Topic: Individual, Family and Society.
- Concepts and terms associated with the family.
- Different family types and union in the caribbean.
- Major function of the family.
Objective:
Students should be able to:
*Explain the concept and terms associated with the family
*Describe the major function of the family
*Explain the difference in the types and unions int the caribbean.
Activity
*Interactive assessment feedback.
Individual, Family and Society
Kinship Terms Associated with the Family:
NUMBER OF PARTNERS:
- Monogamy: this refers to one husband having one wife (one to one).
- Polygamy: this refers to a system where a husband or a wife has more than one spouse at the same time.
- Polyandry: this refers to a woman having more than one husband at the same time.
CHOICE OF PARTNERS:
- Endogamy: this is where partners must be chosen from within a defined group according to customs; for example, a religious community.
- Exogamy: this is where partners must be chosen from outside of one’s own tribe, class or group according to customs.
AUTHORITY:
- Patriarchal: this refers to a household where the male/ husband is the authority figure (has the power is his hands).
- Matriarchal: this refers to a household where the female/ wife is the authority figure.
- Equalitarian: this refers to a household where power and decision making is shared equally by husband and wife.
DESCENT:
- Patrilineal: this is where the privileges and duties of descent follow the male line.
- Matrilineal: this is where the privileges and duties of descent follow the female line.
- Bilineal: this is where the privileges and duties of descent follow both the male and female lines.
RESIDENCE AFTER MARRIAGE:
- Patrilocal: this refers to the husband and wife taking up residence with the husband’s parents.
- Matrilocal: this refers to the husband and wife taking up residence with the wife’s parents.
- Neolocal: this refers to the husband and wife residing by themselves.
Marriage: legal union of a man and a woman for which a marriage certificate is obtained.
Annulment of a Marriage: declaration by a court of a marriage being invalid.
Divorce: legal dissolution of marriage.
Separation: situation in which a husband and a wife mutually agree to live apart or by an order of a court.
Infidelity: discovering that one’s spouse is unfaithful.
FAMILY:
Definition of a family: A family can be defined as a group of persons/ individuals living under the same roof who are related by blood, marriage or adoption; and take care of each other physically, financially and socially.
FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
- REPRODUCTION: It is only through reproduction, the family plays a significant role in populating the society and ensuring the continuation of the human species.
- EDUCATIONAL: Bringing children into the world is not the only function of the family. Parents are responsible for laying the foundation and providing opportunities for the education of a child. School’s are responsible for the formal education of the child whereas the parents are responsible for the child’s informal education; for example parents can ensure that their child/ children complete their home work and assist them when it’s necessary.
- ECONOMIC: In most cases parents are the sole breadwinners for their families. they bring money and/ or goods into the family for basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, recreation, books, medicine, etc.
- AFFECTIONAL: The family provides an island of love, affection, and security for its members. This is so very important to the mental, intellectual and social well-being for all concerned. Children in particular need proper and adequate amounts of love, attention and affection if they are expected to develop healthy and stable personalities.
- CULTURAL: The family functions as a reservoir for culture, passing it on from generation to generation. Culture refers to all the things we have, do, and say as members of society. Thus, when the family passes on traditions, beliefs, tools, customs, habits, ideas, etc., to their children it serves the function of cultural transmission.
- SOCIALIZATION: Socialization is the process by which a person learns certain disciplines such as punctuality, respect, industry, accept social roles and perfect certain skills. Basically, it can be said that socialization is the process by which a human being is trained to become a useful person to himself and to society.
The family is an agent of socialization. It is the family that provides the child with its earliest sets of concepts, values, knowledge and skills. The family plays an important part in controlling the sexual behaviour of offsprings and provides, in the wildest sense, for training the young for life in society.
FAMILY UNIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN
The three major types of family union in the Caribbean region are:
- The Legal Union
- The Common-Law Union
- Visiting Relationship
- The Legal Union: A legal union is a formal marriage between two persons, usually a male and a female, that is blessed by a religious and/or legal ceremony for which a legal marriage certificate is obtained. In this type of marriage, if either one of the persons to be married is below the age of eighteen, then he/ she must have the consent of their parents.
