1.Family systems theory—family as “whole” made up of interconnected parts, each affecting the other
2.Family is a dynamic system—a self-organizing system that adapts to changes in members
3.In the past, developmentalists did not adopt a family systems approach but focused almost exclusively on the mother–child relationship.
4.Nuclear family—two-generation system (i.e., father/mother/at least one child)
5.Reciprocal influence—each member influences all others (e.g., baby smiles, mom smiles in response, baby grins in response to mom)
6.Must consider all combinations of influences: mother–child, father–child, mother–father (everyone affects each other)
7.Coparenting—ways in which parents coordinate their parenting and function well (or poorly) as a team
8.Communication and mutual support of each other makes a big difference (can head off problems in children).
9.Extended family household—nuclear family system plus other kin (e.g., grandparents, aunts/uncles)
10.More common in cultures outside the United States
11.More common in African-American and Hispanic-American families than in non-Hispanic white families
B. The Family as a Changing System
1.Family best defined as dynamic, developing system (i.e., things, including family members, change)
2.Early family developmental theories featured notion of family life cycle—sequence of changes in composition, roles, and relationships within family over time
3.Duvall’s eight stages of family life cycle
4.Married without children
5.Childbearing family
6.Family with preschool children
7.Family with school-aged children
8.Family with teenagers
9.Family launching young adults
10.Family without children
11.Aging family
12.Increasing numbers of people do not experience the “traditional” life cycle
13.Some remain single or childless while others marry multiple times
14.Many now find fault with models that view a family life cycle in which a nuclear family remains intact and moves through each of the life phases in sequence.
15.New concept is that we lead linked lives—our development as individuals is intertwined with that of other family members
16.Most theorists now embrace concept that families function as systems, developing and changing over the lifespan.
C. A Changing System in a Changing World
1.Families are embedded in a changing world.
2.Several dramatic social changes have altered makeup of typical family and the quality of family experience.
3.Now more single adults (but 90% of adults will marry)
4.More people are postponing marriage (2009 average age of marriage was 26 for women and 28 for men).
5.More unmarried parents (41% of births to single women)
6.People are having fewer children.
7.More working mothers (60% of married women with children younger than 6 work outside the home)
8.Substantial increase in divorces (4 in 10 new marriages will end in divorce)
9.More single-parent families (23% of children under age 18 live with mom alone and 3% live with dad alone)
10.More children living in poverty (35% of African American, 29% of Hispanic, and 10% of non-Hispanic white children are poor; 43% of children in female-headed households are poor)
11.More remarriages and reconstituted (blended) families—those including stepparent and/or stepsiblings
12.More years without children (modern couples are compressing their childbearing into a smaller number of years, and with improved health, people are living longer)
13.More multigenerational families
14.Fewer caregivers for aging adults
15.Some see change as “decline of the family” (i.e., negative effects of divorce, single-parent families, poverty).
16.Some see instability of family (e.g., parents going from married to single to remarried) as “dizzying” for children.
17.Some see change as good news.
18.Postponing marriage greater chance of success
19.Men and women have more similar roles.
20.More interaction between grandparents/great-grandparents and their grandkids
21.With two wage earners, families better off financially
22.Once “traditional” nuclear family (1960: 45%) now represents small proportion of families (1995:12%)
II. The Infant(p. 446)
A. Mothers and Fathers
1.Despite gender stereotypes, fathers are as capable of caring for infants as mothers (fathers and mothers more similar than different); fathers good at feeding become objects of their infant’s love.
2.Mothers and fathers do differ in both quantity and quality of interactions with infants.
3.Mothers tend to spend more quantity of time with children (but fathers are more involved with children than they were in the past, with some even sharing equal responsibility for child care).
4.Mothers and fathers’ typical styles are qualitatively different.
5.Mothers tend to spend time caregiving (e.g., food, changing diapers).
6.Fathers spend more time in playful interactions (e.g., tickling, bouncing).
7.Fathers can adopt “mother-like” role if they have primary responsibility for child care.
8.Fathers tend to contribute financially to support children.
9.Fathers who are warm contribute to achievement levels in their children.
10.Fathers tend to challenge children during play and to egg on into taking risks.
11.Children with caring and involved fathers tend to have fewer psychological disorders.
