What are

Family
Structure?
The definition of a family has change and
continues to change as lifestyle, social norms,
and standards are also shifting the simplest
definition of what a family is according to
merriam Webster Online Dictionary is “a group
of individuals living under one roof and usually
under one head,” which may also be the
definition of what household is
 From of Sociological point of view,
Filipino Sociologist Belen T. G. Medina,
PhD (Medina 2001) Defined family as
“two or more persons who share
resources, share responsibility for
decisions, share values and goals, and
have a commitment to each other
overtime.” (Gregorio Alfonsin C. Andoyo,
The Filipino Family and Filipino Values.
 Median’s definition of a family
practically encompasses all kind of
family relational variations, such as
the nuclear family, the single
parent family, the extended family,
and the childless family (Toby
Shelton, The Four Essential Types
of Family Structures).
Different Types Of Families
1.Nuclear or Traditional Family
2.Single Parent
3.Extended Family
4.Childless Family
 1. Nuclear or Traditional
The nuclear or traditional family is
comprised of a father, a mother, and their
offspring/s. usually, the father in the
traditional family plays the role of the
breadwinner while the mother stats at
home to manage house and the children.
 2. Single Parent
As the name says, single parent family
structure is consist of singular parent, and
the children. There’s just one person who
earn, protect and to nurture the child/
children. Can be reared or helped by relatives
or parents in supporting and protecting the
child/ children of the single parent.
 3. Extended Family
The extended family is the nuclear family plus
the parents of either the husband or the wife, or
both their parents, depending on the
arrangements they make. Sometimes, a single
brother or sister of either one of the couple may
also be part of the extended family. If there is a
need for household help, the first option is to seek
out. Traditionally, the man of the house is the
breadwinner and decides for the family. However,
with the presence of the couple’s parents and
decisions-maker may vary at the times.
4. Childless Family
The childless family just the couple
without any child or children, and who may be
living all by themselves. They may or may not
have household help assisting around the
house.
 As society progresses and
diversity is more acknowledged by
many, new variations of the basic
family structures are surfacing,
such as interracial marriages,
adoptive families, and lately, same-
sex marriage
 Influence of Family Structure on
the Adolescence
The family is considered the first place
where growing children learn their basic social
skills. The interaction and quality of
relationship between parent and child are said
to determine the child’s future relationships
as he or she matures toward adulthood
(Papalia and Feldman 2012; quoting
Overbeek, Stattin, Vermulst, Ha, and Engels
2007).
 Family influences may vary based on the
family structure present in the home. For
the nuclear or traditional family, the
values, social skills, and behavior are
directly learned from the parents. These
are expressed in their unique parenting
styles, the nature of parental authority
they practice, and the general atmosphere
at home.
For a single parent family, the absence
of one parent may create an impact on
the growing child who would normally
look up to authority as role models.
Oftentimes, single parents try to
become both the mother and the
father, or may seek out a relative to
stand in to compensate for the
absence of the other parent.
 Extended families have both positive and
negative influences on the child. On the one
hand, the presence of different generations
within a home provides the child a sense of
stability in relationships as he or she witnesses
firsthand how relationships can work and endure
challenges, and to see a continuum in the family
line. The presence of grandparents also provides
the child a sense of anchoring or rooting to the
family’s history, thus, enabling the child to
appreciate family heritage and traditions.
 On the other hand, the presence
of grandparents may create some
confusion to a child, particularly
when the biological parents may
adopt a parenting style that is
opposite that of the grandparents.
 
 PARENTAL AUTHORITY AND
PARENTING STYLE
Authoritative parenting is a key factor in the
psychosocial development of an adolescent, and it
is believed to foster a healthy and positive impact
on the adolescent’s development (Papalia and
Feldman 2012; quoting Baumrind 1991, 2005).
Authoritative parents are those who insist on their
child learning important values, norms, and rules,
but are also willing to sit down to listen and
negotiate with them should they resist (Papalia and
Feldman 2012).
