Extended Family Structure

The family has been instrumental to the development of cultures and nations, even though considered the smallest social unit of society. The extended family was the first social unit in the nomadic hunter age and grew into families within tribes. Indicators of family disequilibrium, such as divorces and the number of children being raised in single-parent families, are rising alarmingly. In traditional westernized nations, this was thought to be best provided in a two-parent married family existing within an extended family structure. The two-parent nuclear family then became the prototype with the woman leaving her relatively low-paying job she got after (or before) finishing high school and taking care of children. Family structures …show more content…
Selecting a mate has traditionally been influenced by the property of being close together and similarity of important qualities or characteristics. There are some differences of value between men and women. Looking a man’s stand point on values, they focus more on physical attractiveness while women more focused on instrumental qualities related to finical control. Another important factor for both men and women is social distance, defined as the degree of similarity or difference between two people in terms of social status. Males with high self-esteem tend to seek out females of high physical attractiveness. Because differences between people seem to grow stronger and more disruptive as years pass, it is critically important to strive to understand and truly value a potential spouse 's uniqueness and the ways that they think, feel, and experience life events. While communication and conflict resolution skills are important, communicating openly and honestly is often a tough task, especially in those relationships that are most important. By accurately communicating feelings and desires, not only does the listener know exactly where the other stands, is also able to facilitate being heard and understood, which sometimes is the most important part of …show more content…
Family systems theory is the study of these interactions and focuses on family behavior. Communication, interaction patterns, separateness, connectedness, loyalty, independence, and adaptation to stress are all things that are studied as it relates to the entire family and not just to the individuals in the family. For example, a main tenet of family systems theory is that change in any level of the family functioning can produce change in other areas. This change can be in an individual in the family, relationships, and/or the entire