Changing of the Family

American families have gone through many changes over the last several decades, causing a transition from the “traditional” family to today’s view of the modern family. Because the family is something that everyone has, they many different traits: they are a very important influence of socialization on younger family members; they have the ability to change; their traits can differ depending on class, race, gender, and marital status; diverse families are becoming more popular; and their past actions have had an effect on women’s rights. Families are interesting because they have been able to change the course of history as well as affect who people become.

From the moment people enter the world, their families are one of the first things they recognize and also one of the most important things they use to influence the things they say, the way they think, the way they behave, and the decisions they make. When they’re young and just getting used to the environment around them, they take everything as an example and use it to mold their future selves. From the time kids are born until about the time they enter middle school, their families are the people they spend the most time with. Depending on the type of environment that they’ve created for their child, could depend on the type of person they become. If a child grew up in a family where violence was common in everyday life, they might continue along in that pattern. Same with drug and alcohol abuse, lack of education, or prison. It could also go in a positive direction and help a daughter become a doctor through a high-ranked university because of the family tradition. In the case of my family, I grew up around loud voices and a people who spoke sarcasm as their main language, so I’ve been nurtured to speak in similar ways as my family. The biggest reason I am the way that I am is because of my family and the environment they created around me while I was growing up. Although the family has had many...