Laura Giannone SW 3510 Human Behavior in the Social Environment Professor Blodgett 10/22/12

Most people have a network of others they consider their family. But what exactly is a family? How do family structures vary from culture to culture or subculture to subculture? Family patterns are rapidly shifting in the United States from family culture, to the environment they live in and of the traditions they are comprised of. The decline in marriage has been accompanied by a rise in divorce and a decline in the likelihood of marriage following in divorce, which has only been the partial influence towards the increase in cohabitation. traditional views on marriage and childbearing have significantly changed over time, with the consistent increase of children being born out of wed lock. Such changes, inevitably, shift the roles of men and women, not only in relation to each other, but also in relation to their children. According to the New World Encyclopedia on marriage, Marriage is a universal human institution which has formed the foundation of the family throughout history. While the traditions surrounding marriage may differ from culture to culture, the essential necessity of marriage has long been recognized economically, legally, spiritually, and socially as the primary social institution for raising children. It is widely recognized that marriage provides the proper setting for The

cultivating love between a man and a woman, and for the fulfillment of both. Marriage is the prerequisite for building a family, and the family is the fundamental unit of human society. The future of human society appears to depend more on efforts to understand how to build healthy marriages than on promoting alternatives. For me, the importance of family and the closeness I share with my family has impacted me in so many ways beyond description, and has played such an influential role in which Ive become today. I come from, what I would consider, a very traditional family, possibly because both of my parents too have come from a very traditional family. Although both of my

parents came from traditional households; they were both traditionally different. My mother comes from a large family of nine. She has four brothers and two sisters, falling somewhat in the middle as the fifth child. My father on the other hand comes from a smaller family of six. He has one older brother and two younger sisters. Both of my parents come from a very strict Catholic household, with very strong beliefs of marriage and longevity. Both of my parents grew up in a two parent household, with strong religious beliefs and importance on family togetherness. For many years religion has helped to bring my family closer, at least on my fathers side of the family. Most

of our family gatherings are in some way rooted in religion, and the traditions of our family are held in high regard. Religious experiences, whether they are the sorrow and celebration of life in a funeral, the happiness of a wedding, or the simple traditions of Christmas or Easter, help draw members of my family together. The level of faith and dedication to religion has at some points dwindled amongst members of my family, I included, but religion is usually present in some way and will ultimately play a large and influential role in a lot of my decisions today. Interviewing members of my family, has given me the impression that our religious beliefs and practices help us better understand the faith and bring us together with God. It has also allowed us to share a common interest in trying to live by Jesus examples and better ourselves and others around us. According to the text of Human Behavior in the social Environment by: Anissa Taun Rogers, page 11, paragraph three, Through how we construct our reality and perceptions of things is often based on the types of experiences we have. These experiences allow us to feel that we know things and alternatively, knowledge can be influenced through what we have been told to be true. My parents have gained knowledge through their life experiences that essentially their parents instilled in them today. Those experiences have now been transmitted

through traditions and authority. Those concepts have now carried over to their children, (my sisters and I) which will inevitably be carried with us and practiced while one day building our own families. Through my heritage and ethnicity I have inherited particular traits and behaviors that have influenced who I am today. Although my parents religious views and upbringing of family values is rather similar to one another, their ethnicity and heritage has included very different mannerisms, characteristics, and behaviors. I am half Italian from my fathers side and half German from my mothers side. With my fathers Italian side of the family have of his family have migrated from Calabria to America, holding thick accents, and a few slightly different views on life. Overall my fathers family are very loud, in your face, in your business, uptight, short fused, but friendly, outgoing, and loving people. Everyone is very outspoken about their feelings even if ones feelings are inappropriate or hurtful. Although my fathers immediate family is smaller than my mothers, with only seven grandchildren, our family gatherings include much more than just immediate family member, which creates for large gatherings with little space. The main focus of every gathering is mainly centered on the food and the quantity of food; this has contributed to poor eating

habits, which has been the foundation of obesity and health issues amongst my family members. My fathers family members all struggle with their weight causing some to have diabetes, back problems, and high cholesterol to name a few. My mothers family on the other hand is almost the polar opposite of my fathers family. My mothers German side of the family is more reserved, quiet and to themselves, yet strong headed and strong willed, they are friendly, but not in your face, they are active, and passionate about life and nature, easy going, passive, and in the moment. Our family gatherings, although they are not nearly as frequent as my fathers side of the family, they are extremely large gatherings solely on the fact that there are seven siblings, and twenty first cousins. I have an extremely large immediate family on my moms side but have never even met any of my mothers family outside of her brothers, sisters, and their kids (my cousins). Our family gatherings are always extremely active, involving some type of physical activities or hands on games; the evening is in no shape or form encircled around food and the quantity of it, which is probably why no one on my mothers side of the family struggles with weight and health issues. As I discussed before, both my father and mother come from very different backgrounds but with common values. Both families