12.40% of babies now born to unmarried mothers, also creating a large group of unmarried fathers
13.Unmarried fathers tend to not live with the child’s mother and not be very involved parents.
14.Odds of being an involved parent high if unmarried man still has a strong relationship with the mother
15.Involvement as a father greatest when father does not use drugs, is employed, is not engaging in criminal activity, and is participating in a religion
16.Unmarried fathers involved before birth tend to be involved after birth.
17.Becoming a father seems to help some men mature and make positive changes in their lives.
B. Mothers, Fathers, and Infants: The System at Work
1.Parents also have “indirect effect”—in which effect on child involves parent influence on third party, who in turn influences child
2.Mothers with supportive relationships with husbands more patient with children
3.Fathers who have just argued with wives tend to be less supportive with their children.
4.When parents compete rather than cooperate, infants may show signs of insecure attachments.
III. The Child(p. 448)
A. Parenting Styles
1.Two dimensions of childrearing include acceptance–responsiveness and demandingness–control
2.Acceptance–responsiveness—extent to which parents support, show sensitivity to needs, and praise or encourage children
3.Demandingness–control (permissive–restrictiveness)—amount of control parents have over decisions concerning a child
4.Less controlling and less demanding parents called “permissive parents”
5.Four patterns (based on crossing two dimensions above)
6.Authoritarian parenting—highly demanding, with expectations for strict obedience, low acceptance-responsiveness (i.e., impose rules, expect strict obedience, rarely explain why child should comply, and rely on power tactics like physical punishment)
7.Authoritative parenting—parents set and explain rules, listen to their children, and are flexible (reasonable and democratic)
8.Permissive parenting—high in acceptance–responsiveness, these parents make few demands, encourage children to express their feelings, and exert little control over children
9.Neglectful parenting—low demanding–control and low acceptance–responsiveness, these parents are uninvolved in the upbringing of their children
10.Baumrind research on child outcomes associated with parenting patterns
11.Best outcomes from warmth combined with authoritative style (e.g., children more cheerful, socially responsible, achievement oriented, and cooperative with peers and adults)
12.Children of authoritarian parents moody, unhappy, easily annoyed
13.Children of permissive parents impulsive, aggressive, without self-control, but can be effective with older independent children
14.Worst outcomes from neglectful parents, with children displaying aggression and temper tantrums as early as age 3 years and hostility and drug abuse in their teens
15.“Love and limits” best combination for parents
16.Overall link between authoritarian parenting and positive developmental outcomes evident in most ethnic groups
17.Some cultural and subcultural differences in effectiveness of parenting styles exist (Exploration box on parenting in cultural and subcultural context)
B. Social Class, Economic Hardship, and Parenting
1.Class differences (lower and working-class versus middle and upper-class) associated with different socialization goals, values, and parenting styles
2.Lower and working class tend to stress obedience and respect.
3.Lower and working class tend to be more restrictive and authoritarian and tend to reason with children less frequently.
4.Lower and working class tend to show less warmth/affection.
5.Socioeconomic differences in parenting styles and child outcomes
6.Parents experiencing financial problems tend to become more depressed and engage in more conflict; marital conflict disrupts each partner’s ability to be supportive and effective parents (example of indirect family effect).
7.Negative impacts on children include low self-esteem, poor school performance, and adjustment problems.
8.Lower and working class parents may be under more stress (especially financial).
9.Parents living in poverty tend to be more restrictive, punitive, inconsistent, and neglectful (sometimes to the point of abuse).
10.In high-crime poverty areas, parents may engage in more authoritarian and controlling behavior to protect their children from danger.
11.Poverty also associated with poorer physical environment (e.g., pollution, noise, crowds, unsafe conditions)
12.Poor environment linked to health, emotional, and behavioral problems in children
13.Low socioeconomic status (SES) parents have fewer resources to invest in their children’s development.
14.High- and low-SES parents may emphasize different qualities in preparing children for work (because of their work experience).
15.Lower SES parents emphasize obedience to authority because it is what their jobs require.
16.Higher SES parents emphasize initiative and creativity as these are the attributes of executives, professionals, and other white-collar workers.
