The History Of The Family Systems Theory Sociology Essay

The History Of The Family Systems Theory Sociology Essay The definition of Family has become increasingly controversial over the past few decades. Family in the twenty-first century is different to everyone; all families have different structures and functions, beliefs and parental attitudes. The term family refers to a unit consisting of people who are related to each other either biologically by notions of blood relations, or alternatively by legal means such as by marriage (Kirby, et al 2000, p45). The definition of a family has changed a lot over the years; there are several reasons for the definition to change. The view of the typical nuclear family is no longer the norm within society. Nowadays there are more families of divorce, stepfamilies, and extended families, rich and poor families. There is not a single definition for what a family is; people have their own view of what a family is. There are many factors that make families different, such as ethnicity, religion, and economics. Levine (N.D) suggests that families have three basic goals for the children; survival, economic self-sufficiency and self-actualization (Enrique, et al, 2007) Family structure and family functioning can affect a childs development in many ways. Family structure is the way in which a family is set up, for example, single parent families, extended families and nuclear families. Family functioning refers to how family members are emotionally attached, how well they communicate emotions and information and respond to problems (Freistadt and Stohschein. 2012). Everyone has a different view of what family is and how families should be structured. Some make the assumption that children can only be brought up successfully in a two-parent family structure involving a heterosexual relationship. Others take the perspective that children can function well in any family structure, provided certain basic conditions are met (Wise, 2003). According to Schaffer family structure plays less importance part in a childs development than family functioning. The family is a social system endorsed by law and custom to take care of its members needs (Kepner, 1983). The emotional bondings and relationships between the members of the family, and their responsibility to the family unit hold them together through the changes of transitions and the complicated connections. Family Systems Theory Murray Bowen developed the family systems theory, he recognised that the family was an emotional unit and any changes to the family functioning would influence all members of the family. The family systems theory emerged from the general systems theory by scholars who found that it had a lot of relevance to families and other social systems. http://web.pdx.edu/~cbcm/CFS410U/FamilySystemsTheory.pdf The family systems theory refers to a family as a system in which each member can never be considered in isolation without reference to the roles, responsibilities and behaviours of other members of the family. The family is seen a dynamic unit according to the family systems theory. Changes are constantly occurring and each member of the family takes on new roles and responsibilities, and internal patterns are adopted. The relationships between the individuals in the family unit are mutual and constantly changing. The family is an example of an ongoing, self-regulating, social system that has certain features such as its unique structuring of gender and generation set it apart from other social systems. Each family system has their own structure, the psychobiological characteristics of its individual members, and its sociocultural and historic position in its larger environment (Broderick, 1993, p37). The family as a system links all individuals together and understands that things going on in the environment can influence all individuals even if not all of them are actively engaged, for example parents workplace. The family system theory recognises that small things can impact the family system, for example, the loss of a parent can affect the relationship the child has with the other parent and/or siblings. http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/papers/family.pdf According to Bowen each member of the family system has a roles and boundaries. Individuals in the system are expected to engage with each other in a certain ways according to their role and their relationship with other members. There are four main principles of the family systems theory; wholeness, integrity of subsystems, circularity of influence and stability and change. Wholeness refers the family as one unit however each member of the family have certain attributes of their own. Integrity of subsystems means that each relationship is a subsystem, for example; mother and father relationship or mother and child relationship or vice versa. Relationships between relationships are also subsystems. Circularity of influences means that the subsystems and relationships depend on each other and if there is a change in one subsystem it has an impact on other systems. Stability and change refers to external influences that can affect the individual or subsystems, for example parents workplace. The wellbeing of the child, therefore, can be conceived of as dependent upon the functioning of elements of the entire family system (McKeown and Sweeny 2001: 6) Family systems are different in all families. Parental attitudes are important in setting up an environment in which their child can flourish. Campion (1985) says that if a child grows up in a stable and loving environment, the child will usually develop a sense of self-respect and self-discipline. The child understands what is expected of him and However it can be argued that a child who has been brought up in a family system where the parents attitudes lack maturity, the child is more likely not to flourish in the environment and not understand what is expected of them, therefore cannot develop a sense of their own competence. Campion (1985) suggests that children take on the roles, which have a function in their family system. It is believed that if children see themselves as the disobedient one in the family setting, they may carry out their difficult behaviours in school. Likewise a child who is obedient may also carry out this behavior at school. The ecological systems theory Bronfenbrenners ecological systems theory states that the environment is reflected in an individuals development. Bronfenbrenners ecological approach refers to layers of environmental influences that impact an individuals development. The interactions with people and the environment are key to development. This theory can apply to individuals at any stage of development. The theory identifies five environmental systems in which the individual interacts with; microsystem, meosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. The microsystem refers to each setting, which the individual is an active participant, such as; family, school, community, friends. This layer has the most immediate and earliest influences on the child. The relationships in the microsystem can be bi-directional; this means that the childs behaviours can be influenced by the family and vice versa. The meosystem refers to the relationships between the settings in the microsystem and the individual; an example of this would be the relationship between home and school. The exosystem refers to a setting or setting where an event happens, which affects or is affected by what happens in the setting that the developing person is in. The child is not an active participant in this system. The structures in the exosystem can affect a childs development by interacting with the structures in the microsystem, for example; mothers work place can affect the amount of time the mother spends with the child. Although the child is not directly involved with the structures in the exosystem, they do feel the positive and negative impacts that are involved with the interaction between the systems. The Macrosystem refers to the wider social systems, for example; government legislations and economic factors. These things affect the child indirectly however it has an impact on the developing childs life. An example of this could be that the childs family is living in poverty therefore this can cause social exclusion and the child might not have access to school trips or community play areas. The chronosystem refers to how things change over time as it relates to the childs environment. There are various elements within this system that can be internal or external. An internal influence could be the physiological changes that occur while the child gets older. An external influence could the timing of their parents getting a divorce. The older the individual gets might impact how they react to environmental changes and may be able unders tand how the change will influence them. External influences

