Family and Individuals in Social Contexts
The article,’ A socio-structural perspective on Family Model Preferences, gender roles and work–family Attitudes in Spain’ by Moreno-Mínguez et al. (2018) addresses the diversity in the family models while looking at the diversification and the changes that have occurred over time. The research examines the changes from the past gender roles in a family set-up where a man was the breadwinner and the altitude the changes have caused. The study used data from the International social survey program 2012 and conducted descriptive and explanatory analyses. The result showed a contradiction between the role of a father and a mother in a household, given the changes in the gender roles in the current family models. Additionally, regarding the latitudes for the ‘hybrid family model’, women were seen to support the model more than men. Gender was the key explanatory factor for the differences in the new family model. Notably, the preferences of both genders were influenced differently by social factors such as age, education level, religious status and social class influence. The results contradicted the preference theory, which states that individual choices overplay the sociocultural factors as determinants of family models. The article finalizes that women prefer to be in relationships where they work similarly to men and that age and education influence women’s expectations of a family model. The respondents from participants could have been affected by other underlying factors, such as the Spanish labour and family policies.
Wu et al. (2022) discuss family relationships under work from home to explore the role of the adoptive process in the article,’ Family Relationships under Work from Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes. The study investigated the impact of working from home on family relationships during the covid 19 pandemic. The researcher opted for a vulnerability Stress Adaptation model to examine the role of spending ties with family members and finding the balance between work and life. The study surveyed an observation study of 150, which showed that working from home improved family members’ relationships. It increased the time spent at home and reduced the salient by employees with less work experience. Notably, employees who had advanced experience showed more engagement with their families. Therefore, the researcher finalized that spending time with the family and finding a work-life balance as an adaptive process improved the relationship quality between family members. The findings from this study cannot be generalized since the sample population deviates from the general population, and the results are majorly from married men.
Internal Dynamics of Families
The article,’ Prospective Relations between family conflict and adolescent maladjustment: Security in the family system as a mediating process’ by Cummings et al. (2014), wishes to fill the gap in the lack of knowledge on the impact of family conflict involving multiple family systems. The researcher examined the effects of family conflict and the symptoms of specific disorders and adjustment problems. To make inferences about the hypothesis, the study involved 295 mother-father adolescent families for adolescents from five local schools in the Northeast and Midwest. The participants were subdivided into groups varying from the ages of their children. The parents went through an experimental and questionnaire assessment to give more details on how they discuss the conflicts in their families. The results showed that before the assumptions, adolescents’ mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, conduct problems and peer problems) were highly correlated with the emotional security of the family system and family conflicts. The research, however, can corrupt adolescent self-report measures, causing bias. Additionally, the sample from which the target population was built might vary compared to clinical models of distressed families.
Qiu & Freel (2019), in the article, ‘Managing Family-related Conflicts in Family Businesses’, also speaks on conflict within a family that owns a business together. The study reviews conflict from three interfaces: family business, family ownership, and family business ownership. The study also regarded the level of analysis and the parties involved in the research by the peer-reviewed articles. The review showed that antecedent conflict relationships, such as negative parental-child relationships and intergenerational differences, could affect the family cycle in business. Family business exposes the family members to the possibility of family overlapping with the company. Additionally, the author notes that family conflicts are transferable and highly correlated such that a previous conflict in the family set-up might lead to vomit in business. The author recommends resolving such disputes before business succession by establishing values and caring harmony between family members. Another possible conflict management between the family members is addressing the drivers that cause the conflict. Family members in the business are also encouraged to adopt a ‘win together mentality’ rather than thinking of how to make achievements alone. The study, however, did not cover typologies or taxonomies that contain the dimension of power distribution.
