The birth of a second child brings an additional responsibility to the parents, who should provide essentials for proper child growth. These responsibilities include allocation of time to take care of two children, noting that the degree of care for the two children is different due to their age differences.
The time constraint brought by the second childbirth leads to increased business in the family and in cases where parents do not plan adequately for child attention, the children will feel deprived of attention and interfere with parents’ normal routines. The interferences to personal schedules of parents, with the responsibility of taking care of children, affects personal concentration and productivity of the parent and may lead to cases of high stress that further complicate their ability to provide proper child care.
Negative Outcomes
A second childbirth presents a compulsory increment in family spending because the second child must be fed, clothed, and educated among other necessary provisions. Furthermore, the immediate months after childbirth present an uncertain learning period for the parent as they learn the sleeping and feeding patterns of their newly born.
Increased expenditures force the family breadwinner to earn more to maintain the living standards of the family. Parents in this case are forced to look for additional jobs in cases where their existing jobs barely support the family before the second child arrival. Other than immediate increased spending, the long term savings are also altered to accommodate the anticipated child needs as they grow up to adulthood (Spangler, 2010).
Parents have to reorganize their daily schedules, stretched with the baby’s requirements, in addition to personal matters and the firstborn’s needs. The attention direction to the second child in addition to that going to the first child ultimately reduces the time couples spend together for their own personal matters. The interpret bonding in the family reduces and personal conflicts in the family take longer to resolve (Spangler, 2010).
One parent may feel neglected and resort to substituting family time with other activities, further worsening the lack of bonding issue. As family tensions build with delayed conflict resolution, parents may be tempted to indulge in harmful habits such as alcohol drinking that may eventually develop into an addiction. Mothers are likely to suffer depression caused by increased exhaustion and an anxiety towards the baby, also known as baby blues.
Positive Outcomes and Solutions
Arrival of the second child also brings positive outcomes to the family. Parents become more confident of their parenting abilities, their knowledge of parenting and add up to their experiences of child upbringing. Spangler (2010) explains that families also find out that what seemed like an uphill task for raising the first child now becomes ordinary as they use their previous experience to bring up the second child. As mothers get used to caring for the second baby, they realize that their love and care for the first child does not diminish.
In some cases, the arrival of a second child bonds the family more strongly as parents settle for family goals for the long term and abandon tendencies to think of individual benefits only. To remedy the bonding challenge posed by the second childbirth, parents should set aside a special period every week to leave baby care, concentrate on their relationship, and iron out any issues that might arise because of the second childbirth.
Reference
Spangler, T. G. (2010). The challenges of a second child. Web.
Child neglect is a form of child maltreatment. Child neglect implies the failure in meeting some child’s needs. For instance, a child is neglected when he or she is not provided with such vital things as nutrition and food, physical and mental health care, clothing and hygiene, supervision, and educational care. Child neglect can lead to serious and fatal consequences. There are two different forms of neglect: physical and emotional.
More girls suffer from neglect than boys. Younger children are neglected the most. According to Welch and Bonner (2013), “in the fiscal year 2010, an estimated 695,000 unique children were identified as being abused and/or neglected in the United States, translating to 9.2 children per 1,000” (p. 745). This paper is aimed at providing a rating for a child and his family using the case of Aaron.
Aaron is a seven-year-old white boy. Aaron is from a full family. He lives with his mom and dad in Orlando, Florida. Aaron goes to a local elementary school. It is worth mentioning that Aaron is a relatively new student in the school. His family moved from another neighborhood because once Aaron saw how a boy was shot in the face after school. Aaron was very shocked by this event, and he paid a lot of attention to it.
He started constantly speaking about violence and guns. Moreover, he was interested in violent movies. From this information, it is clear that a supervision rating for Aaron is 50. According to Crosson-Tower (2013), when the supervision rating is 50, it means that a child often experience different situations that could cause some harm. When the supervision rating is 50, it is considered to be inadequate.
It cannot be said that Aaron is diligent at school, gets good marks and does well at exams. On the contrary, he has some problems at school. It can be concluded that Aaron’s developmental and educational needs are not met. According to Crosson-Tower (2013), a child has educational or developmental problems, and special services or necessary treatment are not provided. All in all, Aaron’s rating level of developmental and educational care is 50, and there are specific reasons for that.
For example, Aaron is not able to fulfill tasks independently. He often does not even try to complete his papers. When his teacher tries to talk to him about it, Aaron insists that he just cannot do his homework or other school tasks because he is too stupid for it.
Aaron’s level of physical care is inadequate too. Firstly, it is important to emphasize that Aaron’s nutrition/food rating is 50. Crosson-Tower (2013) states that rating 50 signifies that the necessary amount of food is not provided, and there is a risk of malnutrition. It is confirmed by the facts that Aaron steals food from his teachers. He has already been caught three times trying to steal snacks from the teacher’s desk, purse, and cupboards.
When the teacher decided to call to Aaron’s parents to tell what had happened, she did not get any answer. Her messages were also ignored. What is more, when the Child Protective Investigator received a call from the school, he went to Aaron’s home. The Child Protective saw the refrigerator was almost empty. There were only old condiments. Aaron’s parents say that they have financial problems so they cannot afford to eat well. Apart from this, there are no toys or books for Aaron at home, and Aaron does not even have a bed. He sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor.
As well as nutrition/food rating, clothing and hygiene rating is quite high too. According to Crosson-Tower (2013), Aaron’s clothing and hygiene rating is 40, which means that dirty clothing affects child’s functioning. School teachers notice that Aaron often is not appropriately dressed for the weather. For example, when the temperature outside is quite low (60-65 degrees in Fahrenheit scale), Aaron could wear shorts and a t-shirt. Furthermore, Aaron wears old dirty clothes. Once he was wearing the same dirty t-shirt for two weeks. Furthermore, Aaron and his parents live in a small apartment that is very messy.
Next, it is necessary to assess the provision of health care. Health care can be divided into two groups: physical and mental health care. To provide physical health care rating, it is necessary to describe one situation. One day Aaron came to school with bruises on his upper arms. It seemed that these bruises were left by someone’s hand because they looked like finger marks. A school nurse and Aaron’s teacher noticed these bruises.
When they asked Aaron how he had got these marks, he answered that he did not know. The nurse decided to call the hotline to express concern about Aaron. From this example, it can be seen that medical care is not provided, and the level of physical health care rating is 40.
