4.1 Chapter Reading Guide
Elizabeth B. Pearce
Now it’s time to look more closely at the part of family life involving caregiving, including parenting, being parented, grandparenting, and other close relationships that include taking care of others. You will see some theoretical approaches that will help you understand family behaviors and trends. You’ll also look at the way public policy and other social structures influence these very intimate relationships. And you’ll learn about how to distinguish family form from family function.
The reading is designed to help you meet the following chapter objectives. You may also want to preview the key terms that follow. These terms will be bolded the first time they appear in the chapter. You can read the definitions here and also in the hyperlinks.
With gratitude to the Linn-Benton Community College students in the “Contemporary Families in the U.S.” classes of spring, summer, and fall 2021, who gave insightful feedback and suggestions to this chapter, and especially to Genna Stern and Shyanti Franco who created chapter content for their final projects. — Elizabeth B. Pearce
Chapter Learning Objectives
- Explain the importance of caregiving relationships using a family or parenting theory or perspective.
- Discuss the significance of attachment.
- Describe the demographic changes that affect parenting, grandparenting, and other caregiving relationships.
- Explain how public policies can affect family structures and parenting practices.
- Explain the significance of the U.S. role in the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Describe stigmas associated with parenting as well as with being childless or childfree.
- Explain the difference between family forms and family functions.
- Analyze parenting and caregiving from an equity perspective.
Key Terms Preview
- Attachment theory: the theory that the capacity to form emotional attachments to others is primarily developed during infancy and early childhood.
- Birth rate: the number of live births per 1,000 women in the total population.
- Caregiving: the act of providing support or watching over a person.
- Concerted cultivation: a parenting style that emphasizes adult-led enrichment programs for children.
- Dysfunction: behaviors that cause harm to self, others, or society.
- Ecological systems theory: a framework that looks at individuals within their environments.
- Family form: the structure of a family, including the members and their relationships to one another.
- Family function: the way a family’s members behave toward each other and within society.
- Fecundity rate: the reproductive rate for people who want to have biological children who are able to get pregnant and give birth.
- Fertility rate: the number of people in a specific age range who are able to give birth.
- Grandfamily: a family in which grandparents are the primary caregivers to their grandchildren; usually the parents are not present.
- Mortality rate: the rate of death for a particular group or in a particular area.
- Multigenerational families: more than two generations of a family living together.
- Natural growth: a parenting style that emphasizes child-led games and activities, often in multi-age groups from the same family or neighborhood.
- Nature and nurture: a discussion about the relationship between biological and environmental factors in a child’s development.
- Parenting styles: usually refers to Baumrind’s four styles of parenting, which include authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved.
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Reading Guide
“Chapter Reading Guide” by Elizabeth B. Pearce. License: CC BY 4.0.
the act of providing support or watching over a person.
characterized by mutual trust, caring, and acceptance and often imply a romantic or sexual relationship.
the structure of a family, including the members and their relationships to one another.
the way a family’s members behave toward each other and within society.
a structural framework, explanation, or tool that has been tested and evaluated over time.
ensuring that people have what they need in order to have a healthy, successful life that is equal to others. Different from equality in that some may receive more help than others in order to be at the same level of success.