family power debate
Affirmative for egalitarian sharing of the family power base.
The family has consensus over who has the ultimate say on the day to day decisions. Present day family has very complex type of structure which affects the powerbase determination. A family consisting of a mother (female), father (male), and a child or two will have a very different power base than a family consisting of two same gender parents or a family that has a single parent. Age of the parents and the children also contributes toward power base; when the children are very young, the parents have the power and when the children grow they have their own control. Different cultures have varied family structure based on what they have learned from their parents and grandparents. Socioeconomic status and educational level also contributes to the powerbase in a family. Even though all these factors contribute toward the powerbase, it makes a difference, especially in regard to health care management and family wellness.
An adult family member remains to be the traditional base of power in several families which the whole family must accept to make the authority effective. For example, according to Hoffman as cited by Friedman et al (2003), in a traditional nuclear family the husband still maintains more decision-making power over his wife and that "parents almost always have more power than children " (p. 299). The following statement challenges that this idea is not the healthiest balance in today’s diverse family environment.
Affirmative Statement
I propose that an egalitarian sharing of power in today’s environment will create healthier family functioning. “No change in the American Family is mentioned more often than the gradual shift from one-sided male authority to the sharing of family power by the husband and wife. Declining sex role traditionalism, like many social changes, correlates with increasing complexity and conflict in family decision making” (Friedman,
The family has consensus over who has the ultimate say on the day to day decisions. Present day family has very complex type of structure which affects the powerbase determination. A family consisting of a mother (female), father (male), and a child or two will have a very different power base than a family consisting of two same gender parents or a family that has a single parent. Age of the parents and the children also contributes toward power base; when the children are very young, the parents have the power and when the children grow they have their own control. Different cultures have varied family structure based on what they have learned from their parents and grandparents. Socioeconomic status and educational level also contributes to the powerbase in a family. Even though all these factors contribute toward the powerbase, it makes a difference, especially in regard to health care management and family wellness.
An adult family member remains to be the traditional base of power in several families which the whole family must accept to make the authority effective. For example, according to Hoffman as cited by Friedman et al (2003), in a traditional nuclear family the husband still maintains more decision-making power over his wife and that "parents almost always have more power than children " (p. 299). The following statement challenges that this idea is not the healthiest balance in today’s diverse family environment.
Affirmative Statement
I propose that an egalitarian sharing of power in today’s environment will create healthier family functioning. “No change in the American Family is mentioned more often than the gradual shift from one-sided male authority to the sharing of family power by the husband and wife. Declining sex role traditionalism, like many social changes, correlates with increasing complexity and conflict in family decision making” (Friedman,
References: Friedman, M., Bowden, V., Jones, E., (2003). Family nursing: research, theory and practice (5th edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Kaakinen, J., Gedaly-Duff, V., Coehlo, D., Harmon-Hanson, S (2010). An Introduction. Family health care nursing: Theory practice and research (4th Ed.). F. A. Davis, Publishing, Philadelphia, PA. Power. (n.d.). In Power- Family Relationships, Marital Relationships. Retrieved from http://family.jrank.org/pages/1316/Power.html Schoppe, S., Mangelsdorf, S., & Frosch, C. (2001). Co-parenting, family process, and family structure: Implications for preschoolers ' externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(3), 526-545. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.15.3.526. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Library at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=fam-15-3-526&site=ehost-live