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Introduction (14)
Are Families Declining, or are they Resilient in the Face of Change?
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Introduction
Without a doubt, the institution of marriage and family has gone through a transformation both in structure and its meaning to people’s lives. Initially, traditional gender roles dictated how work was carried out both inside and outside the home. Marriage marked entry into adulthood where children were allowed to leave their parents and forge their own lives (Arocho, & Kamp Dush, 2017). I hold that the changes experienced in the family set up have made the family unit to decline rather than being resilient. Findings contend that the family unit is falling apart owing to the vanishing family ties that diminishing by the day, the existence of troubling statistics and horrendous divorce statistics. The purpose of this essay is to assess the effects of major shifts in the conceptualization of marriage and family life and to support the stand that these changes are diminishing the family institution.
The Sexual Revolution, Relaxed Divorce Laws, the women’s liberation movement, and mobility of American families
Some societal changes that took place in the 1960s had a significant effect on the structure of the family structure. The changes had to do with the sexual revolution, relaxation of divorce laws, the women’s liberation movement, and mobility of American families. In the wake of the civil rights movement, women were liberated hence changing the perception of the family structure. Women who graduated from college were empowered and now had an opportunity to establish and assert their independent identities (Petren, Ferraro, Davis, & Pasley, 2017). There was intense awakening in realising that recognizing civil rights meant equal rights for every person in the society, including women. As such, women marched for sexual equality and a broad range of job opportunities and careers available to men. Although the movement bore good outcome, it changed the traditional notions of motherhood, marriage, and family unity forever. Even in the most conservative families, women began standing up for themselves by letting their partners know they would be returning to school or work. This was informed by the need for having two incomes to sustain a decent standard of living. Notably, the legal system allowed no-fault divorce meaning that society did not blame either spouse for divorces. This made the dissolution of marriage easy, including shared responsibility of raising children and property division. Also, following increased mobility, family members no longer lived in close proximity to one another. College graduates were able to take up jobs thousands of miles away from where they lived. The relocations made individuals invest time setting up their lives without the help of family members.
Family Conflicts and Estrangements
Other reasons that make families drift apart range from conflicts and misunderstandings, petty grievances, jealousy, inheritance feuds, sibling rivalry, homosexuality outings and family business disputes. Nowadays, family estrangements have become the norm, and they have become more hurtful and intense. It is common to find sisters not speaking to each other since their parents died or brothers who rarely visit each other because their wives do not get along. Additionally, some sons alienate themselves from the family if they marry a woman who does not want to be associated with the husband’s family. On the hand, daughters will avoid contact with their mother because their mother is always guilt-tripping her. Moreover, conflict in the family occurs when a daughter is disowned for marrying outside their religion or race. Even fathers are disowning sons for revealing they are homosexuals.
Dysfunctional Families and Increasing Divorce Rates
Worth noting, it is clear that the family unit is diminishing as it is no longer a haven. Instead, the family has become dysfunctional and is surrounded by a heartless world. Nations are facing a family relationship landscape that keeps on changing. Assumptions about family structures have been challenged, including raising children out of wedlock, boundaries of single mothers, grandparents raising their grandchildren to gay couple adopting and raising children. Notably, cracks on the American family structures began widening in the last 40 years of the 20th century, but they did not become visible until the mid-1970s when the divorce rate doubled (Pilkauskas & Dunifon, 2016). According to a study conducted by Rutgers University, divorce rates rose by 30% since 1970, marriage rates declined, and only 38% consider themselves happy in their marriages, a significant drop from the 53% recorded 25 years ago (Allendorf & Thornton, 2015). Notably, today 51% of all marriages end in divorce. Unlike the past, the spouse one has in their 20 is less likely the one they will go through mid-life crisis in their 40s.
Counterargument: Grand Parents May not provide Financial Support as they are Not Economically Productive
Worth noting, there is the school of thought that maintains that major shifts have made marriage and families to be resilient than ever. These social scientists believe that despite the challenges, families are happier today because there are multigenerational relationships that they enjoy. Because people have grandparents and great grandparents, they are close to them and get economic and emotional support. I can’t entirely agree with this standpoint because adults are worn and stressed out in their old age. Although children grow up knowing their grandparents, they might not support them moreso financially because they are retired and economically unproductive.
Conclusion
There has been a major shift in the structure of marriage and families and the meaning it has on people’s lives. The family institution has been declining as a result of these changes. Women, for instance, became empowered and ventured into education as well as employment. Additionally, there have been increased rates of divorce among couples and children out of wedlock. Other reasons that make families drift apart range from conflicts and misunderstandings, petty grievances, jealousy, inheritance feuds, sibling rivalry, homosexuality outings and family business disputes.
References
Allendorf, K., & Thornton, A. (2015). Caste and choice: The influence of developmental idealism on marriage behavior. American Journal of Sociology, 121(1), 243-287.
Arocho, R., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2017). Like mother, like child: Offspring marital timing desires and maternal marriage timing and stability. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(3), 261.
