5.

0 FAMILY FUNCTIONS OVER THE LIFESPAN: BIRTH TO

DEATH, HEREAFTER- RITUALS SURROUNDING DEATH

5.1 Domains of development

Development is often viewed as occurring in three distinct, yet interrelated, domains:
1. Physical
2. Cognitive
3. Socioemotional

Our course will examine, in depth, development in each of these three domains. For now,
we will just introduce you to the type of topics that are studied within each domain.

5.1.1 Physical development includes genetics, prenatal development, physical

development, sensation/perception, and motor skill development.

5.1.2 Cognitive development includes changes in thinking across childhood, attention,

memory, intelligence, problem solving, language, and academic skill development.

5.1.3 Socioemotional development includes the influence of parenting style, peers and
friendships, play, schools, society, and culture.

While we study these domains separately, it is clear to see how they are interrelated. For
example, let us consider a child putting on a pair of shoes. Physically, she has to have the
motor skills to put the shoes on. Cognitively, she needs to have the problem solving skills
to decide which shoes are appropriate for where she is going. Socioemotionally, her
parents, peers, and what she has seen on television are going to influence the type of shoes
that she wants. From playing a game to how we grieve, all three domains are always at
work.

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5.2 Periods of development
Developmentalists break the life span into nine stages as follows:
 Prenatal Development
 Infancy and Toddlerhood
 Early Childhood
 Middle Childhood
 Adolescence
 Early Adulthood
 Middle Adulthood
 Late Adulthood
 Death and Dying

This list reflects unique aspects of the various stages of childhood and adulthood that will
be explored in this book. So while both an 8 month old and an 8 year old are considered
children, they have very different motor abilities, social relationships, and cognitive
skills. Their nutritional needs are different and their primary psychological concerns are
also distinctive. The same is true of an 18 year old and an 80 year old, both considered
adults. We will discover the distinctions between being 28 or 48 as well. But first, here is
a brief overview of the stages.

5.2.1 Prenatal Development

Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are
forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding nutrition,
teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery
are primary concerns.

5.2.2 Infancy and Toddlerhood

The first year and a half to two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change. A
newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a walking,
talking toddler within a relatively short period of time. Caregivers are also transformed

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from someone who manages feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide
and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child.

5.2.3 Early Childhood

Early childhood is also referred to as the preschool years consisting of the years which
follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling. As a three to five-year-old, the child is
busy learning language, is gaining a sense of self and greater independence, and is beginning
to learn the workings of the physical world. This knowledge does not come quickly,
however, and preschoolers may have initially have interesting conceptions of size, time,
space and distance such as fearing that they may go down the drain if they sit at the front
of the bathtub or by demonstrating how long something will take by holding out their
two index fingers several inches apart. A toddler’s fierce determination to do something
may give way to a four-year-old’s sense of guilt for doing something that brings the
disapproval of others.

5.2.4 Middle Childhood

The ages of six through eleven comprise middle childhood and much of what children
experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now
the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing one’s
abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools
compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and
other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their
motor skills at this point in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships
beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students.

5.2.5 Adolescence
Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth
spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the
adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider abstract concepts such as
love, fear, and freedom. Ironically, adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them

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at greater risk of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted infections that
can have lifelong consequences.

5.2.6 Early Adulthood

The twenties and thirties are often thought of as early adulthood. (Students who are in
their mid 30s tend to love to hear that they are a young adult!). It is a time when we are
at our physiological peak but are most at risk for involvement in violent crimes and
substance abuse. It is a time of focusing on the future and putting a lot of energy into
making choices that will help one earn the status of a full adult in the eyes of others. Love
and work are primary concerns at this stage of life.

5.2.7 Middle Adulthood

The late thirties through the mid-sixties is referred to as middle adulthood. This is a period
in which aging, that began earlier, becomes more noticeable and a period at which many
people are at their peak of productivity in love and work. It may be a period of gaining
expertise in certain fields and being able to understand problems and find solutions with
greater efficiency than before. It can also be a time of becoming more realistic about
possibilities in life previously considered; of recognizing the difference between what is
possible and what is likely. This is also the age group hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic in
Africa resulting in a substantial decrease in the number of workers in those economies
(Weitz, 2007).

5.2.8 Late Adulthood

This period of the life span has increased in the last 100 years, particularly in industrialized
countries. Late adulthood is sometimes subdivided into two or three categories such as the
“young old” and “old old” or the “young old”, “old old”, and “oldest old”. We will follow
the former categorization and make the distinction between the “young old” who are
people between 65 and 79 and the “old old” or those who are 80 and older. One of the
primary differences between these groups is that the young old are very similar to midlife

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adults; still working, still relatively healthy, and still interested in being productive and
active. The “old old” remain productive and active and the majority continues to live
independently, but risks of the diseases of old age such as arteriosclerosis, cancer, and
cerebral vascular disease increases substantially for this age group. Issues of housing,
healthcare, and extending active life expectancy are only a few of the topics of concern
for this age group. A better way to appreciate the diversity of people in late adulthood is
to go beyond chronological age and examine whether a person is experiencing optimal
aging (like the gentleman pictured above who is in very good health for his age and
continues to have an active, stimulating life), normal aging (in which the changes are
similar to most of those of the same age), or impaired aging (referring to someone who
has more physical challenge and disease than others of the same age).

5.2.9 Death and Dying

This topic is seldom given the amount of coverage it deserves. Of course, there is a certain
discomfort in thinking about death but there is also a certain confidence and acceptance
that can come from studying death and dying. We will be examining the physical,
psychological and social aspects of death, exploring grief or bereavement, and addressing
ways in which helping professionals work in death and dying. And we will discuss cultural
variations in mourning, burial, and grief.

