Social Trends and The Family: Lesson 1

Fertility rates in the United States are going down. When this happens, drastic changes are made to social family trends. A good example of this is the housing industry. During the baby boom era, families were drastically larger on average than they are today. When these baby boomers buy homes now, or when their children buy homes now, they are used to needing bigger homes, when in reality, families are sometimes twice as small today.

This change in society may seem small, but it effects more than one industry, and actually effects family lives of people that work in those industries. When societal norms change and shift, individual family lives change. Families function differently in order to change with these norms and adjust to economic and other such changes. One shift in society can change the entire dynamic of a family system.

Same Gender Attraction: Lesson 4

      This week we discussed same gender attraction. We learned what events in early childhood or adolescents might cause someone to harbor same sex tendencies. We discussed the Conspiracy of Factors which is effected by things such as early childhood role models, natural born traits or behavior patterns, identify formation, nonconsensual homosexual experiences early in life. These factors, and many more may lead to a young person to engage in homosexual behaviors when they otherwise might not have. Learning about these factors has taught me that there is much more to the human experience than first meets the eye. 

Family Systems Theories: Lesson 2

I learned something very powerful this week, and it is something that I am hoping will help all of you in your families as well. There is something called Symbolic Interaction Theory. This theory says that within family systems there are unwritten "rules", if you will. They may be formes of communication that we pick up on without even realizing it, or even actions that are known to be expected or unacceptable. Anything we do can be a symbol, for example, while on the phone with my mother, she might receive another phone call and need to call me back at a later time. I can choose to receive that action as her not thinking our conversation is important, and when I perceive that to be true, I act as if it were. In reality, her needing to call me back has nothing whatsoever to do with how important she thinks our conversation is. Symbolic Interaction Theory entails attaching value and meaning to words and actions exchanged within the family system.

Having this new found knowledge is crucial to the observations I make in my own family and to interactions that I will observe in my future career. It is so very important to understand how you and your family members communicate with one another. Knowing this can increase the quality of communication that happens in the home, and helps us as individuals gain a greater self concept.

I think we should each strive to understand how we communicate within our family members. Doing this will increase the quality of communication, and therefore the peace in our homes. When we strive to understand others, and not simply try to communicate our own feelings, so much more can be accomplished, and family systems can grow closer to each other.

So...go give it a try, and let's prove that communication really is key!