Chapter 2 Families and Parents 39
Families Life Stages
A. Beginning Stage
B. Childbearing Stage
C. Parenting Preschoolers Stage
D. Parenting School-Agers Stage
E. Parenting Adolescents Stage
F. Launching Stage
G. Middle-Age Years Stage
H. Aging Family Stage
Circular View
Linear View
E A B H G F D C
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
2-8 The stages of family life can be examined as points around a circle or steps along a straight path.
Some families go through all stages, but others do not.
expert, parents go through six parenting
stages, 2-9. Galinsky says parents can be in
several stages at the same time. Each stage
is described from the parents’ view and
correlates to the parenting stages of the
family life cycle. For example, Galinsky’s
image-making and nurturing stages for parents
relate to the child-bearing stage. The authority
stage for parents relates to the preschool
stage. The interpretive parenting stage relates
to school-age stage. The interdependent
parenting stage relates to the adolescent
stage while the departure stage relates to the
launching stage. All other stages of the family
life cycle are non-parenting stages.
Families Operate as a
System
As you draw together the facts you have
learned about how families are formed,
structured, and function, you’ll begin to see
a pattern, or system, evolve. According to
Webster, a system is an interacting group of
parts (in this sense, family members) that
form a unified whole. Extend this definition
to your understanding of parenting. Think
about families as a social system. In this
system, families work together to make
decisions and set and achieve family goals.
The family system also governs the behavior
of each family member.
Thinking about the family as a system
explains why each family is different, yet still
works together as a whole. Factors that are
both inside and outside the family influence
the system. Factors inside the family include
any changes in the family structure and the
family life cycle. Factors outside the family
include the physical and social environment
in which the family lives. These include
the neighborhood, community, schools and
other youth-related organizations, and the
economy.