Mental health care is much worse. Aaron has behavior problems at school. Sometimes he can be very aggressive, and sometimes he is weak. For instance, once the teacher found Aaron crying and sucking his thumb in the school bathroom. What is more, Aaron is always very scared of any noise or person who approaches him. He avoids eye contact when interacting with any adult. He flinches when anyone tries to touch him. Aaron does not seem to know how to communicate with people. He tends to take away some objects and toys from others without asking. The level of mental health rating is considered to be 50.
Crosson-Tower (2013) describes this rating and emphasizes that a child is experiencing emotional distress, and necessary services and treatment are not provided. Aaron’s parents insist that his son does not need mental health care.
Finally, it is necessary to calculate a final neglect score for Aaron. According to the Ontario Neglect Index method, Aaron’s final neglect score is 75. Trocme (1996) underlines that “giving this scale and scoring the model, panelists suggested that the cutoff point for substantial neglect be 50 (recognizing that in practice an absolute cutoff point has limited clinical significance)” (p. 148). It can be concluded that a final neglect score for Aaron is too high, and it can lead to serious problems.
To sum up, child neglect is a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure in meeting such child’s needs as nutrition and food, physical and mental health care, clothing and hygiene, supervision, and educational care. There are more than nine neglected children per 1000 in the United States of America. The Child Neglect Index that was calculated for Aaron shows that the boy has been neglected, and some actions are to be taken to prevent fatal consequences.
References
Crosson-Tower, C. (2013). Understanding child abuse and neglect (9th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Publishing.
Trocme, N. (1996). Development and preliminary evaluation of the Ontario Child Neglect Index. Child Maltreatment, 1(2),145-155.
Welch, G. L., & Bonner, B. L. (2013). Fatal child neglect: Characteristics, causation, and strategies for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(10), 745-752.
Mr. Jackson’s family is in trouble because conflict of interests always emerges. The husband is unwilling to appreciate the efforts of his wife while Mrs. Mary does not want to sit back and see her husband infringe on her rights on employment. Recently, the family engaged in a fight, which attracted the attention of neighbors because of its severity. The husband claimed that his wife was not playing her role appropriately since she is expected to serve the family diligently by undertaking the household chores.
On her part, the wife, Mrs. Mary Jackson, believes she has the same privileges and roles as the husband in the sense that she should be allowed to work outside the home. In this paper, the conflicts in Jackson’s family would be explored using sociological concepts. The main reason for locating the family is the unending conflicts that are witnessed almost on daily basis.
Settling on the family was simply because it enjoys a close tie with our family. Regarding age, the couple is in their late thirties and they are of the African race. The economic status of the family is average since they both earn a salary. Education-wise, they are both college graduates, with the wife having an advanced degree. Each of the couple has a specific role to play and a scenario where one of them interferes with the position of the other is highly discouraged. However, they both play a great role in parenting.
The main problem in the family is communication because the husband is unwilling to share his views with the wife something that seriously interferes with decision-making. In this regard, power structure is skewed in the sense that it lies with the husband while the wife is left at the mercy of Jackson. The interview revealed that the family does not have clear-cut priorities. The couple was interviewed to capture their views on various family issues.
Many sociological scholars in the modern society are interested in examining family interactions and relationships because of the many problems that couples face. Classical scholars applied various theories in understanding family relations, with structuralism being the most valued at the time whereby each member was expected to play his or her role faithfully. Such scholars had a narrow definition of the family with quite a number terming it a basic social unit that serves the purpose of helping out its members in meeting the desired objectives.
However, this definition is changing, and application of other theories, such as conflict theory, symbolic interaction, and systems theory is valid. Even though sociologists offer various definitions of family, a number of scholars agree that it entails a primary social group that consist of parents and children with the major aim being provision of the basic needs. Traditionally, the family had a primary role of socializing its members to be accepted in society, but the case is different in the modern society since other agents of socialization, including the media and the peer, are taking over this primary role.
For instance, children are no longer properties of parents because they receive information from different sources even before they attain the legally attained age. Regarding role playing, the mother is longer a house wife in the sense that she is expected to undertake the affairs of the home while the father provides for the family. In fact, many women are taking over traditional positions that were previously reserved for men. Based on this, other theories should be applied in explaining the current trend as far as family relations are concerned.
Structural scholars believe that, being a social unit, the family is expected to operate as system whereby each individual should undertake his or her responsibility diligently without interfering with those of others. Unfortunately, the notion that the father is the head of the family is no longer valued in many families. In this regard, the views of conflict theorists that tensions characterize social relationships are valid since the husband is reluctant to lose his position while the wife is ambitious to take over new responsibilities.
An in-depth interview with the family revealed that the husband is reluctant to allow his wife to play any of the roles that is known to belong to men traditionally. For instance, Jackson is opposed to the idea of his wife joining professional workers in other countries trying to develop their careers. The family is faced with a serious conflict that threatens its survival because communication among members is poor. For Jackson, a woman should never try to compete with a man both in the workplace and at home.
He views his wife as a major impediment towards goal attainment in the sense that he is not given his freedom to interact with other people in social places. Whenever he visits his social joint, his wife insists on going together, something that angers him so much. In his view, women have different roles and functions that differ greatly with those of men.
Unfortunately, he does not delineate gender from sex because he does not see any difference. Since men and women differ in physical features, there should be a difference in the gender roles as well. For instance, his wife prefers going with him to shop, but he does not approve this behavior terming it weird and unacceptable. Unfortunately, Jackson wants his wife to participate in providing the basic needs for the family claiming that life is challenging in the modern society and each member should at least contribute something financially.
An assessment of the six sources of power suggests that men derive their power from traditional authorities whereby they were able to control affairs in the society because they are relieved of the childbearing responsibilities. The conflict existing in Jackson’s family is social and the major issue affecting the couple is disclosure of the problem because each of them is reluctant to share it openly.
Even though non-verbal communication play a critical role in sustaining relationships, the couple should consider employing verbal communication since it is direct in explaining the problem. In the interview, Mary noted that she prefers keeping quiet when her husband does something unpleasant as opposed to engaging him in talks. She only shows that she has an option through facial expressions. The mode of communication is critical is resolving social conflicts, such as the one affecting the couple and effective utilization of listening skills whereby turn-taking is given a chance is advisable.
