CAFS - Prelim Notes Families And Communities PDF

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CAFS - Prelim Notes Families And Communities...

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COMMUNITY AND FAMILY STUDIES PRELIMINARY COURSE STUDY NOTES: CORE 3 FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES MODULE FOCUS:

FAMILIES:

Family ● Define family A family is instantly connected, as one immediately meets family members when they are born. Even though this is a commonality, there is no denying that all families aren’t the same. The definition of a family is quite simple, but it is important to understand that each family is unique. There are different make ups, values and standards, and exposures to different experiences. Contemporarily, families come in varied forms, and so definitions are constantly changing and will continue to change in the future.

● The Australian Census Dictionary Glossary Definition Of Family “Two or more persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering; and who are usually resident in the same household. Each separately identified couple relationship, lone parent–child relationship or other blood relationship forms the basis of a family. Some households contain more than one family.”

Family Structures ● Adoptive An option whereby permanent care is provided for children unable to live with birth families. A legal process where all rights and responsibilities are transferred from birth to adoptive parents. Trend for Australian children is extremely low, despite continuing demand for children. Intercountry Adoption  is when a suitable family is found out of a country. Local Adoption  is for children born/permanently residing in Australia before adoption and are legally able to be placed for adoption. Known Adoption includes adoptions by step-parents, other relatives, and carers.

● Blended Contains both natural and step-parent—at least one child is biological of both parents and at least one who is the stepchild of either parent. May have experienced separation or divorce, children have had to deal with grief and loss associated with family break-up. Greater need for clear communication, conflict may occur when values, roles, expectations, discipline, varies between biological and step-parents. Difficulties may arise, step-parents have no legal rights, more parents may need to be involved in decisionmaking processes. Child(ren) may also have two parent sets, can have four caring parents but four different

expectations which can conflict. The child is torn between adults, as they do not wish to disappoint anyone.

● Childless Couple with no children (of any age) present. May be temporary stage prior to beginning a family, children may have left home, there may have been the death of a child, or the couple simply may not want to have children—they understand economic and emotional demands and may have little to no desire of parenting. Modern technology has assisted in conceiving children (in-vitro fertilisation). This has also failed at times, or economic, emotional, social needs are not met to adopt/foster, rendering the couple childless.

● Communal Group of families/individuals, related/unrelated, living and sharing resources (food, child-rearing, social life, living space, decision-making, usually political/religious ideology). Most difficult structure to obtain statistics and information, can be attributed to lifestyle and sometimes geographical location/cultural background.

● De Facto Couple of opposite/same sex live in the same household, but are not married—partners, common-law husband and wife, lovers, boyfriends, girlfriends. More prevalent as trend to live together prior to marriage increases, popular for those under 35 choosing to marry later in life. Moving in with partner becomes advantageous financially, emotionally, physically. Marriage may not be suitable for some—fear of divorce, making a mistake, unpleasant previous experiences, acknowledgement that a strong commitment does not need a ceremony.

● Extended One core family plus at least one relative living in the same house (grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, not part of another core family within the same household). Linked with culture, as some migrant groups teach children that they are responsible to care for elderly relatives as well as parents. Male offspring may be financially responsible for parents, female offspring expected to remain home to care for parents and other elderly relatives.

● Foster Non-biological children, needing care, placed with another individual/family (regardless of structure) for an unspecified length of time. They have responsibility to provide safe, nurturing and stable environment for foster child. Foster parents have no legal rights to make decisions for children. Children in out-of-home care, including foster care, increased over past decade for many reasons (death in family, family breakdown, neglect, abandonment, drug and alcohol abuse, illness/depression, inability of families to provide safe environment with adequate care and protection). Can be placed in any family structure, including nuclear, blended, childless and same-sex.

● Nuclear Heterosexual couple and their offspring. Traditionally the norm, still the most common family structure, statistically has the lowest growth rate. Declining marriage rates and fertility, rising divorce rates and other social trends mean that a reduced number of people will live in the family norm in the future.

● Same Sex Couples Two people of same-sex in sexual relationship, living either with/without children. Lesbian couples more likely to have children than gay male couples. Many children of same-sex couples conceived in previous heterosexual relationships. Male couples may also consider using a surrogate. As societal attitudes change, this family structure (with or without children) will continue to increase.

● Sole Parent Lone parent with at least one non/dependent child (regardless of age) living in household. Reasons of soleparents include divorce, separation, death of partner, use of artificial reproductive technologies. One adult member living in the household, usually takes on all roles traditionally expected of two parents (financial responsibility, domestic labour, child-rearing and, ultimately, all other family functions). With fewer human resources, it is more difficult for this type of family to satisfy all family functions than it is for a family structure with more adult members. Attitudes towards sole parenting are more accepting and supportive today.

