FAMILY STRUCTURES

AND LEGACIES
What is Family Structure?
■ According to Merriam Webster
Dictionary family is “a group of
individuals living under one roof
and usually under one head”.
■ From a sociological point of view,
Filipino sociologist Belen T. G.
Medina, PhD (Medina 2001),
defined family as “two or more
persons who share resources,
share responsibility for decisions,
share values and goals, and have
a commitment to each other over
time.”
 Variations of
Family Structures
1. Nuclear or Traditional Family
■ The nuclear or traditional family is
comprised of a father, a mother,
and their child/children.
2. Single-Parent Family
■ The single parent family consists
of one parent raising one or more
children on his own.
3. Extended family
■ The extended family is a family
that extends beyond the nuclear
family, including grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and other relatives,
who all live nearby or in one
household.
4. Childless Family
■ The childless family is sometimes
the "forgotten family”, consist of a
husband and wife who either
cannot or choose not to have
children.
5. Interracial Family
■ The interracial family is also
comprised of a father, a mother,
and their child/children but the
difference is that the parents
came from two different cultural
backgrounds.
6. Adoptive Family
■ An adoptive family is a family that
contains at least one adopted
child.
7. Same-sex Family
■ A Rainbow Family is a same-sex
or LGBTIQ parented family. We
define a Rainbow Family as: any
lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender or intersex person
who has a child or children; or is
planning on having a child or
children by way of donor
insemination (known or unknown),
surrogacy (altruistic or
commercial), foster care, foster to
adoption, adoption (domestic or
international), opposite sex
relationship, co-parenting or other
means.
Baumrind’s Parenting Style Model
Diana Blumberg Baumrind was a clinical and
developmental psychologist known for her research
on parenting styles and for her critique of the use of
deception in psychological research.According to
Diana Baumrind, there are four parenting styles that
influence children’s development based on two
aspects of parenting behavior: control and warmth.
Parental Control refers to how parents manage their
children’s behavior which may range from overly-
demanding to giving hardly any rules or demands.
Parental Warmth refers to whether parents are
accepting and responsive or rejecting and
unresponsive to their children.
Authoritarian
■ Authoritarian parents express little affection and warmth to
their children. They are strict disciplinarians who are
punitive and rigid with their rules. They believe that
children “should” follow these rules without questioning.
They discourage their children to express disagreements
with these rules (Feldman, 2009). According to research,
children with authoritarian parents are more likely to
become rebellious or dependent. Adolescents with
aggressive behavior tend to become rebellious while the
submissive ones become dependent (Kopko, 20017).
They also become unsociable, unfriendly, and in some
cases withdrawn (Feldman, 2009).
Permissive
■ Permissive parents are warm; however, they set no
clear rules for their children. Thus, when they reach
adolescence, they realize that there are no clear
boundaries and there will be no consequences for
their actions. As a result, adolescents may have
problems with their future relationships. Permissive
parents are also undemanding, passive, and they
believe that love means giving in to the whims of
their children. They think that children can make
decisions without their guidance, thus they are not
active participants in their children’s development.
Adolescents with permissive parents become
moody, immature, dependent and has low self-
control (kopko, 2007).
Authoritative
■ Authoritative parents are firm and warm and set
limits with their children. They explain and
reason to their children which help clarify the
rules with them. They actively listen to their
children, allow questions from them and entertain
ideas from them. Healthy discussions between
them and the children are important but they still
take responsibility (Kopko, 2007). They also set
clear goals and encourage their children to be
independent and to learn to engage in
discussions and negotiations (Feldman, 2009).
Research shows that children with authoritative
parents become competent, cooperative,
likeable, and autonomous.
Uninvolved/Neglectful
■ Uninvolved parents express little interest in their
children. They do not put demands on their
children and they only see themselves as
providers of clothing, food, and shelter. They are
emotionally detached, minimizing their interaction
time and at some point, are guilty of neglect.
They do not show concern with their children’s
needs and do not have knowledge about what is
going on with them. They are more concerned
with their own needs than that of their children
and may be considered self-centered. Research
shows that children of uninvolved parents
develop impulsive behaviors with self-regulation
issues. They also become detached, feel
unloved, and their development can be hindered
by lack of care (Kopko, 2007).
What is GENOGRAM?

■ A genogram is a graphical map of

a family's history that traces and
illustrates patterns in its structure
and characteristics using special
symbols to describe relationships,
major events, diseases, traditions,
social and personal beliefs and
rituals, cultural heritage, religious
beliefs, value systems,
philosophies about life, and the
dynamics of a family over several
generations.
Ways of Improving Family
Relationships
1. Communicate

■ It is important component in any

relationship. Talking with each
other whether about trivial things
or serious decisions, can help
improve relationships. Sharing
what happened during the day,
what food they ate, what they
learned at school, etc.
Adolescents can also become
involved even in solving problems,
so all members will know that they
are part of the family and their
ideas are respected.
2. Learn to appriciate

■ It cannot be denied that the need

to be appreciated is fundamental
to all When family members are
appreciated, their self-esteem is
enhanced. appreciation also
promotes healthier relationship
because it establish a more
positive home environment.
Appreciation is enhanced by
hugs, kisses and thoughtful
actions like simple "thank you"
notes.
3. Share activities

■ No matter how busy family

members are, it is important to
schedule a shared activity like
watching movies, hiking, bowling,
or even as simole as sharing a
meal together. These enhance
cohesiveness in the family and
fosters a sense of belonging.
4. Be committed

■ The well-being of the family is

considered to be the top priority.
Members are committed and loyal
to the values and rules implicitly or
explicitly set by them to keep the
family together.
5. Show support to each other

■ These will be times that families

will experience difficulties,
challenging the cohesion of the
group. However, if members are
able to extend suppory to each
other, chances are that they will
be able to overcome the
problems.
6. Accept each member as he/she is

■ Being part of a group and

maintaning the relationship can be
a difficult task but learning and
understanding the differences
between each member can be
foster a healthy connection.
Family Constellation
■ Alfred Adler's theory is Family
Constellation. We hear of the
"middle-child syndrome" of one
child being "spoiled" and "lacking
independence" because he or she
is the youngest; or of the eldest
being "bossy" and "independent".
This type of thinking is attributed
to Adler. He believed that birth
order, the gender of siblings, and
the age span in between is partly
responsible for the formation of a
person's personality traits.
■ Firstborn children usually have
high feelings of power and
superiority (which is why they
yend to be bossu), have high
anxiety (to set the standards high
or to please parents), and have
overprotective tendencies (being
and ate or kuya). They can
become leaders and managers if
they grow up with helpful social
values, or they could assume
dominant styles that lead to social
discomforts and or work-related
problems later.
■ Second-born children usually
develop their personalities base
on the older child's attitude
towards them. They are likely to
have moderate competitiveness,
and have a healthy desire to
overtake or be better than the
older child. Middle children can
turn out to be more adaptable
having to adjust to both the elder
siblings and the younger ones; or
turn out with strong needs to
belong and accepted from a past
where one was neither part of the
elderly grouo of siblings, or the
younger ones.
■ Young children are ofteb the
most spoiled and pampered
having been lavished woth much
attention in their growing uo years.
While they can become more
confident in the process, it is also
possible that having been long
induldged and overprotected, they
may develop "strong feelings of
inferiority" and may "lack a sense
of independence".
■ Only child lives in an adult world
and competes against his/her
mother or father. He/she may
think of him/herself in an inflated
manner and develip an
exaggerated sense of superiority.
He/she lacks cooperation, has a
parasitic attitude, and expects
others to pamper him/her (Fiest et
al., 2013).
THANKYOU!