C. Models of Influence in the Family
1.Parent effects model
a. Assumes that parent’s action causes child’s behavior (a one-way influence from parent to child)
2.Child effects model
a. Assumes that child’s action influences parenting style
b. Infant requires more care than older child.
c. Parents tend to become less restrictive as children age.
d. Difficult children may cause parents to reject or harshly rule children (authoritarian style).
e. “Good” children less in need of harsh parental involvement
f. Research shows that child’s behavior can lead to differential treatment (e.g., in one study, college students used more induction with attentive girls and more power-assertion techniques with inattentive parents; parents of juvenile delinquent girls became less warm and less controlling as their daughters aged).
3.Transactional model—hypothesis that parents and children influence each other reciprocally (e.g., child genetically predisposed to aggression elicits negative and coercive parenting, which results in more aggressive acts by the child)
4.Includes potential impact of genes on behavior of both parents and children
5.Child problems develop when the relationship between parent and child goes bad over time; optimal development results when parent–child transactions evolve in positive directions.
6.Parents do not single-handedly control the developmental process (but are influential).
D. Sibling Relationships
1.A new baby arrives.
2.Mothers pay less attention to other children.
3.“Dethroning” of firstborn can be stressful on the child.
4.Children become more demanding, clingy, and develop problems in their routines (e.g., eating, toileting).
5.Siblings may become targets of aggression.
6.Decreases security of attachment in children 2 years or older
7.Child’s increased insistence on doing things independently increases.
8.Parents need to guard against ignoring older children following birth of sibling.
9.Parents should encourage older children to become aware of new baby’s needs.
10.Ambivalence in sibling relationships
11.Sibling rivalry—competition, jealousy, and resentment between siblings common and normal reaction [show fight]
12.May be rooted in evolution, with siblings competing with one another for parental resources
13.Siblings may be at odds because of close proximity
14.Level of sibling conflict high between young siblings but tends to decrease in early adolescence
15.Personalities and parenting behaviors affect sibling relationships.
16.Sibling relationships friendlier when parents get along with each other and respond warmly and sensitively to all their children
17.Sibling influences on development.
18.Siblings can provide emotional support (e.g., siblings often confide in each other).
19.Even preschoolers jump in to comfort infant siblings.
20.Siblings often provide caretaking (babysitting) services of siblings.
21.Older siblings serve as teachers (but some siblings not skilled at teaching as parents).
22.Siblings provide social experience (having at least one sibling to interact with tends to have positive effects on a child’s social-cognitive development).
23.Siblings can have indirect impact via their interactions with parents; older sibling sets negative chain of events in motion, which can lead to negative impact on younger siblings (or positive events that have positive impacts).
Sibling Rivalry: This "demonstration" took place in a class such as yours. The two preschool brothers are 18 months apart. They have given permission to show the video below. Also, as adults they get along well when together. They live in cities 1200 miles distant, both are married, one has had two boys, the other is childless.
IV. The Adolescent(p. 454)
A. Ripples in the Parent–Child Relationship
1.Most parent–adolescent relationships are close and retain the quality they had during earlier childhood.
2.Rare for parent–child relationships to suddenly turn bad
3.Decrease in time together can make adolescents feel less emotionally close to parents
4.Modest increase in parent–child conflict common around onset of puberty
5.Some bickering but tends to be over minor matters (e.g., homework, household chores)
B. Achieving Autonomy
1.Task of achieving autonomy—capacity to make independent decisions and manage own life
2.Achieving autonomy part of the establishment of identity described by Erikson
3.As children reach puberty, they attempt to assert themselves more and parents become less dominant, but best if they continue to maintain close attachments with parents even as they gain autonomy.
4.Gaining autonomy from parents is healthy.
5.Blend of autonomy (independence) and attachment (interdependence) is more desirable.
6.Amount of autonomy granted by parents varies by culture.
7.Filipino- and Mexican-American adolescents more likely to believe that they should not disagree with their parents than non-Hispanic white American adolescents
8.Chinese-American adolescents often do not expect freedom to go to parties.
9.Japanese-American adolescents are often strongly socialized to accept limits on autonomy.
10.In collectivist Asian cultures, parents often continue to impose many rules and remain dominant power.
11.Achievement, autonomy, well-adjusted behavior found in adolescents whose parents set reasonable goals and monitor their children’s behavior
12.Authoritative parenting style fosters greater autonomy and achievement in adolescents, but in some cultures and subcultures, a more authoritarian or permissive style may achieve good results.
