Midterm SFL 160 Dr. Lundell BYU

Family System

The individuals, rules, boundaries, routines, and norms that are associated with a self-defined group of individuals

Family Process

The ways in which family members interact and work together to achieve the goals and functioning of their family unit.

emerging adulthood

a new stage of development between childhood and adulthood that is from age 18-25. This is a prolonged period of role exploration focusing on identity.

What are 3 reasons (or goals of) why we study family studies?

Understanding the complexities of family systems.

Help unhealthy families and support healthy families.

Understand the human life course.

Cohabitation

Living together without being married

Marriage

The emotional and legal commitment of two people to share emotional and physical intimacy, various tasks and economic resourses.

Divorce

The legal ending of a marriage

Fertility

The production of offspring within a population

Family is

two or more people who are committed to each other and who share intimacy, resources, decision-making, responsibilites and values.

Pure truth

Spiritual knowledge that comes from God.

Diluted truth

Truth that comes from secular, scholarly, or expert sources.

Relative truth

Truth that comes from our own personal experiences and perceptions

Construct

How we conceptualize something that cannot be measured directly.

Variable

Something that varies and is measured.

Relationships

how two or more variables interact

Sample Bias

A smaller subset of the larger population that I think represents that large population well.

Researcher Bias

The individuals who do the studying are changing the results (intentionally or unintentionally)

Causation

A cause and effect relationship in which one variable controls the changes in another variable.

Correlation

A measure of the relationship between two variables

Spurious Relationships

relationships that look real mathematically but are really not in the real world

Reductionism

reducing complex systems to simpler components that are more manageable to study

Theory

Consists of general principles that are composed of interrelated concept.

What are the three types of truth?

Pure, Diluted, and Relative

Construct vs. Variable

Construct cannot be measured, while variable can.

Sampling bias vs. researcher bias

Researcher is individual, while sampling is a large population

Causation vs. Correlation

Association does not prove causation. Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect relationship but does not prove such.

What are the three things to remember about social science theory?

Theories are best guesses, not facts.

Theories are constantly changing.

Theories need constant testing.

Why do social sciences use theories?

Because there is no way to measure it.

Family systems theory

A conceptual framework that focuses on the family as an ongoing system of interconnected members.

Boundaries

Who is in or out of the family system. How much information you let in the group. Can be rigid or permeable.

Subsystems

small system - The individuals, dyads, or groups within the family system.

Structures

The underlying patterns of interactions families have. According to family systems theory, families try to create patterns and structures in their life. More on this one in a minute. . .

Equilibrium

It is the idea that family systems are always changing and/or transitioning but ultimately seek to maintain a balance between all their tasks.

Family goals

Patterning behavior in predictable ways to reach family goals. The patterns work for families and help them achieve their goals.

Life Course Theory

tries to take the big picture and situate family process into a larger life course and historical perspective.

Transitions

individuals and families change over time.

LInked lives

lives are lived interdependently, and social and historical influences are expressed through this network of shared relationships

Family Systems Theory

theory that the behavior of an individual can be most accurately understood in the context of the dynamics of his or her family

Explain the basic assumptions of family systems theory

Each individual in a family acts and is acted upon by all other members of the family.

This series of connections between family members forms a "family system" of interconnected individuals.

The whole is greater (and different) than the sum of its parts.

Describe the importance of family goals and how they direct family processes.

LIfe Course Theory

Provides a way to study the myriad changes that bear upon children in today's world.

Explain the basic assumptions of life course theory

First, when we look at a family we need to keep in mind that each person in that family is living an ever-changing and dynamic lifestyle.

The final assumption to consider is that as we consider changes, transitions, and trajectories, we understand that some changes are normative while others are not

Describe the importance of transitions and how they contribute to family life.

interconnected web of transitions and changes where one change can influence the lives of everyone within the family.

Define the concept of linked lives.

interconnected trajectories

Symbolic interaction theory

theory that people make sense of the world based on their interpretation of words or symbols used by others

Symbols (in family life)

A symbol can be anything that represents or stands for thoughts, feelings and ideas.

