Evolution Of Family Structure “A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met.” (David A. Bednar) When it comes to a family it should be simply a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. Questions may arise pertaining to different types of families and whether they’re considered as a proper setting. When comparing family structure during 1950s to modern day three components directly interfere with the two and that is the advancement of technology, the economy, and divorce rates including teenage pregnancy. I feel that in general it is much …show more content…
Whenever anything was broken you would see the father attempting to always fix things even if he had no clue what he was doing. The fathers role was the “alpha-dog” as he always had resolutions to family problems and was always the one getting his hands dirty. The mother was always a well dressed but not too revealing woman whose opinion seemed not to be valued as much as the father. When it came time for dinner there were no phones, iPads, laptops, iPods or any other distractions because they would’ve been considered disrespectful to the family. Dinner time consisted of conversations about whats going on in each of the family members lives. Then each situation presented would be resolved with the help of the family and any other issues were brought up as well. Then after dinner everyone would get ready for bed and the same morals were repeated day after day. Typically, as far as the weekend is concerned this is when the largest dinner would occur usually on a Sunday night. This was a very important gathering because it helps everyone start their week feeling good about themselves and life in general.One word I would use to describe families in the 1950s would be consistency. The economy was consistently well, war always ended in the favor of our nation, and life in general was greatly structured and comfortable to where families could easily develop stability in their
Traditional family in today’s society is rather a fantasy, a fairy tale without the happy ending. Everyone belongs to a family, but the ideology that the family is built around is the tell tale. Family structures have undeniably changed, moving away from the conventional family model. Nowadays more mothers work outside of the home, more fathers are asked to help with housework, and more women are choosing to have children solo. Today there are families that have a mom and a dad living in the same home, there are step-families, and families that have just a mother or just a father. Probably the most scrutinized could be families that consist of two moms or two dads. These are all examples of families and if all members are appropriately happy and healthy then these families are okay and should incontestably be accepted. So why is the fantasy of the traditional family model still so emphasized in our society? This expectation is degrading and misleading. Progressing with times one ought not be criticized or shunned for being true to their beliefs. It is those living falsely, living as society thinks they should that are the problem. Perhaps as a society, if there were more focus and concern for happiness and peace within ones family and fewer worries for the neighbor then there would be less dilemma.
Several changes have occurred since the 1920s in traditional family values and the family life. Research revealed several different findings among family values, the way things were done and are now done, and the different kinds of old and new world struggles.
DeVault, C., Cohen, T., & Strong, B. (2011). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society. (11th ed., pgs. 400-426). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth cengage learning.
The 1950s seemed to have brought families of all different kinds together and spend quality time with each other. Fathers were the head of the home out working all day to supply money for his family while the children were at school and his wife was at home. The children were gone all day just like their father but they were learning and obtaining a good education from school. The mother was a stay at home housewife doing all different chores, maintenances around the house, and preparing food for the
As we have learned through Skolnick’s book, as well as Rubin’s research, the make up of the family is influenced by many factors. The economy, culture, education, ethnicity/race, and tradition all help to create the modern family. The last few decades have heavily influenced the family structure, and while some try to preserve the past, others embrace the future. Through it all, we find you can have both.
Traditionally the most dominant family form in the United States has been the married couple family. The image of two parents with children living under one roof is the norm for a married couple family. In a married couple family one or both parents work and income levels are gener...
The 1950s was a time when American life seemed to be in an ideal model for what family should be. People were portrayed as being happy and content with their lives by the meadia. Women and children were seen as being kind and courteous to the other members of society while when the day ended they were all there to support the man of the house. All of this was just a mirage for what was happening under the surface in the minds of everyone during that time as seen through the women, children, and men of this time struggled to fit into the mold that society had made for them.
Many couples in the United States idealize the myth of a “tradition family”. The idea that a woman can spend quality time with her child while maintaining an effective sexual life with her partner seemed to have caused a lot of stress during the 1950s. Coontz’s says “this hybrid idea drove thousands of women to therapists, tranquilizers, or alcohol when they tried to live up to it.” (Coontz, 569). Which explains that it is merely impossible to try to mold a family to be “ideal.” Many families still strive for a traditional life, which they define as life “back in the day.” They need to forget the past and start living in the 21st century. “Two-thirds of respondents to one national poll said they wanted more traditional standards of family life.”(Coontz, 582). Which goes to show that many families want to change to what once used to be perceived as an “ideal family” but “the same percentage of people rejected the idea that women should return to their traditional role.”(Coontz, 582). Families want to take bits and pieces from what used to be “traditional families” over time and create their own i...