Human Growth & Development Across the Lifespan
DelGiudice,(2017) discusses middle childhood evolutionary development in the article, ‘Middle childhood: An evolutionary-developmental synthesis’. Middle childhood begins at 6-11, a crucial stage in human evolution. The stage is human juvenility, where the children are sexually immature but no longer dependent on their parents for survival: environmental factors and the effects of the past control the transition from childhood to middle hood. The transition is also characterized by three significant insights: social interaction and competition, intensification of sex, and expression of new genetic factors due to heightened sensitivity. Knowledge in this field forces scientists to acknowledge the presence of human life theory in middle childhood.
Sørlie et al. (2020), in the article, ‘Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth Trajectories and school-related predictors’, speak on developing social skills during middle childhood. To understand what activities revolve around missile childhood, the researchers involved 2.076 children from Norway. They examined the development of social skills across students from the 4th to the 7th grade and their impact on their school performance. The results showed that girls social skills increased more compared to boys. Student-teacher relationships formed an excellent model for predicting social skills by a student. Personality and cognitive abilities highly affect the social development of students. The large sample helps make comprehensive inferences about the population. However, the study does not assess the student’s level of risk, and 4th-grade students are not well grown to share accurate information.
Human Sexuality
The article Quality of marital relationship and sexual interaction in Couples with sexual dysfunction: An exploratory study from India’ by Manjula V. et al. (2021) aimed to understand the nature of sexual functioning, sexual orientation, sexual communication and marital intimacy. To conclude, the study used a cross-sectional, single-group explanatory design with a sample of 155 couples who have reported having sexual dysfunctions. The couples underwent several scientifically recommended scientific interviews for the collection of data. The findings showed that the prevalence of intimacy problems was very high, with men complaining more about dissatisfaction than women. The study also showed a high relationship between marital quality intimacy, sexual interaction and sexual communication. The information found in this research is essential as it helps identify the problems families face concerning sex. However, the research method limits the study since it is impossible to establish causation using cross-sectional studies.
Bechoua et al. (2016), in the article,’ Male Infertility: An Obstacle to Sexuality?’, speak son male dysfunction as an obstacle to sexuality regarding human development. The study was built on the hypothesis that infertile men suffer from sexual dysfunction when undergoing a reproductive technology treatment program. To ascertain the hypothesis, the researchers reviewed previous data on sexual dysfunctions in infertile men. The review included 77 earlier articles in the PubMed database. From the review, the researcher made certain conclusions. The peer articles reviewed showed that man’s sexuality was as crucial as their power, and in most cases, men equate their sexual abilities to their masculinity. The peer review articles reported that there had been cases of erectile dysfunction and sexual arousal disorder during treatment. These problems were said to affect infertile men’s psychological and mental health. Men suffered from anxiety, depression, self-blame, anger and stress. The research, however, is limited to the information that previous studies found and cannot attest to the accuracy and validity of their findings.
Interpersonal Relationships
Thariq (2018) discusses the importance of interpersonal communication in the family and how to deal with the challenges in the article,’.The study used three qualitative methods of collecting data: documentation study, observation and in-depth interviews. After analysis, the study showed that interpersonal communication is a significant factor that enhances a family’s resilience in times of hardship. Parents impact their children through conversation, conformity, decency, and power distribution in the family and the neighbourhood. Mutual respect and support were also found to be the building block of war relationships between parents and their children and society in general. Emphasis is laid out on an individual. In a fault building themselves in knowing who they are, honour and respect their families. The study shows how interpersonal skills play a crucial role in developing a family and establishing peace and unity among members. The research is, however, based on individual words and ut, which is prone to manipulation.
