Family Role in Children's Academic Achievement

EFFECT OF FAMILY ROLE AND STRUCTURE ON

Structural family theory and parental attachment theory will be used as a theoretical background to assist with the investigation into the effects of family role and structure on academic achievement in children. Kenny and Donaldson (1991) report on the theory of structural family theory, developed by Minuchin in 1974. According to this theory, a healthy family yields feelings of belongingness and differentiation to its members. With this in mind, a family that is either excessively enmeshed or disengaged tends to provide the opposite to its members. Interpersonal boundaries in the healthy family are not too rigid or diffuse, and therefore the children in this family are able to move toward separation and independence. When the boundaries are broken down, the child may take on inappropriate roles such as that of caretaker or confidante. Marital conflict can also lead to anxiety and maladaptive behaviors in children according to this theory. Thus when the family structure and roles are inappropriate they lead to psychological distress in the child.

The attachment theory also adds insight into the effects of different family structures. Kenny and Donaldson point out that attachment theory, discussed by Bowlby in 1969 and Ainsworth in 1978, views attachment as an enduring bond that gives the child a base of support which in turn allows for intellectual and social compe

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resulting stress in a child's life. For example studies through the late 80s and early 90s demonstrated that marital discord or negative parenting effected a child's development. While the mechanisms involved the resulting stress remained unknown, factors studied included intensity, frequency, and degree of parental discord such as quarreling, as well as severity, lack of resolution, and the content related to the child. Structural family theory, describing the different ways that a child can become triangulated within a family, providing loyalty an support to a parent, began to be used to assist with understanding of stress mechanisms. According to this theory, the child who has become the identified patient became so to maintain homeostasis in the family system. Contemporary While the earlier studies were devoted to effects of family structure on academic achievement of children, the debate regarding which type of family structure has the greatest impact on the child remained unanswered (Acock & Demo, 1994; Lerner, 1995; Stockard & Mayberry, 1992). Mohan and Gulati (1986) studied variables that contribute to academic achievement and concluded that family and home environment, socioeconomic status, and parental interests

Category: Psychology - F