One definition is “a significant social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” While such definition is a good starting point, some modern family structures are excluded by such definition. In her essay, “Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy,” Betty Farrell apparently assumes that the traditional family has dramatically changed, and the dynamics of change—altered the definition of a “family.” A family is no longer a picture of a particular image of the mythic past, referring to the golden days of the “1950s.” It is no longer a father, mother and their biological children living together under one roof (and certainly not with the a breadwinner father and a stay-at-home mother). In today 's modern society, it is now common to see women raising their children by themselves without their husbands’ help; unmarried couples living together; and gay and lesbian couples—while far from being universally accepted—adopting and raising children to complete their families. Therefore, despite the children living in one-parent households, or they do not live with their “married-heterosexual-biological-parents” under the same roof—does not necessarily mean they are not families. Farrell states that “a family is defined not so much by a particular set of people as by the quality of relationships that bind them together.” In other words, Farrell believes that a “family” is more than just a collection
Society seems to have many different opinions when it comes to relationships and families and what is ideal. The ideal family may not exist anymore. We now have in our society families that are complete that do not necessarily contain the traditional material. The traditional family, as society would see it; usually consist of a married, mother and father and usually children. Moms are supposed to stay at home while dads work the forty-hour a week job. However, in our 2003 world, families exist in a lot of non-traditional ways. A lot of families now consist of single parent families, or same sex parents and their children, or even couples that are unmarried but live together. And even now, if a family contains what society sees as traditional as far as having a mom, dad, and kids, other aspects are not traditional anymore. Women now have more opportunity in the workplace than they have ever had, therefore, many moms are career moms and dads are sometimes staying at home. Years ago, these types of families were given labels for being dysfunctional or abnormal, however, this label is not holding up as well as it did years ago. There are many non-traditional families that are raising children in a loving, nurturing home with a substantial amount of quality love. Quality is the key in any relationship between anyone. Society is finding out that it is not the traditional image that makes a loving family, but the quality of a relationship that people give to each other is what really makes a family. In the essay "The Myth of the "Normal" Family", written by Lousie B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, they make references to the cultural idea of what a "normal" family should be and what i...
Family life was a lot different today than it was in 50’s it was seen as materialistic nation also a social status decade(Stuart A. kallen “The 1950’s). After having the victory in world war 2 a lot of young veterans coming and finding girls, to settle down and have a family(Becky Bradley). Which came to be called the baby boom generation. Which in this time and in within the family life and what it was like to live in 1950’s neighborhood was that everyone knew each other (Stuart A. kallen). In the 50’s we were not afraid of lawsuits if you touch person or you did this etc. We were more together as a family. When times got hard are first was not to run from our partner but to, but to stay through thick and thin (Becky Bradley). Children growing up always had something to do from mak...
It makes sense why this is important. If you narrow the family down to series of variables – female homemaker, male breadwinner for example, than moving away from this structured idea looks like decline. The main defender of the family decline theory to be used in this evaluation is David Popenoe’s article, American Family Decline, 1960-1990 A Review and Appraisal. In this piece, Popenoe claims that there is an ideal family and there should be a push to go back to this ideal. The definition of a family found in American Family Decline is as follows; a family is “A group in which people typically live together in a household and function as a cooperative unit, particularly through the sharing of economic resources in the pursuit of domestic activities”(Popenoe). This evaluation will attempt to show how this definition is inadequate in encompassing every modern variation of family and through the use of standpoint theory, comes to the conclusion that no definition is possible. Furthermore, Popenoe’s use of this definition to show family decline is
Each member of the family was expected to fulfill certain roles, and to execute their obligations appropriately. When men came back from World War Two, they were forced to jump back into a normal lifestyle: working and raising a family. The father was the sole provider of the family, as he controlled the finances by working a steady job. After each day of work, the father would come home and find his role change from an intelligent businessman to a loving and caring husband. While the father was at work for the day, the mother was at home cooking, cleaning, and tending to the children. A small number of women worked part-time jobs with flexible hours, while still meeting the demands of daily housework, but rarely took the burden of working a full-time job. The mother’s main duty was to care for the children and provide for them. The children were raised to act in a respectful manner, with minimal behavioral issues. When asked by an adult to complete a certain chore, objecting was not an option; as punishment was common. According to John Rosemond from the Hartford Courant, “Your mom and dad paid more attention to one another than they paid to you.” He also commented, “They bought you very little, so you appreciated everything you had. And you took care of it” (Author John Rosemond, “Raising Kids In 1950s Households Vs. Today’s”). Children looked up
The definitions of a family today and a family in the past are far from similar. The definitions may have some similarities but they have changed dramatically in many more ways. 50 years ago, families had rules that were stricter and families were closer in the sense of a relationship. Although some families today are more distant from each other and have fewer rules to maintain order, there are still some that maintain the same styles of the families 50 years ago. Families have changed a lot but still have some similarities depending on their home-life.
To thoroughly elaborate on the institution of family we most look at the family as it was before and how much it has changed over time. Throughout the years we are recognizing that the family is slowly being replaced by other agents of socialization. Families in the past consisted of a mother and a father and most times children. We are, as many societies a patriarchal society; men are usually the head of the households. This has always been considered the norm.