Then in 1999, the brother died suddenly, again the family was there for the mum. The family still all help one another, Elaine is still ill, she needs constant care the sisters have Elaine at weekends to give their mum a little time on her own. All the sisters go to their mums for Sunday dinner every week, they are closer now than ever.
Question 28
Discuss the role of religion and culture and the effects on the family. In what way do these factors give the family an identity.
Answer 28
As the girls married into different religions, this has no effect on the identity of the family. None of the family go to Church. Cultural effects comes from their Irish grandparents who are now deceased, the mum and dad carried on a lot of the traditions they had learned from their parents. The girls have strong family values, although they fall out and sometimes don`t speak for weeks they are always around when they need each other. Their mum and Elaine is their priority. The mum is the peace maker.
Question 29
Discuss to what extent the family is influnced by financial pressures. Is wealth important to the group? if the family was wealthier, would it move to live in another area? To what extent does the lack of money keep the members working
Answer 29
The family is not rich, the family lives day to day, the mum helps the girls out when they need money, or they all help each other financially.
Wealth is not really that important to this family, I would say happiness is more important, obviously they would like to be more wealthier but happy as they are. The family would not move if they were more wealthier, thay have lived in the same area for 30 years. The girls all work they all receive WFTC to enhance their salary, they have always worked, I don`t think that would ever change.
Question 30
What type of house does the family live in? Is this house through choice? Why does the family live in this location? Is the house big enough for the members of the family or would they prefer a larger or smaller house? Would the family prefer to live in another area if so why?
Answer 30
The family all have their own houses now, their houses are all through choice, the family have lived in the same location for 30 years, the daughters married and moved into houses beside their mother, they are practically next door neighbours. All their houses are big enough for their families, they would not move they do not need a larger or smaller house. The family will always live in this area, this is the area they have been brought up in, none of them will move away. They are all happy with their homes.
Question 31
To what extent is the location of the family house influenced by the place of employment of the family members.
Answer 31
The mum has always been employed in the local school as a cleaning assistant, she is now retired, the daughters also work in same place the school thay work in is within five minutes from their homes. So this influences where they live to an extent.
Question 32
To what extent is the lifestyle of the family influenced by the jobs of the members, e.g hobbies, relaxation,holidays,material goods
I do not think the family is influenced by their jobs, their jobs is for money making purposes only.
Knitting is a hobby all the girls and the mum have.
Relaxation would be socialising with friends,
holidays are rare, caravaning would be a typical family holiday for them.
Material goods is high priority for their kids and their homes.
Question 33
Discuss how attitudes and lifestyles of the family members may contribute to ill health or disease of its members eg. the family diet, smoking , drinking alcohol. use of drugs, enviromental polution, playing dangerous sports.
Answer 33
All the girls smoke, this would contribute to ill health causing colds and coughs the mum does not smoke, the girls also like alcohol socially but not often, the mum does not. This is done in moderation so should not have an effect on their health. Angela`s husband has a problem with drink, this causes trouble in the family and reflects on his health, he has been given help for his problem drinking, but always ends up drinking again. This also causes stree on the family especially the children. The family have a poor diet, lots of greasy food and filling cheap food for the children. No one in the family uses drugs or plays dangerous sports
Question 34
Considering the social economic factors already discussed, compare
A Health
B Wealth
C Security
D Happiness and
E Social support
Answer 34
The family have always had good health, 25 years ago Elaine was a healthy happy teenager, she had no worries, although she was immature for her age. Elaine has suffered mental health problems since the age of 15, she is on medication, she used to weigh 8 stone she now weighs 18 stone, Elaine smokes, she likes a couple of beers on a sat, her health has never improved although it does not get any worse. The medication keeps it stable. 25 years ago the Father of the family was alive, he was a healthy man who liked a drink at the weekend, he smoked roll ups and was a very hard worker, he died six months after being diagnosed with cancer, he suffered and lost a lot of weight.
25 years ago the only boy of the family was alive and healthy, he liked a drink at the weekend, he never smoked, he died suddenly in his sleep when he was 40, this was a blow to the whole family. The mum took this very bad, her health detoriated
The sisters in the family are very healthy, and so are their children, although 3 are very overweight.
25 years ago the family was better off financially, the dad was alive, he worked and earned a good living the girls were at home the oldest worked and handed in money, the son also worked and handed in money.
This family is not as wealthy family a family now, this family survives day to day, the family help each other out if one has money they loan it to the other and so on.
The family are a secure family, they have always been secure, they have always helped each other this helps the security of the family. The family have no problems here. There is no change over the last 25 years.
The family is a happy family, Angela has her problems in fact they all do, but they are all still happy they seem to just get on with things, never seem to let things drag them down. again no change over the last 25 years, the family have always been a happy one.
The family has strong social support, especially where Elaine and their mum is concerned. The family get outside help for Elaine , Elaine has carers that come and take her on outings, twice a year Elaine goes to respite, this gives her mum the chance to have a break. Obivously this was not needed as much 25 years ago when the dad was alive, the grandparents were also still alive and they supported the family.
Question 35
Discuss the overall advantages for this family being in the current family structure, compared with any disadvantages of this family.
Answer 35
The overall advantages of this family are the closeness they have to each other, the fact that they all live near each other and see each other every day. They always have a babysitter or an ear to listen to their problems, if they are short on cash they help each other out. Due to the poor health of their sister they help in any way they can. When any of them have problems they all get together to discuss what the best soloutions are. They comfort each other through bereavement. They are a strong family unit with a good bond.
The overall disadvantages of this family are when they get on each others nerves, sometime living so close to one another thay have no privacy, my friend found this embarassing when she started bringing her new partner home, they were always there, she had no time on her own with him. she ended up falling out with them short term. at Christmas time, they can not afford to go round the whole family with presents so they just buy the adults a gift. They become totally dependant on one another. Sometimes one sister gets a little jealous of the other, i.e if one is doing better financuially than the other. This is also short term.
