There are many stories, books and plays written about families. The reason being is that the family is the first and perhaps the most enduring context for growth. The family serves as the primary agent for socialization and provides a major context for adjustment. Everyone is part of a family in the world we live in. Families are the main setting for the experiences we have as a child. It is where we first learn to live and make adjustments by means of identifying with models, accepting values, developing affection and eventually distinguishing our own values and goals. It is within the family group that our behavior, ideas, thoughts and fantasies affect the lives of those with whom we live with. The family serves as the socialization agent, provider of care and the model for imitation and identification. It is within the family group that we have resources used to adjust to life.
The typical image we perceive when we hear the term family is likely to be mother, father and children living together in a household. This in fact, is not the reality as it exists in America today. Today people living in the same house may consist of any combination of the nuclear or extended families or just a group of people living together. The composition and size of the family has changed drastically.
In recent decades the nature of the family has been undergoing changes and a variety of problems related to the family has emerged. Statistics have indicated that there have been significant increases in premarital births and teenage pregnancies. The number of marital dissolutions have risen, thus there are many more single parent households. Research has also indicated that there has been a high incident rate of violence in the family, such as spouse abuse, child abuse and childinitiated violence. There have also been reports of sexual abuse of children, as well as a number of runaway and homeless children. Family related problems have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years.
Consequently adaptation in the family group is influenced by a number of factors and a variety of interpersonal relationships among the members residing within the house. There is no question that there have been numerous changes in the families today, and obviously has a great deal of affect on the children.