© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Diversity and Diversity in Family Structure: Family Strengths & Challenges Chapter 2

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Key Terms Cultural Identity: shared beliefs, values, and attitudes of a group of people Ethnic Identity: geographic origin of a minority group within a country or culture Cultural Group: set of people who embrace core beliefs, behaviors, values, and norms Ethnocentrism: the assumption that one’s own culture is the standard by which to judge other cultures

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. India The majority of Indians live in small villages. Village life is simple and filled with hard work. A rural Indian village may have as many as 200 stone, brick or mud homes built close together. A family traditionally consists of a mother, father, children, married children, uncles, aunts and grandparents who live in the same village. Women’s work in the home. Men’s work hunting and gathering. Girls help mother. Boys help father.

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Israel Kibbutz is a Hebrew word that means group. In Israel, a kibbutz is a group of families that lives and works together. There are over 300 kibbutz communities in Israel. three percent of Israeli families live this way. Kibbutz families live in their own small houses on the kibbutz grounds. The children go to kibbutz school Each evening and weekend, kibbutz families spend their time together in their own homes in the the kibbutz’s recreational facilities

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Brazil In Brazil, many men have jobs as truckers and have to travel a good part of each week. Because many fathers are absent, families usually choose to live close to their relatives. When the men return from their week-long journeys, families spend the weekend relaxing together. The extended family plays a key role.

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. China Common Chinese family is the father, mother, one child and at least one grandparent. Grandparents are highly valued members of family. Grandfather is considered the family head. Parents work 6 days a week. Grandparents care for children.

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Russia In most Russian families the father and mother work outside the home. Many women hold important jobs such as doctors and engineers. Grandparents move in with children. Grandparents often do cooking, cleaning, child care.

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Family of Origin Genograms y-relationships/ y-relationships/ ional-relationships/ ional-relationships/ l-relationships/ l-relationships/

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Understanding “Race” “Race” is a common, but problematic term: Socially constructed As a scientific term it is without justification Skin color exists on a continuum “Race is the least reliable information you can have about someone. It’s real information but it tells you next to nothing” ~Toni Morrison

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cultural Competence Increasing population in diverse cultures creates need for cultural competence Awareness Knowledge Skills

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Kinship Relationships Across Cultures Kinship: relatedness of individuals within a group Nuclear family: smallest kinship unit, consisting of parents and dependent children Conjugal family system: emphasis on relationships formed through marriage Consanguineal family system: emphasis on blood relationships

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Kinship Relationships Across Cultures: Family Lineage Matrilineal societies Lines of descent traced through females Patrilineal societies Lines of descent traced through males Bilateral societies Lines of descent traced through males and females: “family tree” approach

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Family Strengths and Challenges Across Ethnic Groups Matriarchy Females are dominant and exercise authority within kinship groups Patriarchy Males are dominant and exercise authority within kinship groups Egalitarian Authority and power shared between the genders

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Family Strengths and Challenges Across Ethnic Groups cont. Family Cohesion Emotional closeness a person feels to other family members Family Flexibility Ability to change and adapt when necessary Family Communication The sharing of information, ideas and feelings with each other

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociocultural Context and Family System Characteristics

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strengths & Challenges of White Families

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strengths and Challenges of African American Families

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strengths and Challenges of Latino Families

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strengths and Challenges of Native American Families

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strengths and Challenges of Asian American Families

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociocultural Characteristics To Consider in Studying Families Extended Family System Relatives, kin, and other family members Social System Economic, educational, and other resources Belief System Family’s spiritual beliefs and values

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cross-Cultural Family Studies Focuses on how cultural contexts influence family related issues such as… Values Behaviors Courtship patterns Weddings Parent-child interactions

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cross-Cultural Family Studies cont. Ethnocentrism Assumption that one’s own culture is the standard “Perspective” Etic: viewing a society’s characteristics in isolation Exaggerates differences between cultures Emic: viewing a society’s characteristics from the inside Finds similarities between cultures

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Challenges for Ethnic Families Acculturation: the intermeshing of cultural traits and values with those of the dominant culture Assimilation: adopting the cultural traits and values of the dominant culture Segregation: process in which an ethnic group isolates itself or is isolated within a dominant culture

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Challenges for Ethnic Families cont. Marriage outside the Group White husbands least likely to marry outside their ethnic group American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts most likely to marry outside their ethnic group Relationship challenges between Parents and children Men and women