 Authoritative parenting is about exercising control over a
child’s behavior but not the child’s emotions, beliefs, and
self-concept. This psychological control imposed by a parent
on a child through emotional manipulations or the
withdrawal of love and caring can harm the child’s
psychosocial development and mental health (Papalia and
Feldman 2012; quoting Steinberg and Darling 1994).
Studies have shown that when a parent provides for
psychological independence, the child tends to become self-
confident and competent in their studies and social
interactions. On the other hand, when parents control their
child psychologically. The child’s emotional health suffers
more when the parent con- trols the child’s behavior
(Papalia and Feldman 2012).
 The manner by which parents (or primary caregivers) rear a
Child has a strong influence on the child’s development.
Behavior, most particularly, is often learned by a child through
observation. Albert Bandura’s theory of social learning hinges
three concepts: learning takes place through observation
(modeling); mental states are important to learning, which
means that a child’s learning can be self-reinforced or
rewarded if there is satisfaction or pride in what was learned,
and not a learning can lead to changes in behavior.
Parents of adolescents need to understand the challenges
involved in their development, such as their struggle for
independence and self-autonomy, the formation of their
identity and roles, and learning the value of fidelity in the
process.
 Parents can serve as the models their adolescents can
emulate while at the same time supporting their development
toward young adulthood. For example, parenting styles that
allow meaningful dialogs to happen between parent and
adolescent encourages self-disclosure for the adolescent, which
may result in learning about intimacy and trust. The parent’s
life situations such as a career, personal relationships, and
financial and social status, may also have an effect on how
success is defined by the adolescent. All of these are being
observed and internalized by the adolescent, and may later on
imitate them and claim them a their own. We often hear of
families where one or both parents are doctors, lawyers,
architects, and some of their children follow their career and
professional footsteps.
 Family Heredity
When you look around the members of your family, you
might have observed certain physical similarities that exist
among yourself, your siblings, and your parents. There are
some characteristics that are influenced by heredity, and
even by the environment. One of them is obesity or
leanness, where the predisposition toward one or the other
is often found throughout the generations from either side of
the family. However, due to the improvements made in
nutrition, the younger generation may outgrow their parents
and tower over them. Predispositions to certain diseases are
often believed to be passed on from generation to
generation, such as diabetes  
 Intelligence is another thing that is
passed on due to hered ity, but is also due
to other factors like brain size and
structure and the compilation of many
genes resulting to intelligence. Of course,
there are environmental factors that can
affect intelli gence such as proper nutrition
during pregnancy and childhood.
 There is a 40% to 50% chance of personality
traits being passed on through heredity (Papalia
and Feldman 2012; quoting Bouchard 2014)
such as temperament, which is the
characteristic manner by which an individual
looks at situations and how they react to them.
However, it is believed that environmental
factors are also influential in the development of
such traits, especially learned through social
interactions initially at home, then in school,
and toward adult life, in the workplace.
 Some believe that personality traits can also be
learned through observation. A child may imitate a
calm and retrospective parent in the same way that a
child may imitate an agitated and irritable parent. As
we have discussed how heredity and environment
often Influence our physiological and psychological
make-up, we will now discuss a way in which you can
trace and identify patterns in your family for physical
and personality traits, diseases, traditional rituals, and
many others. In this section, you will learn how to
create a “genogram” of your family.
 
 GENOGRAM
As we have discussed how heredity and
environment often influence our physiological
and psychological make-up, we will now
discuss a way in which you can trace and
identify patterns in your family for physical and
personality traits, diseases, traditional rituals,
and many others. In this section, you will learn
how to create a “genogram” of your family.
 A genogram is a graphical map of a
family’s history that traces and illustrates
patterns in its structure and characteristics
using special symbols to describe
relationships, major events, dis- eases,
traditions, social and personal beliefs and
rituals, cultural heritage, religious beliefs,
value systems, philosophies about life, and
the dynamics of a family over several
generations.
