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100 Cards in this Set

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Family development theory
Changes in families ever time

Explains the development of families through understanding family stages

Essentially concerned with changes over time
What is important about the family stages when explaining the family development theory?
How these stages are influenced by individual family members and social norms

Families transition through stages which are marked by events which involve qualitatively different role than the preceding or following stages
What are the stages of the family development theory predicated on?
The normative sequence and timing of family stages is predicated on the norms established by societal institutions
What are the 6 key constructs of the family
development theory?
Family stages

Transition events

Timing norms

Sequencing norms

Roles

Positions
Family stage
A qualitative period in the light of a family with own unique group structure

Qualitatively different than the previous and
following stages
Give an example of a family stage.
Parenthood

Marked by different roles and expectations for behavior than when partners are couples
without children, and when the child leaves the home
Transition events
Discrete events separating points between
family stages
Give an example of a transition event.
A marriage ceremony

Would mark the transition from a dating to


unmarried family
Marriage
Often associated with role shifts husbands and wives that were similar of girlfriends and boyfriends
Timing norm
A processual norm for when an event or stages to be experienced by an individual, relationship, or family group

Generally measured by comparing the age and the stage expectations and behavior for the
individual, relationship, and family to establish whether the unit is 'on time' or 'off time'
Giving an example of a timing norm.
The marriage age

The average age at marriage has increased so that men and women are getting married in their mid – late 20s

Give an example of a timing norm that is 'off time'.
Individuals get married in their teens or early 20s
Sequencing norm
A processual the warmth for the order in which infants and sages are to be experienced by an individual, relationship, or family

Measured by the conformity or deviance for a sequence of events or stages from the modal
sequence
Give an example of a sequencing norm.
Divorce should precede the initiation of new
relationships

Individuals who initiate relationships with new partners before they are forced to their current partner are deviating from the sequencing norms
Position
A location or a point in a social structure
An example of frequently utilized positions in this theory and involve positions in kinship
structure.
Father

Mother




Sister




Brother




Child
Role
All the norms attached to a specific position
Give examples of a role.

.
All the norms that are attached to the position of father create the role of the father

Including providing for the family
What is one of the key assumptions of the family developmental theory?
Time is multi- dimensional
What do say White and Klein (2008) note about time being multi-dimensional in the perspective of the family development theory? Why?
Time should be called social process time
because "social norms are tied more closely to this social process dimension of time and to
calendar or wristwatch time"

Our measures of time rely on discrete events
Give examples of the discrete events that White and Klein (2008) refer to.
Births

Weddings

Deaths
According to White and Klein (2008), what should we be careful not to assume?
Time is continuous or even experience at a
uniform rate
According to White and Klein (2008), what is the important key assumption about
developmental processes? What is this
assumption suggest?
They are inevitable and important in
understanding families

Families are incapable of remaining static and that accompanied with their development is the redefinition of roles and expectations for
behavior in and roles in the family
According to White and Klein (2008), how is one to understand behavior in and role in families?
They must understand the processes and
mechanisms through which family development occurs
Describe society from the family developmental perspective.
Viewed as in one setting in which norms and roles are created and maintained
What the results from deviating from the
sequencing and timing of the norms?
Sanctions
What is the result of deviations by large number of families?
Shifting societal norms
Give an example of society from a family
developmental perspective in which deviations by a large number of families resolved and
shifting societal norms.
The increasing rates of cohabitation
What happens cohabitation becomes more common?
It may become a normative stage to cohabit with a partner before marriage
In the example of cohabitation, what does
society influence and what is influenced by
society?
Family development
What is one of the major limitations of the family development theory?
The ambiguity surrounding the family stages

Only some stages are marked by specific events

Other stages are not so clearly defined
What did White and Klein (2008) note about transitions between stages?
They are a more realistically gradual and
continuous process rather than the discrete jumps between stages
What is another major limitation of the family development theory?
Using observed behavior to infer norms
What is Marini (1984) suggest?
Adoption or sanctions for norms and family
cannot be measured
What type of norms is the exception to Marini's suggestion?
Institutional norms
What did White and Klein (2008) note in
reference to institutional norms?
Researchers must explicitly and empirically

test institutional norms to provide support of their infants because a "cause can (not) be


inferred from it's presumed effect"
Family stress theory
Entails examining how families adapt and
respond to life stressors
Stressors
Have the potential to become crises for families depending on the resources and families'
perceptions of them