- The Common–Law Union: The common-law union is becoming one of the most popular family forms in the Caribbean. In this instance a man and a woman decide to love under a common roof as man and wife without undergoing a legal marriage ceremony. The arrangement is mutual and based on love and shared responsibility.
An obvious disadvantage of such a union is that it lacks the binding strength which may keep it together during storm and stress. Children born in such families are termed ‘illegitimate’ in some countries of the Caribbean. Both women and children in some Caribbean territories suffer the added disadvantage of having no legal claim to inheritance. Fortunately, the law has been amended recently to include such children to claims of inheritance in some Caribbean countries.
3. Visiting Relationship: In this type of relationship a woman lives without a permanent spouse. She is visited at intervals by the male for the purposes of sexual intercourse. Children born of such a union are termed illegitimate in some countries since the parents do not normally marry. The almost permanent absence of the father from the family results in the mother being the main person who wields power and authority in the house.
Reminder: There are only five family types, namely:
- The Nuclear Family
- The Extended Family
- The Single Parent Family
- Sibling Household
- Reorganized Family
Changing Roles and Responsibilities of Men and Women in the Caribbean Family
Social Change and The Family
Before the industrial revolution the main occupation of the majority of the population was agricultural in nature. Various crops were planted and harvested mainly by manual labour. As a result of this practice, a large labour force was required to prepare the land, plant and harvest the crops. Due to this, families used to be large. When children came of age and got married they found employment on the family farm. The married couples continued residing with either the husband’s or wife’s parents. It was common to find a large number of extended families.
Modern industrial society has seen a decline of extended families and an increase in nuclear families. This trend is due partly to the following characteristics of an industrial society:
- increase in educational opportunities for both males and females
- increase in the number of jobs in offices and factories
- increase in the number of women joining the labour force
- growth of child-care centres and nurseries which cater for infants of working couples
- the necessity of employees leaving their extended families to live closer to their workplaces
- young adults no longer depend on parents for providing employment
- education has empowered individuals to choose a spouse without reference to their parents, resulting in a movement away from arranged marriages
- old-age pensions, housing and other welfare benefits which are now provided by governments have reduced the responsibilities of children to their ageing parents.
CHANGES IN THE FAMILY OVER TIME
| EARLY 20TH CENTURY | TODAY |
| 1. Most families fell into the category of extended. 2. Few families practiced family planning, leading to somewhat large families. 3. Individuals got married in their ‘teens’. 4. Large number of arranged marriages. 5. Males were predominantly the breadwinner. | A significant rise in the number of nuclear families. Fewer children in the households. Marriage takes place mostly when individuals are in their mid twenties. Fewer arranged marriages. An upsurge of females joining males as breadwinners. |
Revision
Generation Gap
Generation gap may be defined as the divergent views held by parents and their children concerning matters of everyday life. Examine the following examples and discuss the extent to which they exist in your family.
- Music
- Clothes
- Prayers
- Freedom
- Friends
- Television
- Courtship
How a Family begins:
The adolescent period is one which is characterized by a very powerful and strong sex drive. It is during this period that adolescents generally begin courting which may end in the formation of a family.
COURTSHIP
Courtship is normally the first sign which indicates that two people are interested in family life. It is the act or process whereby one tries to win the love of another. At first an individual may court a number of persons. Persons courting are usually seen at ‘fetes’, the cinema, beach parties, parks, picnics, etc. It is a period for developing proper heterosexual attitudes and getting to know people better. It must be stressed that during courtship a sexual relationship need not exist. After dating several individuals, two people may eventually ‘get serious’ and stop dating others. After this stage a legal marriage follows preceded by an engagement or the couple may decide to’shack up’ and continue with a common-law relationship.
Here are some other means by which families begin:-
- Arranged Marriage: In this situation the parents choose a spouse for their son/ daughter.
- ‘Shot-Gun’ Marriage: A situation where two people are forced to marry because of the occurrence of pregnancy.
