L11 FAMILY STRUCTURE AND LEGACIES

• Families can be seen as social systems which have established a set of rules, have ascribed and assigned roles, power structure, and strategies for solving disputes.
• Types of Family Structure:

  1. Nuclear Family

  2. Single Parent

  3. Step Families

  4. Extended Family
• 1. Nuclear Family - the nuclear family is considered. the "traditional" family and consists of a mother,

  father, and the children. The two-parent nuclear family has become less prevalent, and alternative

  family forms such as homosexual relationships, single-parent households, and adopting individuals

  are more common. The nuclear families at present prefer to have fewer children than in the past.
• Single Parent - a single parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of the other biological parent. Historically, single-parent families often resulted from thedeath of a spouse, for instance during childbirth. This type of structure homes are increasing as married couples separate, or as unmarried couples have children. The sense of marriage as a "permanent" institution has been weakened, allowing individuals to consider leaving marriages more readily than

  they may have in the past. Increasingly
• Step Families - stepfamily is formed by the marriage or long-term cohabitation of two individuals, when one or both ha at least one child from a previous relationship living part-time or full-time in

  the household. The individual who is not the biological parent of the child or children is referred to as the stepparent s are also called blended families
• Extended Family - the extended family consists of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In some circumstances, the extended family comes to live either with or in place of a member of the

  nuclear family. About 4 percent of children live with a relative other than a parent. For example, when elderly parents move in with their children due to old age, this places large demands on the caregivers, particularly the female relatives who choose to perform these duties for their family.
• Family Assessment

  Methods of obtaining family information include structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, and

  observations Genograms or family trees are often used to summarize relationships and issues within the

  family.