Last Updated on July 19, 2024 by Muzammil Ijaz

Function of family and Roles of family and Family dynamics in Social casework

Function of family

Over 40 years ago, Satir (1967), a well-known family social worker, identified seven functions of families, which we summarize below.

1. To provide heterosexual experience for
2. To contribute to the continuity of the race by producing and nurturing children.
3. To cooperate economically by dividing labors between the adults according to sex, convenience, and
4. To maintain a boundary (incest taboo) so that tasks can be performed smoothly and stable relationships
5. To transmit culture to the children through teaching communication, expression of emotions, coping with inanimate environment, and roles.
6. To recognize when one of its members reaches
7. To provide for the eventual care of parents by their

Roles of family

Family members help to play different roles for the proper growth and development of family members. Each family member helps their own duties and responsibilities to protect to the family members from different problems. The roles played by the family members are due to the result of family dynamics.

 

1. Role of parents

   1. Provision of resources

Providing different resources like food, clothes, shelter, education etc. for all the members is one of the most important roles with in the family.

 

1. Nurturance and support

All the family members must be provided with balance diet food and other necessary things. Similarly, family members must be provided with comfort warm friendly environment. Parents must provide support rearing and caring to their children which helps for the personality development of the children.

 

1. Life skill development

Education trainings, services need to be provided to the children by the family for their physical emotional and social development (e.g., the parents should help the children in arranging good school and colleges helping them to decide their career path etc.)

 

1. Maintenance and management of family system

The family must know different kind of work in the family for smooth running of family system. This includes many tasks like leadership, decision making, family handling, management of family resources, maintaining appropriate discipline, respecting one another.

 

2. Role of children

   1. Peace keeper

A young child may play the role of peace keeper and mediator. The children can reduce tension between conflicting parents. This behavior may be in response to their unconscious anxiety about the family breakdown.

1. Problem as a role

Sometimes a young person’s problems like drug abuse may play a role in family system by distracting the family problems from other problem. This situation makes the parents worried about their children leaving their stress and conflict. Parents may divert their behavior in order to allow their children to keep in the family.

Family dynamics

The way in which the members of the family interact with each other with in the family is called family dynamics. Each family and its dynamics are unique although there is some common pattern. Every family has helpful and some unhelpful dynamics. A young person (children) will have greater influence by dynamics of family in earlier years. Family dynamics often have strong influence on the way young people see themselves, others and the world. Study of family dynamics helps to get following knowledge about the family.

 

1. Behavior and relationship of family
2. Difficulties and their
3. Strength and weakness of family

 

4. Types of communication with each other during

Factors affecting family dynamics

 

1. Nature of parent’s
2. Having particularly soft and strict
3. Personalities of family
4. An absent
5. Mix of members who are living in the same
6. Number of children in the
7. Chronically sick or disabled children within the
8. Events which have affected family members such as affairs, divorce, trauma (emotional shock), death etc.
9. Issues such    as    family    violence,    drug    abuse, alcoholism
10. Family beliefs, values, norms, ethnicity, culture, gender
11. Nature of attachment in family (secure/ insecure).
12. Dynamics of previous
13. Aspects like social, political, economic