Defining Family Essay - 1920 Words

Determining family structure and dynamics as well as defining the family is a complex process. Personally, I come from a very traditional family. Much like the assumptions made by the students in the article Defining Family: Young Adults’ Perceptions of the Parent-Child Bond by Mellisa Holtzman (2008). This is what comes to mind when most people define family; a nuclear family, with married parents, and biological children. However, a family is a complex system and can take on many different forms. Today, in a world of the â€Å"postmodern family† the traditional lines of family structure are blurred. Children may come from diverse types of homes, or a couple, married or not may choose to have no children and consider†¦show more content†¦Living with extended family members has also been publicized lately in relation to the poor economy. Young adults who typically lived on their own after college are moving back in with their parents, older adults on fix ed incomes that do not go as far as they once did are living with their children. This is a definite shift in the traditional family. Having graduated and moved out on my own prior to the economic decline I have learned to live with less, but having known that was coming I would have considered living at home longer. My siblings have or are planning on moving back in with our parents after college graduation to get ahead money-wise. This is a stressor on not only the individuals as a lack of feelings of freedom, but also an adaptation by the family as a whole that was unplanned years ago. It is my belief that recognizing any family structure or definition is important, as the traditional version may be skewed in so many ways, without knowing or recognizing the â€Å"family† that people we run across may come from. We can also learn from other family definitions to build upon our own themes, rules, and beliefs. Adding stigma and prejudice toward families different from our own not only alienate the members, but can add unnecessary stress upon that family system. Stress in any family system can be seen as either an adaptation potential or a negative force. Many effects on theShow MoreRelatedDefining Family : My Family1453 Words   |  6 PagesDefining Family My family consist of three people that live in my household. My mother, Janette who is 43 years old African American woman. She has a high school diploma and took some classes at Joliet Junior College, but she drop out because she couldn’t handle it. She works at a warehouse whom she is the team leader and since her income is what supports this family it would put my family in the lower income bracket. My older brother, Dionte who is 26 years old African American man. He has a highRead MoreDefining Family and a Personal Reflection572 Words   |  3 Pagesexplaining how I define family. I will also include my immediate and extended family. I will also describe what family means to me, how mine differs from other families in my neighborhood, and also how they are similar. I will also describe my family’s ethnicity and how it may affect any of my family’s health. To me, family is a group of people that are brought together by blood, adoption, or marriage. I also believe that people do not have to be blood-related to be considered a family. If two or moreRead MoreThe Difficulties in Defining the Family Essay632 Words   |  3 PagesThe Difficulties in Defining the Family The Oxford Dictionary gives the meaning of family as parents and their children, sometimes including grandchildren and other relations. Murdocks definition of the family is: The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. 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This is ironic because JayRead MoreIssues and Adversities Faced by the Homeless Population in America1060 Words   |  4 PagesHomeless families compose a fraction of the homeless population as they â€Å"represent roughly a third of the homeless population in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010), and approximately 1.5 million children—1 in 50 youngsters—are homeless each year in the United States† (p. 389). These homeless families often struggle to find permanent residency as a collective unit. There are several types of housing situations available for homeless families such as temporaryRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Walter Younger From The Classic Play A Raisin Of The Sun 1108 Words   |  5 Pagesto be. The story shares the life of a family living in Chicago in a small apartment. It highlights mainly the financial issues the family faces which puts Walter in a bind. He faces obstacles and his actions determines his manhood but he tends to always fall short. The story highlights Walter transitioning into manhood through all the obstacles he faces. Many readers overlook the mother and ignore how she is the true leader and the foundation of the family. Some might say that the story shows WalterRead MoreFamily and Kinship (Sociology)772 Words   |  4 PagesPresented by, Shailendra Kumar Nitish Singh Amit Dogra FAMILY AND KINSHIP What family means†¦ The family forms the basic unit of social organization and it is difficult to imagine how human society could function without it. The family has been seen as a universal social institution an inevitable part of human society. FAMILY Defining â€Å"FAMILY† Various sociologists â€Å"family† in various ways: ïÆ'Ëœ G.P Murdock defines the family as a social group characterized by common residence, economicRead MoreBiography Of Ashoke Ganguli s Novel, The Namesake, By Jhumpa Lahiri1725 Words   |  7 Pagesbecomes a new man after miraculously surviving a train accident on his way to visit his recently blinded grandfather, who was awaiting for his grandchild to give him more books, his getaways from the real world. Moreover, the train accident became the defining moment of Ashoke Ganguli as his love for fiction books became nothing more than a former hobby. The train accident stirred the callow man’s dormant dreams, as he realized that his life is not secured. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake, Ashoke