Category: Family

Human beings are social creatures spending a lot of time socializing, interacting and participating in activities that involve others. A family is a unit, a close organization of people who are related by blood and genes and so have a unique common trait that makes them a single “organism”, with own culture, beliefs and traditions. Families and life partners get each other through some of the roughest times, and this is especially true for African-American families.

The African American society has been the target of discrimination, stereotyping and racism for a long time. They are still suffering from the fact that their families and relatives grew up in a segregated and separated America, but the support that was between the community members has shown to be of great strength.

It helped people to have some joy in their lives and health to fight for freedom that still continues today. One of the greatest problems was the system that treated African-Americans in a predisposed and stereotypical manner. Very often, law authorities resorted to racial profiling and thus, contributed and reinforced the negative statistics and views of the rest of society.

The work market was also slanted to the negative side, so the support of families was the only counter action that could be taken. As such, African-American couples stayed closer together, tried to raise strong and proud children. As described in the “The Union of Two for Life and Jake” men and women were together, went through joy and sadness, tears and hardships, but managed to survive and look into the future.

Marriage was another supporting factor for the Afican-American community. It is a union between two people, which is unique through the qualities that each person brings into the relationship. This helps people to put their strengths and knowledge together and get through the hard and oppressing times.

Even though every marriage will definitely have points of conflict, which will test the strength of each person’s feelings towards their partner and the marriage in general, a strong bond is unlike anything else. “The Bean Eaters” talks about a couple who grew old together, and simply because dinners have become routine, and the time spent together is expected, the union still exists. This shows that people are meant to be more resistant to the hardships of life as a unit.

Unfortunately, children who are the future creators of families and couples are susceptible to the bad influences of the community and society. When a person sees how their family suffers, they feel the need to do something. Often, a single parent experiences difficulty in raising a child. While paying for food and shelter, spending many hours working, it makes evident the fact that there is very little time to spend child-rearing.

The values and behaviors that a child learns early on are very important. Character forms in the beginning years of life and it is very hard to change later. The ghettos of African-Americans who were forced into segregated areas with little or no employment and poor housing slowed down the process of children becoming successful in life. This led to couples having several children, so that they could support each other, and be more productive as a family.

The interconnection between siblings can be seen from Toni Morrison’s “Sula” and how the two children support each other. One is emotional and the other controls feelings, but their bond is just as strong. Even when a traumatic event of a boy drowning takes place, the stay as one, and do not let each other fall into psychosis. Once again, this proves that the ties between siblings and families are inseparable.

A major breakthrough happened in the 1980’s, which is sometimes called the “golden ages”. This was the active time in the fight for the rights and freedoms of black community. There was a great involvement from the American society, where African American history became a study of the society and the unfair treatment they have been experiencing. Their culture was recognized as a key part of the United States.

There were a number of reforms in the education system that limited and regulated any form of discrimination. There was a lot of African American women’s publishing about the history of the people. And because families have been around since the beginning of human history, individuals in secluded African-American communities depended on family, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and even far off relatives. The only way to survive was though the cooperation and unity.

They lived together, worked and were the first people who would offer help in case of need. The more friendly, healthy and close a family is, the more they can achieve, because with a shared goal they become more productive and directed, as everyone contributes to the matter.

Throughout time African-American family has stayed one of the strongest building units of their society. It carries its unique originality and culture which is of great importance not only on a personal level but public as well.

Good knowledge of conflict styles helps to understand how to interact in interpersonal relationships. While some conflict styles alleviate problems between partners, others only exacerbate these problems. In the case study He Said, She Said…, Davis (n.d.) illustrates how complementary conflict patterns create difficulties between family members and stresses the importance of collaborating in times of conflict.

Davis (n.d.) presents an argument between three family members – Marie, her son Lenny, and her fiancé Mike, all of whom use tactics that lead to conflict escalation. The focal point of the conflict is Mike’s belief that Marie is too lenient with her son, especially when it comes to regulating his curfew and household chores. When Lenny comes home in the middle of the night, Marie expresses her worry and anger by scolding her son and questioning him.

Marie’s dominating style is evident in her volley of “questions and accusations” (Davis, n.d.). Lenny, on the other hand, denies his mother’s accusations with ready excuses. The major conflict arises when Mike reprimands Lenny and starts to criticize Marie’s parenting style. It seems that Marie, Lenny, and Mike use conflict styles that lead to the escalation of their mutual conflict.

Marie is obliging to her son and predominantly domineering in her interactions with her fiancé Mike. When Lenny reacts aggressively by slamming his door, Marie questions Mike’s postponement of their argument and blames him for her son’s reaction (Davis, n.d.). Even when Mike tries to explain his feelings through a descriptive statement, saying that it is quite late and it would be better to think about Lenny’s punishment tomorrow, Marie replies to him by insulting his character.

By claiming that Mike does not know anything about punishing children because he never had any children himself, Marie undermines Mike’s role in her household and escalates the conflict. It is apparent that she sees “conflict as a battleground,” as something that justifies her aggressive and uncooperative behavior (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013, p. 157). In this way, Marie dominates in her conflict with Mike while accommodating Lenny.

Mike, on the other hand, has a conflict style that complements the escalation of his argument with Marie by being, at times, domineering and avoidant. When Marie gives Lenny a lax punishment for his lateness, Mike says that that is not a “real punishment” and that Mike would have been punished much more severely by his father if he had done something similar (Davis, n.d.). However, when Marie rejects his criticism, Mike becomes avoidant and offers to postpone the argument until tomorrow.

While it is likely that Mike hopes to protect Marie and himself from discord, it is possible that his behavior will only perpetuate more conflict and more avoidance in the near future (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). Therefore, Mike’s conflict style only serves to escalate the conflict between him and Marie by complementing Marie’s domineering style.

Lenny, apart from the two adults, is largely avoidant when it comes to managing conflict, using compromise only when he needs to persuade his mother. However, this avoidance of conflict may lead to a never-ending cycle of disagreements with his mother and Mike in the future (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). Since Lenny is likely to make up excuses, his mother will probably be displeased with him and question his behavior. Moreover, this type of behavior on the part of Lenny will eventually cause a rift between Marie and Mike. When Lenny promises to do all of his household chores in exchange for canceling his curfew, Marie readily agrees to this bargain (Davis, n.d.).

From this scenario, it becomes evident that Lenny is also skilled at finding a compromise when needed. Although Lenny is generally avoidant and inclined to run to his room in times of conflict, he is likely to find a compromise when his interests are at stake.

The most striking problem in this situation is that the tactics employed by Marie, Lenny, and Mike compliment each other and lead to the gradual escalation of their argument. When Marie is domineering and aggressive, her son employs avoidance and denial (Davis, n.d.). On the contrary, when Marie is inclined to be obliging and forgive his late curfew, Lenny finds a way to find a compromise by making promises to his mother. Similarly, when Marie starts to give in to Lenny’s demands, Mike becomes more aggressive and criticizes her behavior. This, in return, makes Marie more aggressive and prone to reject Mike’s remarks, causing Mike to leave the room. Hence, the case study reflects conflict styles that lead to escalation by complementing each other.

In order to improve the situation, all of the subjects should find a creative solution to their problem and implement the collaborative conflict style. By using descriptive statements, making appropriate concessions, and accepting responsibility for the conflict, it would be possible to mitigate this argument between Marie, Mike, and Lenny (Wilmot & Hocker, 2013). Moreover, it is likely to improve their relationship overall. In general, the collaborative style would help to strengthen the bond between these three subjects and ease the tension between them.

All in all, the subjects in the study have conflict styles that complement one another and help to escalate their disagreement. By making concessions and accepting responsibility for their behavior, Marie, Mike, and Lenny would mitigate and solve their disagreement with greater ease. Therefore, the case study He Says, She Says… illustrates how three subjects need to change their conflict styles.

References

Davis, D. (n.d.). He said, she said… Web.

