CHAPTER TWO
DISCUSSION
What are the effects brought by the diversification of family structures on Filipino children?
FAMILY
Family as the Basic Social Unit of Society A family is known as the basic social unit in a society and it is crucial in humanity. A society is defined as the organization of mutually dependent people who share the same territory and culture and who act as one for survival and well-being purposes. The family with whom an individual lives with must meet his basic physiological needs like foods, shelter and clothing which are essential for his survival while, on the other hand, a society, attached with their culture, must meet the needs of its people like public order and public policy. Family is considered as the basic unit of society because everything starts from the family. The family in the end is what meets the basic survival needs of an individual being, while a society is the social network of peoples who support this goal.
A family also plays a major role in the development of each family member in compliance with the law and policy in their society. The blame is often put to the family whenever there are problems in the personality or behavior of a person in relation to the society. It is said that stable families are the first unit in building unified communities and a stable society. For this reason, we should put greater emphasis on the way a person is raised in the family where he belongs because, eventually, the result would either benefit the society or be a source of trouble for the whole community.
Changing Patterns of Family Structures Changes in the structure of a family have been seen by the world in the passage of time. A father, a mother and one or more children living in the same lodging is what construct a typical family. However, a lot of forms/types existed nowadays. An extended family is an example of these where a nuclear family or single parent family lives with any extended family members. One may be currently living in a house together with her nuclear family, her grandmother, one uncle and two aunties and cousins making them an extended family. The adoption of a child by a childless family would be another instance. Therefore, in consideration to the above statements, a group of people who may not be blood relatives but are bonded with love, respect and concern for each other may also constitute a family.
As noticed in today’s society, non-traditional families such as single parent families, divorced families, and gay and lesbian families became more common and the typical/traditional family less prevalent. A family is no longer composes of just a father and a mother and their child/children. Actually, there are a lot of variations which can be made nowadays. It can now also be just a mother and her daughter/son or a father or a mother and his/her dog and etc. Over time, the traditional form had to adopt with changes like divorce, unmarried couples, single-parenthood, same-sex marriage and a lot more.
Families are not often static and they undergo changes through time and the life course. For example, a two-parent family may end as a single parent family for the reason of separation or death of a spouse. Or family members may be temporarily separated for the reason of migration into other countries but they will be eventually reunited with each other but not on their homeland. Seeing families as dynamic permits an individual to be familiar with their variability and the need to recompose and reform themselves caused by the new realities they are about or have to face and seldom because of lack of choice.
DIVERSE FAMILY STRUCTURES AND CHILD OUTCOMES
Even though there is scarce evidence that traditional families are regulating historically or cross-culturally, uncertainties have been expressed about whether those new family arrangements that exist nowadays such as single-parent families, step and blended families, gay and lesbian families are adaptive for children.
Single-Parent Families Single parent families are those families that may have been the products of divorce or some other separation or widowhood. No matter how these families come to be formed will eventually affect an individual parent’s financial circumstances, involvement with his/her child/children and his/her competencies as a parent. Single-parent families are all around us today where cases of teenage pregnancy and early marriage and marital dissolution have been increasing.
Single-parenthood can be one of the biggest challenges in one’s life. Apparently, Women and men may find themselves taking the full responsibilities of the upbringing of their children alone. Although single-parenthood, in some ways, can be as satisfying as sharing parenting with a husband or a wife, there are problems which are common or unique w/ being a single parent.
Facts about Single-Parent Families Single-parents families are becoming prevalent today. A single parent is one with one or more children and who is not living with any of the children's other parents. In the Philippines, there are at least 13.9 million Filipinos who are single/solo parents who carry the burden of raising their family by themselves. Government statistics have shown that these 13.9 single/solo parents constitute about 14 to 15 percent of the estimated 94 million Filipinos. And according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), there are about 3 million children in solo parent homes (children of migrant parents, widows and single parents) in the Philippines. A great deal is recognized about what a single-parent family is and how the single-parent family has changed and developed all the way through the years. Because of this knowledge, the effects of this type of family on children has been spotlighted and studied to a great extent.
General Effects of Single-Parent Families on Children’s Outcomes Based on previous researches, it has shown that children living in single-parent households, in general, appear to be worse compared to those children living in two-parent households. In the Philippines, family structure contributes to certain characteristics of a child's well being. For instance, there are incidences of lower birth rates and higher death rates among infants in such families probably because of negligence and inability to provide their basic needs. Moreover, the number of children in school and in good health is lower in this group of children, and the number of children who are becoming pregnant at such young ages is predominantly increasing. There are also signs that children who have witnessed parental separation may have problems such as depression, emotional stress, and may experience difficulties in school.
