Family

1. Family BSWI Introduction of Social Work Introduction of Social Welfare

2. Definition of family • “... a group of persons united by ties of marriage, blood, or adoption; constituting a single household; interacting and communicating with each other in their respective social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister, and creating and maintaining a common culture.” (Burgess and Locke, 1953, p.7-8) • “ ... A basic unit of kinship composed of two or more members who are united by ties of blood, marriage or adoption, and who live together constituting a single household.” (Wong, 1975)

3. Definition of family • “The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the usually co-habiting adults.” (George Peter Murdock, 1949) • “... a social group made up of members related to one another by blood or marital ties and usually constituting a household.”(Lee, 1991, p.42)

4. Concepts of the family • Karpel and Strauss summerizes different concepts of the family: (1) the functional family - defined by shared household, shared activities, shared responsibility for daily life and child rearing; (2) the legal family - defined by legal structure, altered by divorce and adoptive placement of children; (3) the family as seen by its members - defined by the perceptions of its members; and seen as “in” the family by family members; (4) the family of long-term commitments - defined by long-term expectations of loyalty and commitment; trust, reliability, and fairness are basic expectation; (5) the biological family - defined by blood relationships; parent-child relationship. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these definitions?

5. Functions of family • Reproductive function • Economic function • Education (socialization) function • Protective function • Providing prestige and status • Religious function • Recreation Function • Providing affection

6. Family functions that significant to social workers in family service • Providing security and acceptance • Meeting affectional needs of various members • Maintaining a balance between autonomy and dependence • Socialization and training • Ensuring continuity of companionship

7. Family Services • Family violence - child abuse and spouse abuse • Single parent family • Casework service - marital relationship, parenting, in-law relationship, crisis etc. • Family life education • Home-help service

8. Spouse abuseGelles (1977) and Walker (1984): the common causes of stress associated spouse abuse • Geographic isolation • Social isolation • Economic stress • Alcoholic and drug abuse • Family structure - age and number of children, career changes, presence of stepchildren etc. • Pregnancy • Inadequate parenting skills

9. Services for abused wives • Hotline service - e.g. SWD (23432255), Harmony House (25220434), the Woman Association (23866255) • Refuge service - Wai On Home for women was set up by the SWD in 1986 (40); Harmony House opened in 1985. • Self-help groups - Christian Family Service Centre organized self-help group in 1990. • Community education

10. Child AbuseEncyclopedia of Social Work, Dr. Kempe’s (1979) definition: • ... a situation in which a child is suffering from serious physical injury inflicted upon him by other than accidental means, is suffering harm by reason of neglect, malnutrition, or sexual abuse; is going without necessary and basic physical care, or is growing up under conditions which threaten his physical and emotional survival.” • Physical, psychological, neglect and sexual abuse.

11. Legal aspect of child abuse • Protection of Women and Juvenile Ordinance (1978) • Home visit - Section 44 (1) • Removal of a child - Section 34E (1) to remove from home and Section 35 (1) to detain a child in a place of refuge or a hospital • Care order - 34 (1) allows a care order to be made in respect of a child if the child is in need of care and protection

12. Procedure for handling child abuse • Referrals - Check with Child Protection Registry • Known case of other unit/agency - Notify the unit/agency • No Record - Initial Home Visit • No signs of abuse - case considered closing • Signs of abuse - Medical examination • Suspicion/evidence of abuse - required hospitalization or not • Consider for place of refuge or Case conference • Registration at Child Protection Registry and follow-up

13. Child Abuse Service • No specialized service before 1979. • In 1979, the International Year of the Child, the Against Child Abuse Action Group Pilot Project - Multi-disciplinary professionals group. The project was later become a NGO known as Against Child Abuse. • In June 1983, the SWD set up the Child Protective Service Unit (CPSU). • In Jan. 1986, the Child Protection Registry was set up.

14. Single Parent Family - Causes • Separation and divorce • Death of a parent • Desertion • Work • Imprisonment • Long-term hospitalization • Astronaut families

15. Common Problems of Single Parent Families • Financial difficulties • Accommodation • Emotional problems • Parenting problems • Social isolation • Remarriage

16. Family Welfare Service • “... to enable individuals and family members to deal with their personal and family problems, with a view to preserving and strengthening, the family as a unit, and to meet those needs which cannot be met from within the family.” (Social Service Five-year Plan Review of 1977, p.45) • “... the overall objectives of family welfare services are to preserve and strengthen the family as a unit and to develop members to prevent personal and family problems and to deal with them when they arise.” (Social Welfare into the 1990s and Beyond, 1991, p.19)

17. Social Welfare Service • to offer counselling and other necessary assistance to individuals and families so that they may understand and deal more effectively with their immediate problems; • to refer those in need to appropriate Government departments or other organizations for assistance in housing, employment, medical care, school placement, institutional care and vocational training; • through the provision of family life education, as a form of community education, to arouse public awareness of the importance of family life and the need to acquire skills and positive attitudes in dealing with the challenges it presents;

18. Social Welfare Service • to provide home-help service to meet the needs of those individuals and families who are unable to look after themselves, or to maintain the normal functioning of their household, in order to enable people in need of care to remain in the security of their own home, to avoid unnecessary institutional care, and hence to promote the idea of care in the community; • to provide supervision and care for all vulnerable children and young persons who cannot be adequately looked after by their families.

19. Family Life Cycle • Newly married couples - pre-child year • Childbearing families - oldest child under 3 • Families with pre-school children - oldest child 3 to 6 • Families with school children - oldest child 6 to 13 • Families with teenagers - oldest child 13 to 21 • Families launching young adults - first child gone to last child gone • Middle-age parents - post-child years to retirement • Aging family members - retirement to death of spouse

20. Variations in Family Life Cycle • Premature marriage - unwed/teenage pregnancy • Childless family • Extended family • Divorce - singlehood or single parenthood • Remarriage - step-family • Death of spouse or family member

21. Divorce recoveryDuvall, E., & Miller, B (1985). Marraige and family development (6th ed.). New York : Harper & Row. • Detaching emotionally from the former spouse; • developing a new identity for oneself; • becoming financially independent and self-sufficient; • interpreting the divorce to concerned members of the family; establishing oneself in the community of former friends and colleagues and • handling legal problems of the divorce. (p.186)

22. Facing the death of family member • The history of previous loss in the family • The timing of death in the family life cycle • the nature of the death • The position and functioning of the person in the family system (Brown, 1989)