Wilmot, W., & Hocker, J. (2013). Interpersonal conflict (9^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

One of the reasons why, when exposed to the contemporary media-products, people are able to gain a number of qualitative insights into the surrounding socio-cultural reality, is that there is a strongly defined societal sounding to many of these products.

In its turn, this is being largely accomplished by the mean of the media-products in question helping viewers to recognize the discursive subtleties of how the members of a particular family interact. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-suggestion at length, in regards to the famous animated sitcom The Simpsons, which can be well defined as an epitome of what accounts for the actual characteristics of a family living in America.

The themes and motifs, explored in this animated sitcom, largely reflect the fact that the family of Simpsons unmistakably fits the description of a ‘traditional’ one. That is, the characters of Homer and Marge, which formed the family’s nucleus initially, do adhere to the discursive conventions of a ‘traditional family’, in which husbands play the role of hunter-gatherers, while women are being assigned with the duty to raise children and to take care of the household.

In its turn, such a state of affairs appears to have been predetermined by the fact that both spouses are unmistakably heterosexual, which in turn implies that they are emotionally comfortable with their family-functions having been ‘hierchized’ to an extent.

As Heath noted, “The interaction of gender and heterosexuality is important to position men and women hierarchically as part of a social order that rewards heterosexual (and mostly white, middle-class) men as husbands” (2010: 199).

This also explains why, throughout the course of the sitcom’s episodes, Homer is being portrayed as an individual who strives hard to legitimize his authority of the ‘head of the household’ in the eyes of his wife and children (Bart, Lisa and Maggie). Partially, this also explains why; even though Homer and Marge are shown as individuals who tend to argue with each other a continuous basis, they nevertheless do not give it any serious thought filing for a divorce.

The reason for this is quite apparent – the very fact that there is a strongly defined ‘gender differentiation’ between Homer and Marge (in respect to how they address life-challenges), causes both spouses to remain emotionally dependent on each other, which in turn lessens the acuteness of the divorce-related anxieties, on their part.

This, of course, can be seen as an implicit indication that it is specifically when both married spouses remain emotionally comfortable with their socially prescribed roles within the family, which ensure this family’s longevity, more than anything else does.

Psychologically speaking, in order to attain happiness, after having entered into the marital relationship, husbands may never cease positioning themselves as masculine men, and wives may never cease positioning themselves as feminine women. In plain words, the element of a strongly defined ‘gender differentiation’ between husbands and wives is the key to ensuring the long lastingness of their marital relationship.

The validity of this suggestion can also be attested, in regards to the sitcom’s tendency to expose the fallaciousness of the assumption that the family is a biological rather than a purely social construct, which only superficially relates to the concept of religion. For example in the episode ‘Homer the Heretic’, Homer refuses to be dragged to the Church by Marge, contrary to her insistence that attending Church on Sundays is a ‘must do’ for the members of just about any socially prominent family.

Obviously enough, this episode promotes the idea that the awareness of how they are supposed to act socially, while pursuing the marital relationship, on the part of both spouses, is not what ensures the family’s integrity. The apparent key to such integrity is the both spouses’ sexual interest in each other, which naturally weakens, as they grow older.

This explains the discursive significance of the sitcom’s episode ‘Natural Born Kissers’, in which Homer and Marge realize that namely the affiliated settings that imply ‘danger’ (such as a someone else’s barn) which cause them to experience the sensation of a sexual arousal. After having realized this, Homer and Marge began to intentionally seek ‘danger’ of being discovered in the mist of lovemaking by others, as a powerful sexual stimulant.

Even though that the most immediate motivation for them to act in such a manner was Homer and Marge’s love of sex, there was more to it – namely, the both spouses’ subconscious realization that by having sex they are able strengthen the integrity of their marriage. As Whyte pointed out, “Parents and other moral guardians find it increasingly difficult to argue against the premise that… sexual enjoyment and compatibility are central to marital happiness” (2010: 132).

This, of course, once again validates the suggestion that the notion of family is best discussed in terms of a socially constructed framework for the representatives of both opposite sexes to address their biologically predetermined function of baby-making. Outside of this function, the concept of marriage does not make much of a discursive sense, which is exactly why the practice of allowing lesbians and homosexuals to marry and to adopt children cannot be referred to as anything, but socially counterproductive.

When exposed to The Simpsons, viewers also grow increasingly aware of the fact that monogamy is natural. This is because, as it is being shown in this sitcom, another important reason why Homer and Marge preferred to pursue with their marital relationship, despite tending to argue with each other over even the most insignificant subject matters, is that being the part of the same family, was allowing them to experience the sensation of an emotional security.

In this respect, it would prove rather impossible to disagree with Gerstel and Sarkisian, who refer to the concept of family in terms of a ‘societal shell’, which protects what is on the inside from the hardships of life, “Marriage, or at least a good marriage with little conflict, protects against everything from cavities to murder and suicide” (2010: 205).

As time went on, the earlier mentioned sensation, on the part of Homer and Marge, was becoming increasingly acute, which in turn can be discussed as the direct consequence of them having decided to stick together, while remaining well within the boundaries of a monogamous marriage.

The watching of the animated sitcom in question also reveals the qualitative specifics of the parent-children relationships within the family of Simpsons, which appear to be reflective of this type of relationships within just about every American heterosexual family. For example, one of the Homer’s major concerns, as the head of the household, can be well identified his preoccupation with trying to maintain the executive authority over Bart, Lisa and Maggi.

Unfortunately, he rarely succeeds in ensuring his authority, without resorting to a physical force. After all, it is specifically by grabbing Bart around his neck and choking him that Homer is able to instill some sense in his son. Even though that this tendency, on the part of Homer, can hardly be considered admirable, it nevertheless appears rather effective – after having been ‘chocked’ by his dad, Bart quickly learns his place and begins to act in the more or less socially-appropriate manner.

Because, as it was implied earlier, the themes and motifs, contained in The Simpsons, do correlate with the realities of a family living in America, we can well assume that it indeed accounts for a commonplace practice, among male-parents, to periodically subject their children to violence.

After all, by doing it, they are able to achieve both: to ‘correct’ these children’s behavior and to prepare them to the actual realities of living in the male-dominated society – thus, helping the younger ones to become perceptually adequate. It is needless to mention, of course, that the sitcom’s subtle glorification of the parental violence stands in a striking opposition to the discourse of political correctness (Rainwater and Smeeting 2003).

This, however, is exactly what contributes to the sitcom’s ongoing popularity with the audiences – the sitcom’s themes and motifs do confirm the viewers’ deep-seated conviction that it is namely ‘nature’, which defines the essence of how family-members relate to each other, and not the ‘government’.

What else appears particularly notable about The Simpsons, is that it promotes another ‘politically incorrect’ idea that, in order to ensure the proper upbringing of children in the family: a) the concerned process must be overseen by both: mother and farther, b) the parents in question must act in the manner, consistent with what happened to be the behavioral particulars of their gender-affiliation.

After all, the sitcom’s episodes feature a number of scenes, in which Homer appears somewhat incapable of finding a ‘psychological key’ to his daughter Lisa, while succeeding marvelously with Bart, in this respect. Essentially the same can be said about the character of Marge – she is much more psychologically attuned with Lisa, as compared to what it is being the case with her psychological attunement with Bart.

This, of course, promotes the idea that the gender-related specifics of one’s positioning in life are not socially but rather genetically predetermined. What it means is that, while growing up in the single-parent families, children will inevitably face the risk of becoming emotionally insecure to an extent – because of having been deprived of the opportunity to learn how their gender-related psychological leanings can be realized socially (Mason 2010).

I believe that the earlier deployed line of argumentation, in regards to what can be considered the discursive significance of the family-related themes and motifs, contained in The Simpsons, are fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. Apparently, the sitcom’s earlier mentioned popularity is the direct consequence of the fact that it does reveal the hidden motivations behind the main characters’ positioning, as the members of a typical American family.

Therefore, it is not only that, while exposed to The Simpsons, people are being entertained but also enlightened, in respect to what causes the concerned characters to position themselves within the family setting, in the manner they do. What it means is that there is indeed a good rationale in referring to the discussed sitcom, as such that represents a great educational value.