"A real life event... And acting upon the family unit which produces, or has the potential of
producing, change in the family social system"

Occurrences that affect the family

Can impact families through the assession, dismemberment, loss of family morale, and unity, for change structure for morale
What are the 3 different types of stressors?
Normative

Non-Normative




Hardships
What do the stressors the potential to do?
To become family crises
Give examples of stressors.
The adoption or birth of a child or the death of a parent, spouse, or child.
Resources
Families' ability to prevent a stressor from
becoming a crisis

Enhances the family's ability to cope with
stressors through adaptability and familial
integration
What appear to be strong resources?
Familial support



Cohesion




Strong finances
What can a family's perception of the stressor
involve?
Being a stressor as insurmountable for another of life's challenges to be faced and preserved
According to McCubbin and Patterson (1983), what is there perception of a stressor?
Subjective meaning reflect(ing) the family's values and previous experience in dealing with change and meeting crises
Give an example of the perception of a stressor. What does this suggest?
A woman who thinks her life is over after the death of her spouse

This woman sees this stressor as a life crisis
because she does not believe she can overcome the loss of her husband
Crisis
Continuous variables noting the amount of
disruptive, disorganization, for incapacitation in a family social system



Occurs as the a result of an imbalance in the family's ability to utilize their resources and cope with the stressors or transitions
According to McCubbin and Patterson (1983), what are the stages of adjustment and
adaptation?
They are seen as "processes which families use to achieve stability in the face of stressful
normative and nonnormative life and then
transitions"
Adjustment
The phase families go through in response to the presence of the stressor
Adaptation
A post crisis balancing process
Give an example of family adjustment.
A family dealing with the economic hardship
resulting from the parent losing a job
Give examples of adjustments.
Make money by not spending on some
superfluous items
How do McCubbin and Patterson (1983), define adaptation?

"The outcome of family efforts to achieve a new level of balance after family crisis" in which there is a continuum of adaptation ranging from


bonaadaption to maladaptation
Give an example of adaption according to
McCubbin and Patterson (1983).
A divorced family were that to parenting children across 2 households
What is another main assumption concerning the family stress theory?
Perception plays a role in how stressors and
resources are viewed and handled by families
What is emphasized from this perspective? Why?
The subjective nature of stressors and resources

the family's perception rather than is observed hardship, potential to some families facing the stressors Eugene is a price where as other adults and do not allow the same situation to become a crisis
What is one of the ways in which society is viewed from the family stress perspective?
As a mechanism through which to manage stress



In some instances, society and this theory may offer guidelines about ways to handle


stressors and hardships and help families cope by attempting to normalize the


transitions




In other instances, there could be ambiguity in communities which could negatively impact family adjustment to crises
What is the first main limitation in the family stress theory?
It doesn't provide distinctions between
maladaptive and bonadaptive strategies for managing crises

Designing adaptive responses as either
positive or negative seems to carry somewhat of a value judgment by the researcher which has the potential for negating or devaluing
potential cultural differences and adaptive
responses
What is the second main limitation in the family stress theory?
It is unable to deal with family life outside of crises and stressor events

Can only a very small part of family behavior
What does the social conflict theory do that the family stress theory does not?
Suggests families are in the of conflict
What is the family systems theory concerned with?
How families are organized into systems and subsystems


Involves how each part of a system is connected to other parts, and to the system as a whole, and how the system is related to the surrounding


environment
How is the family systems theory described?
A dynamic view of families in which interacting individuals has part of a larger system
Viewing families as systems
A heuristic for the processes through which family interaction occurs

Families are not real systems
According to the family systems theory, what is within the larger system?
Subsystems with boundary designating the flow of information and energy between and among subsystems, the larger system, and the
environment
What type of process to the families employ

according to the family systems theory? What does this process do?
Homeostatic processes that utilize feedback and control to maintain a state of equilibrium
What are the 6 constructs of the family systems theory?
Systems


Subsystems




Boundaries




Equilibrium




Homeostasis
System
A unit that can be distinguished from and that its' environment
What does Steinglass (1987), say about systems?
He emphasized the notion of consistency in the definition of system by saying that systems are characterized by a series of elements arranged in some consistent and enduring relationship with each other
Family membership definitions
Ambiguous


