Impact of Family Dynamics on Children’s Development

2056 Words9 Pages
Jim Bunning once said “A loving family provides the foundation children need to succeed, and strong families with a man and a woman - bonded together for life - always have been, and always will be, the key to such families”. He has summed up a very important aspect of developmental psychology of children and families. Children are an integral part of any family and they derive the roots of their development from their families. Dr. Murray Bowen, a specialist in human behavior highlights that families are interconnected with strong emotional bonds(Bowles, 2011).Family dynamics is the term used in psychology to define interactions among members of a family(Halgin&Whitbourne, 2007). The dynamics between family members are affected by communication and behavioral patterns, traditions and emotional interdependence (Bowles, 2011). Dynamics within the family have significant repercussions on the overall health of its members especially children. In the Pakistani context family is the basic unit of social life and family members’ lives are intricately intertwined with one another. Haveman and Wolfe (1995) on the basis of Human Capital Framework of Becker (1981, 1993) proposed that parents shape their children’s environment which impacts their success (as cited in Robertson & Reynolds, 2010). Thus, it implies the role of the immediate environment provided by the family in the overall development of a child. This paper will shed light on the yet unexplored phenomenon of family dynamics’ impact on children’s overall development relating it within the Pakistani context. Geismar and Wood (1986) as cited in Bano, Shah, Asghar, Alam, & Khan (2009) described two types of family variables, structural and functional. Structural variables constitute family size, family arrangement, and parent’s employment status. Whereas functional variables include nature of interaction
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