Characteristics of a Healthy Family

As child-rearing familial constructions become more diverse, eight key characteristics of a close, healthy, loving family remains a common thread among them.

What You Need to Know

Families never run as smoothly as portrayed on 1950's sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver. At fault are: 

• fast pace of life
• high divorce rate
• rising inflation
• job demands 

Aside from that, typical familial constructions have changed. In the typical 50's family, mom was homemaker, dad was breadwinner, and two children were the household standard. Now women have for options regarding how many children to have, and the head of household could be a single father, grandmother, or teenage mom, step-father, lesbian adoptive mother, or foster parent. 

• Authoritative – values obedience and order; sets strict rules; gives commands; allows little room for choices or freedom of expression; results in children likely to become followers who depend on others to make decisions, or who may rebel strongly to strict rules 
• Permissive – sets too few rules and guidelines, which are rarely enforced and provide little structure for children; allows children to be self-expressive, but also leads to them feeling insecure because they don't know their boundaries and have difficulty accepting responsibility 
• Assertive – provides children with appropriate guidelines; are firm and consistent with rules and expectations, yet still allow children to make choices while helping them realize consequences of the actions they choose; results in children more likely to be responsible and independent, make wise choices, and deal constructively with resentment and anger 

How You Can Help

At home, model these key characteristics of a healthy, close family: 

• Spend quality time together
• Be committed to one another
• Show that you're proud to belong together
• Show appreciation for each other
• Share responsibility by allowing participation in decision making
• Communicate effectively by listening and encouraging everyone to share in conversation
• Balance home, work, and outside activities
• Build connections with others, especially grandparents and other relatives that can offer support

For more on this topic, see the complete article:

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_About_Healthy/