References

Gerstel, Naomi and Natalia Sarkisian. 2010. “Marriage: The Good, the Bad, and the Greedy.” Pp. 204-212 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families. 4^th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Heath, Mellany. 2010. “State of our Unions: Marriage Promotion ans the Contested Power of Heterosexuality.” Pp. 187-204 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mason, Mary A. 2010. “The Modern American Stepfamily: Problems and Possibilities.” Pp. 540-556 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Rainwater, Lee and Timothy Smeeding. 2010. “Is There Hope for America’s Low-Income Children.” Pp. 732-741 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Whyte, Martin K. 2010. “Choosing Mates – The American Way.” Pp. 125-134 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Abstract

Poverty causes many developmental challenges for infants. Family instability and the lack of proper care are common exposures for infants who live in poverty. This paper argues that increased parental care and positive attachment behaviors are key protective factors that may mediate the impact of these negative effects on infant growth.

Based on this background, this paper proposes that sensitizing parents about the negative effects of poor parental care is a micro intervention that could mediate the negative developmental challenges of living in poverty. It also proposes that providing income support programs and encouraging mothers to allow their children to participate in social groups are plausible macro and mezzo interventions for mediating the impact of these negative effects on infant growth.

Introduction

Poverty is a social, economic, and political problem in many societies. Hanson et al. (2013) add that it is a significant public health concern for many emerging and developed economies around the world. More than 15 million children in the United States (US) live in families, or households, that have incomes, which are below the federal poverty line (National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 2011). The table below shows the current poverty threshold for low-income families of two, three, and four people in America.

Table 1: Federal Poverty Level.

The current population of children living below the poverty line in America translates to more than 20% of the child population (Hanson et al., 2013). While these statistics are disturbing, they do not fully capture the effects of poverty on infant development. This is because most statistics rely on outdated assumptions about family expenditures and household resources. In this regard, they do not fully grasp the scope of the effects that poverty has on children.

This paper explores the different issues surrounding this research issue. In detail, it investigates why living in poverty makes infants, who are below two years old, vulnerable and explores the challenges that they may experience when subjected to harsh economic conditions. The findings of this analysis will explain the protective factors that may minimize the effects of living in poverty on infant development. From this background, this paper also proposes different micro, mezzo, and macro interventions that would help to meet the developmental challenges of infant development.

Contrast with Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson’s framework of psychosocial development is a useful tool for understanding the effects of poverty on infants. Its different stages include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and ego integrity vs. despair (Cherry, 2015). Trust vs. mistrust is the main developmental issue in this study.

This choice stems from the focus on infants as our demographic target of analysis. In this stage, the type of care they receive influences their behaviors and, depending on the quality of nurturing behavior they see, the infants may mistrust or trust their caregivers and other people in the society. This analysis is at the core of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development because he says that ego identity is the conscious sense of self (Cherry, 2015).

Similarly, he says ego identity constantly changes, depending on human experiences (Cherry, 2015). At the infancy stage, the ego quality is hope. The developmental task that emerges from this study is social attachment and the maturation of perceptual and motor functions. Infants who do not attain the ego quality (hope), because of poverty, often suffer from withdrawal as the core pathology.

Why Living in Poverty makes Infants Vulnerable

Developmental science has consistently drawn a close association between poverty and developmental challenges among infants (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004). Understanding this statement depends on a person’s comprehension of the factors that make a living in poverty undesirable for infant development. Hanson et al. (2013) say many families living in poverty often experience family instability, which could negatively affect the developmental growth of their children.

Nobilo (2014) adds that early and repeated exposures to stress are some common environmental characteristics of low-income households that predispose infants to a negative environment for growth. Empirical investigations into this issue have pointed out that family turmoil and violence are common issues that make it difficult for parents of infant children to bring up their infant children in the best environment (National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 2011). Separation from families and poor social support are other characteristics that lead to the same undesirable outcome (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004).

Studies that have investigated this issue further have found out that most parents who expose their infant children to these adverse environmental characteristics also expose them to less cognitive stimulation, compared to their relatively wealthy counterparts (National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, 2011). Magnuson (2013) adds that family members who live in households that are below the poverty line speak less often, and, if they do, they do so in basic ways. Families that live in poverty are also more likely to have smaller playing spaces for their children, compared to middle income or wealthy households (Association for Psychological Science, 2013).

They are also less likely to give their children adequate learning resources compared to middle-income parents. Hanson et al. (2013) say these inadequacies explain part of the reason why children raised in poverty develop behavioral, mental health, and physical health problems in their teenage years and even in their adult lives.

Challenges that most Infants may face when living in Poverty

Many researchers have explored the vulnerabilities experienced by infants living in poverty. For example, according to Nobilo (2014), living in poverty exposes infants to different types of developmental risk factors that would affect different aspects of their lives, such as schooling, health, and behavioral regulation.

A study by Nobilo (2014) investigated the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which is a measure of understanding the adaptability of children to their environment, and found that most infants who were born and lived in poverty exhibited more problematic behaviors than their counterparts who grew up in middle-class or wealthy households, did. Therefore, exposure to harsh economic conditions is bound to have several short-term and long-term effects on the health and development of infants (Conradt, Measelle, & Ablow, 2013).

The Association for Psychological Science (2013) affirms this fact by saying children who live in poverty are likely to live in conditions that could directly affect their physical wellbeing. Indeed, research has proved that these children suffer a high risk of dying early and contracting an infectious disease in such environments (Nobilo, 2014). Similarly, research proves that these children are likely to miss vaccinations that should help to improve their health outcomes (Conradt et al., 2013). This problem explains why this group of children often suffers from high rates of asthma and anemia (Conradt et al., 2013). Collectively, these factors explain the challenges infants may face when living in poverty.

Protective Factors that may mediate the Challenges

According to Magnuson (2013), the ability of infants to adapt and regulate the adversities of their environment is critical to their success in mitigating the negative effects of living in poverty. Parenting skills that emphasize on positive attachment behaviors and the cultivation of nurturing behaviors emerge as the most common protective factors for infants born and living in poverty (Hanson et al., 2013).

According to Nobilo (2014), infants who experience positive attachment to family members develop a strong capability of coping with stress. Relative to this assertion, Magnuson (2013) says, “A stimulating and enriching environment where young children are read to, spoken to more often and exposed to new vocabulary will buffer the harmful impact of poverty” (p. 3). Interventions that strive to improve parenting skills during infant growth are also bound to improve the outcomes of infants who grow up in poverty (Hanson et al., 2013). Some researchers have also argued that the presence of a concerned caregiver could also be a protective factor to mediate the challenges arising from infants living in poverty (Hanson et al., 2013).

Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Interventions that would help the Population overcome Developmental Challenges

Micro Interventions

Magnuson (2013) defines micro interventions as the most common form of intervention, in public health, that targets families or affected persons. Introducing early childhood education programs to sensitize parents about the need for creating the right environment for their infants to live in would be a positive step towards minimizing the negative effects of poverty on infant development (National center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, 2011).

Such programs may involve door-to-door campaigns where health workers meet parents in their homes and educate them about the issue. Alternatively, the campaign could be through mass media channels, such as television and radios. Such outlets should target an audience that would understand the economic challenges highlighted in this paper. Through such programs, health workers could emphasize the need for maintaining stability in the house, or family, and highlight the need to develop close bonds with family members to provide a strong social network for infants to grow. The main purpose of introducing such an intervention is to sensitize parents about the possible negative effects of their behaviors on the developmental process of their children.

Macro Interventions

Macro interventions refer to health programs that affect entire communities, or larger systems of care. To alleviate some of the developmental challenges that affect infants who are born in poverty, a plausible macro intervention would be to introduce income support programs for new mothers. A research study that investigated the potential of using income support to improve infant developmental outcomes affirmed the success of this intervention (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004).

