Changing Definitions of Family
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Despite the fact that the majority of American children born today are likely to find themselves in a single-parent household at some point (Wagonseller etal, 1997, p. 14), the ideal of a perfect family in most peopleÆs minds is still made up of a mother, a father and two or three children. The stereotype of this perfect family for most people may still also include a mother who stays at home full time. But the ideal of the typical family has shifted to some extent in the post-World War II years to catch up with the realities of the late 20th century to reflect the fact that most women now work. However, most peopleÆs ideal of a perfect American family includes only one parent who puts in long hours at work (and this is usually the father) with another parentÆs working part time to help make ends meet but who has enough time left over to be there for teacher-parent conferences, to bake cookies and to shuffle kids back and forth to soccer games (Brown and Simmons, 1998, p. 33).Any family that differs from this basic structure is seen as being somehow not only different but wrong. This is true even if the family in question has more than two adults rather than fewer than two: Families with grandparents living at home as well as parents (and so that might be considered as being four-parent families rather than two) are also considered odd and to some extent share the same problems as single-parent families. Anyone who is different is always subject to being criticized, even
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atching his father beat his mother. The important thing for a mother to do if she is raising a son on her own is in many ways the same thing that all parents have to do in all situations, which is to make sure that her son has good role models and has a chance to talk about the things that are important to him in a non-threatening arena (Atwood and Genovese, 1993, p. 57). This might mean talking to the boy herself or making sure that he has access to other men that he can talk to, such as coaches, teachers, clergy members or other male relatives. Again, the tools that a single parent has are similar to those in any family û love, consistency, guidance, concern (Atwood and Genovese, 1993, p. 58).
The same sorts of concerns may come up when a single father is raising a daughter, and the same kinds of actions are perfectly appropriate in terms of providing a cure to any problem (Atwood and Genovese, 1993, p. 58).
In addition to these concerns for the emotional needs of a child in a single-parent household is the emotional problems that children often face when their parents divorce. Since divorce is the primary cause of single-parent households in this country, it is important to consider this as well (Hunter, 1997, p. 83). Often c
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Brown Simmons, Klein Klein, Atwood Genovese, , War II, single parent, Helwys Hunter, Ltd Wagonseller, brown simmons, single-parent households, simmons 1998, brown simmons 1998, hunter 1997, Noel Klein, atwood genovese 1993, wagonseller etal 1997, genovese 1993, atwood genovese, noel klein, single parents, etal 1997, klein klein 1998, noel klein klein, Rosen Publishing,
Approximate Word count = 2259
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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