Family Relations (FIRST POST)

Here, at BYU-Idaho, I am taking a Family Relations class. The purpose of the class is to teach about the importance of relationships in the family and discuss the cultural diversity and heritage of families. I am learning so much about the common trends that are going on in the world such as lower birth rates, divorce, cohabitation, employed mothers, and premarital sex and how all of these trends factor into family life along with how they are affecting the views of what a family is. The "traditional family" is slowly becoming outdated to the world. There are less kids per family and now there are people who are involved in cohabitation before they marry, marry someone of the same sex, and have sex outside of the bonds of matrimony. Some of these popular trends are short-term and some are long-term.Some people believe that these trends will continue and diverge further from the nuclear family type and others say that they will return back to the traditional patterns of family. What do you think? I also learned about the different theories that social scientists use to guide their research. There the Systems Theory, the Exchange Theory, Symbolic Interaction Theory, and Conflict Theory. I will briefly explain what each of these are. The Systems Theory is the idea that an intimate group must be analyzed together because they have the same rules and roles that apply to their system. It says that each group is composed of interrelated parts that are not independent, but influence each other and work together. The Exchange Theory asserts that we try to make sure that the relationship doesn't cost more than it rewards us emotionally. The Symbolic Interaction Theory views humans mainly as people who are influenced and shaped by their interaction and experiences. Finally, the Conflict Theory asserts that all societies are characterized by inequality, conflict, and change as groups within the society struggle over scarce resources. These theories are important to the study of intimate relationships. I love taking this class. I am looking at family life in a whole different perspective. I never realized how much family life influences the people we turn out to be. Alright! Enough of the boring stuff. I've been thinking a lot about family how children are affected in every aspects of their lives because of their personal family life. As human beings, we need love in our lives. We thrive on it. There is this video that I watched about intimate relationships. You can watch it here. http://digital.films.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=43742&loid=123759 (If you don't attend BYU-I you can search for Harry Harlow's Baby Monkey Experiment or watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I . I also want you to know that I find the experiments harsh and don't think those test should have been done, nonetheless the results still make a point.) In the video it show a research study where baby monkeys were taken from their mothers at an early age and weren't provided with the love and comfort from their mothers. The researchers created two fake mothers and released the monkeys and watched which fake mother they went to. One mother was soft and had cloth on it and provided warmth. The other was all wire, but provided food. The monkeys always went to the mother that provided warmth as if the comfort and love was more important than food. I find this so intriguing. I do believe that love is the most important thing. Everyone needs to feel loved by someone, even if it's from their dog. Love makes the world go 'round. Those who had hard family lives and didn't get the love they needed often experience depression or very low self esteem. They are deprived of what they crave most. I hope we can all try to spread love to our friends, neighbors, family, and even strangers on the street. Everyone wants to feel cared about and important. Imagine how the world would change if everyone cared for others and their feelings. Who knows, by giving a simple smile, you could change someone's whole view on life. Try it. :)

Introduction

Hi, my name is Stephanie Stewart and I am in my Freshman year of college at Brigham Young University-Idaho. I am majoring in Marriage and Family Studies. I am taking this Family Relations class and this blog is going to talk about what I have learned, my opinions, and my observations on certain topics about the family. I am excited to learn and hope to share what I learn with all of you so that we can learn together.