Three researchers (Pamela Morris, Greg Duncan, and Christopher Rodrigues) affirm this fact because they assessed the developmental outcomes of two groups of newly born mothers (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004). The first group comprised of mothers who were part of a welfare-to-work program, but without a significant improvement in their earnings. A different set of mothers was part of an income support program that strived to improve their overall earnings. The latter group of mothers reported better developmental outcomes of their infants, compared to the first group of mothers who never experienced any income change (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004).

This outcome proves that the intervention could succeed if communities start income support programs for mothers who have newly born children (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004).

Mezzo Interventions

Mezzo interventions are those that involve intermediate groups, such as churches, schools, and higher institutions of education. Encouraging mothers to enroll their children in social support networks is one mezzo intervention that would help to address some of the developmental challenges highlighted in this paper. This recommendation stems from the work of Nobilo (2014) who says a strong social network is bound to reduce cases of welfare dependency. Nonetheless, the presence of alternative caregivers and supportive people could also build a strong social system that would mitigate some of the adverse effects of poverty on infant development (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004).

Nonetheless, the National center for Infants, Toddlers and Families (2011) says that formal support systems, which receive the backing of community members, are most likely to have the greatest desirable effects on infant development. Particularly, research studies have drawn a link between them, a higher education status, and positive health outcomes (Corcoran & Nichols-Casebolt, 2004). Increasing community programs should also increase the number of parents who participate in educational programs for promoting positive infant health. Such an initiative would increase then network of support available to parents and infants alike.

Conclusion

This paper has shown that poverty causes many developmental problems for infants. Family instability and the lack of proper care are common products of harsh economic conditions, which lead to the developmental challenges highlighted in this paper. The process of mitigating the effects of these adverse conditions stems from the commitment by parents and health agencies to adopt the above-mentioned micro, mezzo, and macro interventions that strive to improve social support and provide extra care to infants. The commitment to do so would lead to the realization of hope, which is the relevant ego quality for infants (according to Erikson’s framework of psychosocial development).

References

Association for Psychological Science. (2013). Infants in poverty show different physiological vulnerabilities to the care-giving environment. Web.

Cherry, K. (2015). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Web.

Conradt, E., Measelle, J., & Ablow, C. (2013). Poverty, Problem Behavior, and Promise: Differential Susceptibility among Infants Reared in Poverty. Psychological Science, 24(1), 235-242. Web.

Corcoran, J., & Nichols-Casebolt, A. (2004). Risk and Resilience Ecological Framework for Assessment and Goal Formulation. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 21(3), 211-235.

Hanson, J., Hair, N., Shen, D., Shi, F., Gilmore, J., & Wolfe, B. (2013). Family Poverty Affects the Rate of Human Infant Brain Growth. PLoS ONE, 8(12), 809-854. Web.

Magnuson, K. (2013). Reducing the effects of poverty through early childhood interventions. Fast Focus, 2(17), 1-6.

National center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. (2011). Poverty Fact Sheet: Implications for Infants and Toddlers. Web.

Nobilo, H. (2014). The Experience of Poverty for Infants and Young Children. Web.

Introduction

Institutional logic is an important concept in sociology, as it provides a perspective for examining norms and behaviors systematically and with a wide range of considerations. Institutions can be defined as “both supraorganizational patterns of activity by which individuals and organizations produce and reproduce their material subsistence and organize time and space…[and] symbolic systems, ways of ordering reality, thereby rendering the experience of time and space meaningful” (Friedland and Alford 232). The institutional approach thus allows for a more comprehensive analysis of how societies work than by means of a separate exploration of beliefs and activities.

The recognition of the practical and theoretical benefits of the institutional approach led to the creation of the notion of institutional logic, which comprises “the socially constructed, historical patterns of material practices, assumptions, values, beliefs, and rules by which individuals produce and reproduce their material subsistence, organize time and space, and provide meaning to their social reality” (Thornton and Ocasio 101). It is important to acknowledge that such patterns are not fixed conditions; indeed, they have developed with different dynamics, have origins and influences, and continue to evolve. Existing institutional logic and its transformation is in a way one of the main focuses of sociology.

In addressing the topic of work and family, the institutional logic approach offers an examination of these two institutions as a set of norms and practices that influence human labor relations and personal relations at the societal level. Such a perspective encompasses not only regulations and policies on how people’s work should be organized but also an important recognition of the role that family as an institution plays in one’s social performance. This understanding has changed over recent decades, as the patterns of both labor and family are being transformed in the modern world. Social scientists have been attempting to address this transformation because it is important to examine its nature in order to effectively approach the issues of work organization in the 21st century. A change in institutional logic means that what was normal has become marginalized or what was frowned upon has become encouraged. These developments should be studied for the purpose of improving various social interactions.

In order to address the issues of work and family from the institutional logic perspective, it is necessary to discuss the institutional logic of families, paid workplaces, and public policy. Also, an analysis should be performed on the ways in which social and institutional actors strive to achieve different goals and values both within and across the frameworks of the institutional logics mentioned above. To ensure that the subject is addressed effectively, such an approach will encompass regulatory, legal, and conceptual perspectives.

Institutional Logic in Families

Addressing the issues of the family requires perspectives different than those of the individual or societal level. Families are unique structures. If a family consists of two people, it is more than the sum of those two people—it is about specific interactions and specific internal and external relationships. Understanding how families work is important for the effective management of work relations as well as many other social regulations.

In families, people care about each other, are attached and connected, and have obligations that they may prioritize over labor obligations or other perceived duties. All this constitutes an important element of the institutional logic of families. However, what sociologists have been paying particular attention to within recent decades is how families are composed in terms of power and authority, meaning how family responsibilities are distributed and how dominance is perceived within households. Moore turns to the so-called “invisible” families of gay Black women to explore how power and hierarchy are constructed in them. The author also argues that the patterns observed in lesbian families can be used to assess family relationships in heterosexual couples, too. Moore concludes that in families of lesbian couples with children, the biological mothers “use the ‘doing’ of housework and authority over child-rearing as a trade-off for significant control of household finances and organization” (178). However, it is also recognized in this study that there are two equally probable possibilities: on the one hand, those who run the household may perceive their power to be greater than that of their partners; on the other hand, male privilege or male comparative income advantage in heterosexual families may decrease the importance seen in family power.

One of the most significant aspects of Moore’s study is that it demonstrates how the “conventional model in which individuals in families exchange domestic services for financial support may not hold in certain contexts” (179). This critical assessment shows that a variety of ways in which people organize their families and households may be overlooked, which hinders the effectiveness of policymaking. Indeed, the institutional logics of different families can be significantly different, which in turn affects their economic activities, such as managing finances, hiring help, and spending money (both planned and unplanned).

One of the main shifts in the social perception of family institutional logic occurred in the late 1980s when the concept of the “second shift” was introduced. This term encompasses ideas associated with the role of a working mother in her household and in society. Hochschild addresses this issue closely, exploring “the interplay between…particular gender ideologies [in couples], the economic realities of their lives, and the gender strategies through which they consciously or not reconcile these” (77). Gender ideologies play a particularly important role here. They describe the scope of behaviors, actions, and roles expected from a person—either by himself or herself or by his or her partner—based on the person’s gender. Hochschild studies how “the emotional stream behind a certain version of womanhood and manhood [is created]” (78) and finds many interrelated factors, including early life experiences.

An example of a historical change in family institutional logic is the perceived role of a woman in the family of a heterosexual couple. Hochschild identifies three types of wives: traditional, egalitarian, and transitional. A traditional wife “wants to identify with her activities at home (as a wife, a mother, a neighborhood mom)” (Hochschild 15). An egalitarian wife is one who “wants to identify with the same spheres her husband does and to have an equal amount of power in the marriage” (Hochschild 15). Transitional wives fall somewhere in the wide range in between. The very existence of this third category demonstrates how addressing family issues is complicated today due to the vast array of its forms and manifestations.

