1. Families
Chapter 8

2. The Family System 275
Reciprocal Socialization-process by which adolescents/children socialize parents
Family as a system
Subsystems
Dyadic
Triadic
Polyadic

3. The Family System
Interaction can change depending on who is present (research regarding behavior or adolescents depending on mother, father, mother/father presence).

4. The Family System

5. Parental Relations 276
Happily married parents are more sensitive, responsive, warm and affectionate toward their children and adolescents.

6. Construction of Relationships
Developmental Construction Views
As individuals grow up, they acquire modes of relating to others.
There are two main variations within this view:
one emphasizes continuity and stability in relationships throughout the life span;
the other emphasizes discontinuity and change

7. Continuity
Emphasis on early parent-child relationship in constructing a basic way of relating to people throughout life.
Laid out by early security/insecurity of parent-infant relationship in first years of life
Function as a model or template of relationships

8. Continuity Research: those with secure attachment from infancy were:
More socially competent
Confident in social situations
In possession of leadership skills

9. Discontinuity View
Emphasizes change and growth in relationships over time
Each relationship is different
Each new type of relationship creates new modes of relating

10. Discontinuity View
Adolescent-Parent relationship is different than adolescent-peer relationship
Adolescent-Parent---unilateral authority
Adolescent-Peer---more equal (egalitarian), democratic

11. Question
What changes do you predict will take place in the family in the 21st century?

12. Parents as Managers Parents should Function to help children: Monitor
Find information
Makes contacts
Help structure choices
Provides guidance
Establish routines
Monitor
Social settings
Activities
Friends
Academic efforts

13. Parents as Managers
Family management practices are positively related to
Students grades
Self-responsibility
And negatively to school-related problems.

14. Parenting Styles Baumrind (1971, 1991)
Authoritarian-restrictive, punitive (children are socially incompetent, anxious about social comparison, fail to initiate activity and have poor communication skills)
Authoritative-encourages adolescents to be independent but still places limits and controls on their actions. Verbal give and take, parents are warm and nurturing (children are self-reliant and socially responsible)
Neglectful-uninvolved (lack of self control, do not handle independence well)
Indulgent-parents are highly involved but place few demands or controls (no self control and always expect their way)

15. Parenting Styles

16. Parenting Further Thoughts on Parenting Styles
Parenting styles do not capture the important themes of reciprocal socialization and synchrony (Collins & Steinberg, 2006).
Many parents use a combination of techniques rather than a single technique, although one technique may be dominant.
Some critics argue that the concept of parenting style is too broad and that more research needs to be conducted to “unpack” parenting styles by studying various components that comprise the styles (Maccoby, 2007; Vazsonyi, Hibbert, & Snider, 2004).

17. Parenting Gender, Parenting, and Co-parenting
A dramatic increase in research on co-parenting has occurred in the last two decades (Maccoby, 2007).
Conditions that place children and adolescents at developmental risk (McHale & others, 2002):
poor coordination
active undermining and disparagement of the other parent
lack of cooperation and warmth
disconnection by one parenting partner

18. Parenting Gender, Parenting, and Co-parenting
Conditions that show clear ties to children’s and adolescents’ prosocial behavior and competence in peer relations (McHale & others, 2002):
Parental solidarity
Cooperation
Warmth

19. Parent-Adolescent Conflict
Conflict results from:
Maturation
Biological changes
Cognitive changes increased idealism and logical reasoning
Social changes focused on independence and identify
Changes in parents in middle adulthood

20. ADOLESCENTS’ AND EMERGING ADULTS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Parent-Adolescent Conflict
For the most part, the generation gap is a stereotype.
Most adolescents and their parents have similar beliefs about the value of hard work, achievement, and career aspirations (Gecas & Seff, 1990).
Most adolescents and their parents often have similar religious and political beliefs.
Early adolescence is a time when parent-adolescent conflict escalates beyond parent-child conflict (Allison & Schultz, 2004; Collins & Steinberg, 2006; Montemayor, 1982; Weng & Montemayor, 1997).
About 20 percent of families, parents and adolescents engage in prolonged, intense, repeated, unhealthy conflict (Montemayor, 1982).

21. ADOLESCENTS’ AND EMERGING ADULTS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Parent-Adolescent Conflict
About 20 percent of families, 4 to 5 million American families, encounter serious, highly stressful parent-adolescent conflict.
This prolonged, intense conflict is associated with a number of adolescent problems:
moving away from home
juvenile delinquency
school dropout rates
pregnancy and early marriage
membership in religious cults
drug abuse (Brook & others, 1990).

22. ADOLESCENTS’ AND EMERGING ADULTS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Autonomy
The term autonomy generally connotes self-direction and independence.
Emotional autonomy
The capacity to relinquish child-like dependencies on parents.
Gender and Culture
Boys usually given more independence than girls.

23. ADOLESCENTS’ AND EMERGING ADULTS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Adolescent Runaways
Unhappy at home
Gradual process
Susceptible to drug abuse
Attachment and Connectedness
Secure attachment
Infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment.
An important foundation for psychological development later in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Insecure attachment
Infants either avoid the caregiver or show considerable resistance or ambivalence toward the caregiver.
Related to difficulties in relationships and problems in later development.