- Marriage of Convenience: Here a person marries another because of wealth, status or position; the situation where a national decides to marry a foreigner so as to facilitate the latter obtaining citizenship also falls under this category.
- Family Tradition: In some families when a spouse is dead the surviving partner is married to the most eligible family member of the deceased.
- Elope: Two people may elope and either form a common-law relationship or a legal union.
Family Planning
Family planning can be best described as parents controlling the number of children as well as the spacing for each one of them.
In order to control the number of children and spacing among them there are several techniques that may be used, these inclide:
- abstinence
- rhythm method or safe period
- condom
- birth control pill
- vasectomy- cutting of the sperm tubes which transport sperms from the testicles.
- the cervical cap is a device which is placed over the cervix. This prevents sperms from entering the uterus.
- spermicides are chemicals which kill sperms. Spermicides must be injected into the vagina prior to intercourse.
- tubal litigation- cutting of the oviducts which transport eggs from the ovaries.
Preparation for Parenthood
The family has been described as the ‘cornerstone of society’. Indeed, ‘the hand that rocks the cradle rule the world.’ In order to be ideal parents a lot of preparation is necessary. As the doctor and lawyer must undergo years of intensive training before being allowed to practice their professions, so too prospective parents must undertake the necessary training to acquire the skills to make them good parents. Some of these are listed below:
- Pursue education to acquire the skills to secure employment. A stable job will ensure a steady and adequate income to cater for the economic needs of the family.
- Be knowledgeable about family planning techniques so that the size of the family will not grow beyond one’s ability to support members with economic and emotional needs.
- Build emotional strength to have the patience to deal with the difficulties of child rearing; to be calm and composed when a sick child is crying for the entire night. It might be realistic to keep the child of a close relative for a few days to determine whether one is ready for parenthood.
- Learn child psychology to be able to cater for the needs of children at different ages.
- Ensure that the demands of every day life leave ample time or children to be given love, affection, attention and socialization.
- Create a perfect environment for the child, healthy, peaceful and filled with educational material.
- Be healthy, drug-free, and free from communicable diseases like AIDS.
- Study first aid techniques to be able to deal with emergencies as they arise.
- Be knowledgeable about one’s religion to be able to pass on these teachings to offsprings.
Migration
Migration refers to the permanent movement of an individual or family from one geological area to another in order to settle.
Types of Migration
Internal Migration– this refers to the movement of people who have changed residence within a country.
International Migration– this occurs when a person leaves one country in order to settle in another.
Immigrant– this is a person who arrives in a country in order to settle.
Emigrant– this is a person who leaves a country to settle in another.
Net Migration
Net migration refers to the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants in a country in a particular year. Net migration may result in a negative or positive figure.
Net Migration= Immigrants – Emigrants
Country A
Immigrants: 1250 Emigrants: 565
Net migration = +685
Country B
Immigrants: 742 Emigrants: 22,806
Net migration = –22,064
Emigration
Advantages:
- Unemployment levels are lowered
- Foreign exchange earnings are boosted when immigrants families repatriate money to their families
Disadvantages:
- Loss of skilled sectors of the population, referred to as ‘brain drain’.
- Money spent on educating the emigrants does not rebound to the benefit of the country.
- Additional money must be spent by governments to replace the loss of the skilled professionals.
Immigration
Advantages:
- Skilled personnel brought in as immigrants assist in the economic development of the country.
- Immigrants from different countries add flavour to the culture of the country.
Disadvantages:
- Racial and religious conflicts may arise.
- If immigrants are marginalized, this may result in violence and social turmoil.
- The predominant culture of the host country may be lost.
- Pressure is put on the host country to provide more housing, health and recreational facilities.
Urbanization
Urbanization is referred to as the migration of people in large numbers from rural to urban areas.
Attractions of the Urban Areas (Pull Factors)
A large number of people are attracted to urban areas because of the following reasons:
- Availability of while collar jobs.
- Proper infrastructure- roads, water, electricity, etc.
- Availability of social facilities- health, education, recreation, postal services and police stations.
- A wide variety of entertainment and night life facilities.
