Crosson Chapter 2

Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
Tenth Edition
Chapter 2
The Family: Roles,
Responsibilities, and Rights
PowerPoint Lecture
Slides prepared by
Piljoo Kang, Ph.D.
Toccoa Falls College
Copyright © 2021, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
2.1 explain the function of the family in the United
States today.
2.2 describe how the family can be seen as a system.
2.3 outline the various types of cultural variations in
family and how they differ.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
2.4 cite the other types of family systems often defined
by structure and explain what you should consider when
working with each.
2.5 describe the types of problems that might bring
families to the attention of service providers.
2.6 discuss the rights of children and parents and how
these might involve child maltreatment.

Definition & Functions of the Family
• Family: a group of people who live together and who
are expected to perform specific functions.
• Primary function of the family: the task of raising
children.
– Reproduction
– Socialization
– Assignment of social roles
– Economic production and consumption
– Emotional support

The Twenty-First Century Family in the
United States Today
• Smaller in size: fewer children
• More children with single parent
– 1980, 61% of children with two parents, in their first
marriage
– Today, 46%
• More children in blended families
• Parenting is viewed as ‘tiring and stressful’

The Family as a System (1 of 2)
• Subsystem consists of smaller units with specific
functions
– Parental subsystem
– Sibling subsystem
– By age, sex, interest, or function
• Boundaries regulate interactions between subsystems;
on continuum from rigid to diffuse
• Expected Roles may enhance family functioning or
causes dysfunction

The Family as a System (2 of 2)
• Communication, including nonverbal, guides family
functioning.
– family rules establish expectations
– cultural differences in communication patterns
• Attachment: Infant-parent bonding is essential for
social development
– Increasingly, attachment-disordered children are seen
in the child protection system.
• Rituals: day-to-day essentials, family traditions, holiday
rituals, life cycle rituals.

Cultural Family Systems (1 of 2)
• Families develop communication patterns and roles
according to their own cultural values.
• Yet there may be a strong variability (differences) within
a culture group.
• It is, of course, impossible to assume that any one family
from a certain cultural group is just like another in that
group. However, to begin to understand how certain
families function within the culture, we turn to research to
generalize some generalized values that may espoused
by each group—recognizing that it is then necessary to
be particularly sensitive to the variations of individual
families.

Cultural Family Systems (2 of 2)
• Variables to consider:
– The culture in which the family originated
– The time of immigration
– Subgroup of that culture
– Individual characteristics of family members
– Family’s method of adapting to stress

Arab American and Middle Eastern
Families
• Family ties and values:
– Family may be highly valued
– Often patriarchal system, influenced by religion
– Extended family members may provide help
– Male child is often prized, elevating the family status
• Religion:
– May be important and private
– Mostly Islam

Native American Families
– Grandparents may have ultimate say in childrearing
– Child rearing is often a shared activity.
– May believe in “optimistic toughness”: suffering is integral to life
and must be patiently endured
– May value control of emotions, poise, and self-containment;
family members keep problems to themselves
• Religion:
– May believe in healing power of nature

Asian and Pacific Islander Families
– May be hierarchical, male dominance
– Filial piety: respect for one’s parents often emphasized
– Collectivistic mindset: may emphasize group harmony
instead of individual achievement
• Religion:
– May include:
▪ Confucianism: moral principles of respect
▪ Fatalism: philosophical detachment

African American Families
– Kinship bonds: extended family and friends may
provide child-care, support, advice, financial aid, and
emotional support
– May emphasize development of children’s self-esteem:
may strongly rely on community for support
• Religion:
– Church may provide spiritual guidance, emotional
release, advice, counseling, & political advocacy

Hispanic American Families
– Extended families may consist of blood relatives and
friends
– Compadres (Godparents): may be chosen at birth
and treat the children as their own
– May include machismo: male’s sense of honor,
courage, and responsibility to family;
– May include respecto: respect for elders & hierarchy
• Religion: Catholicism most common
– Churches may teach ethical behavior, but also provide
financial aid, housing, & rehabilitation programs.

European/Caucasian American Families
– Independence may valued
▪ ‘own bed’ and/or own bedroom for infants
– May have individualistic mindset: individual
achievement over group harmony
• Religion: mostly Christian
– Increasing practice of homeschooling

Additional Types of Family Systems
• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren:
– Entails emotional & financial difficulties
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ)
Families:
– Increased visibility, yet still subject to discrimination
• Military Families:
– Authoritarian structure of the military
– Community support is important.

Family Problems and Dysfunction
• Failure to complete basic family tasks: i.e., providing
food, shelter, protection, & education.
• Failure in dealing with changes associated with
developmental tasks: ex) accommodating to changing
needs of an adolescent
• Failure to deal with crises, such as illness, death,
unemployment, and/or natural disasters
• Failure to deal with societal pressures and
enculturation

The Family and Child Maltreatment
• Parents’ Rights:
– Based on our expectations of adequate parenting
– Not fully recognizing the painful incidences of child
maltreatment and parental failure
• Children’s Rights:
– No clearly established rights
– Only negative rights: when parents fail
• Intervention-before the problem exists-through giving the
family more support through primary prevention.

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