1 | Child, Family, and Community
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1 | Child, Family, and Community CHILD, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY An Open Educational Resources Publication by College of the Canyons Authored and compiled by Rebecca Laff and Wendy Ruiz Peer Reviewed by Sharon Eyrichs and Jennifer Paris Editor: Alexa Johnson Cover & Graphics: Ian Joslin Version 1.0 2019 1 | Child, Family, and Community 2 | Child, Family, and Community Acknowledgements College of the Canyons would like to extend appreciation to the following people and organizations for allowing this textbook to be created: California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook Santa Clarita Community College District College of the Canyons Distance Learning Office Have Feedback or Resources to Share? Catch a typo? Want to suggest a change to improve the book? Please send us your feedback in this survey. Did you use this book and make changes? Did you create supplementary resources (PowerPoints, activities, test/quiz banks, etc.)? 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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 3 | Child, Family, and Community Table of Contents Child, Family, and Community ........................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Theories That Help Us Understand Families ............................................................. 6 Learning Objectives ................................................................................................................. 6 Theories Developed for Understanding the Family ................................................................ 6 Chapter 2: How Children Learn and Understand Their World ................................................. 14 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 14 Agents of Socialization .......................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 3: What is Culture and Why is it Important? .............................................................. 25 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 25 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 25 What Is Culture? ................................................................................................................... 26 Values and Beliefs ................................................................................................................. 33 Norms, Symbols, and Language ............................................................................................ 35 Attitudes................................................................................................................................ 39 Chapter 4: How Does Gender Influence Children, Families and Communities? ...................... 50 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 50 Understanding Sex and Gender ............................................................................................ 50 Gender Roles & Gender Stereotypes .................................................................................... 50 Socialization and Gender ...................................................................................................... 52 Gender Identity & Gender Expression .................................................................................. 57 Sexual Orientation ................................................................................................................ 60 Chapter 5: What is a Family? .................................................................................................... 65 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 65 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 65 What is Family? ..................................................................................................................... 65 How Families Develop ........................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 6: A Closer Look at Parenting ...................................................................................... 74 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 74 Parenting styles ..................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 7: Building Trusting Collaborative Relationships with Families .................................. 92 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................... 92 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 92 4 | Child, Family, and Community Building and Maintaining Positive Relationships with Families ........................................... 93 Chapter 8: Welcoming & Supporting Families ........................................................................ 105 Objectives: .......................................................................................................................... 105 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 105 Chapter 9: Creating Positive Goal-Oriented Relationships with Strengths-Based Attitudes and Relationship-Based Practices .................................................................................................. 111 Objectives: .......................................................................................................................... 111 Introduction: ....................................................................................................................... 111 Family Engagement and Positive Goal-Oriented Relationships ......................................... 111 Strengths-based Attitudes and Relationship-based Practices ............................................ 115 5 | Child, Family, and Community CHAPTER 1: THEORIES THAT HELP US UNDERSTAND FAMILIES LEARNING OBJECTIVES ● Describe how theories work in connection to families ● Explain how theories provide understanding of family dynamics ● Explore some of the ways that families grow and develop ● Understand families through theory application THEORIES DEVELOPED FOR UNDERSTANDING THE FAMILY Over the years researchers have found the necessity to develop theories of behavior that are specific to family settings. These theories have been developed by people with a variety of areas of emphasis, from family therapists to gerontologists to child development specialists. In this chapter we will briefly discuss six such theories: Bioecological Model, Family Systems, Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Psychological Perspectives. Bioecological Systems Theory One of the key theories we look to help explain influences on individuals and their families is Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory. A basic tenet of this theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) is that child and youth development is influenced by many different “contexts,” “settings,” or “ecologies” (for example, family, peers, schools, communities, sociocultural belief systems, policy regimes, and, of course, the economy). The model is able to account for multiple face-to-face environments, or settings, within the microsystem of a person (for example, family, school, peers); how relations between settings (mesosystem) can affect what happens within them (for example, interactions between school and family); and how settings within which the individuals have no direct presence (exo- and macrosystem) can affect settings in their microsystems (for example, how parents’ experiences at their workplace affect their relationships within the family) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Thus, this model allows the analysis of the lives of people, “living organisms whose biopsychological characteristics, both as a species and as individuals, have as much to do with their development as do the environments in which they live their lives” (Bronfenbrenner, 1995, p. 8). 6 | Child, Family, and Community Figure 1.1 - Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory.1 Microsystem Microsystems impact a child directly. These are the people with whom the child interacts such as parents, peers, and teachers. The relationship between individuals and those around them need to be considered. For example, to appreciate what is going on with a student in math, the relationship between the student and teacher should be known. Mesosystem Mesosystems are interactions between those surrounding the individual. The relationship between parents and schools, for example will indirectly affect the child. Exosystem