Family Composition effects life's decision: Literature Review

 ‘Family composition’ is a concept which can be simply defined, yet it can be an extensive concept depending on in what context it is understood. For some people ‘family composition’ is where an individual comes from like divorced or married parents, how many siblings and for others it may include grandparents, God parents or even extended family. This is the goal of our research study to understand how different cultures define ‘family composition’ and the importance they attach to family in an individual’s life.

Skinner (1997) highlights the concept of family system that he reports is understood and managed differently in varying cultures. The study concludes that family system can affect behavior but not control it, however, the extent of affect family system has on an individual is still yet to be understood especially in the light of the modern trends. Some researchers have even linked the family system trends in a culture to its corporate culture like the Japanese family logics that have sustained the Japanese corporate system as well (Bhappu, 2000).

The research problem for our study is to understand to what extent and how does family composition affect the experiences and decisions in an individual’s life. We will aim to understand this in terms of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) levels, education level and personal decisions like choice of spouse, job etc. Brye (1979) explains the concept of handling death of loved ones in an Amish culture and the role of family system, quality of life.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the definition of family composition differs in different cultures and parts of the world and how does it affect people. We would achieve this by collecting, analyzing data collected from current research and doing past research review to understand how family composition plays a crucial part in an individual’s life.

          Muhuri, Preston (1991) write that in Bangladesh parents are unable to keep a balance between male and female children, with the mortality rate being highest among girls who are born after a sister. Their study shows that mortality rate is lowest among boys born after or before boys. This concludes, according to Muhuri & Preston (1991) that parents are unable to overcome discrimination between sons and daughters in Bangladesh. This is highly influenced by the cultural and religious standings of the place which means it is a very strong stance, hard to change. This is relevant in this article because our study can assist in understanding the effects of these attitudes children and how they live their adult life. Our study can help bridge the gap between family influences and adult life.

Some researchers have connected family composition to intense situations like crime, joblessness and economic disasters, as they argue that a dysfunctional family hurts the structural base of an individual (Sampson, 1987). When considering who this study will be important for then we would add populations from all walks of life and from all economic standings.

                                                                References 

Healey, M. D., & Ellis, B. J. (2007). Birth order, conscientiousness, and openness to experience: Tests of the family-niche model of personality using a within-family methodology. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(1), 55-59.

Muhuri, P. K., & Preston, S. H. (1991). Effects of family composition on mortality differentials by sex among children in Matlab, Bangladesh. The Population and Development Review, 415-434.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Rogers, R. G. (1996). The effects of family composition, health, and social support linkages on mortality. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 326-338.

Scarr, S., & Weinberg, R. A. (1978). The influence of" family background" on intellectual attainment. American Sociological Review, 674-692.

Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: a review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological bulletin, 129(2), 216.

Sandelowski, M. (1995). Sample size in qualitative research. Research in nursing & health, 18(2), 179-183.