13.Rejecting and extremely strict parents or extremely lax parenting associated with adolescents in psychological distress, socializing with the wrong crowd, and getting into trouble
V. The Adult(p. 456)
A. Establishing a Marriage
1.Most adults in the United States marry (over 90%)
2.U.S. marriages tend to be based on love; not true in all cultures
3.In some cultures, marriage arranged by leaders and involve acquiring property or rights or forming allies
4.Is a significant life transition with new roles
5.Celebration at weddings; is a time when couple feels on top of the world
6.May struggle with autonomy and results in an unwanted need to compromise with partner and adapt to fit each other’s personality and preferences
7.Honeymoon is short-lived, and satisfaction with marriage and sex life tends to decline
8.Most couples do remain satisfied but must learn to adapt to strains of marriage
9.Blissful marriages evolve into less idealized ones.
10.Quality of couple’s early relationship predicts later relationships.
11.Couples unhappy after 13 years of marriage tend to have relatively poor relationships for remainder of marriage.
12.Some marriages turn sour and some start out sour.
13.Establishment phase of life cycle involves loss of enthusiasm for most couples.
14.Some couples on the path to long-term mutual satisfaction while others on the path to divorce
B. New Parenthood
1.Additional children create added stress on the family involving positive and negative changes.
2.Positive side is that parents claim that having a child brings them joy, fulfillment, and contributes to their individual growth.
3.Negative side of being a couple with children
4.New roles (mother and father) added to existing roles of spouse, worker; juggling roles is difficult
5.Often less sleep, less time to themselves, and some face financial difficulties
6.Division of labor often along gender lines (she—feminine caregiver, he—masculine provider)
7.Marital satisfaction declines when baby enters household.
8.Greater decline in females due to additional child-care burden and feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities
9.Some adjust to new parenthood as “bowl of cherries,” other as “the pits.”
10.Coping to addition of child related to several factors
11.Difficult babies create more stress and anxiety. [mention CZ and sleep, etc]
12.Adopted children pose special challenge (e.g., parents do not have 9 months of pregnancy to prepare for the child)
13.Parents’ characteristics matter
14.Parents with better problem-solving skills better equipped to handle stress
15.More realistic expectations, less stress
16.Mentally healthy parents (e.g., those not depressed) fare better.
17.Attachment style is important.
18.Warm and accepting attachment has best outcome.
19.Mothers with preoccupied (resistant) style of attachment express more anxiety.
20.Social support can make a big difference.
21.Partner support is critical.
22.Social support from friends and relatives helps new parents cope.
C. The Child-Rearing Family
1.Additional children increase workload and stress.
2.Stress of caring for toddler more than for an infant
3.Arrival of second child increases stress.
4.More hassles of feeding, cleaning, playing
5.Birth of second child may result in increased father involvement.
6.Mothers with less involved fathers find themselves without a moment’s rest.
7.Additional challenges when kids become adolescents
8.Conflict over how to raise their adolescent can lead to conflict between parents.
9.Living with an adolescent who is becoming physically and sexually mature may cause parent to engage in midlife questioning.
10.Middle-aged parents can sometimes be troubled when children experience adolescence, and children are at risk for trouble when parents troubled.
11.Parents are impacted by how well-adjusted their teens are.
12.Parents who are unhappy or experiencing marital problems can negatively impact their teens, causing the children to be at risk for problems like delinquency, drug use, anxiety, and emotional disorders.
13.Children complicate their parents’ lives by claiming and demanding time that might go to nourish the marital relationship.
14.Although parenting is challenging, most parents emphasize the positives and feel that parenthood has contributed a great deal to their personal development.
D. The Empty Nest
1.Empty nest—departure of last child from family (phase of life that first became common in the 20th century)
2.Results in changing role and lifestyle of parent
3.Overall, parents generally respond positively to children leaving home.
4.Often an increase in marital satisfaction
5.Women may feel that marriages more equitable and spouses more accommodating of their needs
6.Minority of parents find empty nest transition disturbing.
7.More time to focus on relationship and engage in activities together
8.Empty nest is evidence that they have done a good job.
9.Most parents maintain contact with children after they leave.