Institutional Logic in Paid Workplaces

There are many elements in the institutional logics of paid workplaces, and, similar to family institutional logics, they are constantly being redefined and updated today due to changes in labor relations and the emergence of new forms of employment. The principal components are profit and efficiency, meaning that the work performed by an individual should produce value, and such value production should occur according to a reasonable and constantly improving ratio of resources spent and results achieved. In addition, product quality is a major consideration, as it is a pivotal component of competition that often drives various market forces. However, as employment has evolved, many other concepts and considerations have gained significance in the institutional logic of the workplace. For example, there is a growing appreciation for managerial authority and different managerial practices because it is acknowledged today that the strategic goals of any workplace cannot be achieved without appropriate management. Particularly, human resources management has come to play a special role, as it encompasses such phenomena as recruitment and retention.

A particularly remarkable addition to the institutional logic of paid workplaces is the recognition of the importance of various sociological factors, such as demographics, culture, and gender. For example, Eaton observes that “key features of clerical work from workers’ perspective include[d] its basis in relationships and emotional labor, its frequent invisibility, and its gendered character” (292). The author strives for a critical assessment of the workplace’s institutional logic through the perspective of gender, and one of her main conclusions is that gender-related considerations should be incorporated into corporate policies rather than seen as disrupting them. In her pursuit, Eaton examines the issues of feminism and unionism, stating that “feminists’ and unionists’ efforts to change the way ‘women’s work’ is conceptualized could be more closely aligned than they are today, rather than assumed to be in opposition” (293). Her recommendations in this regard were a sort of a breakthrough in describing the institutional logic in workplaces.

In a study of a luxury hotel—designed to explore workers’ symbolic boundaries from the perspective of strategy, contradiction, and organization—Sherman shows that “workers constituted themselves as superior to their peers…[and] emphasized the perks associated with their jobs and the status of the hotel and its guests” (155). The author also describes how some workers developed a perception of themselves as being above the hotel guests based on a feeling of condescension and negative judgments of them. This study provides a valuable perspective on how the relationships between workers and guests are mutually constructed, which shapes the workplace environment to a large extent.

Sherman goes on to state that “hotel workers consent not only to managers’ and owners’ appropriation of labor power for economic gain but also to guests’ appropriation of workers’ interactive self-subordination for guests’ psychological and physical fulfillment” (113). Sherman’s concept of “games” has been very influential, as it illustrates how “worker practices are significantly shaped by the contexts in which they occur and are not determined solely by attitudes imported from outside” (152). The success of workers’ performance depends on “the sense of self the worker brings to the workplace” (Sherman 153). It is also shown how these games bring certain rewards, such as “a sense of autonomy, competence, professionalism, and independence, as well as money” (Sherman 153), all of which are already perceived as desirable. Through these various perspectives, the institutional logic in paid workplaces appears to be increasingly complicated. However, what can be generally seen is the need for further research and a broadening of the range of considerations in addressing related issues.

Institutional Logic in Public Policy

Since the role of the family in work relationships has been more explicitly recognized, policymakers in many countries have made various efforts to create public policies that consider these relationships and thus provide an adequate framework for addressing any related issues that might arise. Such policies have been developed at various levels, from corporate and organizational to national and international. Starting from the highest level, governments of different countries have been attempting to address the issues of work and family effectively because overlooking the relationship between these two institutions has proved to deteriorate performance and limit the number of tools that state authorities can use to explore, regulate, monitor, and evaluate work relations in various spheres.

These public policy attempts have been displayed in many forms. For example, several policies have been designed to create public benefits programs for individuals to receive direct assistance from the government based on an acknowledgment of their family-related needs. Taxation policies have been reconsidered, too, to take into consideration different aspects of relationships among people, as well as between people and organizations or people and public authorities.

A key role in this process was played by the notion of the values of family, as the employment relationship assessment model continued to evolve. Instead of describing employment relationships as particular connections between an individual and an employer (which may be an organization or any other structure), new models suggested viewing individuals as bearers and representatives of many other connections associated with personal statuses, backgrounds, and attitudes. In particular, individuals were regarded as presumably or potentially parts of families, which is why work-related sociological relationships and related policies should take into account the institutional logics of both work and family. In other words, members of organizations may also identify as members of families, and this fact has been acknowledged to affect their behaviors, thus creating the need for policies to address this duality.

An example of such policymaking has been the development of elaborate systems for allowing individuals to leave their work for certain periods of time in order to address their family issues, such as the birth of a child. Indeed, parental, maternity, and paternity leaves give permission for employees to leave work temporarily to take care of their children, whether they are newly born or require urgent attention and care. As an example of this policy, Fried notes the experience of Premium, a company that came to be recognized as family-friendly due to its adoption and extensive development of progressive family-related corporate policies and regulations throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

From the very beginning, Fried has held the belief that family-related corporate policies are highly important for organizations, writing, “Given the importance of infant-adult attachment, I was saddened at how short parental leaves were, both on a national scale and at Premium. Why was paid work so important? How real were people’s fears about not advancing in their careers or even losing a job if they took leave? Understanding the workplace culture provides some insights into these questions” (42). After analyzing corporate support for childcare in the organization, Fried concluded that this support not only contributed to a better image of the company but also improved the organization’s long-term performance and effectiveness.

Ways to Achieve Goals and Values of Institutional Logics

In the modern world, individuals may easily find themselves torn between the many different relationships to which they have to contribute and be dedicated. For example, a person can be regarded from the sociological perspective as simultaneously an employee and a member of a family. Both his or her work and his or her family have needs and issues that must be addressed. Instead of regarding the person as an employee for a certain time during the day and a part of a family during some other time, it can be proposed to combine these two perspectives and regard the person as an actor of complex intentions and driving forces. Although combining the institutional logic of these two considerations, work and family has been challenging, it should not be disregarded that most actors have multiple driving forces and considerations at the same time, each of which may affect their behaviors both in terms of work and in terms of family. For example, individuals may have strong feelings toward their communities, cultural backgrounds, or even certain personal identities, from religion to being a fan of a sports team.

This complexity is exactly the tool for various social and institutional actors to pursue goals and values associated with the institutional logic of families, workplaces, and public policies. An employee is not only an employee; his or her work relationships, performance, and dedication to work objectives may be affected by various considerations arising from the fact that the employee is also a supporter of a certain political group, a member of a certain community or group of interest, or a parent. Promoting a better understanding of the connections between workers and organizations, as well as among workers, within the perspectives and contexts in which they may place themselves is what has driven the evolution of institutional logics in the addressed spheres. Indeed, promoting these connections has brought about many benefits for both work and family relations that are widely praised today.

For example, issues of gender equality in the workplace have been raised by demonstrating how employees may be affected in their behaviors and the ways they are treated based on their gender identities (Eikhof 17). Due to this recognition, the struggle against all forms of gender-based discrimination in the workplace became possible. Another example is childcare as discussed above: regarding an employee on the institutional level as a parent as well as allowed for the creation of policies to allow individuals to combine work and parenthood in their lives. Finally, the recognition of the complexity of social and institutional actors has also contributed to the notion of fair and productive workplaces. Employers should not only consider the people who work under them as workers but also as individuals with various sociological considerations, such as identities, beliefs, and attitudes; recognizing these different factors is the optimal way to organize the work of individuals to provide benefits both for the individuals and the organizations.

Conclusion

To address the issues of work and family, the institutional logic perspective has been applied. Through this analysis, it has been shown that the institutional logics of families are diverse and constantly evolving, which highlights the importance of broadening the understanding of family in order to address the various issues associated with it effectively. Similarly, it has been shown that the institutional logics in workplaces and public policymaking are complex, too, and affected by various factors that may at first be overlooked or attributed to spheres outside of the issues of work and family. Incorporating these factors into a more comprehensive understanding of these institutional logics is arguably the tool to increase the effectiveness of regulating work and family relations on both an individual and organizational level.

Works Cited

Eaton, Susan. “‘The Customer is Always Interesting’: Unionized Harvard Clericals Renegotiate Work Relationships.” Working in the Service Society, edited by Cameron Lynne Macdonald and Carmen Sirianni, Temple University Press, 1996, pp. 291-332.

Eikhof, Doris. “A Double-Edged Sword: Twenty-First Century Workplace Trends and Gender Equality.” Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 27, no. 1, 2012, pp. 7-22.