Decision making software Essay

QUESTION 1 Life Orientation is an umbrella term which encompasses all the work that teachers should be doing with learners and include school guidance, counselling and life skills. QUESTION 2 Acceptance is concerned with all aspects of learning. QUESTION 3 Three (3) different types of thought developments can be differentiated. QUESTION 4 An intensive, extended career education programme helps learners to gain knowledge of who they are. QUESTION 5 Lindhard and Oosthuizen differentiate between the following principles of decision making, namely: aims and value; information; solution and decision making. QUESTION 6 A facilitative process is where the individual looks at his/her own interests. QUESTION 7 Assessment should only focus on the learner’s intellectual abilities. QUESTION 8 Observation is an exploratory technique that should be part of every educator’s role. QUESTION 9 The implication of the structured interview is that the interviewer and the learner encounter each other as equal partners. QUESTION 10 Individual counselling is predominantly used as a mode of counselling in school settings. QUESTION 11 In the teaching of Life Skills education the learner is the centre. ETH203Q/101 13 QUESTION 12 In educational support the content should be presented in such a way that the learners themselves achieve personalization. QUESTION 13 Study methods and reading skills are categorized as personal skills. QUESTION 14 Compiling a budget and writing a CV are categorized as survival skills. QUESTION 15 Imagining are dependent upon the senses and is a precondition for learning. QUESTION 16 The learner is able to transcend reality and enter a world of â€Å"nonreality† through the process of personalization. QUESTION 17 The composite interview method is made up of the best elements from the direct and indirect interviews. QUESTION 18 The three main considerations governing a career choice are job description, working conditions and job opportunities. QUESTION 19 In the decision making process the delaying decider is the â€Å"whatever will be, will be† type. QUESTION 20 During observation the learner is always the object. (20)

