According to my definition, families consist of father, mother and children. The husband must be married to a wife who is not related to him by blood. In the Canadian family, blood relationship is not a factor to determine a family member unlike the American family definition where the head of the family and all family members should be related by blood. In Canada, an adopted child automatically becomes a family member unlike the American family definition where adoption will lead to one being a member of the household but not the family.
To become a member of a family, it depends on how much time you have been with them. The mutual consent over time in the Canadian definition puts divorce or death as the end of the family relationship. This opposes American family definition whereby death or divorce has nothing to do with the family ties as long as children are still alive. In regard to the American style, people who may not be included in the family include friends, adopted people, grandfathers, and workers.
The interesting findings that emerge in Canadian family relations include parents favorably responding to the emerging adult’s departure from home. In my view, parents have no power to influence the movement of the adults who are already away from home. To this extent, adults are driven by the social force which calls them to respond to the economic and social needs of their lives. For instance many of them move out to look for employment and their sexual partner in preparation for their next family.
In regard to little research being done on siblings’ relation during adolescence, I agree with this notion that parents assume that their children have no idea of their opposite sex partner. Similarly, the children themselves are sensitive and they hid from their parents or conceal information or even pretend to be innocent. To this extent there is little research on the sibling’s relationship during adolescence.
While researching this area of adolescence, I will use the age factor to lead me through the process. I will first start with the earliest age noting the behavioral change of the siblings. Secondly I will leave them to mingle freely while I note down their reactions, thirdly I will write about the observed changes and lastly review the just completed stage.
Parenting and attachments are culturally based. This is true in that whatever a man does with his wife, similarly the children will definitely imitate when they grow up because that is the trend. Similarly children are advised to emulate their parents and what they do or become will be determined by what their parents did.
In my opinion it is true that parents and youth operate well under a secure environment. The secure environment ensures transparency and security. By these two, children are free with their parents and hence in case of anything they are sure of parental defense. Parents on the other hand will ensure that their children are comfortable and secure.
It’s not true that relationships within the family are mostly positive; in some cases they turn to be conflictual. To my opinion, a relationship that turns out to be conflictual is a relationship that was founded on a shaky foundation, a relationship without values and aims. A well defined relationship that is built on forgiveness is strong enough to absorb any conflict. Though it will be a lie to say that there is no conflict in a relationship but it will also not be true to say that there is no family that has never conflicted. Conflicts are there by the way they are handled will determine the future of the relationship and its stability.
It is true to me that families operate within the historical, cultural and economic realities which in turn influence their actions. For example, rich families in most cases have a rich background unlike the poor families. In this view, the actions of the poor historic background are that they form their own class opposed to the rich families. They also beg from the rich for their daily bread or work manually to achieve their ends. Unlike the rich families, they have or will never dream of bending knees down to the poor one.