The Family Unit through Time

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Recommended: The shape of the American family has undergone a dramatic change over the last several decades

The family of today has many advantages and challenges when compared to the families of the past. Today’s families are more diverse, and have an increase in communication versus the older family unit. However, coupled with the advantages are the challenges of having increased instability, which leads to a higher incidence rate of having a stepfamily, both of which are hard to deal with especially when it comes to children. The family of today is only a shadow of the family of yesteryear; this is both a good thing and a bad thing when taken in perspective, but ultimately is something that is unavoidable as the family evolves.

The diversity of families has increased, no longer are people bound by their ethnic group, race, or even location when it comes to finding a compatible spouse (Benokraitis 101-102). People are marrying from all over the world and from all over the ethnic spectrum, this leads to a family that is more in tune with the world and is indeed worldlier. With the ability to find a spouse outside of all of the older restrictions people are able to establish happier marriages that are built more on mutual love than those that are built around financial stability. Not only are people going outside of their social boundaries they are also going outside of their religious ones as well, with inter-religion marriages more common now than in the past people are more likely to have a broader pool of eligible spouses. This again leads to a more worldly family that is less likely to be intolerant and less likely to pass on intoleration to their children. Finally, there are same-sex marriages that have become more accepted today, while they are still against the norms and mores of some groups, they are by no means the ...

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...strife causes the downfall of so many relationships. I am proud that we are able to work through it without much fighting. The class also helped to show me that helping children to grow both emotionally and psychologically is a very daunting prospect, but one that I am ready to meet when the time comes. Another thing about this class that particularly interested me was the unit on human sexuality, which has always been a subject for interest to me because of the diversity, and while this course did not go in depth on anything of importance, it did provide a very nice tie in to the other aspects of marriage.

Works Cited

Benokraitis, Nijole V. Marriages & Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints. Prentice Hall, 2011.

Understanding And Dealing With Children During Divorce. 20 May 2007. 10 May 2011 .

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