Marriage and happiness are interrelated to an extent that people agree to enter into consensual unions hoping to enjoy their lives forever. Asked what she is most interested in the relationship, Mary replied happiness, but it is unfortunately she is not getting it. Marriage in societies, irrespective of the level of development, is a valued aspect and many consider it a communal affair, especially developing societies. If an individual is not happy in the relationship, chances are high that he or she would seek divorce and the case of Mary is not different since she believes her husband is always unfair, illogical, and insensible.
Marriage is a concept that is best understood at the two stages, including macro and micro levels. Macro nature of marriage entails looking at it from societal perspective whereby the other people’s contributions and influences are analyzed. For the case of Jackson’s family, the society is to blame for the declining relations among its members because women are supposed to follow orders from their husbands and ensure that they carry out activities of the home as required. In the interview, Jackson complained of being alone at home and was forced to cook, wash, and take care of the child while the wife was away on official duty.
He was never pleased with this and decided to complain to other relatives who advised him to do something to prevent the occurrence of the same situation in future. Marriage after the Industrial Revolution was never the same as in the traditional society whereby only men were allowed to work. Development of industries diversified labor meaning that men were not enough to offer services. During the World Wars, men were called upon to defend their countries, but the economy could not be left to collapse and the state gave women a new role of producing goods and services in factories.
Since then, the number of women in managerial positions in various organizations is ever increasing, a reality that Jackson is yet to accept. Scholars holding the marital decline perspective observe that Industrial Revolution and the world wars contributed in destabilizing the family structures since women wanted to further their careers instead of being forced to take care of the domain of the home. Those holding the marital resilience perspective observe that many people managed to stay in relationships during and after the Industrial Revolution, especially those who accepted the new gender roles.
In regard to upbringing of children, the couple had a problem, but they both underscore the fact criminal behavior is something that can perhaps be learned through the socialization process implying the environment has a role to play in shaping the immoral behaviors in any given society. In the entire interview, the issue of anomie was brought up fully. Durkheim and Merton talked about them in detail. For Durkheim, suicide is mainly caused by the failure of the social institutions, such as the family, the polity, and the school while Merton linked anomie with the personality adaptations.
Durkheim further observed that anomie is a state of formlessness meaning that an individual decides to commit suicide when he or she lacks sufficient guidelines and values that would help in coping with the difficulties in life. For Merton, anomie simply occurs when a person fails to meet societal needs through the socially accepted means, something that forces people to develop new mechanisms to adapt well in society, including confirming to the new rules, engaging in constant innovation, retreating to the established values, such as those of the family, and finally resorting to ritualism.
The couple is likely to suffer from anomie leading to cases of suicide if proper care is not taken. In the interview, Jackson talked about social process tradition, which concentrates mainly on the learning process, socialization, and transmission of subculture behaviors that might be immoral in nature meaning he does not want the adoption of modern cultures.
The immigration of Chinese into Canada has been taking place since the 18th century. Currently, there are about 1.5 million Chinese living in Canada. The first batch of Chinese immigrants worked as laborers and helped build the Canadian railway.
The immigration of Chinese from the greater China to Canada has led to the growth of a multi-generational Chinese community in Canada (Guo & Devoretz, 2006). Chinese immigrants in Canada face challenges due to differences in religion, socio-historical and geo-political aspects. This paper seeks to establish how the socio historical aspect shapes a Chinese family that immigrates to Canada.
Social Alienation
Canada formulated exclusionary policies early in the 20th century to tame Chinese immigration into Canada. The policies promoted widespread racial discrimination against Chinese Canadians. Today, several segments of the dominant culture still treat Chinese Canadians as foreigners (Zhang, 2010). Most Canadians who belong to the dominant culture grow up with the perceptions that Chinese are culturally distinct and racially foreign (Guo & Devoretz, 2006).
Therefore any new Chinese family immigrating to Canada will be made to feel the deep seated cultural stereotype. In the worst scenario, a Chinese family trying to settle in Canada will be subjected to different forms of racial abuse such as name calling. This is however not always the case as there are other good people in Canada who will welcome an immigrant family and make them feel at home.
Chances are however high that a new immigrant family will be subjected to acts of racism. As a corrective measure, a new immigrant family will look for other fellow immigrants to get psychological, material support and to reinforce their identity.
Older members of an immigrant Chinese family will be surprised to discover that they cannot secure employment with the credentials they acquired in China. Such a family will find it difficult to make a living. It will then become apparent to them that in order to survive in Canada they must first gain the Canadian experience.
Indeed, a study carried out in 2004 revealed that Chinese immigrants reported experiencing different types of racial discrimination. About 30% of them reported to have undergone racial discrimination in terms of employment (Dasgupta, 2005).
The desolate situation experienced will see educated members of a family going back to the basics to rebuild themselves and learn Canadian habits (Guo & Devoretz, 2006). The family will slowly adapt to the new environment until they find a more stable footing. Normally, the first thing a family needs to do is to enroll for English classes, particularly if its members have no educational background in English (Always the case).
For an adult, learning a new language is not that easy, however, as a Chinese immigrant in Canada, he/she will be forced to devote his time and energy to learning English if he/she wishes to survive in the new society. A new family will remain hopeful as they experience the new way of life. Most will be interested in experiencing how different the Canadian society functions.
A family will strive to come to terms with the realities of the new society while at the same time maintaining their traditional Chinese identities. There are certain benevolent funds that have been facilitated by Chinese Canadians to serve the needs of new immigrants (Dasgupta, 2005). This implies that a new family may get some assistance from other Chinese Canadians in adapting to the new life.
The cultural gap will slowly close as the family learns to communicate in English and interacts with friends and neighbors belonging to the dominant culture. Children and younger Chinese adapt more quickly to the Canadian way of life as compared to their parents or older members of the family.
Adapting to the minority group status
A new Chinese family that has immigrated to Canada will find itself being regarded as a part of a visible minority group. Normally, the new status will be hard to accept as the family will have just come from a nearly homogenous populous society. There will be no visible Chinese in all senior positions of the government and other corporate institutions (Zhang, 2010).
The family will adapt to the living patterns of other Chinese families that immigrated to Canada many years ago. It’s important to note that history of the Chinese immigration to Canada is often troubled, and this has left a long lasting scar that continues to affect Chinese Canadians to this date. For instance, a new Chinese immigrant family will learn from others that it needs to stay away from politics so as not to be labeled as trouble makers (Guo & Devoretz, 2006).