Xia et al. (2018), in their article, ‘A Developmental Perspective on Young Adult Romantic Relationships: Examining Family and Individual Factors in Adolescence’, discusses how adolescents’ interpersonal skills and family processes influence the development of young adults’ romantic relationships function. The research study used a cross-lag structural equation model with a sample size of 974 young adolescents from urban and semi-urban areas of Pennsylvania. The young children were between the age of 12.4 to 9.5. After descriptive and regression analysis, the findings showed that adolescents who had experienced a positive family climate and better parenting practices were more effective in problem-solving with friend behaviours and endless cases of violence in their romantic relationships. Adolescents with positive altitudes, such as assertiveness and good engagement with their families, were highly associated with solving their problems in relationships and feeling more loved in young adult relationships. Conclusively, the research shows that family processes play a significant role in affecting the interpersonal skills of an adolescent and highly predict the effectiveness of problem-solving skills in their young adult relationships. However, the sample population for the study was highly influenced by females since they formed the large group and were limited to adolescents’ views in their developmental studies which may have created bias. The research is, however, instrumental in articulating to parents the importance of a positive parental climate and working towards impacting their children with positive interpersonal skills.
Family Resource Management
The article, ‘Family Resource Management Problems in Elementary School Education: A Case Study of Precarious Work Parents’ by Clara et al. (2022), evaluates how families manage their resources for their children’s education. For parents who do not have permanent jobs and have low incomes. To make inferences about this area of focus, the researchers used a quantitative questionnaire data collection method with an ample 300 people who were obtained through random sampling. After analysis with structural education modelling, the result showed that managing family resources positively impacted a student’s education in primary school. Parents also manage their resources by taking their children to government schools, which align with the government policy, which was viewed positively by 53% of the respondents. However, implementing education through technology received a negative response since most respondents from low invoke showed no knowledge in the area. The study identifies government education policy as the factor that cuts down on the norm that low-income families achieve poor education. Conclusively, the article ascertains that managing family resources and utilizing opportunities for education influences the quality of education. The research is very informative for parents planning to have their children start school. The study focuses on economic capacities only, which is the major focus in this busy. Further research must look into other resources that influence elementary school admission in families.
The article,’ Preferences for Family Involvement in Care Among Consumers with Serious Mental Illness’ by Cohen et al. (2013), wishes to understand how families with patients diagnosed with mental illness manage their resources. Study e rolled 232 mentally healthy consumers whose families were not fully involved in managing their mental illness. The outpatient mental health clinic recruited the patients and underwent various assessments and interviews. After analysis, the results showed that about 171 consumers would prefer their families to be involved in managing their care. The consumer’s degree of perceived benefit of family involvement significantly predicted the degree of desire for family involvement after analyses controlled for service need (family conflict, family-related quality of life, and symptom severity), enabling factors (family contact and family capacity), demographic variables (age, gender, race, living with family, and marital status), and barriers perceived by the consumer. The study recommends that medical facilities involve the consumers in a shared decision aiming process, such as a personalized program to enable their patients to make better-informed decisions based on thoughtful consideration. The research, however, is limited to information from the mentally ill and, therefore, cannot account for their families and those who get support from their families.
Family Law and Public Policy
Krok’s article, ‘Examining the Role of Religion in a family setting: religious attitudes and the Quality of Life among Parents and their adolescent children’ (2016), examines the association between religious altitudes and the quality of life among parents and their adolescent children. The study used a quantitative research approach where a sample population of 465 parents and adolescents completed four scale assessments. The significant cost variables were religiousness, quality of life, and satisfaction. After correlation tests, the results showed that religiousness was significantly associated with the quality of life and happiness with energy for the family members and the children. Religious belief also enhanced the relationship between the family members, which increased the quality of life. However, the study uses a cross-sectional approach, making it hard to establish a relationship between variables.
In their article,’Uniting and Dividing Influences of Religion on Parent–Child Relationships in Highly Religious Families”, Kelley et al. (2022) speak about religion’s influence on the parent-child relationship in highly religious families. The study interviewed 198 highly religious families, who provided 476 individuals as the sample population while focusing on three dimensions of religion: religious practices, beliefs and community. The families were from three major Abraham faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). The qualitative study showed that religion has various unifying and dividing influences in the family. Religions incline beliefs such as love, care and good principles as requirements of religious parents, especially mothers, which strengthen the relationship between a not and a child. However, parents’ constant reminders to children to live meaningful and religious lives created a division between parents and children.