Fried, Mindy. Taking Time: Parental Leave Policy and Corporate Culture. Temple University Press, 1998.

Friedland, Roger, and Robert Alford. “Bringing Society Back in: Symbols, Practices, and Institutional Contradictions.” The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio, University of Chicago Press, 1991, pp. 232-266.

Hochschild, Arlie. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home. Viking Penguin, 1989.

Moore, Mignon. Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood among Black Women. University of California Press, 2011.

Sherman, Rachel. Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels. University of California Press, 2007.

Thornton, Patricia, and William Ocasio. “Institutional Logics.” Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, edited by Royston Greenwood, Christine Oliver, Kerstin Sahlin, and Roy Suddaby, Sage, 2008, pp. 99-128.

Introduction

Hollywood, which is the most famous and influential motion picture industry in the world, has had some significant impacts on American life through the decades. One period when these impacts were especially felt was in the 1950s. This was the period immediately after the devastating Second World War, and it was characterized by significant economic growth in the US.

As the country experienced affluence and growing social contentment, the rapid growth of suburbs began to occur. Many young families left the cities and settled in the more affordable and spacious housings created in the suburb areas. The actions of the people who lived in the suburbs were largely influenced by the media. This paper will argue that in the 1950s, Hollywood caused changes in the suburban family by presenting a certain idealized version of how suburban life was supposed to be.

Hollywood in 1950s America

Hollywood had enjoyed great success in the US up to the late 1940s with numerous films being produced. However, the 1950s were characterized by an increase in TV ownership throughout the US. The TV gained great popularity during the 1950s, surpassing film to become the most popular form of entertainment in the US. People no longer had to go to the theatres to access film entertainment.

As more people switched to the TV, the film industry had to adapt itself. Hollywood started producing programs that were meant for TV consumption. These TV programs began to address the growing phenomenon of suburbia. Hollywood set out to influence the conduct of American suburb families.

Influence of Hollywood on Suburban Families

Hollywood emphasized on the importance of the nuclear family unit. It presented this unit as a fundamental component of society. Without the nuclear family, Hollywood suggested that the society would have no sense of community, and this would lead to its destruction. Couples were encouraged to marry and bring up families together. Conservative values were encouraged, and divorce was discouraged.

The gender roles suburban families in the 1950s were also influenced by Hollywood. Women had taken on a more active role in society during the wartime period. Women had been engaged in production aspects and had taken careers. The 1950s period was a time of peace, and suburban development favored the establishment of homes by young couples. Hollywood presented women as caring mothers to their children and dedicated wives to their husbands.

This representation encouraged women to forsake careers and instead settle as wives and mothers. In Hollywood media, the women were exhorted for bearing and rearing children in their homes. The women were portrayed as being supportive of their husband’s efforts and showed great loyalty. On the other hand, the suburban male was the provider and the protector of the house.

Hollywood encouraged conformity in the suburban families during the 1950s. Conformity was deemed mandatory for the cordial existence of society. The suburban houses were identical structures mass-produced to reduce cost. This portrayed a vision of homogenization, and it encouraged conformity. Families were expected to demonstrate social contentment and act in a manner that did not cause strife in society.

Hollywood films and TV shows showed the typical suburban house with characters who acted in the manner that American’s was supposed to. Hollywood managed to influence society by presenting screen characters as though they were real people.

This technique ensured that the public was convinced that the actors they saw on TV and in the movies were the same people they dealt with every day with the same human problems. This effectively blurred the lines between fact and fiction, making it easier for the society to believe the message that was being passed through the American screen.

Hollywood fostered a forced sense of community and idealized living for the suburban inhabitants. In TV shows and films, suburban life was presented as the ideal life for Americans. It was presented as a fulfillment of the American dream, and every person worked to reach this goal of owning a one-story building with a small backyard and a front lawn.

The residents of the suburban residency were supposed to act in an idealized manner. The ideals of community and neighborliness were ingrained into the Americans through TV shows that showed characters enjoying barbeques and pool games in a spirit of community.

Values of consumerism were encouraged by Hollywood. The TV images showed the items that the ideal suburban family should have. Material possessions were held in high esteem, and the average suburb family had a car and a variety of appliances. The family was encouraged to purchase more home goods even if they did not necessarily need them.

Conclusion

This paper set out to show how Hollywood promoted changes in suburban families in the 1950s. It began by highlighting the importance of TV development in the 1950s. TV increased the reach of Hollywood by making it easy for families to access media at the comforts of their homes.

The paper pointed out how gender roles were influenced by Hollywood images of women as wives and mothers and men as breadwinners of the family. Hollywood ingrained suburban families with the lofty ideals of community and neighborliness and greatly influenced their ways of living. From this paper, it is clear that the fictional images projected by Hollywood helped to shape the lives of the American’s living in the Suburbs during the 1950s.

Literature Review

Global divorce rates have been on the increase due to several factors affecting the couple. Different motives have been identified to cause divorce (Graaf & Kalmijn, 2006). It has been argued that the motives that were considered serious have recently become less important. Research indicates that divorce affects the financial well-being of families (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2006). The reason for the economic distress is mostly due to changes in the structure.

As people divorce, there is the formation of two different households as opposed to a single household that characterized the married couple. For this reason, the same resources that used to cater to fixed costs such as housing and transportation would now be shared. This means that there would be an enormous financial strain as the resources are used to cover greater fixed costs. In addition to this, the process of divorce might be an expensive venture.

Costs may be incurred when paying the attendant to marital disruption. Such fees include legal fees. Significant legal fees are paid by the couple because they have to pay two legal teams. Some couples disagree and fight out of court. This proves to be even more expensive since custody battles over assets and other resources may cost the parties a lot of money. As the individuals relocate after the divorce, there could be substantial relocation fees.

Start-up fees may come in the form of down payments or rental fees for apartments. Transportation of items constitutes of moving costs. Costs are also incurred while trying to replace some of the assets that were lost to the other partner during a divorce. All these costs usually drain both parties financially (Vaus, Gray, Qu, & Stanton, 2014).

Apart from the cost of divorce, another financial burden comes about when dividing assets. Many states allow courts to determine how assets would be divided between the partners during divorce (Thomas, 2008). For example, the assets acquired during the marriage may be divided equally.

However, this might vary in other states. Another financial problem might be encountered during the division of debt. Married couples do not only share assets but also share debts. In the case of divorce, the partners would need to share costs. Depending on their earnings, one party might experience greater financial strain.

Sorensen and Hill (2004) agreed with the arguments made by Forgatch and DeGarmo and added that women and children are mostly affected financially after divorce. This is mainly due to the existing differences in earning power between the men and the women. It has been argued that husbands generally earn bigger salaries than those of their wives (Thomas, 2008).

When married, the man’s earnings may be shared almost equally between the parties. After divorce, however, the men might be unwilling to share the resources equally. Consequently, this leads to a dramatic reduction in resources available to the woman and her children. Even though the woman might be working, the lack of sufficient support from the man may lead to financial problems.

It is suggested that children and mothers suffer more than men do during separation (Vaus, Gray, Qu, & Stanton, 2014). This is mainly due to unequal wages for men and women. In addition to this, women have more expenses since they need to take care of their children. Some women may even fall into poverty due to divorce (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2006). Some women who used to own a home may lose the house due to the circumstances.

More recently, studies have shown that the financial burden is greatest only during the first year when the woman can lose up to 77% of the wealth. The burden depends on how much the woman contributed before the divorce and how willing the man is to continue supporting the family.

After the first year, however, the woman can have a 14% increase in wealth annually. Compared to the 16% increase in wealth for married couples, it is evident that women and children can experience financial recovery after divorce. Divorce may significantly affect the woman’s income in the short run. However, the women can recover fully a few years after the divorce and become as financially stable as they would have been if they were not divorced (Vaus, Gray, Qu, & Stanton, 2014).

