Family Developmental Perspective

Developmental Stages
Each family reacts uniquely to life events, yet most families encounter a similar
range of developmental crises such as the death of a member (Collins, Jordan, &
Coleman, 1999, p. 61).
Every family progresses through similar developmental processes which include
an identifiable beginning such as:
o A wedding
o Birth of a first child
o Retirement of a parent
Some families have evolved problem-solving skills to deal with the
developmental crises while others will struggle with these crises.
During these crises, family social workers can provide knowledge, skills,
strategies, and support to families who do not know how to deal with these events
their selves.
The seven stages of family development are:
Marriage
o Tasks include committing to the relationship, formulating roles and rules,
and separating from families of origin.
Families with young children
o Tasks include restabilizing the marital unit, accepting the child and
integrating that child into the family, and reconsidering relationships.
Families with school-aged children
o Tasks include allowing greater independence, opening family boundaries
to accommodate new social institutions, and understanding and accepting
role changes.
Families with teenagers
o Tasks include dealing with teen independence through boundary
adjustments, adjusting to new definition of personal autonomy, and rule
changes, limit setting, and role negotiation.
Families with young people leaving home
o Tasks include preparing teen for independent living through schooling and
job skills and accepting youths independence.
Middle-aged parents
o Tasks include adjusting to the empty nest.
Aging family members
o Tasks include involvement with grandchildren and partners of the children
and dealing with problems of aging.
Marriage/Partnering:
Young people usually leave their families before they form new relationships.

At this stage people separate from their parents, develop peer relationships, and
become established in work.
The way individuals leave their families will greatly affect the rest of their lives.
Today there are different stages that are being noticed.
-Children from middle-class families live with parents longer due to economic
difficulties, demands of education and lack of employment opportunities.
-Other families: The young are leaving home early - running away from home,
working in low skill/low paying jobs, and leaving school early.
Three tasks of a newly partnered couple:
-Establishing a mutually satisfying relationship
-Realigning relationships with extended families
-Making decisions about parenthood
When entering a relationship people are sometimes confronted with a way of living
that is different from the way they were raised.
Things that will need to be negotiated include:
Financial arrangements
Housekeeping
Social and leisure activities
Relationships with in-laws
The couple will experience pressures that must be resolved in order for the
marriage to succeed.
The Family Social Worker (FSW) must assess the couples satisfaction with their
own relationship, their relationships with extended family, and agreement
concerning decisions about parenthood.

Birth of the First Child

Parenthood is a major life upheaval, requiring changes in lifestyle (Collins et al.,

1999, p. 66).

Parenting of a newborn child takes time and energy, and it requires new levels of
self-sacrifice and self-denial.

FSW will want to explore with a family the reasons and expectations associated
with having children.

Bonding and attachment have been given a lot of attention.

Most hospitals now encourage ongoing contact between parents and
the newborn to encourage bonding.
The father is now encouraged to be present during childbirth.

Parents must develop a mutually satisfactory, reciprocal parent-child relationship

during this stage. The parents must be dependable in meeting the childs needs to
help the child learn to trust others.
Families with Preschool Children

In this stage, the child that was very dependent becomes more active and strives for
independence.

During this time parents need to be concerned with the childs safety but not so
overprotective that they dont let the child develop and explore.
The birth of a second child during this time can make the first child jealous and feel
that they need to fight for their parents attention.
At this stage of family development, children need to develop increasingly
complex social relationships that emphasize work, play and love (Garbarino,
1982, p.68).

Families with School-Aged Children

Family patterns are altered again when the oldest child reaches school age because
family members must begin to plan schedules around school and extracurricular
activities.

Family tasks involve supporting the childs adjustment to the learning situation in
which they interact with peers and authority figures other then their parents.

Skills needed for this period include:

Organization
Cooperating
Supporting family members

During this stage socioeconomic status becomes clear to children.

The children begin to notice that other children may have more toys,
clothes, or toys then they do.

Latchkey children are children who come home after school to an empty home
due to the family not having the money to provide childcare after school hours.
They are called this because they often wear a house key on a string around their
neck.

Parents face more challenges when they both work due to trying to juggle work
responsibilities, child-rearing tasks, household chores, and taking care of their own
personal needs.
This is even more difficult for single parents who have to handle all of this
alone and usually have a lower economic status.

Another task of parenting during this stage is to assist children to acquire necessary
skills and attitudes for survival in a school setting.

During this stage of family cycle, parents should make strong connections with
those institutions that work with their children.
Families with Teenagers

This is a period of rapid change for the youth as well as the family and is often a
time of turbulence for families.

In this stage, the teenager is moving towards adulthood and seems to want the
world to know it.

The familys task at this time is to help the teenager grow up and learn skills that
will enable them to leave the family.

Skills needed:
Developing habits required for work

Assuming greater responsibility

Independence
Teens require support and encouragement during this time.
Teenagers will review and repeat all of the previous developmental stages as they
move toward adulthood. They will:
Learn to trust others
Acquire a stable identity
Address the questions of purpose in life
Other important questions of a teenager are:
Intimacy issues
Relationships
Morality
Peer associations
Life goals
A significant developmental issue during this phase is sexual maturation, which is
often accompanied by strong and frequently conflicting feelings.
Much behavior is centered on peer standards during this phase because the approval
of peers is more favorable than parental. During this phase parents are considered
out of touch and old.
Parental role is to provide support when needed and back away when not needed.
This is difficult for some parents but is necessary to help teenagers develop
independence.