have influenced me as a person, and I love them both very much, but very differently. I would like to believe I have enquired a little bit of both families characteristic traits in a positive way. One major model behavior I have enquired from both families is eating habits and a healthy life style. Through growing up in two different families where one family lives to eat and the other eats to live, this has physically showed me all the negative effects overeating can have on our body and most importantly on our health. To be able to compare the two families and their differences has really opened my eyes on choosing a healthy lifestyle for me. According to the text of Human Behavior in the Social

Environment by: Anissa Taun Rogers, page 103, paragraphs one and two, Culture is the result of all human activities; it can be viewed as including all things human such as customs, symbols, and tradition, material but it politics, norms, values, language, experienced the

religion, is

philosophies, through

objects. also

Culture helps to

experience,

structure

experiences. This is a dynamic process that continually develops and changes as the experiences of people in a society change, which is a constant cycle. Culture affects people within their environments and through their surroundings. Ideology, ethnic

identity, and worldview, can play a major role on how one might view themselves in relevance to their culture. Through my home environment I have gained many values by observation, guidance, and modeled behavior from my parents who have been happily married for twenty eight years now. They have set wonderful examples for my sisters and I on the true meaning of a relationship between husband and wife and the importance it holds. I feel incredibly blessed to have such strong role models in my life guiding me in such a strong and positive way. Growing up my mom was a stay home mom, while my father worked a few jobs in order to give all of us girls the best lifestyle he felt we deserved. My dad worked long hours, working hard, while my mom worked long hours at home with us girls. Through my childhood I was taught through example that hard work, team work, and a little bit of sacrifice go a long way. My father taught me how to take change of a situation, make the best of it and be a role model for my younger sisters especially. I am the oldest

daughter of three girls which through the years has initiated a very protective and at times, overbearing older sister. As the oldest sister I play many roles such as their confidant, the rock, their shoulder to cry on, the advisor, the supporter, the guardian, a teacher, a listening ear, the mediator, their friend, and so on. Being that my father wasnt home a lot

because of work, and my mother was a single parent for a lot of the time, I felt it was my duty to help care for my sisters as best as I knew how, which was not always an easy role. Being the oldest sister holds much responsibility but is a role I deeply value which I find to be extremely rewarding and satisfying. This role has helped me in many ways and has helped mold me into the person I am today. My family have and always will me my

number one priority; especially my two sisters whom I try my hardest to be strong and stable for. Id like to think that through all the responsibility I have taken on over the years, and the take charge attitude I carry within myself, this has made me an extremely loving and more importantly, strong, dependable person, which has been one of the key factors in leading me into a career of Social Work. Through the acts of always looking after my sisters, playing a caregiver role, I have since always had an act for children and caring for others as well. I worked at a daycare for eight years, three of those years holding a lead caregiver position. I have a passion for people but more importantly children and although I loved my job I felt that through all the things I saw through parenting, family problems, and the way it influenced and affected the children, I felt that I needed to get into a profession that was going to be able to help more

than I was. Through the upbringing and lifestyle I have felt so lucky and blessed to have, I would like to help and instill that same positive influence that was instilled in me on others that are less fortunate than I. Not only has my upbringing, and family life help mold me into who I am today, my schooling, my workplace, church, the environment and the community of people I have been surrounded by have influenced me in who I am and how I function today. I have been groomed to be a social worker throughout my entire life. My strong desire to teach and help children along

with the strong mentor and coach presence exuded by my father, were instilled in me at a young age. Subconsciously, the

foundation to be a social worker has been built my entire life. When it came time for school, social worker jumped out at me and it was the only profession that seemed to make sense.

References

Rogers, Anissa.(2006). Human Behavior in the Social Environment. In Alice A. Lieberman(Series Eds.) Defining Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Evaluating the Quality of Knowledge and Theory (Ch. 1 p.11). New York, NY: New Direction in Social Work.

Rogers, Anissa.(2006). Human Behavior in the Social Environment. In Alice A. Lieberman(Series Eds.) Lenses for Conceptualizing Problems and Interventions: Sociocultural Dimensions (Ch. 4 p.103). New York, NY: New Direction in Social Work.

Marriage. 2012, April 28). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved October19, 2012 from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marriage