The deep seated feeling of inferiority and alienation will soon crop up into a new immigrant family as a result of interaction with other Chinese families. Studies have shown that some Canadian Chinese go as far as discouraging their children from pursuing certain courses such as political science and law (Guo & Devoretz, 2006).
This is however understood due to the fact that the Chinese immigrants were historically denied chances to pursue such courses. Chances are high that a new Chinese family will pick up these habits and prevent their children from pursuing such professions.
The minority status will also mean that the new Chinese family will be less involved in politics. Historically, Chinese Canadians were shunned from political participation in Canada (Guo & Devoretz, 2006). There are currently a good number of Chinese Canadians holding political offices in Canada. However, they are too few to make any meaningful impact on Canadian politics.
Parenting challenges
Normally, older Chinese who immigrate to Canada come with traditional parenting systems that are based on Chinese philosophy. For instance, most new Chinese families entering Canada are culturally influenced by the teachings of Confucian.
It’s important to note that Confucianism is often regarded as the most influential philosophy in the Chinese culture (Clayton, 2011). “Confucian ethics stipulate the expectations of child rearing and the techniques that should be used, in addition to specifying what can be regarded as quality values in children” (Guo & Devoretz, 2006, p. 6).
A Chinese family that has immigrated to Canada will raise children who are struggling to strike a balance between the two cultures. “Western societies emphasize independence, individual achievement and personal growth” (Clayton, 2011, p. 6).
The role of the parents is mainly to assist their children to attain self sufficiency, self control and the ability to make their own decisions. On the other hand, “the Chinese culture prioritizes the needs of a group and fosters a collectivist approach as opposed to the needs, wishes and desires of an individual” (Clayton, 2011, p. 12).
Studies have shown that “Chinese parents usually put a greater emphasis on proper conduct, obedience, acceptance of social obligations and moral training as opposed to the development of children’s independence, assertiveness and creativity” (Clayton, 2011, p.5).
When a new immigrant Chinese family chooses to stick to the Chinese child rearing methods, different types of problems are often seen to arise. This is due to the fact that children will be more comfortable with the norms of the dominant culture.
This results into a feeling of frustration and confusion by children or young people. Such children may also face difficulties while trying to integrate with the larger society. This challenge is difficult to address as Chinese parents do not agree to relax their culturally informed collective approach to child rearing when they move to Canada.
Gaining a sense of belonging
After spending a few years in Canada, a Chinese immigrant family will begin to feel some sense of belonging. An ethnic diversity survey conducted in 2006 showed that Canadians of Chinese origin had a strong sense of belonging to Canada (Dasgupta, 2005). The “survey also showed that Chinese Canadians had a strong sense of belonging to their cultural group” (Zhang, 2010, p. 5).
Similarly, after staying in Canada for some time, a new immigrant family will begin to feel at home and thus start participating in the societal processes such as voting while still maintaining conduct with its cultural group. This constitutes the last stage of adapting to the Canadian way of life by a new Chinese immigrant family.
Conclusion
This paper sought to use the socio-historical aspect to explain the shaping of one family group as they immigrate to Canada. It has been established that a typical Chinese family immigrating to Canada will often undergo social alienation, adaptation to the minority group status, parenting challenges, gaining a sense of belonging.
References
Clayton, C. L. (2011). Contemporary British Chinese Parenting: Beyond Cultural Values. Childhoods Today , 5(1):1-25.
Dasgupta, A. (2005). Hyphenated Canadians: Mixing Cultures, Blending indentities. Vancouver : New Canadian Magazine.
Guo, S., & Devoretz, D. (2006). Chinese Immigrants in Vancouver: Quo Vadis. Bonn: University of Calgary.
Zhang, K. (2010). Flows of People and the Canada China Relations. Toronto: Canadian International Council.
From prehistoric to the present times, it has been found that men and women are remarkably different in expressing feelings of love, sentiments, and personal emotions. In prehistoric times, men were the hunters, precociously exposing themselves to external danger to gather food. Male bonding as such was formed in response to external threats and looming danger and to protect one another from wild animals. Thus, it was largely action-oriented. The duty of the womenfolk was to nurture the young and provide emotional support. Thus, the role of women was largely expression-oriented. This basic differentiation in the orientation of the two sexes has caused much trouble and misunderstanding from times immemorial and tends to create confusion even today.
Main body
Carol Tarvis, in her article, discusses the asymmetrical responses of men and women under similar situations of emotional demands. Through several case studies, she seeks to underline the basic differences in men’s and woman’s approaches to love. As evidenced in the case of Roberta, it is essential for women to continually reiterate emotions of love at regular intervals, in the absence of which she begins to lose faith in the very basics of the shared relationship.
Men, on the other hand scarcely understand why they have to vocally provide assurance of their love. According to men, their commitment towards their wives and children, their desire to return home after a hard day’s work should actually speak volumes. In one particular case, a husband actually washed his wife’s car as an expression of love, but the wife hardly noticed. For, traditionally, the woman relies more on expressions of love rather than dutiful actions and would be happier if her husband simply talked to her or shared her problems with her.
Men, on the other hand, are no experts on verbal communication. When faced with problems they would rather divert themselves in exhaustive games or drinking bouts in the local pub. Women, when faced with the troubles of life would much rather discuss the issue with their friends and find relief in their solidarity.
Thus, for women, like Eve, it is better to have a sympathetic listener to her woes rather than someone who offers practical advice, and her husband does only the advising part. It is the perpetual women’s problem that men do not communicate; women, on the other hand, assign much importance to “deep talk” and “small talk”. For men, action speaks more than words, and they are perennially puzzled as to why women nag incessantly and talk dime-a-dozen instead of actively seeking to employ the hands-on method to resolve problems.
Personal commitments and healthy relationships between the two sexes may seem difficult, but then despite all the differences relationships are forged and maintained. By the 1970’s popular literature in America had already assigned the “deficit approach” as man’s inability to display emotions and express love. The concept of intimacy is also feminized as it is defined in terms of the female language of closeness in interpersonal relationships. Men, not being overtly vocal, are dominated in this instance by the woman’s language. As such, the private sphere of life belongs to women, whereas the public sphere is assigned to men.
For men, personal commitment means their daily work to take care of their families, but women often fail to identify this practical help as love. Such action-expression diametric opposites are manifest in the opposite sexes right from their adolescence. Girls appreciate a “face-to-face” talking session with their friends and peers, while the boys adopt a “side-by-side” attitude to shoulder problems or even to enjoy games, and sometimes their shared activity can be as dull and ordinary as watching the television together.