Generally, women try to recover by improving their earnings and by demanding support from their ex-husbands. Others seek opportunities for extension educators. Women may benefit from receiving tailored financial management education. This is usually provided in the transition to divorce. This education helps women gain effective financial management strategies. With this information, women can quickly recover from the costs incurred immediately after divorce (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2006).

Married individuals without children tend to have slightly higher income before the divorce. After divorce, women with children would have less income. Those without children may increase labor supply since they would not have children that depend on them. Those who have children may remain at the same level for one year. The men might be affected less because they would not have to provide as they used to due to changes in family size.

Men might experience an increase in income. Two major factors may contribute to the financial loss experienced by the men. Firstly, if the wife used to contribute a substantial amount of income to the family, the man would experience reduced income. For this reason, he would need to struggle to make extra income. Secondly, the man might be required to continue supporting the child. For example, he could be required to pay for a separate home.

Additionally, fathers with shared custody of the children might experience greater financial constraints. Men who contribute less income to the family are likely to experience more financial problems than those who contribute more than 80%. Divorced men may experience a substantial increase in income after divorce (Vaus, Gray, Qu, & Stanton, 2014). They may be even better off than they would have been if they were not divorced. This clearly shows that women and children suffer more than men do during a divorce.

Due to financial constraints, women are likely to look for assistance from welfare programs. Intervention programs have been successful in providing financial aid to families after marital disruptions (Forgatch & DeGarmo, 2006). These programs have also been helpful in enriching children’s early education.

Parents also get an education to improve their parenting skills. Such programs help to reduce the financial stress associated with divorce. Welfare states may step in to improve the lives of families experiencing financial problems after divorce. Single parents can now receive additional child benefits. Other states also allow such parents to pay reduced rates in school programs and benefit from lower tax rates. With such support, many women can now raise their children without the help of their male partners.

The current study is significant because divorce is rampant in the current society. It would be important to assess the financial impact of divorce amidst the changing attitudes and perceptions towards the significance of the man in the family.

References

Forgatch, M., & DeGarmo, D. (2006). Accelerating recovery from poverty: Prevention effects for recently separated mothers. JEIBI, 4(4), 681-702.

Graaf, P., & Kalmijn, M. (2006). Divorce motive in a period of rising divorce: Evidence from a Dutch life history Survey. Journal of Family Issues, 27(1), 483-505.

Sorensen, E., & Hill, A. (2004). Single mothers and their child-support receipt – how well is child-support enforcement doing? Journal of Human Resources, 39(1), 135-154.

Thomas, O. (2008). Changes in the economic consequences of divorces. Family Law Quarterly, 43(3), 419-447.

Vaus, D., Gray, M., Qu, L., & Stanton, D. (2014). The economic consequences of divorce in Australia. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 28(1), 26-47.

Introduction

The debate on the responsibilities of an individual to the family and society will never end due to the complexities involved in defining the roles of the society in developing personality. Some sociologists have argued that people owe a lot to the society since it provides the ground for all other aspects of human and physical development (Lamanna 11). This essay discusses the most important role of an individual and examines whether people should give first consideration to their family issues before societal needs are addressed.

Definition

A family is a group of individuals that live together and are connected through birth, blood, marriage, or adoption. On the other hand, society is a group of families that share similar beliefs, traditions, and practices (Coltrane 21). However, modernization has made families that do not share the same traditions to live together since there are national and global laws that govern the behavior of human beings. Duty refers to the obligation or responsibility an individual must fulfill in the family or society. According to Emile Durkheim, everybody has a role to play to ensure the family and society function well and if they fail to play their roles the society will have conflicts.

Priority between Family and Society

Most people have become victims to their families or societies by giving the other priority in terms of appreciating their contributions in developing their personalities and shaping their future careers (Drew 65). It is important to explain that even though these are different entities they play almost similar roles in determining the future of an individual. Therefore, people should draw a balance between these two entities to ensure there are no conflicts between their expectations and the roles played by the person. The following are some of the roles that make the family an important aspect and thus an individual should focus on his duty to the family more than to the society.

First, the family is the only agent of reproduction to ensure human beings do not become extinct. This means that it is through it that people are born and raised. There is no other way people can morally and religiously bring new beings into life except through intimate relationships between a man and a woman (Chesterton 23). The society cannot give birth to human beings since it does not have the biological, physical, or moral abilities to do so. Therefore, it should be given priority by an individual since without it there is no way the human race would have existed.

Secondly, it is the first agent of socialization and through it, members learn different issues about their societies. This means that it plays significant roles in shaping the destiny of its members and without it, people would not have the skills to interact with other members in their societies (Lamanna 16). People learn language and socialization skills from family members and this enables them to blend with the rest of the society in various issues. Therefore, an individual should place a lot of emphasis on his duties to the family than to society.

Thirdly, people derive their identity from their families and this explains why some people can easily be identified with some families due to their behaviors. Every family has unique behavior and this is portrayed by its family members. This enables families and societies to have identities and appreciate their traditions without feeling that they are inferior to others (Drew 69). This identity also gives members social and emotional security that is necessary for developing positive personality and other human aspects. It is important to explain that even though members of the same society can share most traditions every family has its sub-traditions that make its members behave differently from other people. This may include names that are unique and used to identify people from different families.

Also, the family plays a significant role in bringing up children to attain their adulthood status. This is not an easy undertaking due to the challenges that parents experience when bringing up their children. Sometimes parents struggle to look for school fees and other needs like food, clothes, health services, and shelter without the help of other members of the community. These services are available to families at a fee and not for free and this means that parents must struggle to acquire them (Chesterton 28). Sometimes children are sent home for school fees and society does not help them in any way. Instead, all other activities go on without interruptions and parents must struggle to take their children back to school.

Lastly, people cannot expect the community to provide all needs to them since it cannot afford to do so. There are many conflicts among members of the same community and this makes them have different priorities (Drew 71). Social, economic, and political classes are very common in modern societies and this makes it difficult for members to help one another or even pay attention to their needs. Life in the cities and urban centers is a struggle to make ends meet and even neighbors may not have the time to visit one another and share their experiences (Popenoe 21). It is almost impossible for people to attend funerals of their neighbors since they hardly know each other and have no time to attend to issues that do not affect them. This shows that people from the same family can help one another since they have blood ties that bring them together. Therefore, society should not expect an individual to give it the priority since it does not give them the same treatment.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to explain the need for individuals to give society the priority in their duties. First, it is important to explain that human beings are not like animals since their behavior is guided by reason and not instinct. This means that they must reason and evaluate the consequences of their actions before doing anything (Coltrane 31). Society offers an environment where the family can do its activities peacefully and this means that without a peaceful society a family will also be affected. Therefore, a person must ensure he gives society the first consideration since it is the mother of all families. Secondly, people cannot live in isolation from one another since they have different skills and abilities. A family cannot have a doctor, farmer, teacher, police officer, lawyer, engineer, social worker, and constructor. People rely on one another for goods or services they cannot produce and this means that the society is very important in ensuring the family succeeds in various issues (Chesterton 26). People must seek services and goods from other members of their societies to ensure they acquire basic needs. Therefore, society is more important than family when it comes to the production of goods and services.

Conclusion

The family and society are very important in ensuring their members succeed in various aspects. These two entities cannot work in isolation since they depend on one another for survival. Therefore, they should be given proportional considerations depending on the urgency and relevance of their needs.

Works Cited

Chesterton, George. Family, Society, Politics: The Outline of Sanity, the End of the Armistice, Utopia of Usurers. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009. Print.

Coltrane, Scott. Families and Society: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Drew, Clifford. Human Exceptionality: School, Community, and Family. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.

Lamanna, Mary. Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Popenoe, David. Families without Fathers: Fathers, Marriage and Children in American Society. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2009. Print.

