Essay Sample on Role of the Family in Inculcating Social Values

Introduction

The family is the foundation on which social norms are built. Good moral values such as honesty, happiness, justice, and love are instilled in the brains of the children, in their feelings and their actions. These values have a great role in a child's life because they act as standards that define their actions in their life. The value system that is practiced in any family setting becomes automatic to the young members of the family if the moral values are systematically taught. The family is also responsible for shaping the attitude of a child towards other people and society at large, and this helps the child grow mentally and supports the child's ambitions and values.

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Having a blissful and happy atmosphere within the family helps in the development of love, generosity, affection, and tolerance. Children learn their behavior by modeling what they see around them. Therefore, the family is an important unit factor in defining the development of a child's social behavior and has a strong influence on the progress of the young ones. In a joint family system, the availability of elders in the family plays an effective role in developing the social and moral values in children. It also assists the young people in the family to adhere to humanly social norms and erase the negative mentalities when they are with their elders. Children also identify themselves with their parents and other family elders, and they adopt them as their role models from whom they can copy and imitate things from. Children's behavioral problems are corrected through family involvement in the child's life because most of their adolescent life is spent with their elders. Family comes as the first social organization that offers the nearest reach from which the children can learn their behavior (Sinha 275).

Role of Family in Socialization

Socialization is the process of transmission of culture to young generations, and people learn the cultural rules and practices of the social groups they associate with. Socialization is the process of interacting with others through which a person develops his/her habits, attitudes, values and believes in the social setting in which he/she is born. Every society sets up an institutional framework where child socialization occurs. The process of cultural transmission becomes of essence through communication because culture is passed on to the next generation through communication. The family is a mini-society, and it is, at most times called the main source of cultural ethics. According to Robert. K. Merton (1938), the family plays the role of a transmission channel through which cultural standards are passed on to the incoming generation. Family serves as the main avenue for social continuity (675). The family is the main agent of socialization because it is where a child's life is centered, as young children are dependent on their parents. Parents teach their children in the best ways they can practice in n effort to care for themselves. They also teach their children the best ways of relating with others and how children should live with the rest of society. Child's personality development is highly dependent on the family because the family gives us the first-hand social values and beliefs that a child requires to relate well and adapt to the society easily- these values shows the family social status, religious affiliation, and much more social parameters. Gender socialization is the most profound role parents try to control because the family has the responsibility of teaching the children socio-cultural values and the attitudes they need to have towards the opposite sex. Again, the type of social environment created by parents is a great factor that influences a child social attitude towards the various societal classes.

Role of the Family in Economic Security

The family has economic obligations that are crucial to the society at large. Families are institutional units that drive society. The family is very important economically so that there are family members available to get involved in the production and distribution of goods and services. With working family members, children can grow up to take up their economic roles in the future. Parents usually work so that they can sustain their families and fulfill its needs. Families require money to satisfy their needs. Children also have needs from the moment they are born. There are things kids require in their baby stages for example diapers, blankets, napkins, clothing, etc. It is the economic role of their parents to satisfy these child's wants (White and Stacy 1035). As the child grows, these needs change accordingly, and the family is very central in this, providing all that the child is required to have at the various stages of life until they are grown up to provide for themselves.

In the ancient times, a family was a very important economic unit that had the capability of production and consumption of products. Ancient families were self-sufficient. However, these days, families have been reduced to consumption units while the production is done by other people. Almost all family members are working outside the home. Despite this change, the family performs other economic roles of purchasing, providing security and maintenance for family property. The family also ensures equal sharing of property among its members (Burgess 5).

Families as a Source of Emotional Support

Teenagers need love and support from their parents at times in their lives when there are changes happening in their lives. Parents, therefore, need to keep a strong close relationship with their teenage child, and this can be achieved through daily activities. The importance of the family remains forever, not as many people think that family is less important during the teenage years. It is true that family relationships tend to change during adolescence (Keefe, Susan, Amado and Manuel 146). It is important though to note that parents give their children emotional support right through their life. For teenagers, families are a source of emotional support and care because they provide teenagers with material, financial and practical assistance.

Members of the extended family are often up to assisting practical help and emotional assistance when one of their family members is faced with a chronic condition. This is because they are experienced in enduring these kinds of situations while having that desire and will to assist the nuclear family of the unwell member emotionally, financially and also materially. For instance, grandparents will be faced with the challenge of enduring the double impact caused by their grief and also the distress of watching their child face suffering. It is there important for members of the extended family, where possible, to have close links to both informal and formal support to ensure they are comfortable as they extend their care and emotional support. Having open communication in the larger family can have a positive influence and assistance during emotional support and care (Kawachi, Ichiro, and Lisa 451). For example, extended family members have a critical responsibility in assisting a child understanding of death. During the process of emotional support, the extended family members can be more encouraged to take part in decision-making processes.

Role of the Family in Social Status Placement

Social placement is the notion that children inherit the social identity of their parents immediately after birth. Social placement is a reflection of the family role in inequality in social statuses. It is too hard for a child to inherit parental characteristics such as racial inclination, religious belief, and class. Social placement serves to bring about uniformity because most children spend most of their time socializing with their ethnicity and end up marrying people like themselves. Children born in poor families have limited access to education, resources, and opportunities while those born in wealthy families are likely to remain wealthy because wealth is inherited. As seen, families play a role in social class placement through their social placement in society. Parents placed highly regarding financial resources have their children inclined towards their parent's class (Hestbaek 270).

Conclusion

A family unit is an integral unit of society since it has very significant roles within it. As seen above, the family is central to most of the life actions and decisions. The manner in which children are raised determines how their future lives will be. Children raised with proper social norms, getting emotional support from family members as well as economic assistance will most likely fit well in the society. These three factors culminated with the social placement of the family defined the whole person in any social organization. Therefore, there is no point of ignoring the family' importance in a person's development.

Works Cited

Burgess, Ernest W. "The family as a unity of interacting personalities." The family 7.1 (1926): 3-9.

Hestbaek, AD. "Social background and placement course-the case of Denmark." International Journal of Social Welfare 8.4 (1999): 267-276.

Kawachi, Ichiro, and Lisa F. Berkman. "Social ties and mental health." Journal of Urban health 78.3 (2001): 458-467.

Keefe, Susan E., Amado M. Padilla, and Manuel L. Carlos. "The Mexican-American extended family as an emotional support system." Human Organization (1979): 144-152.

Merton, Robert K. "Social structure and anomie." American sociological review 3.5 (1938): 672-682.

Sinha, Durganand. "Some recent changes in the Indian family and their implications for socialization." Indian Journal of Social Work 45.3 (1984): 271-286.

White, Lynn, and Stacy J. Rogers. "Economic circumstances and family outcomes: A review of the 1990s." Journal of Marriage and Family 62.4 (2000): 1035-1051.