1.) In chapter two we learned why a basic understanding of family theory and research is important. The author stressed to us in the beginning of this chapter that there are three very practical reasons that show why theory and research are essential. First, what we don’t know can hurt us. Many people rely on incorrect information available on the Internet to help them make decisions about their lives, which can have a negative effect on daily life. Second, theories and research help us understand our families and ourselves. There are biological and social factors that explain why children may misbehave. Lastly, theories and research improve our ability to think more critically and make informed decisions in our own families. The chapter was then broken down into two major parts: Theoretical Perspective on families and Family Research Methods. The Theoretical Perspectives included two macro level perspectives (structural functionalism and conflict theory), three micro-macro theories (feminist, ecological, and developmental), and three micro-level theories (symbolic interactions, social exchange, and family systems). We were able to see how these different theories varied from one another as well as the advantages/disadvantages each theory offered. This chapter also discussed the six major research methods that social scientists use to answer some of the more difficult questions surrounding the family: surveys, clinical research, field research, secondary analysis, experiments, and evaluation research. The strengths and limitations of each were also covered.
2.) The one area in this chapter that really caught my attention and surprised me the most was when the author gave statistics about how many Americans use the internet to answer health related questions. It stated in the book that “An estimated 8 million go online everyday to search for health information on at least one of 17 health topics before making life-changing decisions” (pg. 30). I always knew that many people use the internet as a source to answer some of their questions, but I never knew it was as dramatic as the stats showed. This really caught my attention because I just wonder how much reliable information is truly on the Internet. I also wonder how much of this faulty information people truly listen too. Do you think that people should be allowed so freely to put information on websites for people to read?
3.) In the section The Family Development Perspective, it is said that the family life cycle consists of the transitions that a family makes as it moves through a series of stages and events. It then states that the family life cycle begins with marriage and continues through child rearing..etc. The question that I pose is lets say a family doesn’t start with marriage. Lets say a child is born to a teenage girl who doesn’t marry the child’s father. Would the developmental tasks for this child be the same as the developmental tasks of a “traditional” family child? Would this child learn to interact and handle different challenges the same as a child who has a mother and a father who are married?
Maria Nicholas
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing when I read that the cycle starts with marriage. The question you asked about whether or not a child would be able to handle different challenges the same way a child whose parent were together is a valid one. But your question is not only limited to a child that is born to a teenage mother, but also two adults who have a one night stand, decide not to get married, or better yet they get married and within a two years they have a child and get divorced (which is my case). Being that my parents have been divorced since I can remember, I would be quick to say that my behavior is no different than that of a person whose parents stayed together. I did not develop differently, in fact, I matured a lot quicker than most kids, because my mom was 20 when she had me (and around 22 when she was single) so I have always been around adults and have been "acting like a little lady" since I was able to walk and talk. I am in college just like my peers who have married parent. Grant it, it may be harder for me to get through college because I am a first generation college student and this whole thing is new to me, my parents, and my grandparents, but I am still here. I would say that the Developmental Perspective should be altered; the family life cycle should begin with the birth of a child. A child is going to have a family regardless of whether their parents are together. There may be an uncle who fills in as a father, the mother who is willing to play both roles, or better yet the father could still be in the child's life all the time (as is mine). As long as there are not any other circumstances (drugs, mental health issues, financial issues, the neighborhood in which the child is being brought up, etc.) there should be not reason for a child whose parents are not married to be any different than those whose parents are married.
-Jade Richardson
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI think that it's crazy that we had almost the same position on the "cycle" that starts with marriage. I mean in today's society divorce rates are as high as they've ever been and that's when the parents of children actually get married, which rarely happens in a lot of situations. I think that it's a really ridiculous thought process to start the family cycle at marriage and assume that children that are born to parents who aren't married are destined to be subservient to the ones that are. That section made me feel very angry, being in a family where my parents had three children before they were married and coming from an urban neighborhood where seeing single mothers was more common than seeing married parents. I am glad that someone else felt the same way that I did and felt it was important enough to discuss in their blog.
Marcus Jordan