Human Development

1
Human Development

• Families, Lifestyles, and Parenting

2
Family Life Cycle(Carter McGoldrick, 1989)

• Leaving home single adult- launching
• New Couple marriage impact on identity
• Becoming a parent
• Parenting adolescents
• Midlife grown children midlife changes
• Later life retirement

3
Critique

• The typical family may have less relevance
  today
• Stages may not occur in this order
• Diversity within each stage

4
Reciprocal Socialization

• Interactions between parents and children are
  bidirectional
• Children socialize their parents as parents
  socialize their children

5
Systems View

• The family is a system with several subsystems
• Entire family
• Mother-son relationship brother-sister
  relationship, etc.

6
Systems View

• The role of family dynamics
• Happily married parents- more responsive to
  children
• Couples in conflict- more likely to physically
  punish children

7
Family in Socio-cultural and Historical Context

• The role of social context
• Great Depression Post-9/11 world
• Increase in life expectancy caring for aging
  parents

8
Media Representations of Family

• Television programs represent middle income
  families
• Media images of various families

9
Single Adults

• Dramatic rise in percentage of single adults in
  the U.S.
• 1970 8 of adults lived alone
• 2000 25 of adults lived alone

10
Single Adults

• swinging singles and desperately lonely
  adults stereotypes
• Pros and cons of being a single adult
• 8 of individuals aged 65 have never married
  cope best with loneliness in old age

11
Cohabitation

• As of 2000, 60 of couples were cohabitating
• Research no differences or slightly less
  successful marriages
• Less defined gender roles as compared to married
  couples

12
Marital Trends

• Average age 25 for women, 27 for men
• Staying single longer
• High divorce rate, but declining

13
Successful Marriages

• Close friendship
• Compromise
• Maintaining a positive view of ones spouse
• Shared meaning/shared worlds

14
Marriage Individual Outcomes

• Unhappy marriages increases risk of health
  problems, shortens life expectancy
• Happy marriages increases life expectancy

15
Changes in the Marital Relationship

• Marriages may become better adjusted in middle
  adulthood
• Most older adults report happy marriages

16
Divorce

• Risk factors for divorce
• Youthful marriage
• Low educational level
• Low income
• Premarital pregnancy

17
Divorce Individual Outcomes

• Great variability in our reactions to divorce
• Increase in competence
• good-enough little movement
• Seeking new relationships
• Increase in casual sex
• Little interest in new relationsihps
• Despair

18
Causes of Divorce

• Women
• Abuse
• Drug involvement
• Cheating

• Men
• Fell out of love
• Cheating
• Different values

19
Gay Couples

• Same concerns as heterosexual couples
• Prefer committed relationships
• Do not usually conform to masculine-feminine
  stereotype

20
Gay Couples

• Children of gay couples
• No difference in adjustment compared with
  children of heterosexuals
• No difference in mental health
• Most children grow up to be heterosexual

21
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian rigid rules, demands obedience
  children have few rights, many responsibilities
• Outcomes obedient, controlled, emotionally
  stiff, apprehensive, lacking in curiosity
• Potential drug use and violence in adulthood

22
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Authoritative firm and consistent, loving and
  affectionate. Responsive, willing to explain
  their reactions.
• Outcomes children are competent, independent,
  assertive, inquiring

23
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Overly Permissive children are given little
  guidance, lots of freedom no accountability
  children have rights of adults, but few
  responsibilities
• Outcomes children are dependent, immature, and
  have behavior issues

24
Discipline

• U.S. and Canada most favorable attitudes toward
  corporal punishment
• Sweden least favorable
• Sweden, Israel, Denmark, Norway, Austria, and
  others have outlawed spanking

25
Corporal Punishment

• Associated with
• immediate compliance
• Aggression
• lower levels of moral internalization
• poor mental health
• Parents may appear out-of-control, models
  problematic behavior

26
Child Abuse Cultural Context

• Child abuse is less frequent in cultures which
  discourage it
• In the U.S., abuse is frequent in families with
  insufficient resources
• Role of isolation
• Little help from others

27
Intergenerational Hypothesis

• Children who were abused are more likely to
  become abusers
• Breaking the cycle
• Presence of one caring adult
• Close marital relationship
• Therapy

28
Children of Divorce

• Children of divorce are more prone to adjustment
  problems
• Divorce can be beneficial, based on the context
• Cordial relationships between divorced parents
  are helpful

29
Sibling Relationships

• Can be extremely close, apathetic, or rivalrous
• Family dynamics may continue throughout the adult
  years
• Emotional cutoffs are rarely successful