Pilkauskas, N. V., & Dunifon, R. E. (2016). Understanding grandfamilies: Characteristics of grandparents, nonresident parents, and children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(3), 623-633.
Petren, R. E., Ferraro, A. J., Davis, T. R., & Pasley, K. (2017). Factors linked with co-parenting support and conflict after divorce. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 58(3), 145-160.
Introduction (15)
Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas
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Part Two
In the face of health crisis such as the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, doctors and physicians are faced with the tough choice of deciding who gets to live and who will die. This is the scenario particularly when hospitals do not have enough equipment including ventilators, beds, and medical personnel to cater for all patients. I agree with the theory of utilitarianism which contends that morality has to do with the consequences of our actions hence the right thing to do is give priority to the people with the highest chances of survival. In my opinion, although nobody should have to bear the burden of deciding the fate of people, in the face of such an unprecedented viral pandemic we must realize that availing scarce treatment to patients with small chances of survival reduces the chances of people with higher survival. In essence, it is only fair that we distribute scarce resources in a way that saves maximum lives.
Part Three
The story of Elizabeth Holmes goes to show the extent to which she went to cover up the fact that her Company Theranos had created and promoted laboratory equipment that was inaccurate and unreliable. Ms. Holmes alongside his partner was charged with conspiring to defraud investors and partners of Theranos in multi-billion dollar scheme. Lying and insisting that the device was carrying out its intended purpose was the cowardly thing to do. Elizabeth maintained that the company was on a mission to revolutionalize how medical tests were done in the laboratory using its innovative methods of drawing, and testing blood as well as interpreting results. The fact that Elizabeth knew that the device was not capable of producing consistent results yet she had been used on patients suffering from serious conditions does not sit right with me. In the real sense, Theranos used commercially-available analyzers as third party testers. It was inconsiderate of her to mislead poor investors into funding her cause with millions of dollars which was never put to good use. Elizabeth was obsessed with making her company a success at all costs including firing members of staff that dared to cross her.
Today I am going to report on an appreciative inquiry done on a restaurant through an interview conducted with the general ma
Appreciative Inquiry presentation.
Today I am going to report on an appreciative inquiry done on a restaurant through an interview conducted with the general manager of Donna Chang restaurant.
An appreciative inquiry involves questions on areas of an institution that is working well and finding the reasons for the current state as well as determining the methods for improvement. It includes four phases; however, I am going to address two, which is the discovery and the dream.
The first phase is the discovery. The discovery interview process involves a conversation with the manager of the restaurant to find out the reasons for their previous successes. It involves questions based on their activities that have ctreated the best positive impact in the organization. It is concerned with the strengths of the company that have helped in its growth and managerial improvement. Looking at the Donna Chang restaurant, the most pressing issue was customer service to attain satisfaction. Customer service is essential in a restaurant as it determines the number of consumers who will visit them as well as how loyal they will be to the firm.
The discovery questions addressed the success factors of the restaurant that made it one of the best in Australia. The questions included:
How would you describe the dynamics of your team?
What influence did your relationship with the team have on the performance of the restaurant?
How well did your team support our objective of increasing consumers?
How did your clients react?
Now let us discuss what I found from the interview. From the manager, the service team have strong interactions, active listening, and communication skills and have developed teamwork. His relationship with employees enhanced problem -solving. Also, the central theme for its success has been management involvement in employee activities as it improved employee engagement, hence improved and quality services.
Now, the second phase of the appreciative inquiry is the dream. The dream theme focuses on envisioning the future of the restaurant through imaginations of possibilities.
I got the findings through an interview with the manager of the restaurant. The conversation included questions that envision what will happen in the future. The questions included:
What is the ideal future customer servicing methodology in the restaurant?
What are the three main accomplishments in achieving the objective of the restaurant five years from now?
Think of an ideal working day in the organization. What goals and strengths have you achieved and utilized to get there?
In an ideal future of collaborative and creative restaurant, how is the interaction between customer and service providers?
Now, what was the dream of the manager at the restaurant? According to him, an ideal future customer servicing involves consistent products and services to ensure the retaining of consumers. To attain quality customer service, the manager dreams of having excellent communications, skills, practical problem solving, and achieve financial stability. Being stable financially means higher payments and rewards for employees, hence motivating them to work harder.
He also envisions improvement in customer satisfaction, growth in restaurant traffic, and having reliable service delivery systems for its consumers.
Now, let me talk about the recommendations based on the manager’s response. First, due to the development of the management involvement theme, the restaurant should embrace a culture of open discussions between management and employees. Also, providing technical training to improve skills and integrating the technical service with the organization to achieve professional customer service.
These factors would enable the restaurant to achieve the manager’s dream in the future.
In the project, I found out that the success of an organization involves a lot of commitment from human capital. From the observation of the employee’s activities, it is amazing to see how the various departments in the company perform their responsibilities, and each activity counts to attaining the set objectives of the company. Therefore, from the accomplished tasks and employees’ hard work, it is possible to foresee the success of the company in the future.
Thank you for your attention.