FAMILY THEORY (AND FRAMEWORKS)

Pertemuan 4

Trends in marriage and family

• Fewer mariages • Later age of marriages• Fewer children • More divorce• More single parent • Step families• Working mother• Child-spouse abuse • Less connection to kin-network• Long distance family

Divorce and Unhappy Marriages

• Enter marriage with unrealistic expectations • Marrying wrong person for the wrong reason • Marriage is challenging relationship • Having little effort to develop relationship

skills

Family system theory

• Everything that happens to any family member has an impact on eveyone else in the family

• Family member are interconnected and operate as a group

• Cohession : balance separateness and connectedness: – Centrifugal interaction – Centripetal interactions

• Flexibility balancing stability and change – Morphogenic – Morphostatic

Suprasystem

Subsystem

boundary

Family Strength Framework

• Focused on how couples and families success, strength rather than weakness

• Qualities: – Commitment – Positive communication – Spiritual wellbeing – Appreciation and affection – Enjoyable time together – Ability to cope with stress

The Family Development Framework

• Describing and explaining the process of change in couples and families

• How families deal with various taks and roles

Stage of Family Life Cycle Position in the Family Family Development

Married couple Wife

Husband

Establishing a mutually satisfying marriage Adjusting to pregnancy, fitting into kin network

Childbearing Wife / Mother Having and adjusting to an infant Establishing a satisfying home for parents and infant

Preschool Wife Husband Daughter Son

Adapting to the needs of preschool childrenCoping with energy depletion and lack of privacy as parents

School Wife Husband Daughter Son

Fitting into the community Encouraging children’s educational achievemnts

Stage of Family Life Cycle Position in the Family Family Development

Teenage Wife Husband Daughter Son

Balancing freedom with responsibility Establishing postparental interest

Launching Wife Husband Daughter Son

Launching youth into adlthoodMaintaining a supportive homebase

Middle-aged parents Wife/mother/grandma Husband/father/granpa

Refocusing on marriage relationship Maintaining kin ties with older and younger generation

The Symbolic Interaction

• Focused on symbols which are based on shared meaning and interaction, verbal and non verbal communication

• Shared meaning helps family member to understand each other

• Looking glass of self : – you learn about yourself based on the feedback

you receive from others who are reacting to your behavior

Family Dynamic

Communication

Cohession

Flexibility

Extreme togetherness Poem

• We do everything together • I am here to meet your needs and

expectations• And you are here to meet mine • We had to meet and it was beautiful • I can’t imagine it turning out any other way