10.Refilling or “boomerang effect”—launched child returns to family (often as young adult) can be stressful for parents
11.Refilling typically the result of unemployment, financial difficulties, divorce
12.Can be distressing, but most empty nesters adapt if children are responsible (rather than being seen as freeloaders)
E. Grandparenthood
1.Styles of grandparenting (Cherlin and Furstenberg)
2.Remote—only occasionally seen, emotionally and geographically distant
3.Companionate—frequently seen, shared activities with grandchildren, rarely involved in parenting issues
4.Involved—assumed parent-like involvement often giving advice; some actually act as parents to grandchildren
5.Most grandparents see grandchildren often and gain pleasure from these experiences; more frequent visits associated with more positive view
6.“Family National Guard” —grandparents often needed in times of crisis (e.g., pregnancy of unmarried granddaughter)
7. “Called to duty” grandparents can make real contribution to development of grandchildren (e.g., mentor teen or coparent)
8.Child raised by single mom with assistance from at least one grandparent have better outcome than those raised without grandparent
9.Grandmothering can take a toll as well (e.g., depression as grandchildren move in and need a substitute parent)
10.Grandparents may benefit from intellectual and emotional rewards that parenting brings, but can also become overwhelmed
F. Changing Family Relationships
1.Marital relationships
a. Dips and recoveries in marital satisfaction, more so for women
b. Dips after honeymoon period, drops as children added, recovers with empty nest
c. Frequency of intercourse declines (passion decrease) and intimacy increases; relationship more companionate (elderly couples often more affectionate than middle-aged couples)
d. Personality better predictor of happiness than marital satisfaction
e. In happy marriages, personalities of marital partners tend to be similar and stable over the years.
f. Partners affect each other’s development (e.g., depressed wife may lead to depressed symptoms in husband).
g. Family life cycle ends with widowhood.
h. By age 65, 73% of men are married while only 42% of women are married.
i. Serious health problems with spouse can negatively affect satisfaction.
j. Most spouses are able to cope with death of spouse and rebuild their lives.
k. Marital relationship central to adult development
l. Overall married adults “happier, healthier, and better off financially”
2.Sibling relationships
a. Typically the longest-lasting relationship in one’s life
b. Sibling relationships tend to change with time.
c. In adulthood, less contact and conflict and more warm feelings than during childhood
d. Most siblings remain in contact in adult years.
e. Seldom discuss intimate ideas or help one another but usually feel that they can count on each other in a crisis
f. Relationships remain ambivalent.
g. May compete as they build their lives
h. May be drawn closer after significant life event (e.g., parent’s death)
i. Adult siblings feel closer when they feel their parents treat them equally (i.e., no favorites).
3.Parent–child relationships
a. Parent–child relationships take many forms (some strained and some close).
b. Quality of relationship stays much the same as in adolescence.
c. Parents become stressed when their children have problems, children can become irritated if parents meddle in their lives or are demanding.
d. Most parents report some tension with their adult children.
e. Adulthood may represent a chance for children to negotiate a new relationship with parents.
f. Mutual and friendly relationship most common if parents were supportive and authoritative earlier in the child’s life
g. Aging mothers more connected with children than fathers
h. Many ethnic minority groups (e.g., African American, Hispanic American) often have better relationships with elderly parents than European Americans.
i. Common belief of role reversal (parent being dependent on children) in late adulthood, but it is a rare occurrence and tends to occur only when parent reaches an advanced age and develops serious physical or mental problems
4.Caring for aging parents
a. Middle generation squeeze (or sandwich generation)–middle-aged adults experiencing heavy demands from young and older generation
b. Spouses first in line for care, but ailing parents often cared for by adult daughter or daughter-in-law (female’s traditional role as “kinkeeper”)
c. In many collectivist Asian cultures, daughters-in-law are first choice to be care providers.
d. China’s former one-child policy has led to elders having no one to care for them (especially those living in rural areas).
e. In our individualistic society, most aging parents resist having to live with or be dependent on children; today’s families continue to meet their responsibility to meet needs of oldest individuals.
f. Caregiver burden—psychological distress from caring for someone with physical or cognitive impairments
g. Burden greatest in those experiencing physical, emotional, or financial strain
h. Caregiver burden worse if parent engages in disruptive or socially inappropriate behavior
i. Are cultural differences (e.g., European-American caregivers devote fewer hours to elderly care than African-American caregivers)
j. Helping out of love is a lot less stressful than helping out of sense of duty
VI. Diverse Family Experiences(p. 464)
A. Singles
1.“Typical” single adult impossible to describe due to delay in marriage; number of young singles is on the rise
2.Majority of adults between ages 18 and 29 are unmarried.