Diametrically different also, is the way men and women respond to jokes. Women tend to look beyond the surface reality of the jokes and are often labeled as humorless creatures. Men, on the other hand, thrive on jokes and use them as a medium to create bonds and nourish camaraderie.
Conclusion
While talking and expressing emotions are all too important to women, to men they seem useless and superfluous. Tarvis recounts the experience of a particular woman and her husband whose morning ritual was to read the newspapers and drink coffee to the accompaniment of radio music. However, when she moves away, irritated with the music, her husband is sensible enough to turn off the music. This small gesture reveals that it is the company of his wife that he enjoys most; music is irrelevant. Such is also the case of the majority of men; they prefer companionable silence rather than mindless chatter. Yet, in times of crisis men help women as much as they can. Today, the middle-class woman realizes that a man works for the simple fact that he loves his family, his actions speak more than words.
Adequate family functioning and dynamics has a vital role in shaping self-image and identity among the members of the family. However, the actual social functioning depends largely on cultural and ethnic background, family structure, sociological and psychological factors that vary significantly from one community to another (Smith & Stevens, 2013).
In this respect, high level of functioning among Hispanic families plays a pivotal role in decreasing the number of Hispanic adolescents consuming alcohol, drugs, and substances. Specifically, cultural image of a Hispanic family significantly influences self-image construction.
In this respect, it is necessary to define the peculiarities of Hispanic culture in terms of family structure traditions, gender role distributions, and influence of family problems on members’ substance abuse. In addition, specific emphasis should be placed on the analysis of such aspects as wholeness, change, and its influence on family members, particularly on Hispanic adolescents. Finally, it is also purposeful to define the corresponding approaches to treating family members.
Mouttapa et al. (2009) explore the connection between self-image and family functioning within the context of Hispanic culture. Specifically, the researchers argue, “…Hispanics score significantly lower than other ethnic groups in living up to one’s own expectations, living up to the expectation of others, and feelings of success” (p. 704). It is suggested that performance of specific behaviors is aimed at reaffirming a current self-image.
For instance, adolescents strive to enhance their week self-concept by taking up drinking, smoking, or consuming drugs. This low image, however, is strongly associated with poor family functioning. At this point, “…dysfunctional family structure, inadequate parenting discipline skills, lack of support from parents, and parental monitoring…are strongly associated with adolescents’ selection desire to fill a void and associate with substance-using friends” (Mouttapa et al., 2009, p. 704).
Social aspects also influence significantly the assimilation process of the Hispanic adolescents in the United States. These ethnic minority groups are significantly influenced by social environment. As a result, acculturation weaknesses family bonds, and enhances negative self-esteem because of the feeling of isolation.
There are a great number of socio-cultural challenges that Hispanic families should undergo during the assimilation process in a host country. Immigration process is among those because it negatively influences the process of shaping complex behavioral patterns of family reunification and fragmentation.
In the majority of cases, the Hispanic family history is immigration is connected with poverty in Latin America and search for better opportunity in the United States (Rothe, 2004). Therefore, many Hispanic families will have to face a number of families in their aspiration to fit the requirements of the host culture.
Marginalization is a kind of acculturation aimed at fighting against the spread of host culture and its influence on minority culture. Many marginalized groups, therefore, seek to preserve the origins, values, and traditions that are typical of their culture. Within a family context, marginalization can create problematic situations for children of marginalized parents because the latter encourage their children to adhere to the traditions of the ethnic ghetto.
Traditionally, parents strive to support their children who strive to go through the assimilation process, as well as challenges they face in a host culture. During the migration, these roles are often reversed. As a result, adolescent experience significant challenges because their parents are not able to create a consistent and strong holding setting that is necessary for normal psychological development of adolescents.
Identity transformation is another serious challenge that can become a problem during the treatment of adolescents consuming substance abuse. As a result, Hispanic adolescent “…may respond with passivity and depression, which in turn may lead to substance abuse” (Rothe, 2009, p. 259).
Alternatively, “the adolescent may develop and adversarial identity, standing in defiance of the majority culture” (Rothe, 2004, p. 259). In the majority of cases, adolescents who cannot overcome the stress of acculturation often join gangs that enhance their identity and support them in difficult situations. In such a manner, they are able to achieve solidarity, protection, and belonging.
Regarding the above-presented features of Hispanic adolescents, as well as the peculiarities of family composition, specific treatment should be used. The therapy of substance abuse among adolescents should be present-oriented in order to cope with current situation. During the first session, the therapist should define the problem and outline the goals with regard to the challenges that adolescent experience in a Hispanic environment (Rothe, 2004).
In particular, they should take into account the values and character traits of Hispanic parents, as well as the disparities in gender roles distributions. It is important for a physician to face cultural biases and understand how prejudice and stereotyping affect adolescents’ behaviors and their inclination to consume drugs. In case of failure to identify the cultural biases, there is a threat of cultural distancing between a patient and a doctor.
Economic and educational challenges should also be assessed before a therapist proceeds with treatment of Hispanic adolescents consuming drugs. In fact, these variables should be considered because it influences cultural beliefs and value systems. According to Rothe (2004), “failure to take these variables into account may lead to erroneous cultural oversimplification and stereotyping that will damage the therapeutic alliance” (p. 272). Therapists, therefore, should respect patients’ individuality to facilitate the therapeutic collaboration.
Apart from person-oriented approaches, family unit should also be prioritized as far as substance abuse treatment among Hispanic adolescents is concerned (Cannon & Levy, 2008). In this respect, two models of treatment can be recommended – strategic family therapy model and systems engagement technique. Apart from economic and educational problems, relations between parents and their children in Hispanic families can also create a serious stress factors that increases the rates of drug abuse among adolescents (Vasquez, 2009).
In this respect, therapists should thoroughly examine the atmosphere within the family, including their attitude to gender roles distributions, imposed responsibilities, and attitude to education. The therapists should be extremely sensitive to cultural, social, economical, and psychological issues because introduces intervention.
In conclusion, treating substance abuse adolescents originating from Hispanic families involves a complex set of factors that should be considered before the actual treatment. To begin with, the therapy should rely on belief system and cultural families cultivated within a Hispanic family that significantly differs from average American family (Smith & Stevens, 2013).
The acculturation process is closely connected with stresses that teenagers might experience because it might lead to the marginalization of ethnic minority groups. Second, family as a unit is crucial to consider first and the task of the therapist is to define how parent-child relations affect adolescents’ assimilation in a host culture. Finally, economic factors are not of the least importance because it influences education and social adaptation in a social environment.