Conditions in the rural areas (Push Factors)
- scarcity of jobs except in agriculture, and most people consider agricultural occupations to be low paying, laborious, risky and menial.
- Lack of infrastructure such as poor roads, irregular water and electricity supplies.
- Poor facilities in education, health and security.
- Lack of entertainment and recreational facilities.
Problems of Urbanization
- Overcrowding in the cities.
- Shortage of housing facilities and development of slums.
- Rising unemployment levels.
- Rising pollution due to the high concentration of population.
- Pressure on educational and recreational facilities.
- Traffic congestion.
- Rise in level of crimes.
Reducing problems associated with Urbanization
- Building of industries and erection of industrial sites in rural areas.
- Development of proper infrastructure in rural areas such as roads, electricity and water.
- Providing social facilities such as schools, health centres, recreational parks and postal services in rural areas.
Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy refers to a female between the ages of 12/13-19 years becoming pregnant.
Causes of Teenage Pregnancy:
- lack of religious and moral education.
- broken homes where the impact of socialization of children by both parents is weakened.
- lack on education on the disadvantages of sexual activity prior to marriage.
- the influence of television where many shows project sexual license and liberty.
- individuals with poor self esteems sometimes tend to prove their manhood/ womanhood through sexual activity.
- poor role models in society.
- peer pressure.
Consequences:
- teenagers invariably lack the social and psychological maturity to raise children effectively.
- education and training are curtailed, leading to the cycle of poverty.
- teenagers do not always possess the financial resources required to maintain children.
- Offsprings suffer from all the short coming of a single-parent family if the biological parents do not form a permanent union.
- if pregnancy occurs in the early teens, the health of the mother is jeopardized.
- the character of unwed parents is tarnished.
- pressure is put on society to care for off springs through welfare programmes.
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is the direct influence on people by peers, or the effect on an individual who gets encouraged to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviours to conform to those of the influencing group or individual.
Street Children
This refers to a boy or girl who has not reached the age of adulthood that spends most of their days on the street begging, stealing, selling drugs, etc and are inadequately protected.
How children end up on the streets.
- abandonment of children by parents after divorce or separation.
- physical, emotional and sexual abuse cause some children to run away from home.
- poverty pushes children to the streets in order to learn a living.
- some children, particularly older ones, resort to the streets in search of fulfillment of being independent- a reaction to overly authoritative parents.
- when HIV/AIDS claim the lives of parents, children are left to fend for themselves on the streets.
- some children are kicked out of the homes by parents who are drug addicts.
Activities of street children.
Because of the lack of marketable skills, and being below the age to be legally employed, street children find it difficult to secure permanent jobs. They, therefore engage in the following activities to earn a living:
- begging for money and food.
- stealing from pedestrians and vendors.
- prostitution.
- selling illegal drugs.
Since street children have no families or relatives and no one to provide guidance and support they end up
- abusing illegal drugs.
- becoming sexually active at an early age.
Is there a solution in sight?
The following may be considered as feasible propositions:
- introduction of an intensive family planning programme.
- governments must address poverty and unemployment as matters of urgent priority.
- religious, moral and family life education must become compulsory.
- universal education,especially for the poor and disadvantaged, must be pursued by the provision of free books, meals, uniform and transport.
- foster homes should be provided for abandoned children.
THE DRUG DILEMMA
A drug is a chemical substance which is used for curing or relieving illnesses in human beings and animals. Medical science has advanced to the stage where drugs have been discovered for curing or preventing almost all conceivable ailments. The drug dilemma stems from the fact that some people abuse drugs. These are people who use drugs excessively, indiscriminately and inappropriately. Some of the drugs which are frequently abused are alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and cocaine.
REASONS FOR DRUG ABUSE
- Curiosity and experimentation.
- Peer pressure.
- Persuasive advertisements (especially tobacco and alcohol).
- Enhancement of performance in sports (eg steroids)
- To camouflage personal weaknesses.
- To assist in coping with life’s problems.
- Role modelling effect as alcohol is used yo celebrate most occasions.
