Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts. .. ~Author Unknown

Defining Family

Defining the Family According to the Vanier Institute, FAMILY is:

Any combination of two or more people who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, adoption or placement and who together assume the responsibilities for various combinations of the following tasks:

Physical maintenance & care of its group members;

Addition of new members through procreation or adoption/placement;

Defining the Family…Socialization of Children;

Social control of its members;

Production, distribution, and consumption of goods & services;

Affective nurturance (i.e. LOVE)In what ways have families change over the past 50 years?

•Two parent nuclear family = higher divorce rates•Increased women in the workforce = males taking over more of the caregiver role (paternity leave)•Shift in importance of the child in the family unit = “helicopter parenting” due to changes in the WAY we parent•Same-sex unions & shifts in marital values (decline in religiousity)

Statistics Canada Definition:A family is a now-married couple (with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both spouses), a couple living common-law (again, with or without never-married sons and/or daughters of either or both partners), or a lone parent of any marital status, with at least one never-married son or daughter living in the same dwelling…

Family of Orientatio

n

Family of Procreatio

n

In what ways have families change over the past 50 years?

• Two parent nuclear family = higher divorce rates

• Increased women in the workforce = males taking over more of the caregiver role (paternity leave)

• Shift in importance of the child in the family unit = “helicopter parenting” due to changes in the WAY we parent

• Same-sex unions & shifts in marital values (decline in religiousity)

Patterns of Family DevelopmentFamily Life Cycle Theory

The Beginni

ng Family

The Expandi

ng Family

The Contracti

ng Family

Family with

Young Children

Family with

Adolescent

Children

Family in Later Life

Launching

New Couple(Newlyweds

)

Between Families

(Young/Single)

Types of Families…

Nuclear Family:Composed of two parents and

one or more biological or adopted children living together.

In traditional nuclear families, the male was the money earner

and female stayed at home; nowadays this may be

reversed…

EXAMPLE(s)?

The Simpsons, Leave it to Beaver,

The Brady Bunch, Desperate House

Wives( Tom & Lynette), 8 Simple Rules…

Extended Family…Composed of parents, children,

aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and other blood

relatives living together OR not…

EXAMPLES?

“Everybody loves Raymond”, “Adams Family”, Proud Family…

Step/Blended/Recombined Families…Composed of families where one (or

both) of the spouses have been divorced/widowed and has remarried

to form a new family that includes children from one or both first

marriages and/or remarriages…

EXAMPLES?

“The O.C”, “Life with Derek”, “Desperate Housewives (Orson &

Bree), “Beverly Hills 90210”…

Childless Families…

Consists of a couple, male and female; also known as “D.I.N.K.S.”

(Double Income, No Kids)

EXAMPLES?

“King of Queens”,

“The Newlyweds”…

Lone Parent or Single Parent Family…Composed of one parent (more frequently the mother) with a child or children..

EXAMPLES?

“Gilmore Girls”…

Common Law / Cohabitating Couples…Family arrangements that resemble other forms of legalized marriage…

EXAMPLES:

“Two & a Half Men”, “Family Jewels (Gene Simmons)…

Traditional Families…

Families in which the male is dominant, woman rears children and plays a more submissive role in relationship; similar to Nuclear family but the woman has less input…

EXAMPLES?

“I Love Lucy”…

Video: Defining Family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOng7C5rRhU

Same-Sex Families…

Consists of two partners of the same sex and may have

children from previous relationships…

EXAMPLES?

“Friends: Ross’s Ex-wife”, Ellen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcZcgJpEj1s