References
Cannon, E., & Levy, M. (2008). Substance-Using Hispanic Youth and Their Families: Review of Engagement and Treatment Strategies. Family Journal, 16(3), 199.
Mouttapa, M., Weiss, J., & Hermann, M. (2009). Is Image Everything? The Role of Self-Image in the Relationship Between Family Functioning and Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents. Substance Use & Misuse, 44(5), 702-721.
Rothe, E. M. (2004). Hispanic Adolescents and Their Families Sociocultural Factors and Treatment Considerations. Adolescent Psychiatry, 28 251-278.
Smith, R. L., & Stevens, P. S. (2013). Substance abuse counseling: Theory and practice. Boston: Pearson.
Vasquez, M. T. (2009). Latino/a Culture and Substance Abuse. Journal of Ethnicity In Substance Abuse, 8(3), 301-313.
The family relationship I would like to describe is the one with my mom. Presently, we are connected mostly through verbal communication. Mother is the person to whom I can always relay my thoughts and feelings without being judged. The doing aspect of our relationship was most vivid during my childhood when my mother helped me perform homework that required art skills. Since I was not particularly talented at drawing, my mother always lent her assistance.
It furthered our relationship because I was often ashamed of my poorly made pictures, and my mother explained that not everyone is born an artist. It is through this time spent together at co-creating paintings and collages for school. I understood that I could always count on her for support when I needed it. I always remember what she did for me then and in other similar instances, and assist her myself whenever she needs my help.
This relationship with my mother is one of the strongest I had so far. The reason for such an assumption is that we communicate rather often. According to Wood, in healthy relationships, people tend to talk to one another more frequently (335).
In comparison, talks with most of my friends, with few exceptions, happen less often because the number of topics we can discuss is mostly limited to studies and some other issues. It could be hard to openly relay one’s problems to friends, as it is often unclear how they would react. Given that, I highly value my relationship with my mother and the level of comfort we have talking to each other is one of the reasons why.
Work Cited
Wood, Julia T. Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters. 8 ed., Cengage Learning, 2015.
According to Rubin (1992), “the family as an institution is both oppressive and protective and, depending on the issue, is experienced sometimes one way, sometimes the other – often in some mix of the two – by most people who live in families” (p. 6). In this statement, the duality of the family-related experiences is connected to the conservativeness of the institution. Indeed, both mentioned influences of the family (oppression and protection) are concerned not with development but preservation, be it hateful or welcome.
The issue of social mobility arises in this respect: while the protective function of a family is obvious and necessary, the oppressive one is likely to restrict the opportunities of a person. By emphasizing the interrelation of the two types of influence, Rubin (1992) demonstrates that such an outcome is increasingly possible. To illustrate the tendency of the family institution to restrict social mobility, the example of working class families as described by Rubin (1992) and other researchers is going to be analyzed in this paper.
Working Class: Definition
Typically the working class is associated with “blue collar” jobs. Still, as Rubin (1992) points out, the definition of class is more complex than the classical description (p. 8). Instead, as Metzgar (2009) specifically emphasizes it, Rubin (1992) brings the social and, most importantly, cultural aspect into the idea of class (p. 405).
The working class, which constitutes almost the half of the working force in America, is holistically described by Rubin (1992), who writes about their economic, social, and cultural status, pointing out their wishes and aspirations. In fact, all the three are intertwined and interdependent. The financial state of the working class can be described as poor or relatively poor. The poverty defines the level of education that a person can achieve as the result of the lack of resources (time that is needed for work and money).
The education, on the other hand, defines the cultural and social status of the person as well as his or her economic opportunities. The vicious circle that restricts the possibility of leaving the class is very obvious in this sequence. While it can be pointed out that neither poverty nor the working class is homogenous, the problem is more or less generic for the social class (Holyfield, 2002).
Indeed, Rubin attempts to demonstrate the differences that can be found among the working class, but, apart from that, she also attempts to find similarities and general trends. The author states that major changes have affected the modern working class, including the labor revolution, which followed the establishment of the service-based economy, and social reforms, mostly, the one caused by the women’s movement.
These changes have affected the family and the children of the working class on the most private level: as women were drawn from homes into the market in greater numbers, less time was left for them to take care of the children while the men would still regard childrearing as the women’s work and have as little time.
This tendency that now defines the life of the working class demonstrates how the socio-economic and cultural status affects people’s lives. The only way to avoid these effects is to leave the current social class, a process that is termed as “social mobility”. Holyfield (2002) discusses this term and defines it as the process of climbing “up” (or, theoretically, sliding down) the social ladder and entering another class (p. 49).
This mobility, as Holyfield points out, is most unlikely: “we are born into a particular social class, and most of us will die in the same one into which we were born” (Holyfield, 2002, p. 50). Still, as people strive for a better life, their family can either assist or hinder them.
The Issue of Mobility
It is obvious that the family would be expected to support children and push them forward or “up.” However, as it can be seen from the quotation by Rubin (1992), the family typically ends up “protecting” children from the change. The reasons for this controversy include the cultural and experiential “baggage” that a child receives from the family.
Cultural Barrier
Holyfield (2002) mentions the “culture of poverty” (the term that defines the poor as conservative, unable to plan and incapable of self-improvement) to define it as a stereotype immediately (52). However, at the same time, the author notes that particular traits and behaviors are indeed shaped by the circumstances of a poor life.
For example, pragmatism is being promoted in the working class environment or, rather, becomes the logical result scarce resources (Holyfield, 2002, pp. 52-53). Rubin (1992) also describes the specifics of the working class culture that is promoted among the children. An example is the belief in the promise of America, according to which, “if they deferred today’s pleasures, they would reap tomorrow’s rewards” (Rubin, 1992, p. 4). While it can be regarded as a morally positive endeavor, as Adair (2005) emphasizes, “playing by the rules” does not save the families from the shame and hardship of poverty (p. 824).
As Rubin (1992) points out, “no one can live in a society without absorbing much of the culture and ideology of the dominant group, many of its hopes and dreams” (p. 7). As a result, it is very likely that children are going to lead their life in the way their parents used to, and, consequently, it may be difficult for them to become socially mobile.
