had been remembering how her family once was a home. She could not concentrate at school. She kept herself busy on enjoying alcohol and cigarettes. Up until one time, she got pregnant but the father of the baby was not ready to face his responsibilities. Same as divorce, the impact of having an incomplete home with no father to look up to was faced by my friend’s child. To address this taken for granted reality of the situation faced by the family is of importance for the reason that the impacts of the family dissolution threaten not only the health of the family itself but the society as a whole, most especially the individual members of the family themselves. In order to highlight this aspect of family breakdown, socio – historical perspective is used. Based on the dictionary definition, socio – historical is described as those related to or something that involved a social history or a combination of both social and historical forces (Merriam – Webster, 2012). That is to say, the creation of knowledge, on the family as such, is shaped and grounded by the interplay of several social and historical factors. This implies that all experience is subjective in which the process of creating reality is a never – ending one. Apart from that rationale, socio – historical perspective is used for the reason that according to Hutchison (2003) and Robbins, Chatterjee and Canda (2005), all theoretical approaches are based on its specific socio – historical context. In this socio – historical analysis of the family, it can be observed how the family structure has evolved. The traditional family set – up is no longer the prevailing structure of family in the United States for the increasing concerns on divorce as well as the teenage pregnancy. This reality only serves as an indication that the family structure is an evolving one. In terms of similarities in the past, it can be perceived that the nuclear family type with father, mother and child and the belief in marriage is still practiced, and in fact, considered the standard. Although not indicated in the narrative, the gender roles in the family are still relevant. The presence of father and mother in the life of child is significant. There are roles expected from them because of their respective gender. Risman (1998) suggested that there are particular roles that husband and wife play in the household because they have fallen in a gendered – self tradition. That is why, in times of family breakdown, all involved parties are affected because their new situation is not the standard. Though indeed, family structure has gone into diversity as of present. Aside from the standard family structure, it has definitely evolved. First, it revealed the reality that marriage is not an assurance of a strong union but as a matter of fact, it can be destroyed. Sexual practices are not as strict as before. In the past, according to Malinowski (1960), it should be apparent that sex must be done and organized within the social forces of the institution of marriage. However, now, individuals are involved in pre – marital as well as extra – marital sexual intercourse. Apart from that, it is witnessed how family can fall apart through divorce or start up against the standard without the presence of father through single parenthood due to teenage pregnancy. Given this, the expected gender roles in the family are not carried out. That is because by nature, gender is dynamic (Allen and Walker, 2000; Risman, 1998). Through further application of the social – historical perspective on the family, by looking at it largely, it is the case that the family as a basic institution of the family is not stable and can be ruined. In the individual level, the family members’ behaviors are subject to change due to this certain circumstance. Suffering from family issues would lead to making them so occupied which would then result to behavioral changes in them. As a result, this could impact different institutions. The degree of impact is varied among individuals. On the one hand, the institution of the church is mainly threatened by such diversity of the family structure due to the fact that their practices of pre – marital and extra – marital sex as well as the dissolution of marriage contradict the word of religion. Education – wise, given such family set – up, children would be confuse by the teaching on family which is highly anchored on the nuclear family structure. Moreover, the government is also disturbed with such family structure transformation as it promotes order in the society. It is the case that such divorce and single parenthood are regarded as concerns for the reason that this is not the established norms of society. Transformations of this sort only indicate the disorder in society. With the attempt to maintain control and order in the society through the institution of family, the stereotypes and stigmas arise with the changes in the family structure. The powers of the different institutions, especially the church, have to condemn those deeds which contradict religion in order to make its domination legitimate. This preserves their legitimacy with the attempt to control society, hence maintaining order, in particular in the basic institution of society. Furthermore, looking at the family through the socio – historical perspective is of importance for the reason that it has enabled to provide an analysis of the family on the basis of its social and historical forces. It has revealed the social aspects that have remained and changed throughout history. Indeed, it is the case that change is inevitable. That is why Stevenson and Wolfers (2007) suggested that family is not a stable institution. However, on my own perspective, there is really nothing wrong with the transformation of the family structure. It is just a matter of how people accept the idea that such are symptoms of the weakening of the health of the family. The diversity in the family structure should be given room for acceptability so the pressure of those who does not belong to the standard would be lesser. Of course, this has pros and cons. Based on the socio – historical perspective, the process of creating reality is on – going and non – stop, accepting family structure diversity is beneficial for the health of the family because the individual members of society would not feel the burden of not belonging to the conventional family type. Despite the promoting for acceptability, I would still push for the strengthening of the standard family type. In this regard, I take into consideration the need to explore the acceptability of other family set – up that exists in the US society today. Knowing what the society feels about the said idea would determine how acceptable is the changes in the institution of family among individuals. This would help identify the barriers of the acceptability. References: Allen, Katherine R. and Alexis J. Walker. (2000). Constructing gender in families. In Robert M. Milardo and Steve Duck (Eds.), Families as relationships. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1-17. Hutchison, E. D. (2003). Dimensions of human behavior: Person and environment (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Macionis, J. and K. Plummer. (2008). Sociology: A global introduction. Essex: Pearson. Malinowski, B. (1960). Parenthood – the basis of social structure. In Roberts, R.W. The unwed mother. New York and London: Harper and Row Publishers, pp. 25 – 60. Risman, Barbara J. (1998). Gender vertigo: American families in transition, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Robbins, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. (Eds.) (2005). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon Sociohistorical. (2012). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sociohistorical Stevenson, Betsey and Wolfers, Justin (2007). Marriage and divorce: Changes and their driving forces. Journal of Economic Perspectives 21.2: 27-52. Read More