Paper Example on Family Demography, Dynamics, and Concepts

Introduction

The family is a fundamental social unit in every society. It comprises of people that relate as far as affinity, consanguinity, or co-residence is concerned. The family plays an essential role in raising children. The primary members of a family include parents and children. It is vital to note that some values and norms guide the operation and conduct of members in a family. These values and norms are usually not written down but passed from one generation to the other. Some families are static and still follow values that the past generations followed. However, there are other families which dynamic and follow only values that are consistent with the contemporary world. It is therefore paramount to assess a typical family, Jessica's family, and understand its demography and dynamics and how family concepts can be applied to it.

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Demography and Dynamics of the Family

The family under discussion is a five-member family that stays in the remote area of San Joaquin, California. Mr. Sam is the head of the family and the husband to Mrs. Regina. Sam is a Caucasian male while Mrs. Regina is a Puerto Rican. It is essential to pinpoint that Mrs. Regina is staunch Catholic who never misses going to church every Sunday. Moreover, she is a Sunday school teacher who teaches kids biblical messages and stories. Mr. Sam, on the other hand, is a conservative who never goes to church. He spends most of his time hanging out with his close friends in bars and other favorite joints.

The two parents have been blessed with three children. The first child, Jessica, is a female college student at a local university in the county of San Joaquin. Jessica is 24 years old, but she is still the full control and authority of her parents. Jessica is an obedient child who follows whatever her parents tell her to do. She is the focal point in her family, and her parents usually use her as a good example when advising other siblings about obedience and respect. As the firstborn of the family, Jessica always feels the pressure when her family is in shambles due to quarrels. It is essential to highlight that Jessica commutes from her home every day to attend classes at the university where she studies. She, therefore, tries her best to unite them whenever possible.

The second child is called John, a male, who is in his final year in high school. He is 16 years old and likes football a lot. It is essential to assert that John plays for a local football team and always aspire to have an outstanding career in sports. His potential is unparalleled, and he was part of the junior team that participated in Olympics the previous year. However, despite his prowess in sports, John is not obedient to his parents. Many times, he has crossed paths with his parents, particularly his father over his unbecoming behavior. He has faced the disciplinary committee in school and even received a suspension for his behavior. The last child is a daughter, Vanessa, aged 12 years. She is a promising academician and a potential singer. She is an active choir member in a local church. She also likes playing piano during her free time. Surely, she has a great potential to succeed in the music career.

Jessica's parents are employed and receive monthly salaries that they use to feed, educate, shelter, and clothe their children. It is prudent to highlight that Jessica's father is a mechanical engineer by profession. He works at a local vehicle assembly and repair workshop. He has worked as a mechanic ever since he joined the labor market. He earns an annual average salary of $84,000. On the other hand, Jessica's mother is a nurse whose annual salary is $73,000. Cumulatively, the family has a net income of $ 130,000 after deductions of all tax, insurance, and healthcare deductions. However, despite the earning, the family is always in constant debts as they live beyond their means. Their three children are in prestigious schools and higher institutions of learning. This puts too much pressure on the family's income, which makes them strain financially.

It is paramount to understand that family dynamics have not been good for this particular family. Essentially, family dynamics refers to the interaction or relation patterns between different members of a family (Mulder, 2013). Notably, each family system has a unique dynamic though there some that share common patterns. Jessica's family has both helpful and unhelpful dynamics. The unhelpful dynamics occurs between Mr. Sam and his wife and last born daughter. Mr. Sam and his wife always engage in a heated argument. At one instance, Mrs. Regina was heard screaming to the top of her voice that she is tired with the marriage and that she is contemplating filing a divorce. The family is disintegrated with John supporting his father. He hates his mother because she is always strict with him. On the other side, his father has an on-and-off relationship with his youngest child, Vanessa. At one point, Vanessa avoids his father and even refuses to talk to him because she believes that he is a dictator who is out to infringe on her rights and freedom. At other times, she has a close relationship with him, and they even take a walk together during their leisure time. It is worthy to understand that Jessica is the embodiment of reason among the children. Her parents both love her as they regard her as the most obedient and responsible child. In most circumstances, she has acted as a mediator when the family has been warring.

