1. Family

2. Definition
Family is defined as any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption/placement and who, together, assume responsibilities for variant combinations of some of:
physical maintenance and care of group members
addition of new members through procreation or adoption
socialization of children
social control of children
production, consumption and distribution of goods and services
affective nurturance (love)

3. Reminder (DO NOT COPY) Six Basic Functions of Families
Physical maintenance and care of family members.  Within healthy families, children, adults and seniors all receive the care and support they need:  food, shelter, clothing, protection and so on.  Where families are not available or are unable to provide these services, family members suffer and substitutes, usually inadequate ones, must be found.
Addition of new members through procreation or adoption and their relinquishment when mature.  Society renews itself through families.  For this function, there is, literally, no substitute.
Socialization of children for adult roles.  Families prepare their children for life.  Most do a fairly good job of it, teaching skills, values and attitudes that equip them to learn, work, form friendships and contribute to society.
Social control of members…the maintenance of order within the family and groups external to it.  Within families, individuals learn positive values and behaviour and receive criticism for negative ones.
Maintenance of family morale and motivation to ensure task performance both within family and in other groups.  In this regard, families provide the glue that holds society together and keeps it functioning.  Beyond providing mere social control, families, through love and spiritual leadership, inspire their members and others to keep trying.
Production and consumption of goods and services.  Families provide for their own by producing goods and services like food, home maintenance and health care.  As they strive to fulfil the needs of their members, they play a vital role in the national economy.

4. Strong Families
work for the well-being or defend the unity and continuity of their families
support each other in their families
respect each family member for his/her uniqueness and difference
spend time together to build family cohesion
delegate responsibility
allow children to make mistakes and face the consequences
the family contributes to the well-being of their neighbourhood, city, country or world
have a spiritual orientation or a spiritual dimension (which may not be the same as religiosity)

5. Parenting Styles Authoritarian Authoritative restrictive, punitive
insist the child to follow their directions and to respect work and effort
firm limits and controls on the child
little verbal exchange
associated with children's social incompetence.
Authoritative
encourages children to be independent
still places limits and controls on their actions 
Extensive verbal give-and-take
parents are warm and nurturing toward the child 
associated with children's social competence.

6. Parenting Styles - Continued
Neglectful
parent is uninvolved in the child's life
associated with children's social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control.
Indulgent
highly involved with their children
place few demands or controls on them
associated with children's social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control

7. Family Stats
Summarize reading “What is the national census data on Canadian families and children's living arrangements?”

8. Families
Many families are vulnerable to crisis and mistreatment of children.

9. Vulnerable-to-Crisis Families
Vulnerable-to-crisis families are generally adequate- caregiving families that are pushed over the edge by immediate stressful problems. 
Ex. The loss of a job
Ex. The birth of a handicapped infant
Stress can severely strain most parents' ability to cope with the normal demands and frustrations of child rearing. 
About 1/4 families are vulnerable-to-crisis. 
Once the parents learn to cope with their specific problem more effectively they are again able to provide adequate child rearing.

10. Restorable Families
Restorable families make up about half of all families. 
The caregivers have the potential to provide adequate care, but a number situations impair their parenting abilities. 
Treatment for restorable families requires a caseworker who has the time and commitment to become a family advocate, mediating and coordinating various services. 
The goal is not just child protection but family support, emotional as well as material. 
With such intense help, restorable families eventually become successful ones. 

11. Supportable Families
Supportable families make up about one-fifth of all maltreating families. 
They probably will never function adequately and independently, but with continual support they might meet their children's basic needs for physical, educational and emotional care. 
The support might be as simple as daily home visits by a nurse or housekeeper or as involved as moving the entire family to a special residence that provides on-going medical attention, day care, recreation, social work and group therapy. 

12. Inadequate Families
Inadequate families constitute nearly 10 percent of maltreating families. 
They are so impaired by deep emotional problems or serious cognitive deficiencies that the parents or other caregivers will never be able to meet the needs of their children.  For children born into these families, long-term adoption, beginning with foster care in infancy, is the best solution

13. Cultural Influence
Douglas Abbott and William Meredith compared Caucasian, African American, Mexican American, Hmong, and Native American families. 
Families were to rank various family traits that were derived from earlier studies of successful families
Most agreement across ethnic groups was among the Caucasian, African American, and Mexican American families
Hmong differed the most from all the other families
Researchers were surprised to find generally more agreement than disagreement across the various ethnic groups, although they also identified some important differences