Families in Canada QUIZ

Considering Factors: Personal and Physical Maturity

Personal: Parents need to be emotionally mature, responsible, and reliable. Parents need goals, and the ability to problem-solve and make effective decisions

Physical: Current research indicates that the optimal/ideal time for pregnancy is between the ages of 20-35. Females can produce children upon the onset of puberty; complications can result when both the baby and the teen’s growing body compete for nutrients. For women over the age of 35, there is an increased risk of complications

Considering Factors: Physical and Mental Health

It is important that both parents have a healthy lifestyle, substance abuse is damaging to the fetus and body. Stress is another negative impact for the child

Considering Factors: Education and Career Choices

Trying to balance school and parenting, and establishing your career is difficult when your child is young

Considering Factors: Finances

Being a parents means more expenses, and often, less income. Stress increases when money is a concern

Considering Factors: Relationships

A stable relationship is ideal for raising a child, ability to share the responsibilities with a reliable partner or family members. Being able to rely on others for support is vital. Relationships that are healthy create ease in household with children

Considering Factors: Lifestyle changes

Less time to go out with friends, pursue personal interest/hobbies, travel, etc

Shift in priorities, commit time and energy to needs of children

Authoritarian

Holds high expectations for their child. A strong leader with clear rules in home, and discipline is fair and consistent. Expecting a child to accept their decisions as a parent as there is little to no room for negotiations from the child, and the rules are not usually explained.

Authoritative

Have clear guidelines for their expectations and always give a reason. Disciplinary methods are used as a support rather than punishment. Children have input on their dreams and expectations, and parents have appropriate input. This is the healthiest parenting style.

Permissive

Permissive parents tend to be warm and nurturing and usually have minimal expectations. They impose limited rules on their children. Communication remains open, but parents allow their children to figure things out for themselves. These low levels of expectation usually result in rare uses of discipline. They act more like friends than parents. 

Parent-Child Relationships

The parent-child relationship has a profound impact on the development of a child physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. This can affect the child’s sense of self, behavior, interactions with others, perception of the world around them

Attachment Theory

Babies are equipped with a set of built-in behaviors, or innate signals, that keep parent nearby. To form a close relationship with their caregiver, and such a bond develops during the first six months of a child’s life

Purpose of the “Surrogate Mother” experiment

To study the nature of attachment and how it affects monkeys who were deprived of their mothers early life. In 1950, HARRY HARLOW did a series of experiments on baby monkey, taking away their biological moms and replacing them with a wire and cloth monkey

MARY AINSWORTH: Measurring Attachment

The strange Situation experiment was to test the anxiety levels and behavior when infants were separated from their mother and when interacting with strangers

Public Adoption

Public adoptions are adoptions of children in the permanent care of children’s aid societies, known as children in extended society care.

• No cost

There is no set waiting period. Each adoption process is unique and the time it takes varies for each child and family.

Once you are approved to adopt by a children’s aid society it’s likely to take six months to two years or longer for you to be matched with a child.

Private Adoption

A private domestic adoption is an adoption that is facilitated by either a licensed private adoption agency or a licensed individual

If you are interested in adopting a child, you need a private adoption practitioner who will conduct a home study to assess your skills and readiness to raise an adopted child and supervise all private adoption placements

Adoption licensees charge fees for their services, generally $15,000-$30,000. There are additional fees for a home study assessment and parent training programs.

The time it takes to complete the adoption process varies depending on how long it takes, to complete a home study assessment, to match a child with a prospective adoptive family and for the child and adoptive family to adjust during the adoption placement period

International Adoption

orphaned/abandoned children from outside of Canada to find a home who did not have the opportunity within their own country. Children who are related to you can be put with extended family in Ontario through international adoption if it is best for the child.

An agency or individual usually charge 20,000 to 50,000

Depending on the country of origin, it may take two years or longer.

They range from infants to school age, that can also have siblings

Adoption of step-child or relative

Transition to Parenthood: Three Challenges

Relationship Changes (Friends, Family, Etc), Financial Situation, Decrease in marital satisfaction after birth of child

Dysfunctional Families

Dysfunction in a family can be caused by many things: ie.  Sick parent/child, mental illness in a family member, missing parent, death of child, etc. Anytime something concentrates the entire focus of the family on one member, this leads to dysfunction.

Issues Facing Families: Infertility

Occurs when a couple wants to have children but cannot conceive naturally. Emotions are similar to grieving a death, Loss of fulfilling a dream, Mourn “what could have been”. Feelings of guilt, sadness, loss of control, anger, isolation, depression.

Issues Facing Families: Divorce

Divorce impacts many Canadian families; impacts 40-50% of families. Priority to determine a custody and financial arrangement that is in the best interest of the children. Parenting through a separation/divorce is a challenging process. Can cause economic strain, children are often witness to parental conflict and adjustments to new arrangements (living arrangements, family dynamics, etc)

Issues Facing Families: Poverty

Adults who live in poverty experience worse health outcomes, including higher mortality rates and increased risk of mental health conditions (e.g. depression, substance use disorders).

Challenges of aging within families

Parent-Child relationships

Children who don’t receive proper stimulation during the early years may suffer from a deficit that is difficult to make up later in life. However, later intervention with good parenting skills can help improve the lives of all children. There is not a “window of opportunity” that once shut, is closed forever. It’s important to remember that good parenting needs to continue throughout children's lives to make a significant, impact on their overall development. Children who have had a difficult start in life are not doomed. forever, and good parenting.