All the members and relationship and a family
Subsystems
Levels within the system
What does White and Klein (2008) say about
subsystems?
They are analyzed separately as to exchanges with system and subsystems
What are some examples of family subsystems?
Sibling relationships


Marital dyads




PC dyads
Boundaries
Element of systems that characterize the flow of information and energy between the
environment and the system and between and among subsystems

They have a degree of permeability

Signifies the extent to which information for energy is shared with other system,
subsystem, or the environment
Permeability
Can be open, closed, or somewhere in the
middle
Give an example of a boundary which is more closed and less permeable.
Parents refusing to involve their children in
marital issues or conflict
Feedback
Another central concept in the family systems theory


Essentially, the system monitors the progression toward the goal




Can make deviation from the goal more or less likely




Often referred to as constant or deviation amplifying feedback, and negative for deviation dampening feedback
What are some types of feedback?
Positive


Deviation amplifying




Negative




Deviation dampening
Give an example of feedback.
A child being punished for misbehaving
What does punishment represent in the
example?
A source of negative feedback that would
encourage the child to refrain deviating from the rules established by the family system
What 2 major concepts are related?
Equilibrium


Homeostasis
According to White and Klein (2008), what does equilibrium refer to?
A balance of inputs and outputs
According to White and Klein (2008), what does

homeostasis referred to?
A dynamic process utilizing feedback and

control to maintain equilibrium
Give an example in families of the process of homeostasis occurring to maintain equilibrium.
Parents who punish an adolescent for breaking curfew
In this example, what is the role of the
punishment?
To aid in the maintenance of the family rule of being home at a certain time
What is another manifest family systems theory?
All the parts of the family systems are
interconnected


basically implies that separating parts or aspects of families or systems from the environment in which they occur does not provide an accurate view of reality
What does Steinglass (1987) have to say about family systems theory?
Emphasize the pathology in an individual

from systems theory is often viewed as resulting from this function in other areas of the family which promote the adoption of interconnectivity
What did your white inclined note about the main assumption of family systems theory that many of the concept in systems theory, and specifically system are heuristcs rather than real things?
We commit the error of reification when we attribute real qualities to metaphoric or heuristic concepts
What is another main will assumption of the family systems theory?
Many of the concepts and systems theory, and specifically systems are heuristics rather than real things
What have White and Klein noted about
systems?
Organizing family processes in terms of system

is a way of knowing rather than a way of


describing reality
How is society viewed from a family systems perspective?
As part of the environment which family systems occur and interact
What does society do according to the family systems perspective?
Both influences and is influenced by

family systems meeting that it operates is that input and output




This ties in with the assumption that all aspects and parts of system are interconnected
What is the main limitation of the family system theory?
It is a model that can be used to describe families but lacks theoretical and methodological rigor that would make it a theory
What do White and Klein say about the lack of theoretical and methodological rigor that would make it a theory?
They emphasize the critiques that suggests that the system theories is based on heuristics is lacking in theoretical and substantive content
What is important about family systems theory?
Even with this limitation, this is an important perspective for analyzing family behavior
What is another main criticism of the family
systems theory?
The tendency to view family systems as real
instead of heuristically
What the White and Klein (2008) have to say about this tendency to view family systems is real instead of heuistically? Why is this
important?
The tendency of some family systems theorist to reify the concept of a family system which
suggests that families are systems rather than
viewing families as systems

Important when applying a family systems perspective because the concepts in the theory are mechanisms for viewing families as opposed to real aspects of families
What are the 2 limitations of the family systems theory?
A model that can be used to describe families but lack the theoretical and methodological rigor that would make it a theory

The tendency to be family systems as a real
instead of heuristically
What are the 2 main assumptions of family
systems theory?
All the part of the family systems are
interconnected which implies that separating parts or aspects of families or systems from the environment in which they occur does not
provide an accurate view of reality

Many of the concepts and systems theory, and specifically systems are heuristics rather than real things
What are the 2 main assumptions of the family development theory?
Time is multidimensional


Developmental processes are inevitable and important in understanding families which suggests that families are incapable of


remaining static and that accompanied with their development is the redefinition or roles and exceptions for behavior




To understand behavior in and roles in


families, one has to understand the processes and mechanisms through which family


development occurs
What are the 2 major limitations of the family development theory?
The ambiguity surrounding the family stages




Using observed behavior to infer norms