These family dynamics have affected the behavior of the children, particularly the conduct of John and Vanessa. The strict nature of Mrs. Regina towards John made his conduct inappropriate towards her. John became rebellious and indiscipline towards her mother, a situation that worsened the relationship between the two in the family. Also, Mr. Sam's strictness has affected Vanessa's behavior. Other factors have also contributed to the dynamics of the family. The first factor is the bad relationship that exists between the children's parents. Another factor is the existence of different personalities among family members. It is worthy to highlight that each member of this family has a unique and distinct personality that contributes to its dynamics. The frequent absence of Mr. Sam is also a contributory factor towards the dynamics that the family has. Admittedly, Mr. Sam has been busy spending time in his workplace or friends, thus having little time for his family. The economic status of the family has also been a critical factor that has influenced the behavior of members of the family.

Family Concepts

It is pivotal to understand these concepts and therefore, it is vital to use Jessica as a reference point in this particular case. Quintessentially, Jessica is living in a closed family system that is static to new and contemporary rules and values. Imperatively, the family follows traditional beliefs and practices that are non-existence in the modern world. For example, it is surprising to note that the family still believes in male dominance and total control over women. The closed family system has been detrimental to the rights and freedom of Jessica. She has continuously felt isolated and lonely in her family as a result of this system. It is important to mention that Jessica's family has rules, patterns, and processes that are detrimental to the girl child. In particular, Jessica's father is a staunch disciplinarian who enforces family values on her and her siblings. For instance, every girl must be at home by dusk while boys are not restricted on the time they should be at home. However, on the contrary, triads of Jessica's family enjoy an open system in which the rules governing them change depending on the circumstance and time. It is essential to pinpoint that some of the family values that the previous generations followed no longer hold for the current generation.

It is also vital to elucidate that Jessica's father is a no-nonsense person who spends several hours working. This implies that he has little time to interact and be with his family. He is an alcoholic who likes spending his free time drinking beer with friends in bars and other popular joints. His habits make him to constantly quarrel with his wife, Jessica's mother, over lack of family time. They usually engage in verbal fights, which have hurt Jessica's and other siblings' emotional and mental health. It is essential to highlight that Jessica's parents have failed to effectively communicate with each other due to their constant disagreements and wrangles. As a result, they use Jessica, their child, to communicate with each other. Clearly, there is no family coordination through communication as both parents are unable to agree on basic things in the family. Also, it is imperative to mention that Jessica has been a victim of double-bind as his parents have always given her different instructions to follow. In most cases, Jessica has acted as a third party to help them avoid conflict. Imperatively, Jessica is not only triangulated, but she is also conflict detoured in her family.

There was an instance when Jessica's family was crippling financially. Jessica's father had lost his job. For this reason, Jessica's mother's salary was not enough to sustain the family. The family could not adjust quickly to the situation at hand. Jessica and her siblings were learning in a private school that charged higher tuition fees compared to public schools. Therefore, after the loss of a job, it was hard for the family to sustain the education of their children in private schools. It is paramount to understand that at the tender age of 12 years old, Jessica and her siblings had to drop out of school as her parents could not afford school fees. Admittedly, they could have transferred Jessica and her siblings to a public school or any other institution whose fee was affordable. According to Kim and Rose (2014), situation explains that there was no family homeostasis in Jessica's family. Notably, the family was unable to adjust to tough situations that life presented to them. In particular, Jessica's father began heavy drinking as a way to forget the life ordeals that were facing him. He, therefore, became irresponsible and would sometimes spend several days away from his family.

The lack of change in the family prompted Jessica's parents to seek the help of a therapist. Specifically, Jessica's mother was at the forefront of pushing for the therapeutic assessment. It is worthy to reiterate that the family was at the brink of collapse and disintegration. The therapy would provide the family with the necessary remedy required to reestablish the family ties and unity. Since therapist had to deal with the entire family, he used circularity in establishing therapeutic relationships within the family. Svavarsdottir et al. (2015) explain that this entailed asking interviewing statements and questions that enabled the therapist to facilitate reflexive contemplation in the family's relational system. It is pivotal to note that the therapist was to obtain feedback from the family regarding their communication and well-being as far as adaptation to change concerned. After several months of seeking treatment, the family was back together and determined to start over again. Jessica's father was mainly determined to fend for his family as well as providing love and support to them. He reduced his alcohol consumption and began having time for his family.

It is also vital to understand that Jessica's mother, Mrs. Regina, is a quiet person who likes meta-communication as her preferred way of expressing herself. Quintessentially, when Jessica and her siblings do something, she expresses herself using non-verbal cues to show her satisfaction or discontentment with her actions. For instance, she one...