Additionally, religious practices bring unity between parents and children as they create time for the parents and the children to interact. There is a need for more research to establish additional ways through which religion can unite or divide people. Future studies should also look into other relationships that religion affects apart from parent-children relationships.
Professional Ethics and Practice
The article, ‘Effects of philosophical ethics in early childhood on preschool children’s social–emotional Competence and Theory of Mind’ byArda Tuncdemir et al. (2022), looks into the philosophical ethics in early childhood approach adopted for developing a childhood’s social-emotional competence. Philosophical Ethics in Early Childhood combines SEL and ethics education curriculum. In order to test the effectiveness of the intervention in accurate life set-up, the researchers experimented on 73 children aged 3-5 years. Parents and children were the primary target population and participated in the interview. After observation, the teachers reported a significant difference between the social-emotional competence skills of children who underwent the experiment and those who did not. Conclusively, the study found that PEECH increases children’s social-emotional competence. Even though the intervention is successful, there is a need for more support for the teacher during implementation.
Family Life Education Methodology
Tripathi (2021) investigates the efficiency of family life education on sexual and reproductive health matters among women in India. The study used the national representative data using a sample of 160,551 unmarried young women aged 15-24 from the District Level Reproductive and Child Health Survey (DHLS:2007-2008). After data collection, an analysis was conducted involving descriptive and regression analysis. The results showed that half of the unmarried young women had received the FLE training. However, access to FLE was affected by socioeconomic and cultural factors. Women from low-income families were less likely to access FLE than rich people. Women who had undergone the FLE training were positive about reproductive processes, contractive methods, and other family development issues. The research is essential as it influences policy and creates a sense of why Family life education is important. The study, however, is limited since it would be hard to make inferences about sex since it is considered taboo.
Langlais (2018), in the study, ‘Experiential learning in family life education methodology: Low, medium, and high dosage projects’, aimed at evaluating the experimental learning approach to family learning education methodology that addresses the pedagogical issues. To test the hypothesis, the researcher implemented a few FLEM classes in a midsize university with a sample population of 120 students. The students were expected to complete a low, medium and high-dosage project during the course implementation. The data were analyzed using qualitative analysis. After conducting an analysis, the students benefited from the four steps of the project. The low-dosage project involved understanding FLEM, researching, and building an individual’s passions. In the medium, roast, the students were expected to get associated with tangible and self-learning activities to improve their understanding of family education. The high dosage, the last part of the project, involved engaging with outside learning activities and making practical activities that impact the community members. The findings from the study are significant as they will impact undergraduate students in identifying the proper mechanisms for promoting healthy family functioning through education. However, the study utilizes Kolb’s experimental learning Cycle, an approach that has continuously received criticisms from researchers who consider that the test is not a good fit.
Lessons learnt from the review
Family and children’s development is built on social, ethical, religious and biological factors. Family contexts have changed from what previously existed; family duties between men and women are now based on choice due to changes in gender roles. Moreover, families grow stronger when certain ethical codes, rules, and values are followed. The values are implemented due to religious obligation, the need to run a business successfully or the need to impact a child’s interpersonal skills. Various articles have spoken about the parent-children relationships. It is an important relationship since it solves conflicts between family members and affects a child’s growth and romantic relationships in adulthood. A parent is therefore expected to create time and learn how to guide their children, especially in the middle adulthood stage. Human sexuality also influences the family’s wellness, where an infertile or unsatisfied partner might cause trouble or even develop mental illness. Families should therefore undergo family learning education to create strong bonds and establish ethical principles to follow.
References
Bechoua, S., Hamamah, S., & Scalici, E. (2016). Male infertility: An Obstacle to Sexuality? Andrology, 4(3), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.12160
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