Tuesday, March 10, 2009

What Makes Families Strong?

Relationship to building strong families
Families are crucial in the development of human competence and character. Recent research tells us that the family's influence is even greater than we have imagined. Families play a major role in how well children do in school, how well they perform on the job as adults and how well they contribute to society in general. Families have the first and foremost influence on our development.

Research findings
Research indicates that many problems of individuals and society are related to dysfunctional family relationships. For instance, early teen sexual acting out, youth suicide, teen pregnancy, runaways, substance abuse, childhood and adolescent depression, child abuse and neglect, family violence, and civil unrest are known to be aggravated by problems in the family.

What makes families strong? Researchers have worked hard to answer this question and agree that strong, healthy families have nine traits in common (Krysan, Moore, & Zill, 1990). These traits have been found in families of different types, races, social backgrounds, nationalities, and religious beliefs.

The nine traits are:

  • caring and appreciation
  • time together
  • encouragement
  • commitment
  • communication
  • cope with change
  • spirituality
  • community and family ties
  • clear roles
For the full article and resources go to the following link
http://extension.missouri.edu/bsf/strengths/index.htm

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