Experiences
The process of values promotion is not always conscious even for the parents: for example, Hochschild (2001) points out that children learn a lot by eavesdropping and deducing. These processes define the experience that children have in relation to their families. What is more, according to Holyfield (2002), most the experiences of the poor are limited to the same socioeconomic class.
These experiences shape people’s thinking and, consequently, lives: for example, as Adair (2005) claims, that the people who leave poverty, are still affected by it and create a new class with its own culture, to which she belongs. As a result, moving up is unexpected and contradicts the “daily experience of life”, which makes it particularly difficult (Rubin, 1992, p 8).
Education as a Way up
As it can be concluded, families often unconsciously “protect” children from positive change. However, in their conscious effort, parents often seek to push their children up the ladder, which is often reflected in their attempts of providing a decent education. As Rank (2004) points out, the problem of education and the lack of the necessary working skills is the thing that often keeps the poor from improving their lives (pp. 68-67).
Parents seem to have realized the importance of education, which is a significant improvement, but unfortunately, it is insufficient (Holyfield, 2002, pp. 50, 73; Rank, 2004, pp. 65-67). Chin and Philips (2004) demonstrate that the desire to develop the talent and cultural awareness of their children is typical for the working class parents, but they are still likely to fail because of their limited opportunities (time and money) as well as knowledge (p. 206).
In other words, it is not uncommon for working-class people to lack the understanding of the skill and talent development which affects their children’s education in a negative way (Chin & Phillips, 2004). As a result, even the conscious efforts of low-income parents to improve their children’s mobility can be unsuccessful.
Personal Choices: Conclusion
The influence of the family is, undeniably, enormous, but the actions and choices of every person can change this impact. Lilian Rubin’s (1992) story is an example of family influence and personal choices shaping the life of a human. Pushed by her mother to “marry up”, she did marry, at nineteen, and her actions prove the importance of family values for a child’s future life.
The gender inequality of the time as well as the general questionability of “marrying up” make the attractiveness of this family-approved life choice dubious, but it is obvious that her mother meant well and failed to understand the drawbacks of her plan. Further on, however, Rubin (1992) made different choices: to divorce, remarry, and get an education.
Still, it should be pointed out that these actions, while her own, could also be determined by the family in one way or another. For example, in her acknowledgments, Rubin (1992) writes that her mother’s strength of will was something she had always admired, and this was another important experience of Rubin’s (1992) life that could have shaped her decisions.
Therefore, as a continuation of the idea of the dual nature of family experience, it can be noted that, despite being protective, the working class family is capable of and very often willing to give a child an impetus for development and upward mobility. Most of the family and class characteristics, however, seem to push a person in the opposite direction, diminishing their chances of moving up the social ladder, which ends in the reproduction of the working class.
Chin, T., & Phillips, M. (2004). Social Reproduction and Child-rearing Practices: Social Class, Children’s Agency, and the Summer Activity Gap. Sociology Of Education, 77(3), 185-210. Web.
Hochschild, A. (2001). Eavesdropping Adult Deals, Cultures of Children, and Care. In R. Hertz & N. L. Marshall (Eds.), Working Families: The Transformation of the American Home (pp. 340-353). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Holyfield, L. (2002). Moving Up and Out: Poverty, Education, and the Single Parent Family. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Metzgar, J. (2009). Are “the Poor” Part of the Working Class or in a Class by Themselves? Labor Studies Journal, 35(3), 398-416. Web.
Rank, M. R. (2004). One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.
Rubin, L. (1992). Worlds of pain. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Lives of people are conditioned by numerous reasons and factors that are very often beyond their control. What is the most terrible in this situation is that people become the tools of crime and struggle between the political leaders who finally decide everything between themselves and make people to blame for all the misfortunes of the country. This is the case with the hardships that people have to live through during revolutions that occur rather often in the human society. Revolution, as it is obvious from the very term, is the great stress for al the institutions of the human society. Due to this fact, it is difficult to find out those who are to blame for the hardships of people, and revolutionary times are as a rule the most difficult for ordinary people. The most important institution of the society which is affected by revolutionary changes and difficulties is the institution of family which is the reflection of the human society as a whole.
Thus, the major focus of this paper will be the significance of the institution of family for the existence of the human society in times of revolutionary changes. This paper will also aim at considering the reflections of the topic of family in the book by She Lao “Rickshaw” and in the movie by Regis Wargnier “Indochina”. We are going to consider the hardships through which their characters had to go and trace the changes, if any, that happened in their ideas about family and its importance for human beings.
To begin with, the book by She Lao “Rickshaw” should be analyzed. As it is evident from the context, the setting of the revolutionary events that are to be analyzed in the present paper is Asia in which revolutions and stresses has always been connected with especially difficult situations in lives of ordinary people, and the current book reflects this statement with the perfect brilliance. On the whole, this book is the story of life of one of the rickshaws in the capital of China. The story which is told by the author takes place in the early 20th century, to be more exact in the 1920s. This was the time of the collapse of the Chinese Empire which was substituted by the Communist Republic of China with the Communist Party ahead of it. Needless to say that this substitution could not be smooth and willful from the side of the monarchical powers which resulted in the bloody and difficult revolution. During this process, Chinese society was on the edge of its decline because the political struggle left no time and means for caring for citizens of the country (Lao, 1979).
The politicians and statesmen were busy with the fighting for power and authority, while ordinary Chinese people were left on their own. They had to work for less than nothing having only one aim. This aim was to feed their families and children, and to achieve it, Chinese people had to agree for any kind of work, which was often dangerous for health or even life and was paid for rather poorly: “Very few of those under twenty – and some start work at eleven or twelve – become handsome rickshaw men when older. It is very difficult for them to grow up healthy and strong because of the deprivations they suffer as children” (Lao, 2).
All these factors are reflected in the book by She Lao through the depiction of the life story of one ordinary Beijing rickshaw Hsiang Tzu and his family. On the whole, family is the central metaphor of the revolution in this and many other works dedicated to the same topic, i. e. depiction of the life of people during revolutions especially in Asia (Lao, 1979). Thus, the family of Hsiang Tzu is the only value for him in the life which lost all other values. He is disappointed in the authorities of his state and has no hope that they will improve the conditions of living for him and his family. Thus, being a man he decides to save his family by all means and takes up the work that is far from prestigious let alone profitable in the Chinese society – he becomes a rickshaw. The work is bringing little money to the family but it is better than nothing. Nevertheless, Hsiang Tzu is an unlucky person and life seems to play tricks on him. He lost his wealth as a result of revolution, and after becoming a rickshaw his misfortunes do not stop (Lao, 1979). Soon after buying the rickshaw, he travels to the dangerous part of Beijing where he gets captured by the revolutionary military forces. Having spent days and days as a slave, Hsiang Tzu manages to escape and even benefit from his capturers by selling their camels that he stole while escaping. Thus, for the sake of his family, Hsiang Tzu becomes the embodiment of courage and strength that a person must have in order to be one of “all those who, due to their physical conditions, are lacking in vigor when they run, or…all those who, because of their families, do not dare waste one day.” (Lao, 1).
