Extended

Family
Kimberly Becerra
 Types of Family
Structures
There are different types of family structures:
Nuclear Family- Consists of both parents
and child/children.
Single-Parent Family-One parent and
child/children (Georgas, 2003).
*Extended Family- Nuclear family+ another
generation such as grandparents or
aunts/uncles.
Decrease inExtended
Families
Extended families have existed for many
years, however, after WWII, there was a
drastic decline in extended family homes
in America (Taylor et al., 2010).
1940: 25% of people in America lives
in extended family homes.
1980: 12% of people in America lives
in extended family homes(Charles &
Zargham, 2010).
Revival of Extended
Families
In the late 1980s, the number extended families
began increasing and continues to increase
today.
As of 2008, 49 million Americans are known
to live in an extended family home (Charles
& Zargham, 2010).
The reasons for this increase are due to
economic and social factors:
Economic factors: increase in
foreclosures,rise in unemployment,
economy collapse.
Social: convenient while working on career,
marriage age increased.
Extended Family
Population
 Perceptions
Many people come from different
backgrounds, therefore they have a different
perception on extended families.
Some American natives who grew up in a
nuclear family household, do not agree with
extended families as they value privacy and
independence.
Other people, who may be of different
cultures, may value emotional connections
with family and may be co-dependent on
those relationships that extended families
have (Carteret, 2011).
 Perceptions (cont.)
People in extended families view their
household dynamics as the norm because
this is what they know.
They are in a household of people with the same
values of family, unity, closeness and many other
things, therefore they do not view this structure as
anything bad.
Coming from an extended family myself, I value my
family so much more because we all grew up in the
same household with my grandparents.
https://youtu.be/8rMQGngOfpo
 Functionalist
Perspective
The functionalist perspective
would view extended families as
a way to socialize
children,provide emotional
support and its provides
members with a social
identity(Author removed, 2016).
 Conflict Theory
Perspective
A conflict theorist would see an
extended family as a negative
thing as they would think it
affects its children's life choices
and reiterates stratification and
societys existing inequalities
(Author removed, 2016).
Major Participants
Hispanics (22%), African Americans (23%)
and Asians (25%) are all significantly more
likely than Caucasians (13%) to live in a
multi-generational family household (Taylor
et al., 2010).
Modern Latin American and Asian
immigrants are far more inclined than
native-born Americans to live in multi-
generational family households. However,
it also occurs in Native- born Americans.
Instances of this varies among age, race,
gender and ethnicity.
Improvements?
I would improve the amount of dependence
on one another. Although emotional and
financial support is beneficial, I believe it can
hinder a young adults ability to be dependent
and may even delay the process to leave the
nest.
As far as the elderly in extended families, I
would improve this by making it more known
instead of families putting the elderly in
homes.
 References
Taylor, P., Passel, J., Fry, R., Morin, R., Wang, W., Velasco, G., & Dockterman,
D. (2010, March 17). The Return of the Multi-Generational Family Household.
Retrieved November 26, 2017, from
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/03/18/the-return-of-the-multi-generational-
family-household/
Carteret, M. (2011). Culture and Family Dynamics. Retrieved November 26,
2017, from http://www.dimensionsofculture.com/2010/11/culture-and-family-
dynamics/
Georgas, J. (2003). Family: Variations and Changes Across Cultures. Online
Readings in Psychology and Culture, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-
0919.1061
Charles, D., & Zargham, E. B. (2010, March 18). Extended family household on
the rise in U.S. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-families/extended-family-household-on-
the-rise-in-u-s-idUSTRE62H0E020100318
[Author removed at request of original publisher], C. (2016, April 08). Sociology:
Understanding and Changing the Social World. Retrieved December 03, 2017,
from http://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/15-2-sociological-perspectives-on-
the-family/.
Extended family. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2017, from https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/extended family.
https://youtu.be/8rMQGngOfpo