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The Family's Cultural Identity
The Family's Cultural Identity
FAMILY STRUCTURE
The structure of a family may be defined as the set of rules or programs
regulating relations of proximity and leadership among the family members.
Families of different cultures vary considerably in their structural organization.Culturally determined aspects of family structure include:| 1. | The membership of the family (who belongs to the family and who does not.). |
| 2. | The degree of cultural homogeneity of the family. |
| 3. | Subsystems of the family. Who belongs to each subsystem? The relations of proximity and control among family members and subsystems. How do family members attempt to reach these goals, and how successful are they in reaching them? |
| 4. | The level of organization of the family. To what extent is the family structure rigid and stable? To what extent is it flexible and capable of changing with varying circumstances? |
Membership
The concept "membership of the family" refers to the following three
questions:| 1. | Who belongs to the nuclear and extended family and who is considered an outsider? Is a distant relative who lives in a different country considered a member of the extended family? Does the family include, according to its own conceptions, members who we, from our own cultural standpoint, would be reluctant to count as family members (e.g., fictitious family members, nonblood relatives who are labeled blood relatives, animals, plants or |
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Culturally Competent Family Therapy:A General Model.
Contributors: Shlomo Ariel - Author.
Publisher: Praeger Publishers.
Place of publication: Westport, CT.
Publication year: 1999.
Page number: 45.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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