● Kinship ‘Provided by a person who is a relative, considered to be family or a close friend or is a member of the child or young person’s community’. Used to describe system of living among Indigenous Australians. Their kinship systems are complex. Their composition will usually be large and ever changing, meaning adults and children will often move between households. ‘For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, a kinship carer may be another Indigenous person who is a member of their community, a compatible community or from the same language group’

Roles Individuals Adopt Within Families ● Satisfying Specific Needs To satisfy specific needs, it is important to understand resources available. Family structures with more people have more human resources readily available (except for families with many young dependants). Family structures that have employable members may have non-human resources, such as money, more readily available, being more likely to satisfy their specific needs. Community supports such as the Department of Human Services if families cannot meet specific needs. These resources help to provide an adequate standard of living, security and safety through financial support and housing.

● Building Relationships Family the first place a child should feel sense of belonging. Parents should model good relationships for children. Will carry on into future relationships, and help establish safe, secure family structures. Relationships between family members are characterised by, showing respect for others, having trust and confidence in each other, sharing a purpose, intention or aspiration, and being open and honest in communication. Individuals come from all types of family backgrounds and situations, bringing own views and values into a relationship. Some family structures established from a crisis or breakdown, making it difficult for individual to establish and build relationships. No family structure is immune to dysfunction. All can foster positive and healthy relationships, but parents must model them for offspring. Families with more than one active adult, open communication regarding discipline, boundaries, goals, values, needs, wants should help to establish clear decision-making that will best suit needs of family and support ability to use resources effectively.

● Promoting Wellbeing If specific needs of family are satisfied to a degree, positive relationships are built and maintained, wellbeing among family members is achieved. Families that have come through loss, grief or in crisis, achieving wellbeing is harder. Periods of ill being continue until needs—security, safety and health—are met. Community support services (formal resources) available for families experiencing periods of ill being, coming in a range of forms, from free access (for example, online forums and telephone hotlines) to expensive (for example, private specialists). Family’s resources and values placed on resources dictate access to community supports.

MODULE FOCUS:

COMMUNITIES:

Communities ● Definition Of A Community A group of people within society, who have a common background or shared interests and who may live in a similar area. Humans band together in groups for companionship, help and protection. Definition of community as ‘group of people who live in the same area’ was appropriate, but societal change has definitions now emphasising aspects such as societal relationships, sense of belonging, common norms and social interaction.

● Reasons For Community Formation, Eg: Common Interest/ purpose Community is the common ground on which people join to meet needs and satisfy wants through activities with other people. Each person feels they belong and they have a part to play. Emerged when people identify a common interest or reason for being together, often relating to geography or interest, or are purposefully developed to meet specific needs. May form due to culture, religion, politics, business, sport, leisure, recreation, music, craft or friendship. Communities predominantly linked by social, emotional bonds; individuals share sense of belonging, feel obligation towards members of group. May emerge due to purposeful intervention of industry, business or political decision-making.

Questionnaires As A Primary Research Method ● Developing reliable questions Important to include questions that are easy to understand, use clear, simple language, ask only one question at a time, and are listed in a logical order. Also, beginning with easy questions to put people at ease.  losed questions  are easier to collate and interpret, and elicit limit range of responses. Check box, C frequency/Likert scale (never/sometimes/always), attitudinal scale (strongly agree–strongly disagree), other variables can be included. Open ended questions  provide opportunity for open response without guidance by researcher. Ensures suitable questions that have clear layout with plenty of space for answers.

● Collecting And Recording Data Quantitative data is numerical form. Can be presented as graphs (bar, line, pie), tables with statistics/ percentages. Data needs to be collected and tallied, and then can be converted into percentages so valid comparisons can be made. Tables include both written and numerical information. They should be neat and accurate if they are to be interpreted easily. Concise heading and titles should be used. Graphs provide visual presentation. Need to be clear and easy to read, with appropriate labels and titles. Horizontal (x) axis usually based on fixed values that increase from left to right. Vertical axis (y)axis includes variable data.

● Advantages And Disadvantages Advantages  are that questions can be designed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data, it is quick to distribute to responders, data can be collected from a large group of people in a reasonable timeframe, questions are completed by respondent and avoid interviewer bias, respondents have time to consider their responses at a convenient time and in private, a written record of data is easier to access, closed questions are easy to tally and present statistically, quantitative data is easy to interpret, and each respondent is given an equal opportunity to respond to each question, providing greater reliability. Disadvantages  include questions being misinterpreted and unexplainable to respondent, it requires respondents it have satisfactory literary skills, the amount of information collected can be limited, it is time consuming to design questions and present them neatly, if there are too many questions/details required, respondents may not participate/complete questionnaire, missing responses to questions that respondents do not understand can create bias, researcher has to wait for responses to be returned, possibility of lowresponse rate due to failure to complete/return questionnaire, qualitative data may be difficult to compare.

