Reference no: EM133528789

Questions

1. Family stress is a state of tension that arises when demands test or tax a family's capabilities. An example is beginning a new job or moving to a new neighborhood. Family crisis is a situation in which the usual behavior patterns are ineffective and new ones are called for immediately. "Family crises are turning points that require some change in the way family members think and act to meet a new situation." An example of this is a death in the family.

2. A woman's income declines more than a man's income after divorce. The majority of child support is paid by the father rather than the mother. Men usually have fewer friends and sources of emotional support than a woman does. These differences related to society's gender expectations because most people assume that a women will have a lot of friends, and men are generally expected to not show emotion, and men usually make more than women.

3. Some challenges that stepparents face are family boundary ambiguity, step-siblings may not get along, and the stepchild might accidentally undermine the rules at the stepparents' home. Some challenges faced particularly by stepfathers are that they are less involved with the stepchildren and the length of the relationships may be shorter. The role of stepmother may be more difficult than that of stepfather because the role of a stepmom is stigmatized as stepmothers being cruel or rude, the "stepmother trap", and the biological mother and stepmother usually have "rivalry" type of relationship with each other. These challenges can be confronted by encouraging more of a "friendship" with the biological mother, as well as not introducing a stepfather to stepchildren unless they know the relationship will last.

4. One suggestion for policy changes that would make family elder care less difficult is to provide grants/financial help for those who are in a caregiving role for their elder. Another suggestion for policy changes would be a suggestion the book listed - "adult day care." Having a place for an elder to go and get food/be taken care of while their caregiver is working would be a great help to those taking care of an elder, such as their parents.