3.Cohabitation—living with romantic partner without being married
4.Many cohabitating couples have children (4 out of 10 children will live in a household headed by a cohabitating couple).
5.Some live together as a matter of convenience while others look at cohabitation as an alternative to marriage (later group includes previously married individuals, those who do not want to jeopardize their financial situation, and those whose children may be upset by remarriage).
6.Couples who cohabitate (especially with multiple partners) and then marry often more dissatisfied with marriage
7.10% of adults never marry.
8.Stereotype of single adult as lonely and maladjusted is unsupported but divorced or widowed single adults tend to be most lonely and least happy (versus never-married individuals).
B. Childless Married Couples
1.Growing number of childless couples, especially among highly educated adults with high status (childless by choice)
2.Childless couples tend to have higher marital satisfaction than couples with children.
3.Children do not guarantee happiness nor does having children doom people to be unhappy in old age.
4.Elderly widows without children may find themselves without needed supports in adulthood.
C. Gay and Lesbian Families
1.Very diverse group
2.May become parents through previous heterosexual relationship, adoption, or artificial insemination
3.Some raise as single parents, others in families with two same-sex parents
4.Gay and lesbian couples face special challenges.
5.National controversy over ability to marry
6.Some are not recognized by family or society.
7.May be victims of discrimination
8.Lesbian mothers worried about possible discrimination; at risk for depression
9.Gay and lesbian couples similar to heterosexual couples
10.Tend to be in happy and sustained relationships
11.Egalitarian division of labor—partners often share equally (work without division of labor)
12.Pattern of marital satisfaction similar to that of heterosexual couples
13.Implications of being raised by a gay or lesbian parent
14.While very similar to heterosexual moms, lesbians less likely to hit children but more likely to engage in imaginative play
15.Living with two parents advantage over single-parent household
16.Gay and lesbian parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to raise competent and well-adjusted children.
17.Children not more likely to become homosexual
D. Divorcing Families
1.Before the divorce
a. Only 70% of marriages make it to 10-year mark; divorce more likely in marriages when teens, short courtship, baby before marriage, low socioeconomic status (contribute to high levels of financial and psychological stress).
b. Reasons for divorce include lack of communication, lack of emotional fulfillment, lack of compatibility.
c. Wives tend to have longer list of complaints and tend to initiate breakup.
d. Divorce used to be taken as a drastic step (e.g., reaction to adultery), but in recent times is more like an action taken when people do not feel personally fulfilled in their marriage
2.After the divorce
a. Most families experience a genuine crisis (period of considerable disruption lasting at least 1 to 2 years).
b. Wife, who usually has custody of child, can sometimes become angry, depressed, and distressed.
c. Husband upset if he did not want the divorce or is cut off from the children
d. Both husband and wife may feel isolated from friends.
e. Custodial moms with children often see standard of living decline by a third. Higher risk for depression and health problems in divorced adults
f. Distressed parents can cause disturbance of parent–child relations.
g. Children often angry, fearful, guilty, especially if they believe that they have some responsibility for divorce
h. Custodial parent may become preoccupied with own problems and impatient toward children; may become less responsive, more authoritarian, but less consistent as parent.
i. Transactional family influence: child’s behavior problems make parenting difficult, deterioration in parenting aggravates child’s behavioral problems
j. Most problems disappear a couple years post-divorce (by 6 years post-divorce), but negative effects can continue.
k. About 20–25% of children of divorce carry emotional and psychological scars into adulthood.
l. Increased risk of divorce when child in divorced family marries
3.Positive impact
a. Not all families experience a crisis, and most parents and children do rebound from the crisis and adapt well in the long run; some even undergo impressive growth as a result of the experience.
b. Conflict-ridden two-family household usually more detrimental to child development than a cohesive single-parent family
c. Influences on adjustment (factors that facilitate a positive adjustment to divorce and prevent lasting damage)
d. Adequate financial support by noncustodial parent (usually the father)
e. Good parenting by the custodial parent (remain warm, authoritative, and consistent)
f. Good parenting by the noncustodial parent (must provide a quantity of quality interactions to child)
g. Minimal conflict between parents (protect children from continuing marital conflict)
h. Additional social support to divorcing adults (e.g., confidant or close friend) and children of divorce (e.g., close friend or support group)
i. Minimal other life changes
j. Personal resources (e.g., intelligence, emotional stability, and good coping skills)
k. Ultimately, adjustment to divorce will depend on total configuration of stressors an individual faces and the resources he or she has to cope with these stressors.