Levels Of Community Organisation ● Local Based in a particular part of a city, town or rural area. They have the power to manage and make laws applying to that area. An example of this includes one’s council or shire.

● State Responsible for the state only and have the power to manage and make laws that apply only to that state. An example of this includes New South Wales.

● National Involves all Australians—laws and decision-making have an impact on the whole of Australia. An example of this includes Australia.

● Global Difficult to define simply due to unclear boundaries and varying areas of responsibility depending on issue. The United Nations may be considered as a global community because of its role in worldwide goal setting and decision-making.

Roles Groups Adopt Within Communities ● Satisfying Specific Needs Provision of resources required to achieve adequate standard of living for individuals and families, highly prioritised. Food available for crisis, emergency relief periods. Shelter services may focus on emergency/ temporary accommodation for homeless/domestic violence victims. Clothing commonly collected from donations, redistributed through ‘opportunity shops’—upcycling, recycling tips. St Vincent De Paul, Beyond Blue, Royal Flying Doctor Service (Health), Life Education, Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Foundation (Education), Disability Employment Australia, YWCA NSW (Employment). Mission Australia : Together we stand.

● Building Relationships Relationships can take countless forms. A relationship’s, including within families, between friends, at school, work/for leisure, or are short term/enduring, effectiveness can ultimately define the quality of an

individual’s life. Positive, effective relationships characterised by showing respect, have trust, confidence, sharing a purpose/intention/aspiration, being open and honest in communication. Members may need to develop and/or rely on various strategies to assist in building relationships. Members may build informal relationships with people they know little about, actively listen to what others say, remember conversations so topics can be brought up in future meetings, exhibit empathy and sensitivity, listen with respect, make no judgements about character/background/present circumstances, use words and non-verbal actions of encouragement, share a laugh/funny moment, offer genuine support and encouragement in times of conflict and trouble.

● Promoting Wellbeing Role to promote positive concept of wellbeing through engagement with individuals and families. In times of hardship, this will emerge as part of providing a supportive environment—develop caring relationships, promote sense of connection, belonging, satisfy specific needs. Sometimes roles are focused on education/recreational/social purposes. Therefore, promotion of wellbeing may not be clearly visible. More likely to be holistic, integrated in within routine activities, coaching, games and subsequent interpersonal relationships.

Decision Making In Communities ● Influences On Decision Making - Legislation : Governments responsible for development and implementation of laws. Proposed laws introduced into Parliament as bills, debated and voted on. When passed by both houses of Parliament, they become laws—legislative process. These laws provide guidelines for local, state, national community decision-making (land-use zones, protection of natural environment, noise pollution, child protection, industrial relations and more).

- Environmental Factors : Resources help carry out tasks, reach goals. Decisions about them need to be made after considering impact on environment. More common for communities to experience value conflicts in decision-making if contributing to negative effects on environment.

- Lobbying And Community Petitions : Occurs when groups of people try to influence decisions of local/state/federal policymakers. Achieved by various means such as sending emails, letters, text messages, creating banners, organising protest rallies. Community petitions are form of lobbying, individuals sign their names in support of an issue.

- Protesting : By definition, a declaration of disapproval. Often declares opposition to behaviour/act that a person is otherwise limited in their ability to prevent/avoid. Many public places (Australia) where people can exercise right to communicate opinions, ideas through peaceful protests and demonstrations. Democracy recognises this right, ensures balance against rights and interests of others and of community as a whole. Paramount importance is protection of public safety, facilitation of fair and equal access to public areas, maintenance of peace.

● Decision-Making Processes - Arbitration : Process that seeks to resolve a dispute. Evidence is presented and a discussion is had between different parties. Ruling is made by chairperson (arbitrator). Decision is legally binding.

- Consensus : Aims to include everyone in decision-making process. Opinions are discussed and any objections are resolved so widespread agreement is achieved without taking a vote.

- Election : Process gives individuals opportunity to express views, - be involved in decision-making process by choosing (voting) for one option over other. May be public (seen)/private (unseen).

- Voting : Formal expression of individual’s choice in decision-making process. May be for/against a proposed motion, certain/selection of candidate(s), political party.

- Referendum : Aims to include all adults in electorate in decision-making for important policy proposal/change in constitution. Requires support of two-thirds majority to be successful. Declaration of change can only comes about if there is double majority vote—more than half the population have to agree to change, half of all states need to agree to change.

MODULE FOCUS: MANAGING CHANGE IN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES: Nature of change ● Internal and external A change that is unexpected, so a response to the change cannot be prepared in advance. This includes marriage, divorce, birth of a child, adoption and change of address. A change in the wider community that has influenced the functioning of a family. This includes economic change, legal change, social change, technological change, demographic change and environmental change.

● Planned and unplanned A change that occurs with prior knowledge. Aspects of the decision-making process have occurred prior to the implementation of the change. This includes retirement...