Families with Young People Leaving Home

Young people often leave and return home a number of times. This creates mixed
reactions to the transition for parents.

Parents face the crisis of aging and changes in their relationship with their spouse
after the children leave home. This is often called the empty nest syndrome.
Parents must learn to focus their attention on something other than their children.

Young people learn to establish themselves as independent adults during this stage.

They may also be struggling with starting a family of their own.

The move to independence is compromised when these young people remain in the
home due to difficulty finding work or while attending college.
Issues for Older Parents

This stage is characterized by middle-aged parents who no longer have their

children living with them.

The major task is reestablishing themselves as a couple; new roles and rules may be
established in this stage.

This stage lasts until the death of one of the partners.

Tasks include adjusting to becoming older and facing death.

Stress can be increased by:

Inadequate financial resources

 Moving in with adult children (called the sandwich generation)

Variations Affecting the Family Life Cycle

Factors that create specific issues when working with families:

Live-in relationships, divorce, remarriage, single-parent homes, blended
families, extended families, couples marrying later in life, couples that remain
childless, death of a partner.

Eichler (1997) has identified major demographic patterns in industrialized

countries that have had an impact on the family life cycle: the decline in fertility,
postponement of marriage, a sharp rise in the incidence of divorce during the 1970s
and 1980s, and a growing proportion of people living in small households
(Collins, et al., 1999, p.74).

It is important to remember that each family, regardless of its composition, is

unique (Collins et al., 1999, p.73).
Separation and Divorce

Divorce is a life crisis requiring adjustment by all family members (Collins et al.,
1999, p.74).

It lowers the economic status of families and demands new coping skills.

Major task is to end the relationship while cooperatively parenting the children.

Stages include making the decision to divorce, planning the dissolution of the
relationship, separating, and finally going through with divorce.

At each stage, family members must deal with personal issues related to divorce.

Additional issues include forging new relationships with extended family members
and mourning ones losses.

For children, divorce and marital separation is comparable to the death of a parent.

Parents feel psychologically drained and have little emotional energy available to
deal with the childs needs.

Single parents experience role strain trying to balance all their responsibilities.

Social support may buffer poverty and role strain.

Children ages 6 through 8 feel responsible for the divorce.

Children may experience academic difficulties, anger, and other behavioral

problems.

Divorce is especially hard on young males who may take two years to recover.

Children may experience divided loyalties between parents and may be used as
pawns.

Other issues: Custody and access arrangements, non-payment of child support,

allegations of abuse, and some parents disengage completely.
Tasks that children of divorce must complete to move on with their lives successfully
include (Thompson and Rudolph, 1992, p. 76):

Feelings of anxiety, abandonment, and denial

Disengaging from parental conflict and distress and resuming their regular
activities
5

Resolution of loss
Resolving anger and self-blame
Accepting the permanence of the divorce
Developing realistic hopes regarding relationships

Death of a Parent

Widowhood is less likely to be associated with a dramatic drop in income that often
occurs with divorce.

Families usually maintain contact with the deceased partners family and with
members of the community.
Single Parenting

Result of death, divorce, desertion, and never having been married.

Single parents experience feelings of loneliness, sadness, guilt, and anger.

Forty-five percent of all children in the United States live in a single parent home
at some point during childhood (Garbarino, 1982, p.77).

Children have greater incidence of conduct disorders, ADHD, poor school

performance, and emotional problems.

Problems are compounded by economic difficulties and fatigue.

Task overload is reflected in family disorganization, social isolation, and problems

in the parent-child relationship.

Ecological-based interventions are typically used.

Single parents need assistance with stress management, grief counseling, and skills
related to effective child management. Support is also needed from grandparents
and friends.
Special Tasks:

Develop adequate social support systems.

Resolve feelings of sadness, anger, and loneliness.

Cope with stress, fatigue, role overload without taking it out on the children.

Develop child management skills that do not result in anger directed at child.

Develop time management skills that allow for meeting childrens needs as well as
personal needs.
Remarriage, Step Parenting and Blended Families

Loneliness is often traded for conflict.

Issues include parenting responsibilities and vague rules.

Roles, rules, and boundaries must be reformulated.

Rivalry between stepsiblings can be intense.

Competition for affection, attention, and material possessions among stepsiblings is

also common.

Children may have trouble accepting that their parents will not reconcile.

Tasks for successful integration

Mourning losses of previous relationships.

Arriving at a satisfactory step parenting role.

Redefining financial and social obligations.

Agreeing on visitation and custody.

Establishing consistent leadership and discipline.

Ensuring that expectations for relationships are realistic.

Forming new emotional bonds in the family.

Developing new traditions.

Dealing with sexuality in the home.

Parenting by Grandparents

Assume role of primary caretaker because of substance abuse or illness preventing

their children from being custodial parents.

They experience a disruption in their family life cycle; caring for grandchildren
instead of enjoying retirement.

Child-rearing practices of grandparents may conflict with the modern parenting

techniques.

Additional stress of wondering who will care for the children if something would
happen to them.

Five important roles of grandparents (Wilcoxen, 1991, p. 80):

Historian-links children with familial and cultural past
Role Model-example of older adulthood
Mentor-elder with life experience
Wizard-master storyteller
Nurturer-ultimate support person for crises and transitions
Cultural Variations

Cultural traditions influence family life cycle stages.

For other cultures, the involvement of the extended family marks a different
relationship and different perspective on such stages as childbirth, launching young
adults into the world, and the formation of a new family unit (Collins et al., 1999,
p. 80).