The Importance of a Properly Functioning Family System

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A family system is a group of individuals that come together to form a family but each individual has their own purpose and role within the family system. The way that a family system operates is very important to the way that the family functions and communicates. A families system may have a direct effect on the healthy development due to their environments, a parents’ level of interaction with the child, and the overall lifestyle that the family lives by. Some researchers have done extensive research on what factors could increase health developments and their focus had been turned toward sibling relationships playing a bigger role in efforts to prevent mental health problems and promote health behaviors because of the larger contexts of sibling relationships and what is known about the influence of siblings and siblings on youth well-being (Feinberg, Solmeyer, & McHale, 2011). No family is going to be perfect which brings us to the topic of a dysfunctional family. Dysfunctional family systems can carry over from generation to generation and cause a defect in a family’s healthy development because it may cause conflict, anxiety, or chaos amongst a family which will eventually impact a family system (Hinson, 2014). On the other hand religion has been viewed as a key element in fostering health developments in a family system. Religion when practiced from a true biblical concept influences a family system to have certain beliefs, values, desired lifestyles, and encouragements to eat better and obtain proper rest and exercise (Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, & Benson, 2006), everything that the family does will be centered around Christ himself. Unfortunately there is also a “toxic religion” in which a family may promote racism, religious bigotry, materialism, consumerism, individualism, and hedonism (Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, & Benson, 2006). An unhealthy family system may affect a family’s ability to cope with everyday life stressors, mental health, parental capabilities, physical growth, education, overall health, social aspects, or cognitive development. Communication is also a major factor in a family system that may affect health development amongst a family structure. If parents are able to effectively communicate to their children then those children will also grow up faced with the same issue and the cycle continues until someone is able to break it. Feldman (2014) discusses the different parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative, and uninvolved. Based on each style there will be a different effect on the family system and the relationship between healthy developments.

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