While the family is known as the basic functional unit of society, recent years have seen this institution face a lot of challenges that pose a threat to its continuity, or even recognition of the role it plays in the larger picture. The family unit not only faces challenges from within, with some members of the family unit being at variance with others (for example, when husband and wife cannot meet eye to eye), but also mounting pressures can be observed from the outside (for example, when married individuals become the targets of lovelorn singles), and the sanctity of marriage is at risk. However, whereas there are indeed documented stressors that threaten its continuity, the family can stand up to the challenge by focusing on factors that strengthen it. This article shall review the factors that cause stress among family members, and those that strengthen family bonds.
Stressors may be defined as those activities, incidences or behaviors that tend to bring disharmony among members of the family, and cause them to have emotional burdens. The effects that they might have on families are quite numerous, including people refusing to talk to each other, and when they do talk, they talk at each other. This is characterized by people having what may be referred to as shouting matches. As a way of trying to escape the stressful situations, some members of the family (husband or wife) might simply walk out of the house, sometime for good, marking the end of the relationship. However, the same stresses might be the sources of stronger family bonds when they are regarded with sobriety.
One of the stressors a family might face is a scarcity of finances. At the individual level, failing to make ends meet affects the mental health of the parent who plays the role of the family’s bread winner (Wei and Ji-Kang, p. 1145). When the parent has such stress, he/she fails to give proper attention to the children at home, and cannot keep abreast with the children’s school work either (Wei and Ji-Kang, p. 1145). This stressor also has an effect on the children, who are very likely to become delinquents. The lack of money at home drives the children into activities they think will help the situation, but since they lack the proper guidance they invariable choose wrong options. Overall, the family affected in this manner becomes regarded as outcasts by the society(Wei and Ji-Kang , p. 1145).
A strength may be regarded as an activity, incidence or behavior that tends to draw family members into a unified entity. Strengths have the capacity to ensure that family members enjoy sound mental, physical, and social health, and enable each family member to become confident of facing any (possibly all) challenge(s) that might come their way. One possible strength a family might have is regarding each individual as an equal. The effect that this might have on an individual (any member of the family) is to build a character of humility. On the whole family unit, when the family members have this humility, they can give each other the attention they deserve when they cannot perform certain duties because, say, they have a disability. A good example is given by Kuntz (p. 30) who says that such families will not hesitate to seek help.
Family involvement in the problem an individual is facing is related to the family having time together. When the whole family gets involved in the problem that one member is facing, depending on the emotional problem the individual has, the person will either stop internalizing the problem or externalizing it (Schlauch, Levitt and Connell, p.2333). In relation to the person’s use of drugs, family involvement has the capacity to help the individual stop the destructive behavior, but this also depends on the drug that the individual is abusing (Schlauch, Levitt and Connell, p.2333). When the individual manages to beat the bad habit, for example, of substance abuse, it is a win for the whole family, which can then enjoy a different status in the society that might have otherwise ostracized them.
In conclusion, family stressors are not entirely negative things, because the end result is determined by the attitude the family has as they are facing the stressor. Stressors have the potential to make the family enjoy greater unity or to break it up. Strengths, on the other hand, are to be regarded as positive, but they may not always win against situations challenging a family. Research has been carried out that somehow measures the strength of family involvement against the usage of marijuana, and the results have not been quite encouraging (Schlauch, Levitt and Connell, p.2333). Future studies could focus on other substances against which family involvement appears to have no positive effect, and how the involvement of the individual’s will can bring about the desired outcome.
Works Cited
Kuntz, Jennifer. THINK Marriages and Families. Pearson Education, 2012.
Schlauch, Robert C, et al. "The moderating effect of family involvement on substance use risk factors in adolescents with severe emmotional and behavioral challenges." Addictive Behaviors,38 (2013): 2333 - 2342.
Wei, Hsi-Sheng and Chen Ji-Kang. "The Relationships between Family Financial Stress, Mental Health Problems, Child Rearing Practice, and School Involvement among Taiwanese Parents with School-Aged Children." Journal of Children and Family Studies, 23 (2014): 1145 - 1154.