Pragmatic actors

assumes that we are "acting" out a part in our families

Imaginative Rehearsal

playing out a scenario in your head before a conversation even starts

Social construction theory

theory that focuses on the interplay between culture, society, and our perception.

Shared meaning

A symbol that outsiders will not understand from spending just a short time with them.

Roles

we are focused on our perception of what our duties and responsibilities are in a system.

Perception

How we view the world, people, and things around us. In SI, perception is king and drives our behaviors.

Interaction

Someone has to teach us what things mean in order for our world to make sense

Habituatization

The defining of something as normal.

Institutionalization

Society becomes structured around something that has become normal.

Explain the basic assumptions of symbolic interaction theory.

Your family was your primary interaction tool to learn about the world.

Discuss the importance of symbols of family life.

families collectively will place special meaning on things (objects, places, people, roles, etc.) that direct family behavior.

Apply the concepts of pragmatic actors and imaginative rehearsal.

We constantly act out in our heads how a situation may go. With our family, we become more accurate, with the outcome, as we get to know them better.

Explain the basic assumptions of social construction theory.

we each internally "construct" a unique reality using our larger culture as a guide (interaction not required)

Explain the basics of social construction and how it comes about in families.

in groups we not only do this internally (which is what SI suggests) but that we construct realities with others. We create our reality together and then simply assume that this reality is fact.

Roles of men and women according to the book

Man drives and works out of the home. Woman stays home and takes care of the kids and house.

Family Paradigm

the collective way a family views the world based on shared beliefs and values

First Order Processes

Processes that are visible to anyone who observes the family.

Second Order Processes

themes and beliefs that tie family processes together and are generally held by all members of the family

Family rules

any principles that both govern and regulate a given situation.

Folkways

rules about less serious behavior

Mores

Rules about serious issues or behavior and often involve moral behavior.

Meta-rule

Rules about rules.

Implicit Rules

Rules that are not openly discussed.

Explicit Rules

Rules that families openly discuss and agree on

Assimilation

When our paradigms do not change based on new information.

Accomodation

When families change or restructure their world views based on new information.

Negotiated Elements

The new family will now barain with each other about how to merge different family ideologies.

Explain the four main types of family paradigms.

Closed families

Open families

Random families

Synchronous families

Define the purpose of family rules.

They create structure for our lives and specifically structure whatever element of our lives that rule is related to. Rules also regulate.

The more ________________ rules are, the best for families.

adaptable

What is the difference between implicit and explicit rules?

Explicit rules are rules that families openly discuss and agree on; while implicit rules are not openly discussed.

Explain the difference between folkways, mores and meta-rules.

They have different levels of seriousness.

Explain the common steps to rule creation in families.

Rule discovery

Rule negotiation

Rule creation

Define a rule sequence and describe how such sequences determine daily family behavior.

repeated pattern of rules that govern a given situation, context, or event in family life. They help keep

Explain the difference between assimilation and accommodation.

Accommodation changes paradigms based on new information, while assimilation does not change with new information.

Rituals

A repeated event that is typically done the same way each time.

Routines

Behaviors that are repeated over time, without special meaning.

Overritualization

There is too much information allowed into the family and rituals become oversaturated.

Underritualization

having few or no rituals in the family

Dismemberment

This occurs when rituals start to have the exact opposite effect that they are supposed to have.

Contention

Instead of bringing family members closer together, the ritual is doing something else, causing conflict and tension.

Trivialization

Families commercialize their ritual or rely more on cultural scripts instead of family symbols.

Fragmentation

Rituals are reinvented every year or every time they are done.

Define a family ritual and explain the ritual's importance in healthy family functioning.

The more rituals families have, the better their family processes generally are.

Explain how family rituals and family routines differ in terms of communitcation, conitinuity and commitment.

Continuity has routines that don't hold meaning, commitment has rituals that they are committed to and hate to lose, communication are rituals that reflect a special meaning and positive emotion.

Describe how families mismanage their family rituals.

Dismemberment, contention, fragmentation, and trivialization