5.3 Theoretical perspective

Developmental psychology has long recognized the significance of family relationships for
child development. Decades of research have demonstrated the instrumental role of the
parent-child relationship, to a lesser extent the sibling relationship, and the overall family
network for child and adolescent development. Recent research suggests there are long-
term effects of family relationships experienced when one is a child; however, less is known
about family influences on development throughout adulthood.

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5.3.1 Theory on child development
The Convoy Model of Social Relations, proposes that there are important and lasting
effects of social relationships on development across the entire lifespan. A convoy is
conceptualized as a dynamic network of social relationships (composed primarily of family
and friends) that affects individual development, and is influenced by personal and
contextual factors. For example, the structure (i.e., network size, family/friend balance)
and the quality of support provided and received (i.e., positive aspects such as trust and
encouragement or negative aspects such as conflict and burden) may vary with age.
Moreover, with age, family ties become more numerous and represent a greater
proportion of the convoy.

Convoys have been shown to have protective effects, as highlighted by the stress buffering
model, which suggests family support may reduce the effect of stress on well-being (e.g.,
by having someone to confide in or provide advice). Yet, convoys may also have
detrimental effects; for example, instead of buffering stress, family relationships may cause
additional or exacerbate existing stress. Moreover, the structure and quality of the close
family convoy may have distinct effects on well-being compared to the entire social
convoy.

5.3.2 Family functions over the Lifespan: Birth to Death, hereafter- Rituals surrounding Death

Funeral
 A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a
burial or cremation, with the attendant observances.
 Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture
to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers
and rituals undertaken in their honor.
 Customs vary between cultures and religious groups.
 Common secular motivations for funerals include:
o Mourning the deceased,

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 o Celebrating their life,
o Offering support and sympathy to the bereaved;
o Additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help
the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.

 The funeral usually includes a ritual through which the corpse receives a final
disposition.
 Depending on culture and religion, these can involve either the destruction of the
body (for example, by cremation or sky burial) or its preservation (for example, by
mummification or interment.
 Differing beliefs about cleanliness and the relationship between body and soul are
reflected in funerary practices.
 A memorial service or celebration of life is a funerary ceremony that is performed
without the remains of the deceased person.
 Funerary art is art produced in connection with burials, including many kinds of
tombs, and objects specially made for burial like flowers with a corpse.

5.3.3 The Family as a System

The application of systems theory is a basic tenet of human ecological theory. The family
is seen as a system, with boundaries between it and other systems, such as the community
and the economic system. Systems have inputs that drive various processes and actions,
such as the finite amounts of money or time that families possess. They also have
throughputs, which are the transformation processes that occur within the system, such as
the exchange of money for the provision of an essential service, such as food, by eating in
a restaurant. In addition, systems have outputs, which affect other systems, such the
production of waste materials, which are byproducts of activity in the family, being
returned to the larger environment. There are feedback loops from the end of the system
back to the beginning, to provide both positive and negative comment back into the
process and allow the system to adapt to change. In an ecosystem, the parts and the whole
are interdependent.

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Most theorists outline an ecosystem, most particularly a human ecosystem or a family
ecosystem, as being composed of three organizing concepts: humans, their environment,
and the interactions between them. The humans can be any group of individuals
dependent on the environment for their subsistence. The environment includes the natural
environment, which is made up of the atmosphere, climate, plants, and microorganisms
that support life. Another environment is that built by humans, which includes roads,
machines, shelter, and material goods. As Sontag and Bubolz (1996) discuss, embedded in
the natural and human-built environments is the social-cultural environment, which
includes other human beings; cultural constructs such as language, law, and values; and
social and economic institutions such as our market economy and regulatory systems. The
ecosystem interacts at the boundaries of these systems as they interface, but also can occur
within any part of an ecosystem that causes a change in or acts upon any other part of the
system. Change in any part of the system affects the system as a whole and its other
subparts, creating the need for adaptation of the entire system, rather than minor attention
to one aspect of it.

There are also systems nested within systems, which delineate factors farther and farther
from individual control, and that demonstrate the effects of an action occurring in one
system affecting several others. Urie Bronfenbrenner's analysis of the systems such as the
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem are an integral part of the theory.
The microsystem is our most immediate context, and for most children, is represented by
their family and their home. Young children usually interact with only one person until
they develop and their world expands. The mesosystem is where a child experiences
reality, such as at a school or childcare setting. Links between the institutions in the
mesosystem and the child's family enhance the development of academic competence. The
exosystem is one in which the child does not participate directly, but that affects the child's
experiences. This may be a parent's workplace and the activities therein, or bureaucracies
that affect children, such as decisions made by school boards about extracurricular activities.
Our broadest cultural identities make up the macrosystem. This system includes our

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ideologies, our shared assumptions of what is right, and the general organization of the
world. Children are affected by war, by religious activities, by racism and sexist values, and
by the very culture in which they grow up. A child who is able to understand and deal
with the ever-widening systems in his or her reality is the product of a healthy microsystem.

Bubolz and Sontag (1993) outline five broad questions that are best answered using this theory,
which is helpful in deciding areas where the theory can make a useful contribution to our
knowledge. These are:

1. To understand the processes by which families function and adapt—how do they ensure
survival, improve their quality of life, and sustain their natural resources?
2. To determine in what ways families allocate and manage resources to meet needs and goals
of individuals and families as a group. How do these decisions affect the quality of life and
the quality of the environment? How are family decisions influenced by other systems?
3. How do various kinds and levels of environments and changes to them affect human
development? How does the family system adapt when one or more of its members make
transitions into other environmental settings, such as day care, schools, and nursing homes?
4. What can be done to create, manage, or enhance environments to improve both the quality
of life for humans, and to conserve the environment and resources necessary for life?
5. What changes are necessary to improve humans' lives? How can families and family
professionals contribute to the process of change?