The Family

• ecological systems theory is Bronfenbrenner’s model emphasizing that the developing person is embedded in a series of environmental systems that interact with one another and with the person to influence development
• microsystem is the immediate settings (including role relationships and activities) that the person actually encounters; the innermost of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts.
• mesosystem is the interconnections among an individual’s immediate settings or microsystems; the second of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts
• exosystem is the social systems that children and adolescents do not directly experience but that may nonetheless influence their development; the third of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts
• macrosystem is the larger cultural or subcultural context in which development occurs; Bronfenbrenner’s outermost environmental layer or context
• chronosystem is in ecological systems theory, changes in the individual or the environment that occur over time and influence the direction development takes
• socialization is the process by which children acquire the beliefs, values, and behaviors considered desirable or appropriate by their culture or subculture
• family is a two or more persons, related by birth, marriage, adoption, or choice, who have emotional ties and responsibilities to each other
• family social system is the complex network of relationships, interactions, and patterns of influence that characterize a family with three or more members
• traditional nuclear family is a family unit consisting of a wife/mother, a husband/father, and their dependent child or children
• coparenting is a circumstance in which parents mutually support each other and function as a cooperative parenting team.
• extended family is a group of blood relatives from more than one nuclear family (for example, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews) who live together, forming a household
• acceptance/responsiveness is a dimension of parenting that describes the amount of responsiveness and affection that a parent displays toward a child
• demandingness/control is a dimension of parenting that describes how restrictive and demanding parents are
• authoritarian parenting is a restrictive pattern of parenting in which adults set many rules for their children, expect strict obedience, and rely on power rather than reason to elicit compliance
• authoritative parenting is a flexible, democratic style of parenting in which warm, accepting parents provide guidance and control while allowing the child some say in deciding how best to meet challenges and obligations
• permissive parenting is a pattern of parenting in which otherwise accepting adults make few demands of their children and rarely attempt to control their behavior.
• uninvolved parenting is a pattern of parenting that is both aloof (or even hostile) and over permissive, almost as if parents neither cared about their children nor about what they may become
• behavioral control is an attempt to regulate a child’s or an adolescent’s conduct through firm discipline and monitoring of his or her conduct
• psychological control is an attempt to regulate a child’s or an adolescent’s conduct by such psychological tactics as withholding affection and/or inducing shame or guilt
• promotion of volitional functioning (PVF) is a strategy whereby parents guide or scaffold an adolescent’s decision making (rather than imposing a solution or ceding control), thereby allowing him or her to experience a sense ofs elf-determination when resolving personal issues
• parental effects model is a model of family influence in which parents (particularly mothers) are believed to influence their children rather than vice versa
• child effects model is a model of family influence in which children are believed to influence their parents rather than vice versa.
• transactional model is a model of family influences in which parent and child are believed to influence each other reciprocally
• acculturation stress is an anxiety or uneasiness that new residents may feel upon attempting to assimilate a new culture and its traditions.
• Longitudinal studies of 1½- to 3-year-olds suggest that parents who use authoritarian style shave children who show an increase in problem behaviors over time
• Lower-class parents are more likely to use authoritarian parenting styles
• Middle- and upper-class parents are more likely to use authoritative parenting styles
• Asian American parents are more likely to use authoritarian parenting styles
• Richard has lost his job and is worried about how to support his family of four children. He’s found that he is having trouble getting along with his wife lately, and he just doesn’t have the energy to devote to his children the way he used to. Richard’s experience illustrates Conger’s economic distress model
• sibling rivalry is the spirit of competition, jealousy, and resentment that may arise between two or more siblings
• donor insemination is a process by which a fertile woman conceives with the aid of sperm from an unknown donor