A family is a group of people with a relationship living in a similar unit. There are several types of families, depending on the size and the bond and size of the family. An essential family is a nuclear family. This is a family which consists of parents or a parent and their children. The second type of family is the extended family. This refers to a family consisting of children, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, among others. The third type of a family is the blended family, which refers to a family in which two partners marry each with a child or children from the previous relationships. A family, especially the nuclear family plays an essential role in the socialization process of children. Many socialists have concluded that the family is the first agent of socialization in a person’s life. It is also the most significant agent of socialization among the other agents. This paper discusses the general significance and dynamics of the socialization of a family.
Parents, siblings and close family members are the most common people that young children interact within their initial stages of life. Even children first learn to pronounce words that are mostly used by family members. For example, a child may first know how to pronounce “mom” as she hears her or his siblings call the mother often. As children grow older, parents teach children how they interact with other people. Also, the children tend to are obedient to their parents, and they are likely to do what they are guided to do by their parents. Parents teach children how to interact with strangers, teachers or friends. For instance, many parents direct their children not to talk to strangers or accept gifts from them. They may also lead children to respect their teachers in schools and elders. This affects a person’s interaction skills, even when they adults or beyond parents control. This partly explains why some people are more friendly while others are not.
Parents nurture their children, and this significantly affects their behaviors in adulthood. Children see their parents as their role models and develop passions in activities the parents engage in. For instance, my parents are hardworking, and they like to bring me up in a more suitable and enjoyable environment. That is why they decided to move to Canada, where I could get a quality education. Vietnam, my home country, is a developing country, and thus the level of training the country is low. I have learnt to always be industrious in activities that I do because my parents are also hard working. Many children find themselves following career paths related to their parents. However, this mostly happens when parents’ occupations are well paying like pilots, doctors and economists. Also, children can cope with immoral practices from their parents. According to research, there are high chances of a child brought up by a family that engages in the illegal drug business to also participate in the same activity in there adulthood.
Marriage life is not always smooth, and there can be the presence of conflicts between family members. The conflict theory of socializing supports this. The theory argues that family members are in continuous conflict due to inequality in roles and responsibilities in the family. In most instances, parents enter into arguments on the tasks which each should perform in a family. Traditionally, women are expected to treat men with respect because men are viewed as superior. Also, women were mostly played a greater role in home affairs and rarely participated in economic activities such as employment. However, in the twenty-first century, there has been a rise of feminism who mostly advocates for equal treatment of women to men. Feminists’ theorists believe a family is an institution that promotes gender inequality, with men being more superior to women. Also, women can access jobs replacing the first role of a man as the provider in the family. As a result, this leads to continued conflicts among family members, which may eventually lead to divorce. A survey conducted in Canada in 2018 concluded that there were around 2.68 divorce cases of legal separation from 2000 to 2018.
There are various ways in which family members engaging in conflict or disagreements can resolve. The most significant method is forgiveness. People are prone to making mistakes, and in time when one family member disappoints another, it is essential to discuss the issue and reach a common understanding marked by forgiveness. Forgiveness means that you are going to resume normal social status before the disagreement. For instance, I find myself offending my parents by engaging in activities which they do not like going for night clubs, but I always ask for forgiveness to end the issues. The second method is seeing a therapist. This is a necessary intervention when the conflict involves a severe disappointment like cheating. A therapist helps the affected partner to heal, forgive and accept what happened.
Abuse refers to treating a person with cruelty and violence. The various forms of exploitation affecting families are physical, verbal, sexual and mental abuse between family members. Women and girls record the highest number of abuses from male parents or male adults in the family. In a report by the Canadian government in 2016, 26 percent of all reported cases of violent crimes reported were linked to family violence. Also, the research established that 67 percent of the family violence victims were women and girls. There are many cases of family abuse that go unreported as many people fear to face shame from society. Though rare, there are also reported cases of male sexual violence. Most victims of male sexual abuse are young boys aged between five to fifteen years. According to research, most of the boys were penetrated by a non-family member.
Conflicts and abuse have a lot of significance to the family. First, they cause stress, low self-esteem and depression to the family members. It is not a necessity to be abused or conflicting to be a victim of stress or depression. Observing a family member being abused distracts your normal mental functioning leading to depression. This explains why students coming from violent families tend to perform poorly in their studies, while they are not actively abused. Furthermore, these psychological problems are likely to lead to health complications like headaches and high blood pressure. Second, it affects the social life of the abused. These immoral activities discourage victims from becoming socially active. For instance, most women who divorce are not likely to be married again in their lifetime. Also, the victims create a negative belief about the oppressor, and thus they do not interact with them. For instance, a child who was abused by his father may fear to interact with men and even end up unmarried in adulthood due to the belief that men are cruel.
Living apart together (LAT) is a term used to refer to married partners who live in different houses or spaces. LAT is associated with several advantages. First, it reduces the issue of conflict between partners. This is because the partners are not physically interacting, and each is having the freedom to do what pleases him or her. Second, LAT marriages do not interfere with one’s social life because of the limitation of liberty by the other partner. For instance, a person might be sincere with his family members, but the partner does not socialize with them well LAT may be sufficient. LAT has also been praised for preventing divorce, which would occur. However, compassionate love for partners might be unavailable. LAT is also associated with marriage failure due to the absence of a partner leading to cheating.
As one of the most critical parts of society, the family should promote peace and good morals for the achievement of unity in the community. Improper functioning of the family leads to incorrect operation of the society. Although it is the smallest unit, the family has an essential role in keeping society in good condition. The functionalist theory of socialization supports this. The theory argues that a community is an intricate part that must work together for the smooth functioning of society. As one of the components, functionalists believe that the family instills culture, ethnicity, and identity through kinship, which is essential for the proper growth of children in society. By teaching good morals to their children, parents contribute greatly to the wellbeing of society.
Child brokering is the act in which a child takes up the responsibility of translating a foreign language to their parents when they do not understand. This happens when parents immigrate together with their children to an external. Naturally, children learn new words faster than their parents. As a result, the parents need them for translation when they are having a conversation in the original language. As an immigrant, my parents had a problem with understanding English, and I had to always translate to them what they were conversing with Canadians. In schools, I was to be available during parent-teacher meetings so that I could make translate English to our local language in the motherland. Also, I had to accompany them to various places so that I could communicate with people on their behalf. This was sometimes tiresome, and I could not finish school assignments on time in several occurrences. With time they have come to learn Basic English words and thus, they are not dependent on me. I am now eased, and they do not need my assistance unless it’s complicated literature.
A family is an essential unit in society, especially the nuclear family. Parents play a significant role in building their children’s behaviours, beliefs and culture. As a result, parents should limit things that they do in front of their children. Abuse in marriages has negative impacts on their wellbeing. Marriage partners need to treat each other with dignity and respect through avoiding abuse.