E. Reconstituted Families
1.75% of divorced people remarry within 3 to 5 years following a divorce.
2.60% of remarried couples divorce.
3.Remarriage of divorced parent can be source of stress for children; impact is worse if both parents bring children into the family.
4.Children may have harder time as they may resent the stepparent or compete for their parent’s attention with the stepparent.
5.Most children adapt with time to being in the reconstituted family.
VII.The Problem of Family Violence(p. 468)
A. Forms of Family Violence
1.Child abuse is the most visible form, with estimates of 11 of every 1,000 children a victim of substantiated maltreatment—broad term including both abuse and neglect of the child’s basic needs
2.2009 data found of victims of substantiated maltreatment: 71% neglected, 16% physically abused, 9% sexually abused, 7% emotionally or psychologically abused, and 8% experienced other types of abuse (as some children experience multiple forms, percents add to more than 100%)
3.Abuse can come in many forms, impacting all possible family relationships
4.Children and adolescents batter and kill parents.
5.Siblings abuse each other.
6.Spouse or partner abuse is commonplace.
7.Globally, about one-third of women are beaten, coerced into sex, or emotionally abused by partners.
8.16% of U.S. couples experience at least one case of marital violence.
9.Mild spousal abuse can often be mutual; in rarer cases, the violence is serious and one-sided.
10.Millions of children witness domestic violence and some get physically hurt (sometimes trying to protect their mother).
11.Elderly abuse
12.Elderly also at risk for abuse (especially when frail or impaired)
13.Types of elderly abuse include physical or psychological maltreatment, neglect, financial exploitation, and being stripped of one’s rights (often by adult children or spouses serving as caretakers).
B. Why Does Child Abuse Occur?
1.The abuser
2.Only 1 in 10 abusers severely psychologically disturbed
3.Child abusers tend to be former victims of child abuse.
4.About 30% abuse their children.
5.Cycle not inevitable and can be broken if individual receives emotional support from parent substitutes, therapists, or spouses, and are spared stress in adulthood
6.Intergenerational transmission of parenting—passing down of abusive and nonabusive parenting styles from one generation to another (Exploration box on intergenerational parenting styles)
7.Abusive mothers often battered by partners (e.g., abused mother abuses her children)
8.Adults more likely to abuse if they were the victim of abuse as a child or witnessed abuse as a child
9.Abusers tend to have low levels of self-esteem.
10.Unhappy experiences may reinforce negative experiences in romantic relationships and lead to the formulation of negative internal models concerning self and others.
11.Abusive parents often have unrealistic expectations and twisted perceptions about normal behavior of their children (e.g., mother interpreting 3-month-old’s babbling as “talking back”).
C. What Are the Impacts of Child Abuse?
1.Impact of physical abuse and maltreatment can involve physical damage to brain or other parts of the body; cognitive deficits; social, emotional and behavioral problems; and psychological disorders.
2.Intellectual and academic problems common in mistreated children
3.Children exposed to high levels of domestic violence have lower IQ scores.
4.Social, emotional, and behavioral problems common in physically abused children
5.Some abused children are explosively aggressive and rejected by peers.
6.Experience with an abusive parent makes then supersensitive to angry emotions (may perceive anger in peers that is nonexistent).
7.Abused children tend to show higher rates of depression and anxiety.
8.Consequence of abuse may involve a lack of empathy in response to distress of others.
9.Many maltreated children are resilient and turn out fine.
10.Genes may protect some children from negative psychological effects of abuse.
11.Genes may equip with personal resources like intelligence, social skills, or emotional stability that allow mistreated children to demonstrate resilience in face of adversity.
12.Close relationship with at least one nonabusive adult helps protect against impact of abuse.
D. How do we stop the violence?
1.Preventing child abuse by empowering parents
2.Teaching parenting skills
3.Building confidence in parents to more effectively manage child-rearing challenges