What are the purposes of a family? What purposes does your family serve? What do you think are the most important elements of family life for the well-being of society?
A family is a fundamental social institution that has been in existence since the creation of man. It is made up of two or more people who live together and are related by blood, marriage or adoption.
The main purpose of the family to offer protection to the children, from physical, psychological and social harm that may lead to improper functioning in the society. It gives a sense of security and belonging to its members. The family should also provide the basic needs of its members, these include food, shelter, clothing and according to United Nations education as well. The family also disciplines the children in preparation for their adult life. The family plays an important of role of introducing religion and morals to the children.(S. Eitzen 430)
My family plays the role of providing for the basic and other needs. It is also in the family that I find comfort and love every day. The members of my family always support each other. It is through my family that I have learnt how to socialize. It has taught me great lessons by advising me on what is right and what is not and what I owe to do in difficult times.
The important elements in the family include; proper leadership by the parents. It will ensure that there is respect and adherence to the decisions made. In a family there should be effective communication that allows for free flow of information. A family should support all the members and finally there should be easy access of each other without biasness.
How are dual-earner families and single-parent families affecting the way children in the U.S. are reared? Are there advantages to these family arrangements? What structural factors have caused these patterns to develop?
Dual earner families and single parent families make the children to become more independent and to take care of themselves because either the both parents are outworking and too busy to deal with teenage frenzies or the single parent has two jobs and is always busy or too tired. At times these children end up making mistakes like drug abuse, premarital sex, as they look for attention elsewhere because they are not getting it at home.
These families give the children a chance to make their own decisions and make their own mistakes which they eventually learn from. It gives them independence, responsibility and accountability. These are important qualities in the future.
These pattern of family have developed due to the empowerment of women who believe they belong to the cooperate world. There is also the increase in the rate of divorce taking place in the USA. The society has also readily accepted single families and it is no longer viewed as a norm. (S. Eitzen 427).
Based on what we have studied this month and in this last chapter, do you think we should create and invest in policies and programs that protect citizens from poverty, unemployment and other social problems, or should individuals take total responsibility for managing problems in their own lives"?? Why"?? Are there times one approach works better than the other?
The government in programs and policies that protect its own citizens; This is because sometimes the economic forces make the capital and labour markets to be unbearable yet there is skilled labour and capital resources but people are afraid of loses. There can be policies that bring about low interest rates and encourage both savings and investments. There should be policies that create stability in the goods and money markets. The loans should be made accessible to the people at low interest rates so that they can borrow and invest in productive enterprises. The people should also be willing to invest loans properly and also take opportunity of stable labour markets to save their income for their future. This will create self employment that always leads to innovation and discoveries. (S. Eitzen 40)
The people cannot be able to do without the support from the government and the government cannot be able to implement policies without a cooperating public.
Why does it seem easier to spend ten times the cost to contain a problem, e.g., building prisons, than to invest in social programs designed to help prevent criminal behavior from occurring"?? What might convince policy makers to work on preventive measures and long-term improvements rather than "band aids" and short term measures?
It is easier to spend on building orisons because it is the easiest way to take out the criminal from the society. It is also meant to set an example to the rest of the population that if one commits the same crime then they will their freedom. But always prevention is better than cure at all times. That is on the other hand easier said than done because it is time consuming.
Some of the preventive mechanisms should include campaigning for the embracing the law. The law is a friend and not an enemy of the society. It is meant to protect the people . let law be taught from the time children start schooling. It should be in their embedded in their hearts like religion. There should also be community policing and psychological help should be offered to the criminals. (S. Eitzen 340)
The prisons should be turned into rehabilitation centres, where people are not punished but are corrected and shown what is right and where they went wrong. They should be taught the law and why it is placed there in the first place. Proper follow up should also be made to these people once they are out. This includes a policy that abolishes discrimination based on whether one has ever been convicted of crime. This stigma is the one that forces most people to turn to crime again out of desperation and lack of another alternative.
People should also be put on house arrest because it is cheaper than building prisons.(S.Eitzen,557).
References
Eitzen D. Stanley; Maxine B Z; Eitzen K S, Social Problems, Twelfth Edition, Oxford University Press, New York
