EDUC 311 - Chapter 11

9/21/2023
Parent-Child Relations: An
Introduction to Parenting
Tenth Edition
Chapter 11
Parenting: Family Composition
and Dynamics
Copyright © 2019, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
11.1 Illustrate the implications surrounding the average
number of children per household.
11.2 Compare the dynamics and challenges of single-mother
and single-father households.
11.3 Discuss the implications of parental separation on
custody arrangements.
11.4 Distinguish the role of a grandparent from that of a
parent.
11.5 Describe the effects of role strain on parenting, with
special reference to the sandwich generation.
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The Dynamics of Ratio

• Family resources are varied: Include interpersonal, social,
economic, civic, educational, spiritual, health, and others.
– Important consideration in family outcomes.
– Interacts on different systemic levels, such as those within
the family embedded within a society at large.
• American families currently typically consist of two children, as
opposed to historically larger families during and before the
times of our grandparents.
• Only children face unique challenges which parents can combat
by creating networks of socialization and support.
• Advances in medical care, much lower infant mortality, and
changes in social norms have played contributing roles.
• Challenges abound in all families, irrespective of size.
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Single Parent Families

• A single-family system can be created by:
– Conscious choice to form a single parent family.
– Death of one of the parents; widowed.
– Divorce, desertion, or separation of adults.
• Parental divorce affects children in a number of ways.
– Age of the child at the time of divorce is an important factor.
• Parents fear the harmful outcomes of divorce on their children.
– Researchers generally find divorce as disruptive, yet most
children adapt and adjust in resilient ways if appropriate
support systems are in place.
• The way that adults continue to fulfill their roles as parents and
form a constructive working relationship as coparents, is an
important factor in determining outcomes.
Custody Arrangements (1 of 2)
• Children should be sheltered from custody battles between divorcing
parents because encounters are often hostile. Continued strife of
parents in conflict, is very disrupting to children.
• Parents who share joint custody are more involved with parenting
responsibilities, have more contact with their children, and use
parenting resources extensively.
– Involved fathers who have joint custody, are more likely to be
financially responsible towards the children, preventing a poverty-
level existence.
• Lack of education, poorly paying jobs, lack of work experience, and
inadequate alimony all contribute to the likelihood that more custodial
mothers have family incomes at or below the poverty level. The
feminization of poverty.
– Causes role strain.
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KRAMER VS KRAMER
Custody Arrangements (2 of 2)
• Boundaries become blurred as the relationships and roles
between mothers and their children change.
• Family systems headed by custodial fathers are increasing.
– Typically better educated than single-parent mothers and
earn higher incomes.
– Can experience role strain as they add childrearing to their
other responsibilities.
• Men gain custody of children after divorce because they actively
seek it or because the mother has forfeited her rights by not
being a responsible parent.
• Some positive outcomes that may be accomplished in single-
parent families, depending on individual contexts, are gender
equality and resilience.
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Grandparenting
• The grandparent role within the family often includes
encouraging grandchildren, supporting the parents, and
acting as teachers in the passing down of family history
and heritage.
• Skipped generation parenting– when the grandparents
step in for their own children and take over roles to parent
their grandchildren.
• Grandparents have few legal rights over visitation, and
therefore may not be allowed to visit grandchildren
following a divorce or family conflict.
– Divorce settlements may spell out the details.
Caring for Aging Parents

• Sandwich generation– the middle generation who care
for their own children, as well as for their aging parents.
– Experience role strain and possibly burnout, especially
if they are also juggling career obligations and
partnerships/marriages.
• Elder abuse– emotional, physical, and/or verbal abuse, or
violation of rights, of adults. Typically targets adults during
their middle and especially late adulthood years.
– Reducing the unacceptable actions:
▪ Involving more men and community members in the
care of the elderly, as well as providing greater
access to education and funding.
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Families Post-COVID
11
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9/21/2023

The Dynamics of Ratio

Single Parent Families

Caring for Aging Parents

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