When there is only one parent present, the family is often less financially well-off and this is usually the main root for many family problems. It has been found that most of the differences in family relationships between single-parent and non-disrupted two-parent family including parental conflicts were accounted for by socio-economic status. (Bronstein, Clauson, Stoll and Abrams, 1993) And, the membership of a single-parent family is not anymore a significant factor in children's adjustment when family income, housing and maternal employment were considered. (Dunn et al. 1998) Research has shown that the effects of being in poor family may include lower education levels and economic achievement because single-parents fail to provide enough resources for their schooling or do not have enough money to send them in school, and can result to isolation and loneliness to children. Also, the children in single-parent families are, in general, less monitored and there is less parent-children communication. When less monitored by their parents, children are more likely to have greater substance use and risk-taking behavior, such as smoking, drinking, and drug use perhaps because of the influences of their peers.
However, problems in single-parent families may not always be because of the parent or the socio-economic status of the family, but it can be concurrent to other things that are also related to single parenting. For instance, family processes such as parent-child interaction and parenting style and values which have more of a role in affecting children’s well-being in single-parent families than socioeconomic disadvantage. (Weinraub, Horvath and Gringlas, 2000)
It seems that being a part of a single-parent household means a negative family environment. However, it should be said that many single-parent families find a balance and may succeed today.
Single-Mother Families Single mothers face some difficulties which are different from that of the single fathers. Since most single mothers have lower paying jobs than most single fathers, they may find it hard to sustain or to cover for all the needs of their families by themselves. Having roles of provider and nurturer can cause considerable parenting stress for these women because, as single parents, they do not have husbands/partners to whom they can hand over their children when they need a time out from the never-ending demands of parenting. Although single mothers are less financially well-off, they are more nurturing and caring to their children and they are more likely to have more extensive support system than single-fathers. In most cases, single moms are often closer to friends and family to whom they can run into when in need. However, since they have low-paying jobs, they have to spend more time working for other part-time jobs in order to earn enough for their families which leaves them with less time for their children.
Single-Father Families Just like single mothers, they also experience unique difficulties in the absence of partners or spouses. But unlike single moms, most single-fathers have better works which give them higher salaries. Thus, some single dads do not run into economic issues than single moms do. However, some single fathers are not often close and communicate with their children. As a result, children being raised by their dads are more likely to abuse their selves with drugs, alcohols and cigarettes, and to engage in sex at an earlier age. These are in contrary to the belief of most people that fathers are stricter and more of disciplinarians than mother when it is actually the other way round. Or, the children may learn those from their fathers since they tend to have more vices than women. Some single dads may find the juggling of work, supervision, and household management to be their major concerns. These fathers have greater appreciation of responsibilities and they have a greater interest in the education and security of their children.
Single fathers and single mothers may be facing different challenges, but regardless of sex, single-parent families must learn to adjust to be a successful unit.
Single parent families, whether headed by fathers or mothers, are more likely to deal with more difficulties compared with two-parent families. These parents are more stressed because they have to attend alone on the needs of their families, particularly the needs of the children, without their spouses. If not monitored, there are high possibilities that these children will be delinquent or will be adversely affected emotionally, physically and intellectually.
In this kind of situations, there are some things that single parents can do to lessen or reduce the risks on their families and children. These parents have to make strong support networks, personal friendships, and new social networks as well as enhance their self-esteem if needed. The single parent's sense of self-respect and fulfilment can give an excellent anchor for children. Many single parents have learned or have been accustomed living on reduced incomes, and have redefined their relationships with their children.
Apparently, single-parent families will continue to exist in our society. However, being a member of such families does not always mean or result to unhappy homes because if armed with the right tools and knowledge then such families can succeed.
LGBT-parented FamiliesNowadays, many gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans-genders or LGBT partners are becoming parents by means of adoption or through the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) conceptions where one of the partners is the genetic parent and the egg or sperm donor is biologically related to the other parent. Children who are growing up in LGBT-parented homes may live with one parent or two, and they may or may not have biological relations with the adults whom they considered parents. However, children are genetically related to both parents but only in rare cases through ART. In the Philippines and in other countries, homosexual partners still don't have access to the legal institution of marriage because the Catholic Church is opposing such marriages. Thus, those children growing up in LBGT-parented homes live with their unmarried and many with their never-married-parents. Furthermore, those children with their lesbian or gay parents don't have the male and female parents accepted or approved by cultural norms.