America in Black and White

Langston Hughes was an important and defining figure of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s up to the 1930’s, a decade of great activity in the African-American arts scene. Hughes was known for the rhythm, jazz and blues, of his poetry. The theme of his poetry is mostly on the life experiences of the African-American. In his Theme for English B, Hughes expresses the reality in the disparity – of being Black among Whites. In the first stanza, the professor’s assignment was specific and defined which was to write a page about oneself. It was a deviation from the usual rigid English lessons, like classical poems.Writing about oneself was more loose and relaxed. Hughes used iambic quatrain to taunt the rigidity of the instruction. Hughes made it known from the beginning that student and professor were different. The student thought the assignment over, and wondered if it was easy writing about oneself. Hughes used the free-verse style on rest of the poem to c ontrast the earlier quatrain. Alliteration and Assonance in Line 7, â€Å"I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem† had the jazz sounds of Harlem. Here, Hughes bared that the student was Black and therefore the professor was White.When he combined two vowel sounds in Line 10, â€Å"I am the only colored student in my class† Hughes indicated how strongly the student felt about being Black. Hughes used metaphors to denote Black with Harlem, 8th Avenue, 7th Street and Harlem Branch Y, places where there was heavy African-American population. There was a noticeable change in the order of the [I] from Lines 6, 7, 8 and 10, such as, â€Å"I wonder†¦ / I am twenty-two †¦ / I went to school there †¦ / I am the only †¦Ã¢â‚¬  to Lines 12-14 â€Å"†¦ then I cross †¦/ †¦ and I come †¦ / †¦ where I come †¦ /. † The [I] used to start off the lines, they now end off the lines.Such reversal was a symbolical of the place the Black took in society. The symbolism of coming from African-American places going upwards to the school on the hill and taking the elevator to his room at the Y told of the student’s efforts to reach the level of the Whites. It must be recalled in Line 6 that the student had doubts â€Å"I wonder if it’s that simple? † referring to the assignment. Now at Line 16, he was sure that â€Å"It is not easy to know what is true for you or me. † Hughes at this point now came with the â€Å"you† together with the â€Å"me.† With â€Å"I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:† â€Å"hear you, hear me – we two – you me, talk on this page† (Lines18-19) the student was not just writing about himself but of the whole African-American people. The sound of the assonance was strong like the clamor for equality. In Lines 21-26, the student cried out that he, in many ways, was like a white man with the same wants and aspira tions in life. Hughes’ metaphors for gifts like â€Å"pipe† to mean growing old, â€Å"Bessie† for Blues, â€Å"Bop† for Jazz, and â€Å"Bach† for the classical and Baroque music.The student wrote that the African-American also wanted the things the White man enjoyed. Hughes subtly presented the issue of racism by completely leaving out the assonance, instead, the student was introspective when he asked â€Å"So will my page be colored that I write? † (Line 27). Despite the absence of the assonance, Hughes was still able to convey what the student wanted – to experience life, like the Whites do, until he is old when he smokes his pipe and listen to good music. The professor and the student were a contrast from the start, with conflicts in between.Hughes found a common ground in Lines 31-33 â€Å"You are white — / yet part of me, as I am part of you. / That’s American. † He followed it up with Lines 37-38 â€Å"As I learn from you, I guess you learn from me –† Hughes tried to make his readers see that the equalizer comes in both their being Americans. Theme for English B gives a very light treatment, being a free verse, of a compelling issue such as racism. The readers are able to internalize the poem through its rhythm. The tone of the poem is reflective as it is assertive with the use of the poetic voice of â€Å"I† coming as it is from someone who has a personal stake on the issue.Hughes was excellent in the use of a page for a composition in an English B class, where the student would use black ink to write on a white sheet of writing paper. The symbolisms accurately portrayed the issue in the poem – that Blacks and Whites despite their difference should not be opposing colors of America. They will both write history and define their future as Americans. References Hughes, L. (1951). Theme for English B. Retrieved April 25, 2009 from http://www. eecs. harvard. edu/~keith/poems/English_B. html

Using the Italian Past Perfect Subjunctive Tense

To complete the fourth of subjunctive-tense verb forms, theres the congiuntivo trapassato (referred to as the past perfect subjunctive in English), which is a compound tense. Form this tense with the congiuntivo imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb. Forming the Compound Tense The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as the passato prossimo (present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs in compound tense formations. For example: io sono stato (I was) and ho avuto (I had). Auxiliary Verb Avere In general, transitive verbs (verbs that carry over an action from the subject to the direct object) are conjugated with avere as in the following example: Il pilota ha pilotato laeroplano. (The pilot flew the plane.) When the passato prossimo is constructed with avere, the past participle does not change according to gender or number: Io ho parlato con Giorgio ieri pomeriggio. (I spoke to George yesterday afternoon.)Noi abbiamo comprato molte cose. (We bought many things.) When the past participle of a verb conjugated with avere is preceded by the third person direct object pronouns lo, la, le, or li, the past participle agrees with the preceding direct object pronoun in gender and number. The past participle may agree with the direct object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and vi when these precede the verb, but the agreement is not mandatory. Ho bevuto la birra. (I drank the beer.)Lho bevuta. (I drank it.)Ho comprato il sale e il pepe. (I bought the salt and pepper.)Li ho comprati. (I bought them.)Ci hanno visto/visti. (They saw us.) In negative sentences, non is placed before the auxiliary verb: Molti non hanno pagato. (Many didnt pay.)No, non ho ordinato una pizza. (No, I didnt order a pizza.) Auxiliary Verb Essere When essere is used, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject of the verb, so you have four endings to choose from: -o, -a, -i, -e. In many cases, intransitive verbs (those that cannot take a direct object), especially those expressing motion, are conjugated with the auxiliary verb essere. The verb essere is also conjugated with itself as the auxiliary verb. Here are a few examples of the trapassato congiuntivo: Speravo che avessero capito. (I was hoping they had understood.)Avevo paura che non avessero risolto quel problema. (I was afraid they hadnt resolved that problem.)Vorrebbero che io raccontassi una storia. (They would like me to tell a story.)Non volevo che tu lo facessi cosà ¬ presto. (I didnt want you to do it as soon.) Trapassato Congiuntivo of the Verbs Avere and Essere PRONOUN AVERE ESSERE che io avessi avuto fossi stato(-a) che tu avessi avuto fossi stato(-a) che lui/lei/Lei avesse avuto fosse stato(-a) che noi avessimo avuto fossimo stati(-e) che voi aveste avuto foste stati(-e) che loro/Loro avessero avuto fossero stati(-e)