However, the metaphor of family, used by artists to reflect the revolutionary reality, has other sides and one of them is revealed by the movie directed by Regis Wargnier. Revolution brought harm not only to already established families but also ruined the attempts of people to build new families. The impossibility to make plans based on the uncertainty of the situation in the country, and the struggle of opposing political powers in the country affected largely the lives of young people. Special difficulty of the situation was observed for those who wanted to build international families, i. e. families with foreigners whose countries did not support communism (Indochina, 1992).
The setting for the movie is the French Indochina which was later transformed into the independent country of Vietnam. However, till the independence is not obtained by the country, its citizens carry out the revolutionary struggle for it and the story of Camille takes place within the context of this struggle. As a French colony, Indochina was a rather significant area of influence of France in Asia and in the international arena on the whole. Numerous trading paths, natural riches and favorable geopolitical location of the territory provided for the special attention with which the French government considered all the uprisings in Indochina. Namely in this context the love story of Camille, who was brought up in Indochina, and the French officer of Navy Jean-Baptiste took place. These two people had to runaway from the French rule in Indochina under the guidance of the communist party that guaranteed their transference to the communist China of that time (Indochina, 1992). However, their escape was unsuccessful – Jean-Baptiste was captured and killed by the French troops as the person accused of treason, while Camille was at first imprisoned in Indochina and then became a fierce fighter for the rights of ordinary people in the country she was brought up in – Indochina which later, due to her efforts as well, acquired independence as North and South Vietnam (Indochina, 1992).
In all the situations of the difficult life of the movie characters, they viewed family as the basis for their own lives and for the life of the human society as a single whole. Camille and Jean-Baptiste managed to get married while being free on one of the islands controlled by communists and had a baby there named Etienne. Their aim was to build a strong family and by their example to show the people of Indochina that happiness is possible even under the circumstances of the permanent political rivalry (Indochina, 1992). Another focus of the couple was to create the basis for the developed society and family was the major embodiment of their ideal of society for that moment. As a result, numerous broken families were natural effects of the collapse of the country that country which could be observed in the early 20th century. Thus, the movie reflects the major idea of the progressive people of the epoch of revolutions in Asia which was the construction and maintenance of the strong independent society (Indochina, 1992).
So, to make a logical conclusion of this paper, it is necessary to state that in times of revolutionary events and drastic changes of the social ways of living, the institution of family becomes a central point that keeps the society firm and saves it from the absolute collapse. Family, as the reflection of larger social institutions and of the whole society, has always been of great importance in Asian countries, and the sources used for this research prove this statement. In China, poor people were ready to work as rickshaws and have little income instead of being choosy and condemning their families to starvation and death. Family values made people go through numerous hardships in Indochina as well. For the sake of building family which could be the basis for the sound independent society they were ready to sacrifice everything they had, and sometimes even had to put their lives for the bright future of their descendants.
Works Cited
Lao, She. Rickshaw: The Novel Lo-t’o Hsiang Tzu. University of Hawaii Press, 1979.
Indochina. Dir. Régis Wargnier. With Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Jean Yanne, Linh-Dan Pham, Dominique Blanc. Sony Pictures Classics (USA). 1992.
The Nuestra family bears many striking similarities to the Mexican Mafia about the type of criminal activities that both groups engage in; however, there are also a considerable number of differences. One of the differences is in the organizational structure of Nuestra as compared to the Mexican Mafia.
The Nuestra family can be considered as a single organization with a loose hierarchical system in place which acts as how the “family” is led and controlled. This type of organizational structure bears a close similarity to the Italian mafia and the different “families” that composed the various gangs within Little Italy during the heyday of Italian led crime syndicates within the U.S. However, the main difference is that the leadership structure is not isolated to people of pure descent of a particular race, instead, it can be changed based on deaths, internal power struggles and an assortment of other organizational changes.
In comparison, the Mexican Mafia can be described as an entity that is comprised of 13 different Mexican affiliated gangs in what can be deemed as a loose alliance of common interest. This alliance was created not only as a means of defense, but also a method by which trade in drugs and other illicit substances can be conducted.
Within the context of shared responsibility and economic prosperity, the various groups within the Mexican Mafia act as liaisons and partners to each other when it comes to the illegal drug trade within the U.S. In some cases, one group acts as the supplier while the other acts as the distributor or vice versa, this results in a far greater level of market penetration as compared to what would happen if both groups worked individually or against each other.
In other instances, a group such as MS-13 acts as the “muscle” so to speak and helps in keeping rival gangs from interfering with the operations of the different mafia gangs. The result is that the groups associated with the Mexican Mafia profit from an economic alliance that centers on the distribution of illegal goods.
This particular means of affiliation, distribution, and protection differs from the structure utilized by the Nuestra family wherein protection, and distribution is often conducted by the same “teams” so to speak within the family. Aside from this, both groups also have different internal cultures and codes of conduct when it comes to interacting with different members of the group (Allender, 2003).
For instance, the Mexican Mafia focuses on a strict code of conduct when it comes to internal associations, interactions, and how members settle disputes (Allender, 2003). They follow the rules that they developed very strictly, despite their loose affiliation with each other. In the case of the Nuestra family, disputes, interactions, and other similar activities are far less informal and more “familial” with a far more haphazard form of conduct that is often influenced by the current head of the family (Allender, 2003).
The concept of there being a “family head” is also one of the differences between the two types of organizations. While there are individual leaders of the 13 groups within the Mexican Mafia, there is no de facto leader of the entire organization. Decisions are often the result of councils. In comparison, there can be a leader of the entire organization when it comes to the Nuestra family (Allender, 2003). It should be noted though that when it comes to criminal activity, brutal murders and other similar types of adverse social behavior, both have considerable similarities.
Reference List
Allender, D. (2003). Career Criminals, Security Threat Groups, and Prison Gangs. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 72(6), 8.