A research on LGBT-parented households and their impacts on children by the American Psychological Association or APA have shown that there is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation which means that LGBT parents are just similar to those heterosexual parents in providing supportive and healthy environments for their children. The APA also stated that there is not a single study that has found children growing in LGBT-parented families to be disadvantageous in any significant respect relative to children being raised by their heterosexual parents. This has shown that the adjustment, development and psychological well-being of children are not related to parental sexual orientation and those children from such families are similar to the children of heterosexual families.
The following are the results/findings of previous researches/studies about LGBT-parented families in contrast to the people's common beliefs that those children under the custody or supervision of gays or lesbians parents will need extra emotional support and will face unique social stress. There are actually many researches that have shown that children with gay and lesbian parents are not different from those children with heterosexual parents in emotional development or in peer and adult relationship. The findings of these studies, together with their respective researchers, are as follows:
- Children conceived by lesbian mother through DI found to be just as well adjusted as children born to heterosexual couple. (Flaks, et. al, 1995)
- Adolescents of lesbian mother no different in self-esteem than from heter. mother. (Huggins, 1989)
- No difference found in IQ or WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) between children of lesbians vs. M/F couple. (Green et. al, 1986; Flaks, et. al, 1995)
- No difference in peer relations between children of lesbians and M/F couple. (Golombok, et. al, 1983)
- Self-reports reveal no difference in being teased as a child for adolescent daughters of lesb. compared to M/F. (Green at. al, 1986)
- Not the case for boys: More likely to have been teased than girls about having same-sex parents. (Tasker&Golombok, 1997)
- No difference in psych. adjustment for children of 2 fem. vs. M/F. (Flaks, 1995)
- No difference on measures of emotion, deviant behavior, or relationships. (Golombok, et. al, 1983)
- No difference in likelihood of anxiety or depression in later life for lesbian offspring vs. M/F. (Tasker, 1997)
- Gender Role: children of lesbians just as likely as M/F kids to pick "gender-appropriate toys". (Hoeffer, 1981)
The findings of these works revealed little or no differences in adjustment between those children raised by same-sex parents and those children living with heterosexual parents. There were no significant differences between children from same-sex families and children from opposite sex families on most of all the measures that we care about such as measures on self-esteem and anxiety, measures of school outcomes, or measures of family relationships. Those children seem to be doing as fine as other children and, in most cases, they are statistically indistinguishable from children raised by married heterosexual parents.
Parents' sexual orientations or genders are not important predictors of the children's well-being but it is the qualities of parent-children or family relationships which has an effect or consistently related to children outcomes. LGBT-parented families with close family ties and relationships are as effective as those heterosexual families in the upbringing of their children.
Step-parent and Blended families A step family is one where a single parent starts living with, or marries, an individual or another single parent. An individual can be in step families either as a step-parent or a biological parent. However, to be classified as step family, a family is normally expected to fulfil two conditions. First, one of the parents is not the biological parent of all the children, and second, the parents and children share a residence. Another definition of a step family is that it refers to a married couple living in the same house with at least one step child living together with them who is the biological or adopted child of one parent but not the other parent. A blended family is a subset of the step-family, and refers to families that include children who do not share the same natural parents.
Step families are also varied in their organization just like single-parent families. Research has shown that blended families show more problems in family relationships, parenting and child adjustment compared with simple step families. Regardless of their form, stepfamilies may experience unique challenges and difficulties, which may increase tensions in the family. Most step-parents tend to be less fostering and warm, and they have lesser attachment or involvement with their stepchildren compared with the children’s biological parents. However, being not so related biologically does not rule out the chances for parental involvement or investment in children because relationships between the step-parents and step-children may develop over time. In such families, children may have fewer difficulties in adjustment when their stepparents are able to build a respected and convincing parental role. But still, the efforts of stepparents to adopt a positive parental role may result to confrontation and hatred on the part of some children. The step-parent is usually in a difficult situation most especially with affection and authority with the child. If he/she makes too much affection, he/she might be accused for wanting to replace the other parent.
The biological mothers in step families have been found to supervise their children less than those in original families, and tend to be more negative. (Hetherington, 1999) The relationship of the biological parent and his/her children may get worse because patterns of communication are disturbed, or maybe because the addition of the parent's new partner is met with doubt or negativity. Because of these, the children may have the tendency to rebel and to be closer with their peers than their families. Just like some children in disrupted single-parent families, they also tend to have greater substance use and risk-taking behavior, such as smoking, drinking, and drug use. Lastly, financial stress may be a factor for stepfamilies. Parents in stepfamilies tend to be better off than single-parent families, but are still behind intact, original two-parent families in this respect.
