Family Processes,

1
Chapter 9

• Family Processes,
• Family Life Cycles

2
Chapter Outline

• A Developmental Approach
• Beginning Marriages
• Youthful Marriages
• Middle-aged Marriages
• Later-life Marriages
• Death and Dying in America
• Enduring Marriages

3
Eriksons Eight Developmental Stages

• Infancy Trust Versus Mistrust
• Children learn to trust by having their needs
  satisfied and by being loved.
• Toddler Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt
• Children need to develop a sense of independence
  and mastery over their environment and themselves.

4
Eriksons Eight Developmental Stages

• Early Childhood Initiative Versus Guilt
• The family must allow the child to develop
  initiative while directing the childs energy.
• School Age Industry Versus Inferiority
• Children begin to learn that their activities pay
  off and that they can be creative.

5
Eriksons Eight Developmental Stages

• Adolescence Identity Versus Role Confusion
• Adolescents need to develop goals, a philosophy
  of life, and a sense of self.
• Young Adulthood Intimacy Versus Isolation
• A young adult who does not make other intimate
  connections may be condemned to isolation and
  loneliness.

6
Eriksons Eight Developmental Stages

• Adulthood Generativity Versus Self-Absorption
• Individual establishes his or her own family.
  Failure to be generative may lead to a
  whats-in-it-for me attitude toward life.
• Maturity Integrity Versus Despair
• The individual looks back on life to understand
  its meaning. Those who make a positive judgment
  have a feeling of wholeness about their lives.

7
Eight-Stage Family Life Cycle

• Stage I Beginning Families
• Stage II Childbearing Families
• Stage III Families with Preschool Children
• Stage IV Families with Schoolchildren

8
Eight-Stage Family Life Cycle

• Stage V Families with Adolescents
• Stage VI Families as Launching Centers
• Stage VII Families in the Middle Years
• Stage VIII Aging Families

9
Premarital FactorsFor with Marital Success

• Background factors
• age at marriage, length of courtship, level of
  education, and childhood
• Personality factors
• Relationship factors
• communication, self-disclosure, and
  interdependence

10
Psychological Issues During Engagement

• A general uneasiness that comes to the surface
  when you decide to marry.
• Questions about whether you are mature enough to
  marry.
• Regret over what you give up by marrying.

11
Psychological Issues During Engagement

• Worry about whether youre marrying the right
  person.
• Disagreement over appropriate male/female roles.
• Tendency to believe your partner is perfect and
  to become disenchanted when she or he is
  discovered to be merely human.

12
Psychological Issues During Engagement

• Beliefs that the marriage will be blissful and
  your partner will be entirely understanding.
• A understanding of yourself, including your
  weaknesses as well as your strengths.

13
Stations of Marriage

• Emotional marriage Experiences associated with
  falling in love and the intensification of an
  emotional connection between two people.
• Psychic marriage The change from an autonomous
  individual to a partner in a couple.
• Community marriage The changes in social
  relationships and social network.

14
Stations of Marriage

• Legal marriage The legal relationship that
  provides a couple with a host of rights and
  responsibilities.
• Economic marriage The economic changes that a
  couple experience when they marry.
• Coparental marriage Changes induced by the
  arrival of children.

15
Traditional Assumptions About Husband/WifeRespons
ibilities

• The husband is the head of the household.
• The husband is responsible for supporting the
  family.
• The wife is responsible for domestic work.
• The wife is responsible for child rearing.

16
Marital Tasks

• Establishing marital and family roles.
• Providing emotional support for the partner.
• Adjusting personal habits.
• Negotiating gender roles.
• Making sexual adjustments.

17
Marital Tasks

• Establishing family and employment priorities.
• Developing communication skills.
• Managing budgetary and financial matters.
• Establishing kin relationships.
• Participating in the larger community.

18
Marital Conflict for Middle-Aged and Older Couples
19
Identity Bargaining in Adjusting to Marital Roles

• Three-step process
• Person must identify with the role.
• Person must be treated by the other as if he or
  she fulfills that role.
• Both people must negotiate changes in each
  others role.

20
Death

• Cultural influences on our perception of death
  may cause us to respond with denial,
  exploitation, and romanticization.
• The stages of dying are likely to include denial
  and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and
  acceptance.

21
Bereavement

• Response to the death of a loved one.
• Includes customs and rituals of the grieving
  process.
• Mourning rituals include the funeral service and
  burial or cremation.
• The grieving process varies for different people
  experiencing grief is a necessary part of healing.

22
Four Keys to Long-term Satisfying Marriages

1. Having a spouse who is ones best friend and whom
   one likes as a person.
2. Believing in marriage as a long-term commitment
   and sacred institution.
3. Consensus on such fundamentals as aims and goals
   and ones philosophy of life.
4. Shared humor.

23
Long-term marriages

• Three categories
• Couples who are happily in love.
• Unhappy couples who stay together out of habit or
  fear.
• Couples who are neither happy nor unhappy.
• Approximately 20 of couples are happily in love
  the same as for those who are unhappy.