 There are possible traits you may want to trace
in your family. Here are some suggestions:
 Physicalcharacteristics such as skin tone, shapes of
eyes, nose, and ears, hair type, baldness, disease
tendencies, etc.
 Genetic or external factors such as artistic, musical, or
literary abilities, sports abilities, and personality traits
like being reserved and introverted, being friendly, being
spendthrift, etc.
 Social and economic backgrounds such as occupation or
careers, educational level, club memberships, school
affiliations, political affiliations, and others.
 Religiousvalues including religious affiliations, religious
practices, and religious beliefs.
 Familyvalues like family cohesion, exclusivity, educational
attainment, respect for elders, etc.
 Cultural background such as provincial origins, languages
or dialects spoken, social skills like table manners, family
traditions, how family members got their names, favored
cuisines and special food served, world views such as the
practice of feng shui, karma, superstitions, etc.
(Tracing Family Traits Using a Genogram by Cynthia Doxey
Green, Ph.D.)
 How to Make a Genogram
Here are the steps in creating your family genogram. Remember
that making a genogram can be fun, or it can be something
serious too.
Step 1: Ask yourself this first question: What is my purpose of
creating a genogram? If this is clear with you, then you can start
creating a list of persons in your family that will be part of the
genogram. You may also start collecting relevant information that
are easily accessible to you like your parents, siblings, close
relatives, and friends. To serve as an example, let us trace the
height characteristics of your family. Determine how to categorize
heights, like 4.9 inches and below may be categorized as SHORT,
5.0 inches to 5.6 inches may be categorized as MEDIUM, and 5.7
inches and up as TALL.
Step 2: Next decision that you have to make is to determine
the number of generations you would like to be represented
in your genogram. In our example, let us trace up to your
maternal and paternal grand- parents generation. So now,
list down all the persons who will form your genogram:
1. Grandparents on your mother’s side
2. Grandparents on your father’s side 
3. Your parents 
4. Your parents’ siblings  
5. Your siblings
6. Your first cousins
Step 3: You may start your research by
asking your parents and grandparents (if
they are still living) where they took after
with their heights.
Step 4: Now you can design your genogram.
There are plenty of genogram templates
available online, or you may want to do the
diagram free-hand. If you are using free-
hand, there are diagrams you need to use
that will represent different things.
Here are some examples of these symbols:
1. Males are represented by a square. If you wish to indicate a
marriage, place the square symbol to the left side. Women are
represented by a circle. If this female is married to the male
you first represented, place the circle to the right side of the
square.
2. The oldest child is usually placed below and to the left of his
or her family. The youngest, on the other hand, is placed below
and to the right side.
Step 5: Connect the symbols with lines. Using the illustration
given, you may now connect the different symbols you used.
Single lines indicate unions or marriages. Double lines will
indicate separation or divorce.
Step 6: Use representative symbols for the different height
categories you made. Here is a simple representa- tion of
these height categories:
a. S-for short
b. M-for medium
C. T-for tall 
You may place these letters inside the squares and boxes for
easy visual identification. 
Step 7: Look at your chart and identify if there are patterns.
Find out if these are consistent. If not, you might have missed
some information regarding a person or a family. Patterns are
helpful in explaining the height differences in your family.
Here are some helpful tips in making your genogram:
 Remember that there are some people, even if they
are your relatives, who may be sensitive about a
certain physical trait, like height. Approach your
research by asking questions with sensitivity.
 Clarifywith your family members that the
genogram you are making is to help you
understand certain family traits, characteristics,
events, marital situations, diseases, other sensitive
topics, and explain to them that you are not
judging them about the situations. 
 Considertalking to a professional when
making a genogram on hereditary problems,
for example.
 Becareful with your conclusions after you
have done
 your genogram. These might offend some
relatives.
 Keep your genogram hidden and shown to
only a few selected group of relatives if the
conclusions are sensitive or even confidential.