Family problems and their treatment

TEXT FAMILY

Family is one of the oldest and most common human institutions. The term family commonly means a group of related persons who share a home. The word family also refers to a person's ancestors and other relatives. Most families are based on kinship – that is, the members belong to the family through birth, marriage, or adoption of the spouse's children.

There are many types of family structures.

One-parent families. In the USA about 14 per cent of all families with dependent children have only one parent. A one-parent family may be headed by a divorced father or mother, by a widow or a widower, by a married woman separated from her husband. Or it may be headed by an unmarried woman.

Nuclear family. When a couple has children, the parents and their children make up a nuclear family.

Extended family. If married children and their offspring live with the parents, the family is called an extended family. An extended family household might also include aunts, uncles, and cousins. Such relatives, along with grandparents, grandchildren, and others, form part of an extended family group even if they live in separate homes.

Clan. Some cultures recognize a large kinship unit called the clan. A clan consists of all people who are descended from a common ancestor through their mother's or father's side of the family.

Other family patterns. Not all people choose to marry and live in a nuclear family. For example some married couples decide not to have children. Also, some couples cohabit (live together without marrying). They want the companionship of another person but prefer not to marry. Some people object to cohabitation because it conflicts with their moral standards.

There can be different family relationships. For example, people may be related to one another by blood (through birth), by affinity (through marriage), or through adoption. Most nuclear families consist of a mother, a father, and their biological children (the children born to them). Many other nuclear families have members who are included through adoption or remarriage. When a couple adopts somebody else's child, the child becomes their foster son or daughter. If the foster parents have a kid of their own, the latter acquires a foster brother or sister. When a divorced or widowed parent remarries, the parent's new spouse (husband or wife) becomes the children's stepfather or stepmother. The children become the new parent's stepchildren. Children from the couple's previous marriages become stepbrothers and stepsisters to one another. Half brothers and half sisters share either the same biological mother or the same biological father.

The parents of a person's mother or father are that person's grandparents. Great-grandparents are the parents of a person's grandparents. An aunt is the sister of a person's mother or father. An uncle is a parent's brother. An uncle's wife is also called an aunt, and an aunt's husband is also called an uncle, but they are not a person's blood relatives. A first cousin is the child of a person's aunt or uncle. Children of first cousins are second cousins to each other, and children of second cousins are third cousins.

When people marry, they gain a new set of relatives, called in-laws. The mother of a person's spouse is called a mother-in-law; the brother is called a brother-in-law, and so on throughout the rest of the family.

Some families consider certain friends as family members because they feel special affection for them. Such friends are fictive kin, and family members might call them by their first names, while children might call their parents' best friends "aunt" and "uncle".

Family problems and their treatment

Almost every family has problems as a normal part of living together. Many problems can be worked out in the home. But some problems are difficult to solve. Unsolved problems may result in unhappiness and lead to a breakdown of the family.

The question of divorce can be one of the most serious problems a family may face. The husband and wife must make a new life for themselves, and the children may grow up in a fatherless or motherless home.

Couples get divorced for numerous reasons. One of the main reasons is that they expect a great deal from family life. Many Americans expect the family to be a constant source of love and personal satisfaction. However, family members spend much of their time at work, in school, and at other places outside the home. Thus, they have limited time together to give one another emotional support.

Other problems may result from remarriages by divorced or widowed people. Such remarriages create the blended family of wife, husband and each of their own children. Quarrels between the new couple over their children are sources of conflict and new divorces. Children by former marriage naturally have mixed feelings about their new family. They become painfully certain that their biological parents will not be reunited. Children who were very close to the single parent may feel displaced and jealous because the stepparent has a special and private relationship with their biological parent.

Many families may receive help with some of their problems by consulting a trained family counselor, a member of the clergy, a social worker, or a psychologist. Many such specialists use a technique called family therapy. They meet with the entire family as a group to help them work out their problems together. Various public welfare agencies offer guidance and economic aid. Other organizations counsel family members who have specific problems, for instance, help teenagers who have an alcoholic parent. Other groups aid runaway children or battered children and wives.

Some people tend to view the family as separate from society. They think all family problems can be solved by dealing only with the family. They fail to realize that the family is part of society and that society influences family life. Such social problems as drugs, poor housing, and unemployment directly affect family life.

Increasingly, sociologists are finding that alcoholism, child abuse, runaway children, unhappy marriages and certain other family problems are related to problems in society. They believe that such family problems can be reduced by dealing with the social conditions that help promote them. For example, programs that create new jobs, improve housing, or restrict drug traffic help support family life. With such programs, the family is no longer solely responsible for overcoming all the social problems that affect it.