Family and parenting

what is a family?

The nature of the family has changed in the UK. It has become more complex, mainly due to changes in society- such as moral attiudes towards marriage and changes to the laws concering divorce. The word "famlily" means different things to different people, depending on who you are- your own beliefs and attidues- and your experiences of family life. Even social scientisists disagree on what defines a family, but a useful defination for the twenty-first century in the UK is as follows:

A family is a " small social group, consiting of at least one adult and child, usually living together, related by blood, marriage and adoption" (Alan Yeo and Tina Lovell, 2002, Sociology and social play, 2nd edn, London: Hodder& stoughton, p.75).

The family can include all or some of the following individuals:

Grand parents, uncles and aunts and other realtions
Foster parents, step-parents, stepchildren, or only one parent
Two parents living seperatley
parents who have chosen to marry or those who are cohabiting
Parents of the same sex bringing up children.

Keyterms:

sibling: a brother or sister

stepfamily: stepfamilies consist of married or cohabiting (living together) couples who, btween them, have at least one child from a previous relationship who either visits them or lives with them.

step-parent: The individual who is not the biological parent of the child or children is refferred to as the step-parent

ster brother or sister: a child who has brothers or sisters through the remarriage of a parent to somebody else how has children

Half-brother or sister: A sibling with one shared biological or adoptive parent.

differnent types of families in the UK

nucleur family
extended family
reconstituted family
lone-parent
adoptive family
foster family
reseditial care home

why is marriage less popular?

more secular society

finical factors: marriage is expensive

insercurity of employment

economic independence of women

awareness of divorce

Reasons why children may be in local authority care:

The term looked-after children refers to children who are in the care of local authorities . The majority of children who saty in long-term care are there because they have suffered
some sort of abuse or neglect; these children are one of the most vulnerable groups in society.
There are two ways in which children become looked after by the social services deperament of their local authority:

Care order: social services obtain a care order from the courts which enable them to place the child in compulosry local authority care. This applies to about two-thirds of all looked-after children. For the courts to grant a care order,they have to be sastifed that a child is suffering or would suffer "significant harm" without one.
Voulntary agreement: children are accomadted by the local authority on a vouluntary basis- sometimes parents ask for their children to be taken into care when they feel
unable to cope with parenting; this applies to about one-third of all looked-after children.

Children have to live away from their own families for all sorts reasons. It may be because:

there is evidence of physical and emotional abuse

there is evidence of neglect of the child

the parent or parents are ill or in hospital and unabke to care for their own child

parent or parents unable to care for the child because of their own substace or poor parenting skills

the child needs a short time away from their birth family while a package of support is put in place to try and help rebuild family realtionships

http://www.adoptionroutes.co.uk/stages.asp

There are estimated to be as many as 5,000 children of all ages, ethnicities and abilities in the UK who are waiting to find a new family. Of these it is estimated 200 of the children are resident in Northern Ireland

The majority of children who wait for a new family are ages between 2 and 10 years. Many have experienced problems in their early lives. Others may have a disability.

Brothers and sisters might need to be placed togther

There are many reasons why they can no longer live with their birth families - these include abuse, neglect or family breakdown. Adoption routes aims to find families to care for these children and on a permanent basis so that they can develop, have secure and stable family lives.

Most of the children placed for adoption are in the care of Social Services Trust Foster Carerd prior to placement for adoption. The upheaval they have known in their lives is likely to impact on their general development and may have an influence on their behaviour.

All children are different but all need love and security. For adopted children this is particularly important as they have often not previously experienced these. They need fun-loving energetic and positive parents who enjoy children and will delight in their achievements.

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