24. ADOLESCENTS’ AND EMERGING ADULTS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Individuals are classified as secure-autonomous or as being in one of three insecure categories:
Dismissing/avoidant attachment
Individuals deemphasize the importance of attachment
Associated with rejection by caregivers
Preoccupied/ambivalent attachment
Hypertuned to attachment experiences
May occur because parents are inconsistently available
Unresolved/disorganized attachment
Unusually high level of fear
Disoriented
Can result from traumatic experiences such as abuse or parent’s death

25. Sibling Roles Sibling Roles
Approximately 80 percent of American adolescents have one or more siblings—that is, sisters and brothers (Dunn, 2007).
Three important characteristics of sibling relationships:
Emotional quality of the relationship
Familiarity and intimacy of the relationship
Variation in sibling relationships

26. Sibling Roles
65 percent of mothers and 70 percent of fathers show favoritism toward one sibling.
Linked to lower self esteem and sadness

27. Birth Order
Birth Order
Firstborns have been described as:
More adult oriented
Helpful, conforming
Anxious
Self-controlled
Less aggressive than their siblings.
Birth order also plays a role in siblings’ relationships with each other (Vandell, Minnett, & Santrock, 1987).
First born can also be anxious, guilt ridden, have difficulty in coping with stressful situations.

28. Birth Order Birth Order What are later-borns like?
Characterizing later-borns is difficult because they can occupy so many different sibling positions.
Overall, later-borns usually enjoy better relations with peers than firstborns
Last-borns run the risk of becoming overly dependent.
Middle-borns tend to be more diplomatic, often performing the role of negotiator in times of dispute (Sutton-Smith, 1982).

29. Divorced Families Divorced Families
Changed dramatically in the U. S. and many countries around the world in the late 20th century (Amato & Irving, 2006).
Adolescents’ Adjustment in Divorced Families
Show poorer adjustment than their counterparts in non-divorced families (Amato, 2006; Hetherington, 2005, 2006)
25 percent show emotional problems

30. Divorced Families Adolescents’ Adjustment in Divorced Families
Those who experienced multiple divorces are at greater risk to have:
Academic problems and /or drop out of school
Externalized problems-acting out
Internalized problems-anxiety, depression
Less-competent intimate relationships
Become sexually active at an earlier age
Drug related problems
Associate with antisocial peers
Lower self-esteem (Conger & Chao, 1996; Hetherington, 2005; Hetherington & Kelly, 2002).

31. Divorced Families
Fig. 8.5

32. Divorced Families Most kids of divorced parents turn out fine
Should Parents Stay Together for the Sake of the Children and Adolescents?
The most commonly asked question about divorce (Hetherington, 2005, 2006).
Unhappy marriage can be harmful to well-being of children.
Diminished resources can be harmful to children.
Marital conflict may have negative consequences for children and adolescents in the context of marriage or divorce (McDonald & Grych, 2006).

33. Divorced Families
What Factors Are Involved in the Adolescent’s Individual Risk Vulnerability in a Divorced Family?
The age of onset of the divorce
Adolescent’s adjustment prior to the divorce
Personality and temperament
Developmental status
Gender
Custody
Relocation

34. Divorced Families
What Role Does Socioeconomic Status Play in the Lives of Adolescents in Divorced Families?
The income decrease for divorced mothers is typically accompanied by increased workloads, high rates of job instability, and residential moves to less desirable neighborhoods with inferior schools (Sayer, 2006).

35. THE CHANGING FAMILY IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
Stepfamilies
Not only are parents divorcing more, they are also getting remarried more (Stewart, 2006).
The number of remarriages involving children has grown steadily in recent years.
Stepfamily structure:
Stepfather
Stepmother
Blended or complex

36. THE CHANGING FAMILY IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
Types of Stepfamilies
Bray, Berger, & Boethel (1999) found that over time stepfamilies often fall into three types:
Neo-traditional
Matriarchal
Romantic
Adjustment
Adolescents in stepfamilies have more adjustment problems than their counterparts in non-divorced families (Hetherington, 2006).

37. Adoption
Researchers have found that adopted children and adolescents often show more psychological and school-related problems than non-adopted children (Brodzinsky & others, 1984).

38. THE CHANGING FAMILY IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
Gay Male and Lesbian Parents
Another aspect of the changing family in a changing society focuses on adolescents raised by gay male and lesbian parents (Patterson, 2006).
An important aspect of gay male and lesbian families with adolescents is the sexual identity of parents at the time of a child’s birth or adoption (Patterson, 2002).
Researchers have found few differences in children and adolescents growing up with gay fathers and lesbian mothers (Patterson, 2006; Patterson & Hastings, 2007).

39. SOCIAL POLICY, ADOLESCENTS, AND FAMILIES
Parents play very important roles in adolescent development.
Competent adolescent development is most likely to happen when adolescents have parents who:
show them warmth and respect
demonstrate sustained interest in their lives
recognize and adapt to their changing cognitive and socio-emotional development
communicate expectations for high standards of conduct and achievement
display authoritative, constructive ways of dealing with problems and conflict.