Reflection Paper

For me, family is considered as an institution and a unit of socialization, whose structure has influence on the relationship between social support and life satisfaction. Family ties are served as important support systems in helping me to deal with a number of confusing and depressing life conditions which usually lead to psychological and behavioral dysfunctions. The definition has not changed much for me since my family has not experienced great changes during the last decades. I find that the more cohesive a family, the better the individual family members function, the better the communication between family members, the greater the martial consensus, and the better the behavioral outcomes for adolescent children. Therefore, I see family as a matter of personal discussion rather than public discourse, as families are responsible for the reproduction and nurturing of children. What’s more, families are significant with regard to providing intimacy and fulfilling various needs across the life span.

Some consider family as a matter of public discourse as families contribute to establishing social identity, social role and social status. Also, some legal dimensions of family represent a public sphere approach in defining what a family is. Not all families are equal, since families are diversified, which lies in the ways in which people define and consider family and the varieties of ways in which family members relate to each other. As supportive family referents tend to encourage a sense of family and security, which in turn, will positively affect life satisfaction. However, those impacts may be less apparent for single mothers, etc.