Domestic violence is one of the worldwide crises which are affecting marriage and families. This poses the greatest threat to the general behavior of the people’s lives. The society in which we live has for many decades endeavored to conceal the reality of domestic violence. Although in the past, people were traditionally well behaved and thus leniency and respect that quenched the anger was abundant. This is not meant to mean that torture and family abuse were things and acts unheard of. Family violence could be provoked by either one of the parents or even a child of that family. This family violence is commonly associated with men, and research has given more evidence on this. This is quite well articulated to the greatest obstacle related to gender inequality. (McIntyre, 1984)

Nowadays, family violence is quite a common phenomenon for both old and younger married men and women. Younger married women at the age of thirteen and twenties are at great risk of family violence. Men’s violence toward their wives has impacted their families’ progress mostly. Family violence takes many forms which include sexual abuse, physical assaults, and murder, emotional as well as restriction of freedoms and rights, coercion, and threats. Most of these violent acts have been reported to have been as a result of misuse of alcohol or drugs. High percentages of violent reports have been due to excessive drinking or from people addicted to alcohol.

The majority of rape cases have been observed to be a pre-planned projects. it occurs as indoor raping exclusively by men towards their wives. This is termed violence against women because there is no desire for mutual feeling. The perpetrator may either want to show that the woman is subordinate to him i.e. He tries to demonstrate how powerful over his wife. (Grann & Fazel 2004)

Family violence portrays a bad image of a family. Psychologically, men and women involved in family violence find disturb by negative questions in their daily life. They are seen to be neurotic and poor coppers. They become obsessed with things that are happening to their partner’s lifestyle rather than getting engage with developmental projects. This leads them in controlling the behavior of the other partner and this deters personal concentration on the matter of paramount importance. They are also affected such that they partner with those individuals with quake behaviors so that they may satisfy their comfort and steal their minds from the family problem realities.

While there are enormous reports of intimate partner homicides, murders, rapes, and assaults, it is important to note that victims of all this violence find it very difficult to explain the matter and incidents to their friends. They view this as something shameful of disclosing family issues to the public. This is most very common with men because the man in his thinking capacity does not admit to overpowering always by his counterpart female partner. This makes it very hard for men victims to air their problems for assistance. (Morrell, 2004)

Furthermore, children are not exceptional about the psychological effect due to family violence. When husband and wife expose the violent action to their children, they make the child learn the kind of life that they lead. The emotions of the children may be triggered and this causes either to develops a negative attitude against his /her parents. The picture that is formed back in his medulla oblongata remains a stumbling block for his future reasoning and planning. (McIntyre, 1984)

As I conclude, family violence should be discouraged for its impacts are enormously and pervasively destructive. So partner should get into controllable action which would not lead to violence.

Reference:

Grann, M. & Fazel S. (2004): Substance misuse and violent crime: Swedish population study.

McIntyre, D. (1984): Domestic violence: a case of disappearing victim, ‘Australian Journal of Family Therapy, vol.5 no. 4 pp. 249-58.

Morrell, R. (2004): Ending gender-based violence: A call for global action to involve men. Stockholm.

Introduction

As a result of the high rates of immigration or adoption, it is virtually impossible for linguistic minorities to exist in a given country. As result of this, there has been language contact that has become the major part of social fabric in daily life of many people. It has been noted that the sense of identity and belonging is a possible alternative of defining a community based on linguistic patterns (Williams, 1992).

The Research Question

This paper looks into the identity and power in the work place or family as shown in Japanese television dramas or anime. The intention of language use in daily life is beyond the plain purpose of conveying information.

Some speech styles serve to position an individual in the social ladder and determine the level of interpersonal affiliations. The importance of communication to a great extent depends on how an individual says something rather than what one says.

As a result, people use varied linguistic styles depending on the audience or circumstance. Men and women in most cases will manipulate their linguistic style in an effort to project a particular image. Such alliterations linked to power and identities are by definition entangled within the concept of appropriate manhood or womanhood as per the Japanese society.

Research conducted by Coulmas, whose primary methodology was watching Japanese drama television, found out that speech articulation was an important aspect in that admired medium. The researcher also found that the use of pronouns in speech was a way of expressing respect to the person who was being addressed. Something of interest was that, speech patterns were highly linked to power, especially for men in Japanese society (Coulmas, 2005).

If a man wished to be considered powerful, he must have understood how to articulate properly the language that he employed. This entailed portrayal of conspicuous components of speech to sound masculine. On the other hand, youthfulness was a trait that was strongly emphasized for the women as portrayed in the Japanese drama. By employing a certain speech style, women could appear much younger.

For instance, alteration of the word shi to si portrayed a woman as a child thus linguistically reducing her age and hence changing the perception of the audience about her. The use of honorifics was used to express the youthfulness of a woman and ensured that women took a lower rank in the social hierarchy by always remaining submissive to their husbands.

The research further revealed that, Japanese television dramas and anime have had an upper hand in perpetuating the femininity of a Japanese woman and at the same time portraying men as superior. For example, women would be directly or in directly instructed on how to speak, they normally use incomplete sentences.

This gives the impression that they are emotional beings who are less rational as compared to men. The linguistic device portrayed men as having power over women. A conspicuous stratification was noted in the anime films based on gender. In these anime, boys choose samurai as their character, with their main focus being themes of science and discovery or detective stories. On the other hand, anime intended for girls, focused on love themes. This connotes men superiority and dominance over women (Coulmas, 2005).

Linguistic devices that are used by the scriptwriters to indicate to the viewers, the person who has the power.

Scriptwriters of Japanese drama or anime use different linguistic techniques to portray power relationships as witnessed in a range of Japanese drama. Some of the techniques are rhetoric, dramatic language, colloquialisms, alliteration, and emotive language among many others.

To begin with, scriptwriters use dramatic techniques to enhance connotation and indulgence amongst the audience (Tsujimura, 1996). These dramatic techniques include speech directions, which consist of words included in brackets instructing the actor on how to vary the tone when reciting the script. For instance, in the anime film Akira, voice of stars like Mitsuo Iwata as Kenada, and Yuriko Fuchizaki voicing Kaori have been used with variation to convey a message of power relationship.

A scriptwriter usually directs the use of commanding voice for the powerful character. Pitch and tone variation is emphasized to distinguish between the powerful and less powerful characters. This technique is demonstrated in the film Akira where Kaneda uses loud commanding voice to portray his superiority over the main character, Tetsuo. Tetsuo’s inferiority is represented by his soft spoken voice (Hudson, 2001).

“Asides” is another dramatic technique that involves one character periodically turning away when speaking to another. Usually, the powerful character is the one who turns away with the hands crisscrossed at the back, which is an indication of power and arrogance.

Another technique is the scenes and acts. A powerful character in a drama or anime will in most cases appear in scenes that gesture heroism. Symbolism is also a dramatic technique that is widely used in Japanese anime. The powerful character symbolizes a legendary person who once existed in the Japan society. This is seen in the anime ‘Power Rangers Samurai’ where Ohashi the main character symbolizes the legendary Samurai (Tsujimura, 2002).

Scriptwriters also give stage directions as well as entrance and exits instructions with the aim of emphasizing power. Different characters enter and exit the stage depending on the power they wield in a particular drama series. For instance, a momentary stage brightening may be done to signify the coming of a hero who will save the other characters. Off stage noises are also varied depending on what is happening on the stage.

When a powerful character is about to appear on stage, special off stage noises are normally employed. In the anime Akira, the author uses music to give the film alienating superiority between men and women (Shibata, Kunihiro, Inoue, & Long, 1999).

In conclusion, it is clearly evident that Japanese dramas and anime uses linguistic devices to portray the character is powerful to the audience. Moreover, the research methodology that was used as indicated in this paper, could not have given a conclusive reflection of identity and power in workplace or family. There ought to have been a concrete method like direct interview of a sample population.

References

Coulmas, F. (2005). Sociolinguistics: The study of speakers’ choices. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Hudson, R. A. (2001). Sociolinguistics (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Shibata, T., Kunihiro, T., Inoue, F., & Long, D. (1999). Sociolinguistics in Japanese contexts. New York, NY: Mounton de Gruyter.

Tsujimura, N. (2002). The handbook of Japanese linguistics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Tsujimura, N. (1996). Introduction to Japanese linguistics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Williams, G. (1992). Sociolinguistics: A sociological critique. New York, NY