David K Chapter 3

Chapter 3 blog: Family in the Historical Perspective
Summary: I believe the title of this chapter pretty much sums up exactly what it is about, the history of the family and where certain families originated from. This goes from families who came across the ocean to be in America, Native American tribal families who were here before us, and even families who were enslaved. More or less the stages of the family in history that the chapter describes are the colonial family, early American families from non-European cultures (Mexican and African/Native American families, industrialization and European Immigration, families in the Great Depression, golden 50’s and 60’s. In describing these families the chapter goes into how each one would work as well as functions of certain rituals and practices between spouses. For example in some Native American tribes to divorce the wife would simply put the husband’s belongings outside of the tent and he would get the message and move on. This is opposed to the colonial family who almost could never divorce within the court of law. The chapter also talks about how certain external factors in society—such as the great depression, immigration, etc—would impact the families of that time period.

What I learned: Within this chapter I learned to be aware of where we are at now in society. What I mean to say is that within looking at each individual time period and certain stresses families had I feel as if I have any stress within my family that it does not mean it is dysfunctional but is more normal within the context of our time period. Each family has different stressors which can be extremely contingent upon the location, time period, etc. that one’s family is currently in.

What could’ve been explained better: In looking at all of these past family structures and how they shaped, I wish that the end of this chapter had some projections as to what the family will be like in 10, 20, or even 50 years from now compared to families one hundred years ago and how they were formed/impacted by their time.